Free A Night With Consequences by Margaret Mayo Page A

have a taste of heaven before going back to her own private hell.
    Although she did not disclose her thoughts, the conflictin her eyes was clear for Blake to see. With a groan he pulled her against him. ‘You have nothing to fear, Kara, not while you’re with me. I want you to be happy, that is all. You’ve looked tired this last couple of days. I guess I’ve put too much pressure on you. Let this be my way of saying thank you.’
    Kara buried her head in his shoulder, feeling stupid tears again. God, why did this man always make her want to cry? The plain fact was that no one had ever been this kind to her before, and she was totally overwhelmed.
    ‘Are you packed?’ he asked, gently putting her away from him.
    Kara nodded.
    ‘Then let’s go.’
    ‘Where are you taking me?’
    He smiled—the sort of smile that flipped her heart and made her want to lift up her face for his kiss.
    ‘I’ll let that be a surprise.’
    A car and driver were waiting, and on the journey Kara spent her time looking at the stunning landscape, trying to ignore the fact that she was with her boss and that she had spent last night in his bed. Even sitting beside him, not even touching, she was overwhelmed by the feelings he managed to arouse.
    Finally they arrived at a beautiful white villa overlooking the shores of a huge lake.
    ‘Welcome to Lake Como,’ he said. ‘And to what used to be my grandmother’s house.’
    Kara’s eyes were as big as saucers. ‘Who lives here now?’
    ‘No one permanently,’ he admitted. ‘Since her death it’s been kept for any family member to use. I suppose you’d call it a holiday villa.’
    A holiday villa! That had to be the understatement of the year. Who could afford to keep a villa like this and not use it? She truly was moving in exalted circles.
    ‘Is anyone else staying here at the moment?’
    Blake shook his head. ‘There is staff, of course, so we won’t be completely alone.’
    Keeping it staffed when no one was using it sounded like an alarming waste of money. And Kara could not help wondering whether he had brought his other PAs here—the ones he’d sacked on their return to England. Did he use it as a love nest? Had she been sucked in by his kindness? Was she right to be nervous?
    She could not deny that the villa was enchanting, though. It looked like a fairy-tale castle, nestling into the hillside above the lake. But even so it did not make her feel any better about spending two whole days entirely alone with Blake—despite his assurance that whatever they did was up to her.
    And it did not help when they were greeted by his army of employees, who looked at her as though she was someone very special. Too polite to do anything other than smile, she was relieved when they melted away after Blake had introduced her.
    ‘They think that you and I are an item,’ she whispered. ‘I could see it in their eyes.’ Blake had spoken in fluent Italian, while hers was non-existent, but they wouldn’t have looked at her with such interest if they had known that she was really just his PA on a fewdays’ holiday with her boss. No, they thought she was his girlfriend. She was sure of it.
    Dark brows rose, hands waved airily. ‘You are right. They probably are imagining that you are special since I have brought no one else here. But it is of no consequence. Do not let it worry you.’
    At least he had assured her of one thing, and he sounded and looked more Italian than English at that moment, thought Kara. But it did little to alleviate her fears.
    ‘Would you like me to show you around? Or perhaps you are tired and would prefer to rest?’
    Resting sounded good—except that she would have felt safer in a hotel. If
safer
was the right word. Safer from what? From whom? Herself or Blake? She was afraid that she had been thrown in at the deep end. That this was not going to be the recreational break she had expected. For one reason because they were going to be totally alone, and for