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she asked, just to make sure they were pulling the same thread.
    ‘ Strictly business,’ he agreed in a low, deep growl that sent a shudder the strength of 7.0 on the Richter scale on a direct course to her pelvis.
    Oh, boy , if this was going to work the man had to keep his distance.
    Conviction enhanced the adrenalin pumping through her body and Eva pushed at his chest with all her might. He didn’t budge one inch. ‘What are you made out of—granite? Will you back off? You’ve proved your point.’
    He stayed right where he was and demanded, ‘So your answer is?’
    ‘Yes. I’ll do it.’
    ‘Good,’ he said, pushing his weight off the sofa, the outrageously expensive silk of his suit rippling over his hard body, his face a picture of that-moment-didn’t-happen dispassion as he strode towards the door. ‘Get your coat—we’re leaving.’
    Gripping the curved lip of the sofa back, she twisted at the waist, swivelling towards the door, brow furrowed deep with suspicion. She didn’t like the sound of that command. There was nothing businesslike about going out on a Sunday morning. ‘What do you mean, we are leaving? To go where?’
    ‘Shopping. I’m going to buy you the biggest diamond you have ever seen, cara . Let the fairy tale begin.’

CHAPTER FOUR
    T HUMB FLYING OVER the screen with speed and dexterity, Dante tapped a reply to an e-mail on one phone and pressed his second phone to his ear. Fluid French streamed from his lips as he spoke to one of his directors in Paris, conscious to the point of aggravation of the woman sitting beside him.
    Quiet, subdued, Eva had barely said two words since leaving her apartment. It unnerved him. Made him want to climb into her brain. Quite a change from thinking about climbing inside other parts of her.
    His thumb paused as he ruthlessly tamped down the ferocious heat pumping through his blood.
    Cristo , he’d seriously miscalculated this side of his proposition. Attraction.
    If he’d thought the skimpy top and gypsy skirt of earlier was synapse-scorching, it was nothing compared to what had greeted him when she’d finally deigned to exit her bedroom.
    Skin-tight black jeans, knee-high boots with a kitten heel, a white polo neck clinging to her gorgeous breasts and the sexiest little brushed suede jacket he’d ever seen, the colour of peridot. Zesty and fresh, the lime-green was a distinctive signature found deep within the earth under tremendous heat and pressure. It suited her volatile temperament and his inner state to perfection.
    Jacques, his Director of European Operations, fell silent as if waiting for Dante’s reply. To what he had no idea. And another flicker of annoyance sparked in his gut. With ruthless precision he ended the call and attempted to douse the flames of his ire. He didn’t need this kind of distraction. What was it about the woman that made him so hot? And why did his body insist on replaying that moment back in her flat when she’d reached up...touched his jaw and sent a bolt of lightning shooting through his body?
    Glancing across, he found her biting her ring finger nail as she stared out of the limousine window, a deep frown pleating her brow.
    Dante tucked one finger down the back of his tie knot and gave a good tug. ‘What is it, Eva?’
    Hand falling from her lips, she began to stroke the leather door panel with the tips of her fingers. Without turning to face him, she said, ‘I don’t understand why you have to buy me an engagement ring when this isn’t real.’
    Dante ground his back teeth. ‘To everyone else it is real. Let us not forget I was engaged to another. For this to work we are talking undying love here. The sweeping-off-your-feet variety. For this to work I cannot introduce you to Yakatani without one.’ Affecting a careless shrug, he forced his voice to become neutral. ‘When it is over, you may take the ring as a token of my appreciation.’
    Shifting on her bottom, she turned sideways and her eyes speared