Undressed by the Billionaire. Susanne James
her to stay.
As his gaze embraced the room before him, he began noticing things he hadn’t before, like the pink-veined, marble-topped console table where the telephone rested. He had bought it with the palazzo, and it was a beautiful example of a craftsman’s art. Savannah was right; with the light shining on it, the furniture, like everything else in the room, was fully revealed in all its glory. No wonder she had been so relieved to see the efforts his staff had gone to for her. But the real difference here was Savannah, he thought, watching her shimmering golden hair bounce around her shoulders as she followed the housekeeper around the room. Savannah brought the light with her.
With emotions roused that he had thought were long buried, Ethan was suddenly keen to put some distance between them, so he found an excuse to leave Savannah in the care of his housekeeper. But she stubbornly refused to let him disappear so easily. ‘I’m so excited,’ she told him. ‘I can’t thank you enough for allowing me to stay here.’
‘Then don’t. This is nothing to do with me.’ He dismissed the glowing room with a gesture.
‘You’re so wrong,’ she assured him. ‘This has everything to do with you.’
He shrugged. ‘In this instance, Savannah, it is you who is wrong. This is a beautiful suite of rooms and nothing more. It has been aired and put back into use, and that is all.’
‘And is that all you have to say about it?’ she demanded, frowning.
‘What else is there to say? I rarely come here, but it is beautiful, and I had forgotten.’
‘But you never will forget again,’ she insisted passionately. ‘Not now the lights have been switched on.’
He gave her a look that stopped her in her tracks. It was a look intended to warn her not to go this far again. The contact between them was electric, and he let the moment hang for some reason. Anything might have happened as Savannah looked up at him had not his housekeeper coughed discreetly at that moment. It was only then that the rational side of him clicked into focus, and he took a proper look at Savannah and realised how exhausted she looked. She was still wearing his old shirt over the ill-fitting gown. She must have felt embarrassed, dressed that way when he’d introduced her to his staff, but not for a moment had she let it show. Her attention had been all on them, her only thought to make them feel special. ‘Could you bring Ms Ross a robe, please?’ he asked his housekeeper.
He wanted Savannah covered up. Her pale skin beneath the neck of his shirt was making him restless. She still had her precious sandals dangling from her wrist, like a child with a garish bangle, and she was scarcely taller than a child. She couldn’t have eaten since that morning, he remembered. ‘Take a bath,’ he said briskly, ‘And then use that phone over there to call down for something to eat.’
‘Won’t you eat something too?’ she asked with concern.
‘Maybe.’ He dismissed her with a gesture. He had no intention of prolonging this encounter. It occurred to him then that perhaps he didn’t trust himself to prolong it.
‘Where will you eat?’ she pressed as he prepared to leave.
He hadn’t given it a moment’s thought. ‘I’ll take dinner in my room,’ he said, remembering that that was what he usually did.
‘In your room?’ She pulled a face, and then immediately grew contrite. ‘Sorry. It’s none of my business where you eat.’
No, it isn’t, he almost informed her, thinking of her other comments since they’d arrived, but the fact that she looked so pale held him back.
Fortunately his housekeeper returned at that moment with the robe, which put a halt to further conversation.
He took that as his cue. ‘Goodnight, Savannah. Sleep well.’
‘I’ll see you in the morning?’ Her eyes were wide, her expression frank.
‘Perhaps.’ With her innocent enthusiasm she made it hard for him to remain distant.
‘For breakfast?’ she pressed.
‘Ah …’ He paused with his hand on the door, as if to say he was a much older man with many better things to do than to entertain a young woman. ‘We’ll see.’
‘Sleep well, Ethan. And thank you once again for allowing me to stay in your beautiful home.’
Who should be thanking who? he wondered, catching sight of the luminous expression on his housekeeper’s face. ‘Goodnight, Savannah.’ He didn’t need a second dose of Savannah’s radiant face before he walked out and closed the door to know his defences had been breached.
CHAPTER SEVEN
SAVANNAH waited for Ethan’s footsteps to fade before asking the housekeeper shyly, ‘Do you think it would be possible to put on some more lights?’ The housekeeper had been so kind to her that Savannah felt her request might have some chance of success.
‘More lights, signorina?’
‘In the palazzo? I mean, it’s very dark outside my room, and I just thought it might be safer for you—for all of us.’
The housekeeper studied Savannah’s face before deciding. ‘Come with me, signorina. ’
As they left the room together the housekeeper called to a passing footman, who looked at Savannah with surprise when he heard her request via the housekeeper. As he hurried away, the housekeeper exchanged a look with Savannah. ‘You are starting a revolution,’ she confided.
‘Oh dear.’
‘No, it’s good.’
‘Is it?’ If only she could feel confident that Ethan would agree.
Savannah approached the first light-switch.
It took all of her resolve just to switch it on. But when she did …
‘Bellissima!’ The housekeeper exclaimed, clasping her hands in front of her. ‘This is what the palazzo has been waiting for.’
Her endorsement encouraged Savannah to ask if they could put a few more lights on.
The housekeeper drew in a breath and then, exhaling slowly, she turned to look at Savannah. Her eyes were sparkling. ‘A very few,’ she agreed. ‘Let’s do it!’
They hurried off in different directions, snapping on light switches like naughty children, and they didn’t stop until the whole of the upper floor was flooded with light.
Down in the hallway Savannah could see more lights being turned on. It was like the curtain going up at the theatre, she concluded, feeling that same sense of wonder—but the only difference here was a glorious home was being revealed rather than a stage set.
The housekeeper rendezvoused with Savannah back at her room. ‘It’s amazing!’ Savannah exclaimed softly, gazing at the transformation they’d created.
‘Si, signorina. You have worked a miracle.’
‘A very tiny miracle,’ Savannah argued with a smile. ‘I only turned on the lights.’
‘Sometimes that’s all it takes,’ the older woman observed shrewdly.
They shared a smile before the housekeeper left Savannah, after asking her to promise she would call downstairs if she needed anything more.
Well, she would need all the friends she could find on the staff, if she stood a chance of leaving Ethan’s home happier than she had found it, Savannah reflected. But with all his beautiful treasures bathed in light she had to believe he would share her enthusiasm for ancient frescoes stepping out of the shadows, and carvings revealed in all their intricate detail after years of neglect.
But … would he be pleased, or would he be angry at her continued interference? She was only a guest, after all, and one that wasn’t here for very long. She