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it without first deciding if it was what she wanted. She was scared and excited by the power of it.
    Sebastian was the first to break it off, dragging his mouth from hers in obvious reluctance. She saw the quick delving of his gaze, and realized, with much satisfaction, that he had been shaken by the kiss, too.
    “Do you always kiss strange men like that?” he asked with a teasing lightness that gained her instant approval.
    “No, but I’ll bet that you kiss all strange women that way,” she retorted, recovering some sense of control while still thrilling to the disturbance within.
    “None have ever been quite like this,” Sebastian assured her in a dry voice.
    “That’s good to know,” she murmured and stroked a hand along the strong cut of his jawline.
    As the last note of the song faded away, a voice came through the sound system, speaking in Italian. At its conclusion, Sebastian glanced at Laura, regret twisting the line of his mouth. “It’s closing time.”
    She released a mock sigh. “And we were just getting warmed up.”
    “Shall we go back to the table and finish our drinks?”
    The prospect of spending the next twenty minutes sitting and sipping sounded much too mundane for Laura, especially now when she was on such a sensual high. “Why bother?” she countered with an elegant little shrug of her shoulders. “By now the wine’s flat. Let’s just leave.”
    “As you wish.” Sebastian inclined his head in acceptance of her decision and guided her out of the club into the refreshing coolness of a Roman night.
    With his tie still belted around her waist, Laura climbed into the low-slung sports car, her movements unhampered by the gown’s slim skirt
    As they pulled away from the club area, Laura felt exactly like a cat, alive to the night and purring with the possibilities. She lifted the weight of her hair off her sweaty neck and let the cooling wind dry it.
    “Back to the hotel, is it?” Sebastian asked with a side glance.
    “Not yet.” She kicked off her shoes and wiggled her stockinged toes. “That fountain. The one you throw coins in. Let’s go there. I definitely don’t want this to be my last visit to Rome.”
    “One Trevi Fountain coming up.” Leaning forward, Sebastian peered at an upcoming street sign, slowed the Porsche, and turned the corner. “Feet hurt after all our dancing?” he asked, noting her shoeless feet.
    Staring down, Laura wiggled her toes some more. “They don’t hurt at all. They just want some freedom. To borrow that corny phrase from My Fair Lady, I could have danced all night.”
    With the Latin music still playing in her head, Laura raised her hands and snapped her fingers to the imaginary tune, moving her shoulders and torso to its rhythm while she da-da-dahed out a mambo beat. Halfway through the song, she remembered.
    “Your tie. I forgot to give it back.” Her arms came down, and she worked to loosen the double knot.
    She had the first one undone when they arrived at the plaza. She finished the second as Sebastian opened the passenger door for her. Without bothering to put her heels on, Laura swung her legs out of the car and caught hold of Sebastian’s outstretched hand.
    He glanced at the sheer stockings covering her feet. “You’ll ruin your stockings.”
    “I have more,” she replied with unconcern and stepped out of the car, the hem of her long gown falling to brush the tops of her feet. “Your tie, sir.”
    Rising on her tiptoes, she draped it around his neck and hung on to the two ends, giving them a pull to bring his head down, needing to taste the heat of his kiss again. Obliging her, he arched her into him and claimed her lips with bold sensuality. The invasion of his tongue brought with it the taste of gin and the essence of something else. Everything quickened and rose, her pulse rocketing, sending her blood running sweet and fast.
    Laura was conscious of hands shaping her more fully against him, increasing the intimacy of his kiss.