The Italian's Baby of Passion: The Italian's Secret Baby / One-Night Baby / The Italian's Secret Child. Catherine Spencer

Sam. Now it was shrunk it would be lovingly stored with the growing collection of childhood memorabilia she was accumulating.

      ‘It could have been worse, the machine totally shredded my bra,’ she confided. ‘Not that I’m in any position to complain. This is one of those times being flat-chested pays off,’ she huffed with a strangulated laugh as she inhaled deeply to allow the over-stretched fabric to cover and compress her small, pointed breasts.

      Roman wasn’t complaining either; he had no objections to ‘holding on a mo.’ Beneath the enticing expanse of slender back he had an excellent opportunity to appreciate the curvy shape and firmness of a small but perfectly formed bottom complete with strategically placed dimple above her peachy left buttock. And he didn’t think she was flat chested; his entrance into the room had been perfectly timed to coincide with the brief bare-breasted interval.

      He’d been taken unawares; the sight of pink-tipped, delightfully bouncy breasts had frozen him to the spot and primitive urges oblivious to the social restraints of being a modern man had surged into painful life.

      It was extraordinary but, far from being shapeless, Scarlet Smith had an enticing body, slim with supple, succulent and very sexy curves. The transformation was nothing short of mind-blowing.

      That made it official. He did not have a son—no way would he have forgotten sleeping with Scarlet Smith!

      Smoothing the slightly creased cotton fabric over her flat midriff, Scarlet turned around. The smile on her face faded as she saw who was standing there. ‘You!’ she gasped accusingly.

      For a horror-struck moment, she peered up at Roman before her brain got back into gear. She forced herself to release the breath painfully trapped in her chest, unfolded her arms, which she’d wrapped across her bosom in an instinctively protective gesture, and groped behind her on the desk for the glasses she’d set aside a few moments earlier.

      ‘Dio! It’s absolutely amazing.’

       It took her several seconds for her slightly unsteady hands to locate her glasses from the table where she had put them. She slid them back onto her nose and his dark, fatally handsome face slipped into focus.

      She was tempted to take them off again.

      Roman frowned. Before she had replaced the glasses he had seen a red welt across the bridge of her nose, livid against the pallor of her skin. It was obviously caused by those stupid glasses. It was a crime to hide such beautiful eyes behind thick lenses. Didn’t she know glasses were meant to be fashion accessories? That you could get paper-thin lenses and attractive frames these days.

      ‘Those spectacles are too big and heavy for your face,’ he censured in a gruff, distracted voice.

      Scarlet shook her head ruefully. ‘I know, but five years ago they were the height of fashion.’ She gave a wry grin. ‘It was my funky period,’ she explained drily. ‘I can’t wait to put them back in the dark, dusty drawer they were hiding in,’ she confessed.

      ‘Then why don’t you?’

      ‘They won’t let me wear my lenses until my corneal abrasion heals, and it hardly seemed worth forking out for a new pair.’

      ‘Corneal abrasion! You injured your eyes?’

      ‘The right one.’ She lifted her hand towards her right eye, which showed no visible signs of the injury she spoke of. ‘A freak accident—amusing really. A baby hit me in the face with a rattle, would you believe?’

      Most people thought it amusing when she explained the circumstances, but not Roman O’Hagan, it seemed. His lips thinned in disapproval and his nostrils flared.

      ‘This amusing accident could have cost you your eyesight.’

       Her expression reflected her opinion of his bizarre pursuit of the subject. ‘Well, I wouldn’t go that far…’

      ‘That much I can see.’ The grim condemnatory note in his voice seemed a bit over the top to Scarlet. ‘I suppose you’d have an equally offhand attitude to walking across the road without looking? You only have one set of eyes; it’s generally a good idea to look after them,’ he reproached sternly.

      To hear him talk you’d think I did it deliberately, Scarlet thought.

      ‘I’m as fond of my eyes as the next person.’

      ‘I’m sure a great many people are fond of your eyes—they are beautiful. As is the rest of you.’

      Beautiful eyes—? Beautiful rest of me? Before Scarlet had time to properly assimilate this extraordinary information, she saw where his own hot eyes had come to rest, and her arms reassumed their protective position. She breathed deeply as her entire body was engulfed in a wave of mortified heat that to her mind was worryingly out of proportion with the situation.

      If he had shown any inclination to say something more on the subject she doubted she would have heard it past the clamour of her hammering heartbeat. Only he didn’t show any inclination to speak…he wasn’t showing any inclination to do anything beyond look at her in a way that made her go literally weak at the knees.

      ‘Dear God,’ she snapped. ‘Anyone would think you’d never seen a woman without her shirt on before!’

      And from the way you’re acting, the voice in her head added snidely, you’d think you’d never been looked at by a man before.

      It was true, his smouldering stare was making Scarlet’s erect nipples pinch hard and burn. It was deeply mortifying that she had no control whatsoever over what was happening to her.

      Roman gave a cough of laughter as dark eyes returned to her face. ‘Sorry, I wasn’t expecting to find you half dressed.’ As he spoke his glance slid once more over her slender figure, and his chest lifted as a deep sigh vibrated through his lean, powerful frame.

      ‘My God,’ he observed, shaking his head. ‘You look different…different in a good way, in case I didn’t make myself clear.’ Actually Roman doubted he had ever been less articulate in his life. ‘I didn’t mean to embarrass you.’

      ‘Strange, I got the impression you were quite enjoying embarrassing me.’

      One corner of his mouth lifted in appreciation of her comment. ‘Do you play chess?’

      ‘Pardon?’ she said, sure she must have misheard him.

      ‘Do you play chess?’ he repeated.

      Warily she nodded, still unsure of where this was going.

      Roman’s eyes narrowed. ‘You either win with style or lose dramatically—?’

      This accurate assessment stunned her. ‘How could you know that?’

      ‘You’re reckless, and you rely on inspiration. Playing an unpredictable partner is always exciting,’ he observed. ‘Perhaps we could play some time…?’

      Play with Roman O’Hagan?

      Before she had time to respond to this proposal he added casually, ‘And if you’re wondering what I saw when I walked in—I didn’t see a thing.’

      Scarlet was now ninety per cent sure he was lying, which was no comfort to her. If he managed to unsettle his business rivals with this sort of thoroughness, no wonder they talked about him in financial circles as though he were the second coming.

       Her chin lifted to a bolshy angle. ‘I’m not the slightest bit embarrassed.’ Now that, Scarlet, is really going to convince him.

      ‘Why should you be? We’re both adults…consenting adults.’

      The throaty ‘consenting’ sent a secret shiver down her spine. ‘I just wasn’t expecting to see you standing there.’ Despite her best efforts, she was unable to keep the accusatory note from her voice as she added, ‘You surprised me.’

       Understatement.