Read Online Under the Italian's Command by Susan Stephens - Free Book Online
Authors: Susan Stephens
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‘Canapés…’
As she ran out of the door a note fluttered out of her pocket. Strictly speaking he shouldn’t read someone else’s mail, but lawyers did it all the time…
Returning to his office, he drew out the note and scanned it. It was a list Carly had headed, ‘GUIDELINES CHRISTMAS PARTY’. So far so good, but then he realised that this list bore scant resemblance to the one she had put in his pigeon-hole. His gaze returned to study the various doodles she had drawn down the side of it. Her inventions were impressive. He read on: ‘Inappropriate behaviour at the Christmas party can SERIOUSLY limit your career…’
How fortunate for him that rules were made to be broken, and when you reached the inner circle you broke them all the time.
Canapés!
Carly woke up with a start. For a moment she couldn’t remember where she was. Where she had been was far preferable…in Lorenzo’s arms, and he had been just about to kiss her. She rubbed the back of her hand across her mouth just to check she hadn’t been playing Sleeping Beauty and missed something wonderful.
Not a chance! It was so hot in her little cubby-hole she had fallen asleep, that was all. And no wonder she was exhausted after her shopping expedition. Propelled into panic by the sight of Lorenzo in Reception, she had rushed to the supermarket, but halfway there she had spotted a sign advertising a sale of designer shoes…
Glancing at her wrist-watch, she let out a shriek.
All thoughts of Lorenzo and stiletto heels flew from her mind. Flailing about, she battled to organise her wayward thoughts and only succeeded in knocking everything off her desk, then banging her head against it when she dived to retrieve it. Nursing the bump she ordered her inner self to calm down. Canapés were no problem. They’d been in her head all the time she’d been asleep, so the planning was already done. All she had to do now was buy the ingredients and assemble them. The menu she had decided upon was divine…Shrimp in a light batter with sweet chilli sauce; slivers of tomato on tiny rye crackers with an anchovy curled artistically on top and—the pièce de résistance—miniature parcels of smoked salmon and cream cheese decorated with chopped chives.
Inwardly, she dribbled.
‘You’re in a hurry today…’
Lorenzo’s lazy drawl caught her between the shoulder blades and brought her screaming to a halt. She turned to look at him and felt her senses flare like the bright socks he was wearing—purple with orange flags today. She made a silent vow to carry out intensive research on international marine signals the moment she got the chance.
‘Canapés all in hand?’ he said, giving her a dark stare.
Her throat dried. ‘In component form…’
‘Excellent…’
There was something different about Lorenzo; she couldn’t quite pin it down. Maybe it was the way he was looking at her. Normally he made inscrutable seem an understatement; he wasn’t a top lawyer for nothing. But today there was a definite smoulder in his gaze as he leaned back against the wall.
So, who was he thinking about?
The sting of jealousy that brought on took Carly by surprise. She ran a mental check-list of all her female colleagues, wondering which one of them had served Lorenzo’s best interest that lunchtime, and knew she didn’t stand a chance of making that list. Lorenzo probably thought plain girls didn’t need sex like pretty women, but that didn’t stop her wanting him. Especially now when he looked so gorgeous…absolutely gorgeous—
‘No time to hang around,’ he cautioned, stamping on her fantasy.
It was a waste of time dreaming, Carly thought, heading for the door. Lorenzo was on another planet, one where men ruled and women served—mostly in the bedroom when they weren’t trying to fold towels a certain way, or create the world’s most impressive
As she ran out of the door a note fluttered out of her pocket. Strictly speaking he shouldn’t read someone else’s mail, but lawyers did it all the time…
Returning to his office, he drew out the note and scanned it. It was a list Carly had headed, ‘GUIDELINES CHRISTMAS PARTY’. So far so good, but then he realised that this list bore scant resemblance to the one she had put in his pigeon-hole. His gaze returned to study the various doodles she had drawn down the side of it. Her inventions were impressive. He read on: ‘Inappropriate behaviour at the Christmas party can SERIOUSLY limit your career…’
How fortunate for him that rules were made to be broken, and when you reached the inner circle you broke them all the time.
Canapés!
Carly woke up with a start. For a moment she couldn’t remember where she was. Where she had been was far preferable…in Lorenzo’s arms, and he had been just about to kiss her. She rubbed the back of her hand across her mouth just to check she hadn’t been playing Sleeping Beauty and missed something wonderful.
Not a chance! It was so hot in her little cubby-hole she had fallen asleep, that was all. And no wonder she was exhausted after her shopping expedition. Propelled into panic by the sight of Lorenzo in Reception, she had rushed to the supermarket, but halfway there she had spotted a sign advertising a sale of designer shoes…
Glancing at her wrist-watch, she let out a shriek.
All thoughts of Lorenzo and stiletto heels flew from her mind. Flailing about, she battled to organise her wayward thoughts and only succeeded in knocking everything off her desk, then banging her head against it when she dived to retrieve it. Nursing the bump she ordered her inner self to calm down. Canapés were no problem. They’d been in her head all the time she’d been asleep, so the planning was already done. All she had to do now was buy the ingredients and assemble them. The menu she had decided upon was divine…Shrimp in a light batter with sweet chilli sauce; slivers of tomato on tiny rye crackers with an anchovy curled artistically on top and—the pièce de résistance—miniature parcels of smoked salmon and cream cheese decorated with chopped chives.
Inwardly, she dribbled.
‘You’re in a hurry today…’
Lorenzo’s lazy drawl caught her between the shoulder blades and brought her screaming to a halt. She turned to look at him and felt her senses flare like the bright socks he was wearing—purple with orange flags today. She made a silent vow to carry out intensive research on international marine signals the moment she got the chance.
‘Canapés all in hand?’ he said, giving her a dark stare.
Her throat dried. ‘In component form…’
‘Excellent…’
There was something different about Lorenzo; she couldn’t quite pin it down. Maybe it was the way he was looking at her. Normally he made inscrutable seem an understatement; he wasn’t a top lawyer for nothing. But today there was a definite smoulder in his gaze as he leaned back against the wall.
So, who was he thinking about?
The sting of jealousy that brought on took Carly by surprise. She ran a mental check-list of all her female colleagues, wondering which one of them had served Lorenzo’s best interest that lunchtime, and knew she didn’t stand a chance of making that list. Lorenzo probably thought plain girls didn’t need sex like pretty women, but that didn’t stop her wanting him. Especially now when he looked so gorgeous…absolutely gorgeous—
‘No time to hang around,’ he cautioned, stamping on her fantasy.
It was a waste of time dreaming, Carly thought, heading for the door. Lorenzo was on another planet, one where men ruled and women served—mostly in the bedroom when they weren’t trying to fold towels a certain way, or create the world’s most impressive
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