The Accidental Engagement (14 page)

“Turn around.”

She did as he asked, slowly turning so he could get his fill. Her hands reached out to pluck one of the many hairpins that held her locks in place.

“Let me do that.” He patted his knee and she willingly obliged, perching herself on his knee, tantalizingly close to his warmth. She had no idea that letting her hair down could be such a sensual act.

He took his time, placing gentle little kisses along her neck and shoulders as he went along. His free hand trailed along her hip and inner thigh until she was on the brink of screaming from the sweet torture.

When every last hairpin was out and her curls tumbled down her back, only then did he turn her toward him and kiss her with all the pent-up passion they’d been suppressing all night. His hands quickly did away with the strapless number and soon he was cradling her breasts in his palm as she arched against him, silently begging for more. He was quick to oblige and with a few swift motions he had her undressed and straddling him on the chair. When she took him inside of her, she knew that at that moment at least, he was all hers.

* * * *

The next morning, Daniel was propped up in Ivy’s bed, watching her brush her hair in front of the mirror. How did anyone look so beautiful in the morning? Somehow Ivy made puffy eyes and bedhead look sexy.

“I suppose I should pack my belongings. How long do you think we’ll be in Tuscany?” she asked.

At the mention of his home, Daniel’s entire body stiffened. Something was not right. There was no need for a trip up north and everything about Brunelli’s nonchalant offer of hosting them screamed “trap”.

Maybe he was being paranoid. Maybe it was just the dread of running into the family he abandoned that had him on edge. This was not good. The threat of seeing family, not to mention his incredibly ill-advised affair with Ivy...he was so far off his game he couldn’t even see the ballpark.

He came back to the present when he spotted Ivy watching him in the mirror with a look of concern. His heart did a funny squeeze. When was the last time someone had worried about him?

“What is it, Daniel?”

His attention snapped back to Brunelli and the long days that lay ahead. “I can’t believe he’s doing this.”

“Doing what?”

“Stalling,” Daniel said. “He should have signed on the dotted line days ago. I don’t know what he’s waiting for.”

“Jack said he wants to show him the facilities, introduce him to his team. Maybe that’s all it is—maybe he just wants to make sure it’ll be a good fit.”

Daniel nearly groaned aloud at her naiveté and with Jack’s. Neither of them understood the world he lived in. “I need this deal to happen, Ivy. I’ve got everything riding on it.”

She looked surprised by his urgency and her sweet innocence just reinforced the fact that he was making a mistake by being with her. Ivy didn’t belong in his world—a world that was filled with lies and deceit. He had chosen to follow in his father’s footsteps and Ivy…she deserved a far better fate than the one his mother was dealt.

She turned in her seat so she could face him directly. “Would it really be so terrible if this deal fell through? Couldn’t you move on to the next deal?” She gave a little shrug, “I know it could make you a lot of money but you’re already stinking rich. How much more do you need?”

Daniel struggled to find words to explain. It wasn’t about the money. Well, it wasn’t
just
about the money. “It’s the nature of the game—you’re only as good as your last deal. If this fails…” He would be a failure. His partners would drop him in a heartbeat. The world he lived in didn’t tolerate mistakes, particularly when they cost millions.

She moved to the side of the bed so she could perch beside him and laid a hand on his chest. “It’ll happen, Daniel. We’ll make it happen.”

We.
The word was heartening and terrifying all at the same time. But she was right, they
were
a team—for the moment at least. Daniel and Ivy…and Jack. And the frustrating part—the part that made him want to tear the room apart with his bare hands—was that he was useless. At this stage in the game, it all came down to Jack and Ivy and how well they could sell a lie. He would be the first to admit that they had been doing a fantastic job of acting this whole time. So what was it? Why was he stalling?

“It’s like Brunelli thinks we’re lying,” he muttered, dropping his head back against the bedframe in frustration.

Ivy gave him a deadpan look as she stated the obvious. "We
are
lying.”

“Yeah, but he doesn’t know that.”

She raised an eyebrow. “You do realize how ridiculous that logic sounds, don’t you?”

Daniel ignored that. He was too busy considering Brunelli’s words and actions the night before. “There’s more to this than he’s letting on. I just wish I knew what his motives were.”

“Maybe not everyone has ulterior motives.” Now it was his turn to look at her with a raised brow.

She gave in with a sigh. “Okay, fine, believe what you want. But let’s look at the silver lining here. You’ll have a chance to visit your family. Didn’t you say it’s been a while since you’ve visited?”

Daniel’s jaw clenched at the mention of them. There was a part of him that wanted to tell her everything. A small, weak part of him craved comfort. But he shoved that voice aside. He was in too deep with Ivy as it was.

“I doubt I’ll have time to see them.”

She shifted closer on the side of the bed, so soft and delectable and tantalizingly close. “You could always
make
time.”

Daniel didn’t respond. He wouldn’t drag her into his family affairs.

He brought the conversation to an abrupt end when he reached out and tugged her so she toppled onto his chest. She laughed as he wrestled her beneath him, trapping her.

“So I take it you don’t want to discuss your family?” she asked.

He leaned in closer and began to nibble on her neck. “I can think of better ways to spend the morning.”

Daniel insisted on driving up to Tuscany, which sounded just fine to Ivy. She had every intention of sightseeing on this trip. The drive should have only taken a few hours but he seemed in no hurry to get there and Ivy and Jack were having so much fun on the road trip—stopping to take pictures, enjoying a leisurely lunch in a quaint town—they were definitely not going to complain.

The closer they got to Tuscany the more tense Daniel seemed to become. Ivy wished Jack was in on their little secret so she could reach a hand out and massage Daniel’s stiff shoulders and maybe try to get the truth out of him. It was clear that Brunelli’s stall tactics weren’t the only thing bothering him about this journey to his homeland.

It was Daniel who insisted that Jack be kept in the dark—not that he didn’t trust his business partner, but he felt there was less room for slipups if they kept it to themselves.

Despite the tension in the car, Ivy was enchanted by Tuscany, practically hanging out the window to take in the sweeping views of rolling hills and pastures. “It’s so beautiful. You’re so lucky you got to spend so much time here.”

“Why’d you spend so much time here?” Jack asked from the back seat. Daniel shot her a sidelong glance and she bit her lip.

“I have family around here.”

“What? You never told me that.” Jack sounded offended in the backseat. He’d lost “shotgun” to Ivy back at the last gas station.

“I wasn’t aware I needed to inform you of my ancestry,” Daniel said. His voice was droll but there was an edge there that Ivy didn’t miss. She would have loved to ask him more but it was clear he didn’t want to talk about his family or his memories of the area. Especially not with Jack in the car.

“Was it your mom’s side or your dad’s? Are they still here?” Jack, who was quickly earning the award for most annoying backseat passenger, didn’t seem to pick up on Daniel’s not so subtle cues to drop the topic.

“Hey, look over there, it’s a vineyard,” Ivy said, pointing into the distance with feigned excitement.

“Where?” Jack turned to look where she pointed, despite the fact that they had already passed dozens of vineyards, making Daniel burst out laughing, much to everyone’s surprise.

Daniel turned toward Ivy with a grin that took her breath away.

He was handsome in a dangerous sort of way when he was serious—or angry—which was pretty much always. But he was absolutely jaw-droppingly gorgeous when he laughed.

“Very funny,” Jack deadpanned. “Don’t think you can distract me that easily. I’m finally learning something real about Daniel’s life before he became a businessman. This is exciting stuff.”

Ivy tended to agree but she knew better than to push. Daniel would open up when he was ready. Or she’d ask him when he was drunk. One or the other.

“It’s really not that exciting,” Daniel said. “And you should be concerned with Ivy’s family, not mine.”

Jack turned to her with a look of horror. “Should I be concerned about your family? What’s wrong with them?”

Ivy started to laugh but slapped a hand over her mouth when Daniel gave them a warning look. “Brunelli is suspicious, he’ll be digging. You two need to be the perfect couple.”

Jack leaned forward so he could wrap an arm awkwardly around Ivy’s shoulder. “You don’t need to worry about us, General. We’ve got this covered. Don’t we Ivy, my love?”

“We’re all over it. Go ahead ask me anything. Ask me who Jack brought to his prom.”

Daniel rolled his eyes but he was wearing a small smile.

“We’re here,” Daniel announced.

Ivy nearly mistook Brunelli’s house for a palace when they drove up the long, winding driveway. “My goodness, do you think they ever get lost in there?”

“Nah, they’ve probably had a GPS system installed,” Jack said.

Brunelli was hurrying toward them with his arms wide open, as though ready to embrace the car. With his grey hair and twinkling eyes, he looked like everyone’s favorite grandfather. Behind him was a small crowd of young women and men. Ivy spotted Angelo in the group and gave him a wave as she exited the car. He grinned from ear to ear before being poked in the ribs by a teenage boy standing next to him.

Brunelli greeted each of them like long lost family and then went on to introduce them to all of his children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews. She lost track of their names somewhere around granddaughter number five but continued to smile and shake their hands as they practiced their English. “Pleee to meeeet you,” one of the young girls drawled. Another one of the younger girls slipped her hand into Jack’s and gazed up at him in open adoration.

“I think I may have some competition,” Ivy said. Brunelli laughed. “Oh, you don’t have to worry about Jack. Everyone here knows you two are engaged.” He leaned in closer. “Now Danny, on the other hand....” He nodded toward some of the older grandchildren, young women in their early twenties and far too pretty for their own good. They were eyeing Daniel like a piece of filet mignon.

Ivy forced a smile and followed Brunelli as he steered her toward the front door. Angelo had grabbed her bag and was following close behind.

Brunelli put Ivy and Jack in separate rooms in the same wing. He wagged his finger at them. “This is an old-fashioned house—a
traditional
home. You understand, yes? No hanky panky.”

They both tried to keep serious faces as they nodded. That would not be a problem. Ivy wasn’t sure where Daniel’s room was and she figured that might be for the best. It was one thing to deceive Brunelli behind his back; it was quite another to do it in his own home.

Moments after Brunelli left her in her new bedroom, there was a knock at the door. A strikingly beautiful young woman with dark, wavy hair that fell nearly to her waist was standing in her doorway with arms full of towels and bathroom supplies.

“Ciao, I’m Lucia,” the eldest granddaughter said, giving Ivy air kisses on both cheeks before moving past her into the room to deposit her load on the bed. “Just in case you don’t have something that you need for the toilet.” She added with the most adorable Italian accent Ivy had ever heard.

“Thank you, Lucia. That’s very kind of you.”

The young woman beamed at her and clasped her hands. “We are so excited you’re here. Nothing exciting ever happens here but now we have true celebrities.”

The girl’s almond eyes were wide with excitement.

“We aim to please,” Ivy said.

“You’ll join us for dinner, no?” Lucia asked.

“Of course, I wouldn’t miss it.”

“Good. Grandpa has been planning for your arrival for a long time. We are so happy you’re finally here.”

Lucia left the same way she came in, in a whirlwind of excitement, and Ivy was left to ponder what the young woman had said. How long had Brunelli been planning for them to visit his home? Maybe that had been his plan all along. In that case Daniel should be relieved. It wasn’t that Brunelli was suspicious, he just wanted to get to know them better in a more intimate setting. But something about that did not ring true. Why go to such lengths in Rome if he was planning on bringing them here all along? It was almost as though he knew Daniel would need convincing to come out here. But how could he know that?

She heard voices summoning them from the veranda and went off to find the others. She was most likely looking for lies in others because she was lying herself. Talk about paranoia.

* * * *

That night, Brunelli hosted a feast in their honor that would have made the Roman emperors proud. It was unseasonably warm outside so they ate al fresco, with the younger children at one table and the adults at another. The foreign visitors had the seats of honor at the middle of the table. The dinner was filled with talk and laughter as everyone took turns trading stories. Jack, in particular, had everyone in stitches. He was a natural-born comedian. Even Daniel took his turn regaling them with tales of his childhood in the next town over. He went back and forth between Italian and English so even the children could understand. Ivy didn’t think she’d ever seen Daniel so relaxed and at ease. She wished the night would never end. The wine flowed freely and by the end of dinner, Ivy was ready collapse from all the food and drink.