Sex, Gossip and Rock & Roll. Nicola Marsh

him. Liked sparring with him, liked his flirting, liked how he made her feel alive.

      Letting her hair slide forward to hide her blush, she grabbed a plate and filled it with a selection of olives, salami, Brie and Turkish bread.

      ‘Thanks for this. It looks great.’

      ‘You’re welcome.’

      Folding his frame into the chair next to her, he helped himself, slathered hummus onto bread and piled it high with semi-dried tomatoes, grilled eggplant and roasted capsicum.

      ‘Beryl at Reception pointed me in the right direction of a local deli within walking distance.’

      ‘Bet you smiled and she fell all over you.’

      He shrugged, his modest grin endearing. ‘Pity this legendary charm you attribute to me doesn’t work on you.’

      Oh, it was working all right. She’d only met him a few hours ago yet she felt strangely comfortable sitting here sharing an impromptu indoor picnic.

      She didn’t trust easily, never let anyone get too close, so the fact she’d invited Luca to join her spoke volumes.

      ‘I’m immune,’ she said, forking olives into her mouth, almost choking when he patted her knee.

      ‘That’s what they all say.’

      ‘I bet.’

      Her wry smile made him laugh and she joined in, some of her animosity towards him fading. It wasn’t any secret the guy was a world-renowned playboy. Pick up a glossy magazine and Luca’s picture would be in it: strutting the red carpet with an Oscar nominee on his arm, frolicking in the Caribbean ocean, driving a fast car in Monte Carlo.

      He never hid who he was. Pity she couldn’t say the same.

      ‘So what are you doing here?’

      ‘Thought that would’ve been obvious.’

      The corners of his eyes crinkled adorably as he winked. ‘Having dinner with a beautiful woman.’

      She snorted. ‘Why are you in Melbourne, filling in on the tour?’

      When his smile faded, she pushed. ‘Helping Hector when you haven’t seen him in ten years?’

      ‘That’s none of your business.’

      If he thought his cold, clipped tone would shut her up, he could think again.

      ‘Actually, it is. Hector’s a friend as well as my boss and I don’t want anyone taking advantage of him.’

      ‘Funny, that’s what I thought about you when we first met.’

      Hating that she had to justify herself to him, she toyed with the food on her plate.

      ‘Hector’s my mentor. He gave me my first break when I was a teenager looking for a job.’

      And a home and a life off the streets, where she’d had to live for a horrific fortnight that haunted her for years afterwards. But Luca was on a need-to-know basis and the depth of her caring for Hector had nothing to do with him.

      ‘I respect him more than anyone, would never take advantage of him.’

      He pinned her with an intimidating glare. ‘And you think I would?’

      ‘Would you?’ She shrugged, ‘I wouldn’t know, considering you haven’t visited your grandfather in all the years I’ve been around.’

      An emotion she couldn’t fathom flickered in his eyes—regret?—before he sat back and draped an arm across the back of the sofa, his forced casualness not fooling her for a second.

      ‘You’re not going to give up, are you?’

      ‘Nope.’

      He ruffled the back of his hair, the strands curling around his fingers like caramel swirls, making her own fingers ache to delve in.

      ‘He called me, said he was in a bind, so here I am. Satisfied?’

      Not by a long shot. His trite answer hid a truth he wouldn’t divulge to her: she could see it in the tense shoulders, in the rigid neck muscles, the pinch behind his smile.

      There was more to him being here and if he had some nefarious plan … The food she’d just consumed roiled in her stomach. If Luca had lied to her, she’d lied to him too. Hector meant more to her than a friend and boss.

      He was the man who’d taken a chance on a homeless kid when no one else had given a flying fig. He’d seen past her quick temper and resistance and resentment and opened his home, his heart and his life to her. He’d trusted her and she’d never let him down, so the thought he might not have trusted her with this …

      ‘What’s wrong?’

      Luca was beside her in an instant, his concerned expression warming her heart and showing her there was more to him than lazy smiles and practised charm. She couldn’t tell him the truth, that she didn’t believe a word he said, so she blurted the first thing that popped into her head.

      ‘Indigestion.’

      She rubbed her chest to add authenticity and his eyes narrowed, shrewd, assessing, disbelieving.

      Luca knew how to call a bluff. He’d been doing it his entire life.

      ‘Anything I can do?’

      ‘No, I’ll be fine.’

      Her bottom lip gave a convincing quiver and before he could stop himself he reached out and cupped her cheek, his thumb stroking that wobbly lip into calm.

      ‘You sure?’

      A tiny sigh puffed against his thumb; that one small vulnerability had him yearning to bundle her into his arms.

      Crazy. He didn’t do cuddles. He did hard and fast sex all night long; the kind of sex that didn’t beg questions or require answers, the kind of sex that satisfied without complicating matters. Right now, he’d give anything to have that kind of sex with the woman staring at him with guilt in her big green eyes.

      Some of what he was thinking must’ve shown on his face for she shuffled to her right, a subtle move to put some distance between them.

      ‘It’s not so bad. I’ll live. So let’s try this again. What are you doing here?’

      ‘Already told you. Pop fired some jackass who lost the company a stack of cash and asked me to step in on this tour. Apparently Storm Varth is potentially worth a small fortune if his comeback takes off so the books need to be balanced right.’

      ‘Why the hell would he ask you?’

      His eyebrows shot up at her blunt question as she belatedly clamped her lips shut.

      ‘I know a thing or two about companies.’

      ‘Like how to sweet-talk receptionists and influence female CEOs?’

      ‘Like how they run, how they can increase profit margins, how they can tighten outlays.’

      Surprise widened her eyes. He liked that, catching her off guard. She viewed him as a flake that travelled around the world, lolling on beaches doing little else.

      If she only knew: being in the public eye constantly, pretending to like people who were essentially self-serving and didn’t give a damn about doing anything for anybody else unless it got their greedy mugs in the glossies, dating a string of vacuous celebs to further his cause … It was damn hard work and becoming increasingly tough.

      He’d done it for years now, ensuring charities were financially viable, especially those with underprivileged kids—the kind of kid he would’ve been if it hadn’t been for Hector’s generosity.

      With every dollar he took from the rich who could afford it, with every dollar bestowed on those kids who needed it, he released some of his pent-up bitterness at the past. He still had a long way to go.

      ‘You