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It wasn’t that she didn’t want to like him or dislike him It was e, didn’t ith change And it was everything Luca represented She’d worked so hard to get where she was, to feel comfortable and established and…safe And he waltzed in, in his expensive clothes and sexy s And with a method that

“It’s not about liking or disliking, Luca It’s about the changes You’re changing s that some of us have worked very hard to y into this hotel and perhaps I feel like that’s being swept aithout a moment’s consideration Meanwhile all of us here will reone When you’re done, you can wash your hands of it We’re left to deal hat coh like a ind, and what destruction would be left in his wake?

Luca leaned forward, linking his hands on the white cloth on the table “I understand that, really I do But this is where you have to trust me This is what I do, Mari This is what ood at it If I weren’t, Fiori wouldn’t be nearly as successful as it is I’ with the old carpet I promise”

And oh, she wanted to believe him Desperately But trust was a very rare commodity

“You also need to consider how this will affect us financially The reality of it It cannot be ignored” I can’t be ignored, she thought, but sed it away This wasn’t about her, not really

“Reality is overrated What we’re selling is an experience, an escape, a fantasy”

He leaned over so that the enticing scent of his cologne tickled her nose once more His toffee-eyes captured hers “When was the last tied in a fantasy, Mari?”

CHAPTER THREE

MARI stopped, s on the door that used to be to her office before she becaer

“Come in”

It was odd, finding her new boss sitting in her old chair, but she pushed the feeling aside He needed a working area and she was now in the generalover her space She was the one with the big office now

She’d had to push a lot of feelings aside thisfear that flickered in her belly when she re about the fact that the dream was back She would just chalk it up to the chocolate she’d indulged in last night at dessert That, paired to the chaos that was rapidly beco her life, explained it away Even if she couldn’t quite shake the darkness of it fro the letter she’d received two days ago, it wasn’t surprising She hated the thought of Robert being up for parole Hated the way theon as the only thing keeping her sane And Luca wasn’tit any easier He’d featured in her dream as well But she had to shake it and be objective

This was about today, about figuring out what it was Luca planned to do and exerting some of her own caution over the procedure He would do whatever he wanted She’d realized that after their dinner last night But she was no pushover Not anyical, reasonable Within boundaries In all ways

“Mari! Goodback his chair “I was just sending an e- her input She’s got a fantastic eye”

“Then why didn’t she come?” The question was out before Mari could think and her cheeks bloomed at her rudeness

“Because she has a three-year-old and a baby to look after I’ is co me to be back home for Christmas”

“You think we’ll be done that soon?”

“Shoulder season is the best time to renovate I can always cos off”

Mari stood aardly in the doorway, unsure of how to proceed Her blazer pocket contained half a dozen es she should answer and she knew there were matters that needed her attention on her desk So why didn’t she get to it?

“Did you need so his eyebrows and Mari felt even more aard