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There’d be tourists, of course, plenty of tourists, but Gracie refused to consider herself one She was a local with a home and she was determined to re to rebuild, her spirits soared at the pleasure of now having a place to call hers And while she ht not have family here, she had a friend who needed her She loved that

Finally she flicked on the hose The power of it caught her unawares With a laugh she gripped itdrink

A hand suddenly slammed on her shoulder from behind—hard and heavy and so unexpected she screaun All she could e masculine frame and that simply made her aim all the more accurate

‘What are you doing?’ she shrieked at him

‘What are you doing?’ he shouted back—

He wrenched the hose froly cold streak across her sto har, Gracie stared at her assailant

He was stunning Wet Angry Soaked to the skin, the tuxedo he earing was now ruined Tuxedo Her stunned feeble brain attempted some computations

‘Why the water cannon?’ He wiped one hand over his face, the other down his front Droplets of water splattered froers

That tux was saturated and this was no intruder Instinctively—unthinkingly—she reached out to help sweep the strea rivers of water fro, until she realised that he was no longer atte utterly still She froze too,in

Slowly—reluctantly—she glanced up She encountered glittering eyes so brown they were al lashes Of course he had lashes like those Superlative, to match the rest of him As for the cheekbones? You could slice steak on theoodness

‘Sorry’ She whipped her hands behind her back and wished for another cold shock of water fro her blouse wasn’t stea several inches above her She kneho this was Francesca had flashed her a picture printed in the local newsletter when she’d told her about the sale of the villa Gracie hadn’t understood a word of the accoliettable Rafael Vitale The billionaire orgy man himself

‘You’re not supposed to be here,’ she said shakily

‘I think that’s ain’ He watched her coolly, decidedly unimpressed ‘This is my house You’re the invader’

‘I’ive her ‘Wasn’t expecting you to be home’

‘Clearly not’ He didn’t s the funny side yet

She was dyingand wasuhstunned

Rafael Vitale was so ood looking, more well dressed, aside from—

‘You’re very wet I’ froain ‘Will it beokay?’

‘No,’ he answered bluntly, and peeled off the sodden jacket

Paralysed, Gracie stared, slack-jawed His shirt was glued to his skin Glued She could see the ridges of his muscles—of which there werethat she actually giggled He looked up fro out the jacket and shot her another less than impressed look

She covered herat him But she couldn’t Was this what instant attraction felt like? Lust at first sight? She inwardly squirmed at her unruly overheated reaction No wonder he was a rake if all women had this reaction to his appearance He’d have his pick of bedht she was a co this kind of reaction, which meant she was as much of a fool as any of theether!

Quickly she rass Her feet slithered out fro her knee hard

This ti hand beneath her elbow Without any apparent effort he hauled her to her feet Only, she slipped in her stupid wet sandals again She heard a ainst his body as he formed a literal pillar of support His ar her far, far too close Those muscles were even harder than they’d looked And hotter

> Blistering with embarrassment, she couldn’t bear to look up at hi her, but her proxi anaesthetic The thought idly crossed her ht to be bottled and used in operations in every hospital theatre

Another ferociously muttered curse made her blink

‘Are you all right?’ he snapped

He probably thought she was siht on her foot and winced A second later she was flying through the air into his ar And the chest she was now pressed against was very solid Fortunately the contact kick-started her rational thinking processes

‘Put me down,’ she said stiffly

‘And have you slip again and break your neck?’ he snarled, stalking back towards the beautiful villa ‘You’re a liability Not just to yourself The sooner you’re off my property, the better’

‘You’re going to carry ate?’

He probably was strong enough She could feel his h the cold, wet fabric The man was built But he was also obviously unimpressed Desperately she suppressed her appreciative shiver So inappropriate and la the to be another But as he effortlessly strode over the , she couldn’t hold in another giggle

‘Are you hysterical?’

She heard the unmistakable note of horror in his question

‘No’ She breathed in and steadied herself ‘I’ is my nervous release I’m sorry’ She peered up to try to see into his face and braved another s’

‘Well, that’s true,’ he answered grimly ‘Heaven forbid I have a tearful trespasser on h the open doorway into the glorious large lounge ‘I’m Rafael Vitale’