The Sicilian's Marriage Arrangement. Lucy Monroe

doing my grandfather a favor in return for which you are angling for some kind of business coup?”

      Luciano went curiously still. “What makes you ask this?”

      It was her turn to shrug. “I don’t know. I guess it’s just hard to believe you’ve thought about me at all over the past six months.” She ignored his threatened intent to seduce her as macho posturing. It must be a Sicilian male thing. “It’s not as if you’d called or anything. And I know I’m not your average date.”

      He might socialize for business, but the companions he chose to do it with were invariably gorgeous and terribly sophisticated. Much like the model he had turned away from on New Year’s Eve to kiss Hope instead. She still found that inexplicable. One of his previous amours had been a dispossessed princess with a reputation for fast living. His latest was an Italian supermodel who gave sultry new meaning.

      Hope was as far from such a being as Luciano was from an awkward teenager.

      “Accept that it pleases me to see you.”

      “Why should I?”

      “Because I say it is so.” Exasperation laced his every word and she wanted to kick him.

      “You can say anything, but it’s your actions that show what you really feel.”

      “What is that supposed to mean?”

      Their arrival at their destination prevented further conversation.

      Luciano helped Hope out of the limousine. Who would believe such a shy little thing could be such a termagant as well? After her response to his kiss on New Year’s Eve, he had been sure wooing her would be the easy part of the deal with Joshua Reynolds. However, she was hardly falling into his arms in gratitude for his pursuit.