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‘You worry tooyou down I’ on toearlier?’

‘They were fine at the restaurant!’

It was hard to talk whilst trying to wriggle into so Was her underwear on display for everyone to have a look at? She wriggled frantically, ignoring his co him at thatto hobble for the rest of the way

‘Please put e from there’

He ignored her and headed straight for the reception desk In her head she could picture the curved irls, as she heard him ask for a comprehensive first-aid kit to be sent to his suite iet the kit up to his quarters double quick

She gave up protesting and clung to hihtly shut—because that way she could kid herself that none of this was happening

She only opened her eyes when she was gently lowered onto his bed, and then she watched as he evensandals and cursed softly under his breath

‘You’ve probably done your back in,’ was all she could find to say

‘My back is fine—which is more than I can say for your feet They’re raw’

‘I’ heels Or shoes like this’

E, swollen feet on his lap and reached for the first-aid kit, which had already been placed on the bed

‘You’re right I should haveone or two blisters But, please, I can take care of this ht ignore—and he did

His hands were so soothing Kate closed her eyes and her breathing slowed as he dealt with her blisters, gently cleaning the cool cream on them, and then the special plasters from the kit Maybe blisters were a coht drowsily Maybe every silly tourist took to the streets in inadequate footwear and returned to the hotel in need of a first-aid kit?

‘I had no idea that you were a doctor along with everything else,’ shebecause the silence was so intense and somehow so intimate

‘I had planned on doing medicine, as a matter of fact’

Her eyes flickered open She looked at his dark head, bent down, those long brown fingers working quickly and efficiently on sorting out her feet ‘Really?’

‘Really,’ Alessandro said drily, without glancing in her direction ‘It was a short-lived ambition’

‘Why?’

This time he did look at her Briefly Dark eyes serious ‘My feckless parents needed ht and narrow’

Nohy had he said that? When he never confided in anyone—least of all a woed women to think that they could inch their way beyond his barrierswhen he knew that a woman in possession of a confidence was a woman who felt she had the upper hand

But it had been an unsettling day He had had his preconceived notions smashed, had been forced to re-examine the black-and-white approach to life that had always stood hirey areas And now this His bodywith his head in a way it had never done before, controlling hih

‘What do you ht’

‘That I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth?’

‘More golden,’ she adly

‘In a way you’d be right,’ he said thoughtfully, drawing back to look at his handiith satisfaction ‘I am the product of tealthy families My parents had more money than they knehat to do with Unfortunately neither of thee their fortunes properly’

He s away the first-aid kit and then strolling to the here he stood for a few seconds gazing down at the street below before turning to her

‘That’s love for you,’ he said, and walked slowly back towards the bed, then stood at the side, hands shoved into his pockets, his lean, handsoether-the-relationship-building-blocks kind of love you find so seductive’

‘What do you mean?’ She looked at him in confusion

‘I mean’ He smiled with cool introspection ‘I have first-hand experience of how a couple of soule each other into lifestyles that are self-obsessed and destructive My parents ed to squander most of their joint inheritances onwell, frankly, on crap investments and eco-nonsense schemes They lived with their heads in the clouds Yes, they were in love—but, personally, I think if there had been a little less love and a little ht have not spent their lives hurtling from one ridiculous investment to another Until, of course, it was up to me to bail the pair of them out’