His hands came around her, enclosing her, his palms laid flat against her back, one long thumb beginning to move in sensual massage along the exposed skin above the edge of her blouse. Andin suddenly felt breathless, she was unable to pull herself away. The moment elongated, leaving her curiously weak and intensely conscious of the firm muscles of his thighs against her legs.

A sick sensation came up into her throat and she pulled herself together and managed to move away from him, her eyes lowered in self-disgust, shuddering as she realized how she had felt from merely a touch. Previously, Sebastian had been apt to make one of his barbed comments on such occasions, finding things to mock about her yet he made no remark on what had happened and this left her puzzled and surprised. He then shock her even further by half turning away from her as the lift came to a halt.

It caused her to wonder whether he was completely unaware of what she had felt for him. Shaking all those unimportant thoughts away, she followed him across the wide, busy foyer and into the spacious dining room. The dining room was half empty at this early hour. It looked out onto the seafront, tubs of plants were lining the steps beyond the window where Andin could see people walking in a lazy fashion along the pavement.

One of the standby waiters greeted them and brought them to a table near the window where they sat down facing each other. Unwilling to risk meeting Sebastian's eyes, Andin pretended to be absorbed in the view. When the menu was handed to her she was able to hide behind that, nervousness prickling in her throat.

The food arrived soon after and they ate in comparative silence, avoiding looking at each other. He had ordered an excellent wine with medium-rare steak. Despite her protests, he insisted on topping up her glass from time to time. Albeit she drank very little, the wine began to affect her, making her relax as the meal progressed, giving her false courage, so that she felt able to meet his unreadable piercing blue eyes.

Deciding that his brother might be a safe topic of conversation, she dared herself to open a conversation. "Will you visit your brother while you are here? Since you said it is only two hours away and we will be staying until the end of the week, you might be able to spend time with him."

He looked up from the edge of his glass, his eyes narrowing. "I will certainly give him a call," he answered.

"You are not going to meet him? Don't you miss him?"

"Oh, I do miss him. Terribly." He slid his gaze down but Andin caught the longing in his eyes before he could even hide it. "But whether he will allow me to visit him is another matter."

"Why is that?"

"He does not like having guests at his place."

Andin frowned. She did not have any siblings but she could not comprehend how someone would not like having their family — whom they had not met in a while — at their place. "But you are family," she said, barely could suppress the incredulous tone in her voice.

"Still."

"Even to see you?" she asked teasingly.

"Even to see me," he assented drily.

She looked at him curiously. "Don't you get along with your brother?" She bit her lip, realizing a little too late that that question was too personal and they were not that close. "I am sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

"Whyever not?" He shrugged. "And to answer your question, yes, I get on with him well enough. But we have our own lives and we make it a rule never to interfere with each other."

She frowned. It was so unlike the sort of family life she imagined he would be. Yes, she was offended when they had looked down on her but after giving it another thought, she could somehow understand them. Surely with a family as powerful as his and money as much as his, they probably felt a little protective over him. And she could not blame them for being suspicious of ladies who may have ulterior motives. Still, though, she did not expect their relationship to be this strained. If they were worried that meant they cared so why on earth there was one sibling who was tucked all the way here in Italy? "But he is your brother." Her tone revealed her disbelief and disapproval.

He smiled grimly, tilting his head to one side. "That does not make it necessary for us to live in each other's pockets."

"You probably hurt his feelings by being so indifferent," she commented, her dark eyes critical. "You do know that sometimes it is hard to tell whether you are aware that you are being ignorant or whether you truly are ignorant, right?"

"Who said I was being indifferent?" he asked. "If I thought for a moment that he needed me I would drop everything and go to him at once. He is my big brother and I grew up with him. I care for him," he narrowed his eyes then added, "despite your accusation. And Piers knows that too. I know he would come should I need him too." His gaze measured her comprehension coolly. "All families are not identical, you know. Just because mine might not run the same as yours, does not mean that there is something wrong with it."

"I am sorry," she said solemnly.

"Don't be." He shrugged without care. "Anyway, what about yours?" he asked her, his mouth dented.

Her eyes were saddened. "I only have my mom," she answered.

The blue ocean eyes narrowed on her face in hard observation. "That is it?" he asked, accepting the smooth chocolate mousse the waiter brought him with a nod.

"Yeah." She nodded her head. "Well, I am not sure about my dad but my mom only has a sister but my mom is not close with her. My aunt always judges my mum for having me." She waved her hand as if it did not matter. "It was a long time ago anyway." She began to eat her own sweet, fluffy concoction of soft strawberries and ice cream embedded in whipped cream. It was too sweet for her taste, and after a while, she pushed it away.

"So you only live with your mother?" he persisted, finishing his own course and leaning back.

She did not reply and after a while, he dropped the subject. A waiter appeared, bowing, and they both ordered coffee.

"Do you really think jeans are suitable for the beach?" Andin asked, aware, as she watched his hands, that she was alarmed at the idea of spending time with him in such relaxing surroundings.

He looked at her over his cup, a smile smoldered in the depths of the silvery eyes. "I guess we will have to see about that later," he said ambiguously.

As they crossed the foyer after lunch he look her elbow and guided her towards the hotel shop which held pride of place at the hack of the carpeted floor. Feeling puzzled and slightly curious, she allowed him to guide her through the door and wondered if he was going to buy a gift for his brother as the svelte young assistant sauntered towards them.

Yet when he finally opened his mouth, it was to say something she did not anticipate. "A bikini for the young lady," Sebastian murmured.

"Wait, what? No!" Andin exclaimed, flushing. "I honestly do not think I need a bikini."

He smiled at the assistant and nodded at one bikini on a mannequin. "That one will do. Could you please get one in her size?"

Andin's eyes widened in horror as she finally get a full glimpse of it. She had never worn anything so revealing in her life. "Woah, absolutely not," she said again, louder this time and in deeper rejection.

Yet the assistant girl seemed to know which of the two of them was the boss as she simply dismissed Andin's rejection and with a small smile, she moved away only to return in an instant with a small box. She then led Andin into a tiny fitting room to try the bikini on in privacy.

When Andin had made no attempt in following the shop assistant, Sebastian leaned forward, his lips slightly grazing her ear as he said in a low voice that only Andin could hear. "Or do you want me to put it on you myself?"

She felt her cheeks burn. "Look, I can't wear that thing," she protested reluctantly.

"Oh, come on now. Try it on first then decide," he said in a bored tone as he pushed her toward the fitting room. Once she was inside, he trusted the box into her hands and drew the curtain closed.

Andin looked at his reflection in the long mirror a few moments later with disbelief. The red silk material looks like a shadow on her olive skin. Fine silken cords linked the two tiny cups of the top, revealing the soft, high swell of her breasts. The briefs were tied at the hip in the same manner and left nothing whatsoever to the imagination. In all honesty, she had never felt more naked than she was now.

"Have you tried it on?" She heard Sebastian's voice.

"Yes," she answered shortly after.

"And?" he drawled.

"And the verdict is the same. I can not wear something like this!"

There was a two seconds pause before she heard him again. "Show me."

"Absolutely not!" answered Andin immediately, her voice throbbing with panic.

As if she had not just uttered her protest, he drew the curtain with a rattle of brass rings, and she backed away and wished the ground could swallow her whole. His piercing blue eyes were locked on hers before they started to assess her figure.

"You are breathtaking," he said huskily. His words were like a caress. She quivered at them, wanting to hide from the possessive touch of his eyes. He looked at her slowly from head to toe. "Red is definitely your color. It looks good on you."

"Pfft." She rolled her eyes in disbelief. "Yeah, right."

"Don't be ashamed of your body," he added, seemingly aware that beneath it all, she was quite shy when it came to her figure. If Damon had not been the one pushing her to try different styles every now and then, she was quite sure that she would wear office clothes and extra large T-shirts most of the time. "You look good."

"Well, no need to lie now."

"I am not." His eyebrows drew close as if he was trying to solve a difficult math question. "Hasn't anyone ever told you that you are beautiful?"

Andin nervously ran her tongue over her lips and he watched her, fastening his gaze on the tiny movement in a way that made her even more nervous. He turned away when he was finally back, he had another box in his hands and handed it to her. "Come on. Try this one as well."

Before she could protest he had drawn the curtain and gone again. Perhaps, she thought hopefully, it was a less revealing swimsuit. She opened it and noticed that it was not another swimsuit but a beach coat made of the same color and material as the bikini. Deciding that it might at least conceal the brevity of what she wore, she quickly put it on. It had a tie-belt and lapels which covered the swell of her breasts, and it ended mid-thigh. It did not make her completely secure but at least it made her feel less naked.

Through the curtain, Sebastian asked mockingly, "Are you feeling safer now, Miss Williams?"

She did not even bother to reply as she untied the belt and carefully packed the garment away. Then she put her blouse and jeans on again and got out of the fitting room. She found her boss talking to the shop assistant near the register and when he noticed that she was approaching, he turned.

Andin held out the two boxes and was about to inform him that her decision remained the same when he said coolly, "I have paid for them." He took the boxes from her and then smiled at the assistant, saying a few words in rapid Italian to her, before he finally got out of the shop.

She strode towards him and when she finally caught up to him, she stood right in his way that he had no choice but to stop. "I said I did not want it. Why did you pay for it? In case you forgot, you are still my boss and even though that is not inappropriate, it could hardly be called appropriate either to buy your employee a bikini."

Sebastian stared at her with a look of boredom on his face. "You will need it tomorrow."

"I am sorry but I honestly do not think you have a say on what I need and what I do not need, Sir," argued Andin. She was feeling more and more annoyed, especially with the way he had decided things for her — she would not mind it if it was work-related stuff since he was technically her boss but this had nothing to do with work. She felt that he was only doing this to amuse himself.

"Oh I think in this matter, I believe I do, Miss Williams," he retorted calmly.

"I disagree. I think you bought this and insisted for me to wear it simply to entertain yourself, Sir."

He held the box with one hand and shoved his free hand inside the pocket of his pants. "I did not buy this for you because I like seeing you in it or as you would like to call it, entertain myself. Please," he scoffed mockingly, "do not flatter yourself just because I said that you look breathtaking."

Andin could feel her cheeks getting warmer but still, she refused to back down on this one. Neither of them talked, both were staring at each other. Then after several seconds, Sebastian sighed. "Look, we will have to go out to Roberto's place in the morning for further discussion, and knowing you and how you normally dress, I am quite sure you do not bring any swimsuits with you."

"Of course not, it is a business trip."

"True. But whatever clothes you must have packed will do nothing for this hot temperature." When she did not reply, he tilted his head to one side and lifted one brow. "So, are we done now? Are we in agreement?"

His hand grabbed her arm and pulled her reluctantly into the opened lift and the doors closed behind them. She wrenched her arm from his grasp and faced him as she said, "Just for the record, I am not here as a toy for you or Roberto. I came only to help you persuade him to sign with us, not to seduce him!

Sebastian leaned against the back of the lift, his lips stretched into a dangerous grin. "I never told you to seduce him. All I need is for you to smile at him, that is it. It will set an amenable atmosphere. From what I heard, Roberto is susceptible to lovely women."

"Have you truly got no moral inhibitions whatsoever?" she asked bitterly. "Why don't you just simply offer him an honest deal?"

"I will offer him an honest deal." He looked at her incredulously, as if she had just something that was out of the question, something she should know better. "But I happen to know that some people buy books because the cover attracts them first." He gave her a long, considering glance before continuing, "And I must say that your wrappings are very pretty."

Andin could not help but feel irritated by his response. "Fine. If you insist on buying the bikini and the coat then I will have to pay for them. I am not accepting any present from you."

"I'll deduct them from your next cheque. Consider it done," he said, clearly unmoved by the insult in her voice.