Taught by the Tycoon Read Free

you wouldn’t struggle financially.”
    “Oh.” Rachel paused, seeming stricken. “You have. You’re entirely too generous with me, Damiano. Forgive me, because I didn’t mean to imply otherwise. I share the apartment with my friend, not out of necessity, but out of choice. It’s she who is struggling financially.”
    “I see.” It didn’t surprise him that Rachel would take in a struggling friend. It was in her nature. She was entirely too kind, chronically happy, and, though he’d never let on that he thought so, a bit naïve.
    Something about this conversation fascinated him. He was intrigued by the flustered, almost vulnerable side of Rachel he’d never really been exposed to before. She was always so confident and cheerful. Unflappable.
    And he wanted to know more about this mystery man of hers. Wanted to know why she wouldn’t let his name slide past the fullness of her pink lips.
    His gaze lingered on her mouth that had always reluctantly intrigued him, and again he wondered what it would feel like beneath his. At the sweetness he would find inside.
    Such a dangerous, forbidden path he really shouldn’t be exploring. Damiano tossed the pen in his hands back on the desk, and then stood.
    Rachel quickly rose to her feet as well, panic flashing in her eyes. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have bothered you with any of this. Really—”
    “Have dinner with me.”

 
     
     
Chapter 3
     
     
    Any reply died on Rachel’s lips, and her thoughts scattered from her head like birds startled in the park below. For a moment she felt trapped by the intensity of his contemplative gaze and she couldn’t have looked away if she wanted to. Which was silly.
    But her heart began to thud harder, and she wondered if she’d made a terrible mistake by soliciting him for advice.
    The first time she’d been interviewed by him, she’d nearly forgotten her own name. Fortunately he’d known exactly who she was.
    Even though she’d known him as a child, the years apart after private school had dimmed the memory of him some. He’d also disappeared for several years, going back to Italy. She’d heard he’d even dropped out of college for a bit, before once again enrolling.
    But seeing recent pictures in the paper hadn’t prepared her for the devastatingly handsome man Damiano had grown into. Not just handsome, but heaven help her, he was charming.
    Sometimes she questioned whether he’d given her the job because she was Theo’s younger sister. It hadn’t mattered though. Her pride hadn’t cared. She’d gratefully accepted the position as his personal assistant and vowed to go above and beyond.
    She’d forced herself to present a level of immunity to him, a complete indifference, because she would not be one of those nitwits who fell in love with her boss.
    Damiano was not to be seen as a sexual being. He was her superior. A friend of her brother. She would not be attracted to him. This had become almost her daily mantra, and she’d done fairly well at never giving him any reason to think otherwise.
    Until one little night in Paris.
    Her heart tripped, and she worried that he might see the sudden softness in her gaze. The memory of what she so desperately tried to forget. With what seemed like a massive effort, she forced her gaze away.
    She’d been prepared for the possibility of being brushed off with some comment about how this conversation was hardly professional. And yet he hadn’t. Instead he’d asked her to dinner.
    “Dinner?” she repeated haltingly.
    “Yes. It’s a meal. Sometimes they serve fish,” he teased. “Conversation is known to occur during such an event. Which would be perfect as we can continue ours.”
    Now that he stood, he seemed to loom above her. His height always made her feel at the disadvantage. She wasn’t petite, but Damiano was tall enough that her head only reached his shoulders.
    She tried to form a witty reply. Knew that he expected it. But her attention was distracted by