The Italian's Bedroom Deal Page 0,2

guests. He probably hadn’t even reviewed the list, delegating even that task to the woman who ran his office with an iron hand.

Clarissa pretended to listen to the woman’s inane chatter while considering the ironic fact that Vanessa probably knew exactly who had organized this event, most likely had used the same firm in previous entertaining efforts, but insisted that her father receive all the credit for the event. Clarissa detested the hypocrisy of it all.

She looked around the patio, apparently giving Vanessa the appropriate responses since she continued to talk, almost without taking a breath. Clarissa saw one of her father’s friends flirting daringly with another woman, one who was not his wife. Or at least, it wasn’t his current wife. Clarissa wasn’t exactly sure what his previous wives looked like but she assumed they were all similar; blond, painfully thin and perfectly made up.

Sighing, she wondered why life wasn’t more like some of her favorite romance novels. Man meets woman, both fall in love and live happily ever after, both dedicating their lives to each other.

That wasn’t reality, she knew, accepting more accolades on behalf of her father as other guests came over to talk with Vanessa, including Clarissa in their group simply out of proximity.

Clarissa didn’t argue the double standards of her marriage beliefs though she’d never tell anyone about her horror of the married state. She wanted nothing to do with a wedding and the types of marriages her peers were experiencing. Marriage for wealthy people was not a real relationship but simply a means to an end, either commercial or political, and she would not subject herself to that kind of degradation. She wanted more than a business transaction for her personal relationship.

She kept her opinions of marriage to herself though. Her dislike of the married state had sent her father into an apoplectic fury a couple of years ago. The one time she’d expressed that thought to her father, she’d regretted it. He’d blown up at the idea of his only daughter not marrying and producing the requisite heir. To him, life was all about continuing on the legacy and the only way to do that was to marry well and stay inside one’s circle of acquaintances.

Although she now kept her ideas to herself and smiled at all the lovely weddings of each of her friends, deep down, Clarissa knew she’d never marry. She’d seen the kinds of marriages that existed in high society and she wanted nothing to do with it. Oh, she hoped and believed in love. Completely. She desperately hoped she’d one day fall in love, but not to marry. No, her relationship would have to remain outside the bounds of matrimony. Why ruin a perfectly good relationship by marrying? Her father had done it four times. What a waste of good energy.

Scanning the crowds, she was slightly taken aback when she realized that the man she’d been hoping desperately to see hadn’t arrived yet. This was horrible, she thought to herself. She touched the slender strap of her dress nervously, feeling awkward as more of the other guests started to notice her off to the side. She’d been counting on finding him immediately. In her dream world, she arrived, saw him immediately, he’d take one look at her in the dress and walk over to where she was standing. His eyes would fire with desire and he would gently take her into his arms and whisper in her ear how much he wanted to make love to her.

Another guest came over and greeted her, another air kiss and more inane chatter. All the time, Clarissa was going through the various fantasies of how she’d wished this evening would have progressed. Okay, she thought to herself as she only partially listened to the people around her and the music, some of the details seem a little cheesy and unrealistic. She knew that it wouldn’t be that easy and she’d rehearsed a speech just in case she had to lay out to him in a more obvious way what she was hoping to happen between the two of them. But all of her speeches ended in the same way, with him picking her up in his arms, overcome with passion and he would carry her off to his bed and….she cleared her mind and re-focused on the party, hating the way some of the men looked her up and down, smilingly lasciviously in her direction.

He just had to come to the party,