The room was quiet apart from the sound of seconds dragging by. Then, at last, ten minutes were up. She shouldered her backpack, set off briskly up the steps to the yard and reached the service lift unchallenged.
It was only when the doors shut that, perhaps as a consequence of Benedetta not feeling it necessary to go to the expense of air conditioning in a lift that only the staff would use, she realised she smelled disgustingly of beer and coffee and milkshake. She’d almost forgotten about coming into violent contact with Davide’s tray. Yuck.
When Levi let her into his room she asked, ‘Do you mind if I use your shower? I’ve begun to smell like the slops tray.’
He grinned as he made a ‘be my guest’ gesture towards the bathroom door. ‘Not just begun, to be honest.’
‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ She made an embarrassed dive towards the bathroom, shut the door and threw off her clothes. The shower, being for guests rather than for lowly staff, flowed beautifully. She piled her hair up on top of her head and stood beneath the soothing spray for several minutes, trying to encourage her resentment to wash down the drain along with the soapy water.
So what if her uncle didn’t want to get to know her? So what if her job had ended ahead of schedule? Changing plans was doable for the independent, travelling, single person. Thanks to the sale of the home she’d shared with Aldo she wouldn’t starve, even if she didn’t get a job for a month. Six months. More. She’d been saving that money for if she ever wanted to return to the UK and get herself a degree but that could wait. She’d done OK without one so far.
She felt better when she finally turned off the water and took a towel from a rail. She was clean and fresh and if necessary she’d sleep on Amy’s floor tonight … except, damn, that had the potential to get Amy into trouble. But she could scarcely ask for help from her Uncle Gianni, she reflected bitterly.
After getting out of the shower and drying herself, she woke up to the fact that her clothes were in her suitcases in Levi’s room. She wrapped the towel around herself, opened the door and peeped round. Levi was propped up against the head of his bed doing something on his laptop. ‘Um, I need to get some clothes,’ she murmured.
He glanced up. ‘Sure.’ Then his gaze returned to her for a more leisurely perusal, making her wonder whether the towel was quite so all-enveloping as she’d thought. From the sharpening of his gaze she felt as if he could see right through it.
She crouched down, trying to keep her towel in place with her chin as she fumbled with the zip of her case. Hearing the sound of his laptop snapping shut she peeped from the corner of her eye, only to see that he was now openly watching. Scrabbling through her case because it was really hard to find anything in the heap, she felt her face scalding as first she located knickers and a bra then, fumbling, dropped them onto the floor and had to snatch them up.
Levi laughed, low and deep in his throat. ‘You’re being coy for a woman who’s hinted that if things had been different I would have been a candidate for her first one-night stand.’
Sofia froze in the act of trying to hide her non-matching underwear inside the dress she’d selected because it was near the top of the heap. Heat swept over her from top to toe.
‘I could turn my back or leave the room while you dress,’ he went on, his voice making the back of Sofia’s neck prickle. ‘Or, if I’m making you that uncomfortable, I’m prepared to try and book you a room somewhere. But before doing any of that, I really do want to point out—’ his pause grew long before he finished softly ‘—that things are different now.’
Slowly, Sofia straightened up, her clothes scattering around her feet. Though the damp towel was cooling, her temperature was climbing. He was right. She was no longer a member of staff. Her mouth went dry at the possibilities that flashed into her mind.
When she didn’t speak and didn’t move, Levi waited. And waited. Making it obvious that it was her decision. All down to her.
Slowly, clutching the towel, she took a step towards him. Two.
In moments Levi had dumped his laptop, swung his feet to the floor and was there, the clean scent of him reaching out to her. Her heart went crazy, launching itself around her ribcage and bouncing all the air out of her lungs. She looked up at him and, slowly, he smiled, as if her eyes had already said what her voice hadn’t.
Because he was closing in to kiss her.
As the blood pounded in her ears, his lips found hers and she angled her head, noticing how well, how easily, they fitted together. He made a hoarse noise in the back of his throat and his arms dropped around her to scoop her up against the hardness of his body.
Sofia could scarcely control her breathing. Groaning, she pressed against him, finding the ridge of his arousal, rising up on tiptoe, savouring the feel of him, of his tongue stroking hers, getting every last atom of pleasure out of the kiss and only dimly aware of her towel slipping.
Levi’s hands began travelling over the skin the departing towel exposed, learning the curve of her spine and then the roundness of her buttocks. She gasped. It was as if the whole world had gone away but, before it left, set every one of her nerve endings on fire.
If she’d ever thought a one-night stand – or even one-afternoon stand – would be hurried and shallow, it seemed as if Levi was setting out to prove her wrong. Every movement was slow – except when he pulled away to ditch his T-shirt in a single rapid movement.
She slid her hands over his naked back, gasping as her breasts went skin-on-skin against his chest, hearing him breathe her name.
‘Take down your hair,’ he muttered hoarsely. ‘I’ve never seen it loose.’
With shaking hands she located the band and clips and pulled them out. Her hair slithered free over her shoulders and down her back.
‘You’re beautiful.’ His fingers threaded their way slowly through the mass as he nibbled her lips, her neck. She let her head tip back, sliding tentative fingers into his waistband, locating the button and zip.
‘Go on,’ he groaned. He was flushed, eyes glittering, obviously completely into the slow, erotic foreplay of undressing one another.
Breathlessly, she laughed. ‘Going to.’
Taking her time, she watched her fingers slowly undo the fastenings, test the texture of the skin beneath. Apart from the rapid rise and fall of his chest he was motionless, letting her take the lead.
She hooked her thumbs in his waistband and drew his cargo shorts and boxers down together until he sprang free and she could hold him against her, savouring his incredible heat as she rubbed him against the sensitive skin of her belly.
Levi shook his feet free of his clothes. Somewhere along the way her towel had hit the floor, she realised giddily as he swung her from her feet and headed for the bed. He laid her down and she had an instant’s awareness of the cool, crisp cotton of the sheet and then Levi was on her and it was his firm hot flesh that took all of her attention.
His mouth burned trails across the slope of her breasts. Her breath caught, her fingers in his hair as he gave her all of his focus, stoking her excitement with his tongue, his lips, his hands.
He’d settled himself between her legs and she thought she’d go mad with frustration as he pressed against her but didn’t enter. Tilting her pelvis, she reached down for him.
‘Slooooooow down, Sofia. Let’s make it intense,’ he whispered, his breath cooling her skin where he’d just licked it. He rocked gently, maddeningly against her, not leaving room for her hand to slip between them again. ‘I’ve barely started exploring. We’ve got until six o’clock.’ He consulted a small clock on the bedside. ‘And it’s only one.’
Sucked into this world of sensation, she gave herself up to the feel of Levi’s body on hers, his teeth raking gently down her neck or pulling at her earlobe while she embarked upon an exploration of her own, enjoying the hard planes of his body, the silky hair that dusted his skin. Now she’d slowed down to his satisfaction, he gave her full access, groaning when she made him twitch in her hand
s, his eyes all but rolling back in his head when she pushed him onto his back so she could take him in her mouth.
Finally, he leaned over to drag a bag from beneath the bedside table and fumble until he found a condom. He rolled it on and brought her over on top of him. ‘Now,’ he murmured and finally, slowly, she slid him inside her.
And then they stopped the slow stuff and raced for the line.
Afterwards, while her breathing returned to normal, Sofia lay half on Levi and half tangled in the sheets, boneless, heavy, damp, her cheek against his chest as she listened to his still-hurrying heart. Her hair was sticking to her skin and to his. She scooped it up and tucked it back behind her shoulder.
He lay on his back, one arm about her and his hand cupping her buttock as he nestled her closer. ‘You know we have to do this all again soon?’
‘Sounds good, but why?’ she murmured, eyes closed.
‘Because I want to be your one-night stand but it’s only—’ he turned his head towards the clock ‘—four-thirty. A one-afternoon stand doesn’t count.’
She laughed, a tingle walking slowly down her spine. ‘But I’ve got to talk to Amy when she comes off shift at six,’ she reminded him. ‘I’ve no idea what to say to her.’
Instantly, he sobered. ‘What did she mean when she mentioned Spain?’ Dropping a kiss on her hair he disentangled himself enough to half-roll out of bed and reach a door beneath the dressing table that proved to be a mini fridge stocked with several bottles of cold water. He handed her one and they rearranged themselves so they could drink.
Sofia gave a ‘Mmm’ as the chilly liquid slid silkily down her throat. ‘To be honest, I thought going on to Spain together was just one of those subjects you play with over a glass of wine.’ Then her phone began to ring. ‘Hang on.’ She abandoned the conversation to swing her legs over the side of the bed and search for her handbag amidst the mess on the floor.
He let his hand trail down her back. ‘Do you think she knew that?’
Sofia sighed. ‘I thought so, but …’ She located her bag beneath the open lid of her case, fished out her phone, stared at the lit screen and pulled a face. ‘It’s Benedetta. Whatever she wants can wait.’ She didn’t intend to let their afterglow be dimmed by Benedetta’s latest gripe. The ringtone ceased and the screen gradually dimmed as she rolled back into bed, settling against Levi to enjoy the feel of his skin. ‘If Amy thinks the plans we made were in earnest then it’ll be horrible for her if I leave alone.’ Though, right this second, still boneless from Levi’s lovemaking, she shied away from making plans to go at all. Trying to find another job in Montelibertà was a possibility but saying it out loud might make Levi think she was making today something it wasn’t, especially as his life was far away from here in a small town in the middle of England. ‘I take it you’re not ready to come clean with Amy?’
He breathed in sharply, his chest inflating and his stomach hollowing beneath its scattering of golden hair. ‘I didn’t think the decision could get any harder – but what if you two go off? Can I let her go without telling her? On the other hand, will she fly off the handle and vanish somewhere on her own if I do? My biggest fear is her encountering someone who’s even more of a creep than Davide and not having friends around her …’ He kicked restlessly at the sheet. ‘Maybe I should ring Freya and Stephen again, but they don’t seem to see the way through this any more clearly than I do. None of us has experience of the situation.’
Sofia’s heart lurched. ‘I suppose I could hang on for a few days but that’s only putting off—’
Her phone began to ring again, Benedetta flashing on the screen. Mentally girding her loins, she grabbed it from the bed, pressed the green phone icon and lifted the handset to her ear. ‘Pronto.’ Sofia had no problem with Italian on the phone. She’d got used to conversations with Aldo while she cooked in the kitchen, unable to see the movement of his lips or pick up clues from his expression while he lay in the dining room they’d made into a bedroom.
Benedetta sounded formal and wary. ‘I would like to talk to you. Please come to my office.’
Surprised, Sofia took a swig from her water bottle. ‘If you just want to scream at me again, then no thanks. I’ve cleared my room. You can calculate my remaining wages and put the money in my account.’
Benedetta made an impatient noise. ‘I have something to offer you but I’d prefer to do it in a civilised way, in person.’
Although intrigued now, Sofia made herself sound offhand. ‘I suppose that would be OK. I could be in your office in half an hour but I need to be free at six.’
‘Fine.’ Benedetta’s voice was clipped but she ended the call with no further objections.
Sofia relayed an English version of the conversation to Levi. ‘I think she was a bit irked that I didn’t rush straight down to hang on her every word. But I need another shower.’
Instantly, the slight frown he’d been wearing vanished as a lazy smile took over his face. ‘You don’t think the just-got-out-of-bed-after-an-afternoon-of-fantastic-sex look will be helpful?’
She laughed as she made for the bathroom but she felt a tingle of something down her spine at the word ‘fantastic’. So it wasn’t just her who’d thought so.
Chapter Twelve
For Amy the afternoon dragged. She was awarded an extension to her half-hour break as she’d had no opportunity to organise anything to eat around her shift and, feeling the need for solitude, she used it to wander down the hill to buy a vegetable calzone from the little kiosk then perch on a wall in a patch of shade to eat it.
If Sofia was leaving, Amy was leaving, she decided, though her heart thumped at the idea of beginning somewhere new when she was almost settled in Italy. But Amy didn’t want to be here without Sofia; Davide was a weirdo and Benedetta was a rules freak.
An unexpected wave of homesickness swept over her, but when she tried to imagine returning home to Germany all she felt was misery. Losing her appetite, she threw the rest of the calzone to a hungry-looking brown dog in a nearby garden. The dog sniffed it then looked at her with a what is THIS? expression.
‘Sorry, I would have bought chicken if I’d known I was going to give it to you.’ She slid off the wall and dusted the back of her dress.
The dog gave a forgiving wag of its tail and settled down to trying to eat the cheese and spit out the veg.
‘Eat up, little dog. You look too thin.’ Then Amy felt sorry for saying that because people often told her she was ‘too thin’, as if she could help it. She thought of all the times her dad – Stephen – had put his arms round her and said, ‘Don’t take any notice. You’re exactly right as you are.’ Which made tears fill her eyes to remember the last time she’d seen him and her mum, everyone mouldy and angry at each other, and Amy screaming and crackling and banging so no one could get near.
The dog was just sniffing the spat-out vegetables as if checking it hadn’t left anything edible behind when a woman came out of the house and noticed the mess on her garden path. She planted her hands on her hips and demanded something of the dog and then of Amy, in tones of outrage.
‘Scusi. Inglese,’ Amy muttered as she backed off. The dog put its head down and slunk into the house and Amy, assuming much the same demeanour, stole off up the hill back to Casa Felice.
When six o’clock finally came around she could hardly wait for Matteo to arrive to take over her section before dragging off her apron, so keyed up was she in case Sofia hadn’t kept her word and had cleared her stuff and gone. She skirted the car park and crossed the utility yard, holding her breath because of the whiff from the bins.
But relief broke over her as she cleared the yard gate and found Sofia sitting on the grass outside the staff garden. She was talking to Levi, who lounged on the grass beside her, but she got up when she saw Amy, brushing dry grass stalks from her blue and gold summer dress.
‘Hiya.’ Sofia gave her a big smile. Her hair was loose and hung down her back. ‘Do you have plans tonight? Or do you f
ancy dinner with us down in the town?’
Amy actually did have plans to meet Noemi but she could easily text her and push them back. She didn’t want Sofia leaving Montelibertà without her. ‘Have I got time to change?’
‘Of course.’ Sofia seemed very smiley for somebody who’d been given the boot. Her earlier, red-faced, flashing-eyed anger had completely vanished.
Levi just stood, thumbs hooked lightly in his pockets, smiling slightly. Amy gave him a shy smile and rushed off to her room to change. She liked Levi and didn’t mind that he seemed to be included in the dinner thing.
Quarter of an hour later she felt much cooler in a blue polka dot playsuit and could enjoy the walk down into Montelibertà, the worst of the heat having gone out of the sun. Levi knew a restaurant that wasn’t too expensive, which was good, because Amy was still getting used to not having parents around to pay for her. Levi offered but Amy, following Sofia’s lead, opted to pay her own way.
Sofia said the place was a tavola calda. You queued up at a cabinet full of food and decided how many things you wanted. The server wrote it down, tore the order from her pad and you took it to pay at a till, then took the receipt back to claim your food. It seemed remarkably easy on the servers compared with charging about Il Giardino with a heavy tray up on your shoulder.
Once you had your food, if you were Italian, it seemed, you stayed indoors where there was air conditioning. If you were British or American you carried your tray outside and sat in the garden under a cane parasol and did battle with the heat and the flies.
Sofia, though half Italian, headed out into the garden. Once they’d unloaded their trays – beer and pizza for Levi, white wine and pasta with salad for Sofia, Aperol Spritz and lasagna for Amy – they sat down to eat.
Unable to contain her impatience, Amy launched her first question before she’d even tasted her lasagna. ‘So what’s been going on? Are you sacked? What was it about, anyway?’
Sofia chewed and swallowed a mouthful of pasta. ‘I was sacked for swearing loudly at my uncle in Il Giardino.’ Between mouthfuls, Sofia regaled her with the story of what her uncle had said to make Sofia lose her temper.
One Summer in Italy Page 12