Free Under the Italian's Command by Susan Stephens Page A

speed dating. The regulations demand—’
     
    Speed dating? What a clutz ! Carly felt as if someone had sewn a running thread through her stomach and pulled it tight.
     
    ‘To which regulations are you referring?’ Lorenzo demanded in his deceptively mild court tone, commanding everyone’s attention.
     
    ‘We get given five minutes with each woman, and then I tick her box if I’m interested. I haven’t made up my mind yet,’ the man declared with affront.
     
    ‘I think you have,’ Lorenzo told him. ‘Did you come on to this man?’ he demanded, switching his attention to Carly . ‘Did you want him to kiss you?’
     
    ‘Of course not!’ she protested hotly in possibly the most humiliating moment of her whole life.
     
    ‘Then why did you come here?’ the man cut in.
     
    ‘If you want a kiss so badly, I’ll kiss you,’ Lorenzo offered.
     
    Was there anyone else in the world who could accidentally speed date? He thought not. And it only made Carly all the more adorable in his eyes. How alone she must have felt to come here in the first place. And whose fault was that? Time to make amends.
     
    Carly gulped as Lorenzo dragged her into his arms. What happened next was less a kiss, and more a lifetime achievement award in seduction, and it went on and on until people started applauding. First he laced his fingers through her hair, while with his other hand he caressed her cheeks. He made her feel as if she were the most beautiful woman in the world, stroking her jaw with his thumb as he kissed her, and kissing her so tenderly she could hardly believe this was what people did. And then the kiss morphed into something so stirring and passionate, she had to wonder if he’d forgotten himself as he plunged and withdrew in what was surely a dress rehearsal for a performance she had no part in.
     
    Drawing back at last, he stared deep into her eyes, and then, taking her by surprise, he came back for more. This couldn’t be a mistake, could it? She hoped not. Lorenzo’s face was still cold from the night air, and his stubble felt rough against her cheek, but his lips were hot with a persuasive heat that ran riot through her body and as he continued to kiss her their audience egged them on.
     
    ‘I think I’d better get you out of here,’ he said, pulling away at last.
     
    He was still holding on to her. ‘I think you better had,’ Carly agreed, her eyes sparkling like diamonds.
     

CHAPTER SEVEN
     
    HE WAS TAKING CARLY out of the bar when a girl approached him with a clipboard, to ask if, under the happy circumstance, he would be prepared to give her company an endorsement. She might have spared a thought for Carly’s opinion on that, he thought, but the young woman’s gaze was fixed on him.
     
    ‘I don’t sign my name to anything unless I’ve read the small print,’ he told her, concentrating on ushering Carly safely towards the door. He took the pamphlet anyway and stuffed it in his pocket. ‘I’ll study this later, and find out what exactly your company is asking people to sign up to.’
     
    The girl looked as if she wanted it back. He didn’t blame her.
     
    Carly noted the incident, but was still reeling from what had happened. With Lorenzo’s arm around her shoulders it was hard to think straight, and with Lorenzo’s astonishing kiss branded on her swollen lips for all time, it was impossible. Maybe she would never think straight again. But then she wouldn’t win the scholarship, Carly realised , quickly shaking herself out of it.
     
    ‘All right?’ Lorenzo said, looking down at her.
     
    ‘Absolutely fine. Thank you for rescuing me.’ She eased herself free, knowing he was only being kind.
     
    As they reached the door two representatives from the speed-dating company almost collided in their haste to open it for them. Lorenzo glanced at them, and then, leaning across her, held the door open for her himself. There was something about him, even without his wig and gown, that