She shook her head.
“No, I don’t think that it would be appropriate.”
“Natasha Bailey, the work you are doing here is amazing and judging by the person who recommended you to me, you are one of the top rated web designers in the city,” he said. “I will not take no for an answer.”
She looked at him and smiled.
“Fine. I wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side with a new client.”
“Which reminds me,” Matthew said as he pulled out an envelope from under his coat. “I printed out the contract and everything looked perfect. So, I thought I would bring it today and get that put of the way.”
She took the envelope and put it in her bag with her laptop.
“Thanks for this.”
“You’re welcome,” he said as the waiter put two menus on the table. “Actually, I don’t need this. I will be having a pepper steak with a side of herb potatoes.”
“Yes, sir,” the waiter said. “And you, miss?”
Natasha sighed loudly as she looked at the menu.
“I don’t know…maybe a surf and turf?” she asked, and the waiter nodded.
“Of course,” the waiter said before he walked off, leaving them together at the table.
“So, how does a man become a millionaire in his thirties?” she asked, and he smiled.
“You looked me up?” he asked as she reached for her wine.
“Well, apparently the whole world knows who you are except for me.”
He looked at her as she took a sip of her wine.
“What is that supposed to mean?” he asked.
“When you came to the office, Travis, my intern, told me that you were the Mark Zuckerberg of travel blogs, so I figured that you had to be a pretty big deal and then I looked you up.” She took another sip. “You were not that hard to find.”
“Actually, I like to think that Mark Zuckerberg is the Matthew Leander of social media, but hey,” he said, smiling.
“Self-absorbed much?” she asked, laughing, her dimpled cheeks showing.
“Well, we are not that different except for the fact that he makes probably a thousand times what I make,” he said, and she laughed again.
“You still haven’t answered my question,” she said. “How does a young man like you make all this money?”
“I don’t know. Luck?” he started. “I was kind of tired of always looking forward to go somewhere and never knowing which hotels were cheaper or which places to avoid. So, I started a blog that had information I would have wanted to have when I was planning to travel to some place new. Best hotels on a budget, what places you should try out, the best food, flights recommendations, saving tips…and everything.”
She raised an eyebrow over the other.
“That’s it?” she asked. “That’s how you made your fortune?”
“My blog became more and more popular, and I began getting advertisers. At first, it was just a few bucks, maybe four hundred on a good month, but somehow, it just got better and more lucrative so much that I quit my day job and began travel blogging full time,” he went on.
“Do you regret it?” she asked, and he shook his head.
“Regret what?”
“Leaving your day job?”
He shook his head. “Becoming a professional blogger has allowed me to travel to places I would have never imagined by being a paper pusher.”
She raised an eyebrow over the other.
“A paper pusher?” she asked, and he nodded.
“I was working a desk job at an insurance company and I hated it,” he said, shaking his head. “And being there, I know for a fact that there is no way I would have ever seen the likes of Morocco and Cambodia.”
“I envy you,” she said, and he took a sip of his wine.
“Why?” he asked.
“You are doing what you love and having fun while doing it.”
“Don’t you love web design?” he asked, and she nodded.
“Well, I do, but I wish I had the freedom to travel the world.”
“You can. All you have to do is want it hard enough,” he said, and she smiled.
“Oh, I want it alright. But I have to stay back here in Boston and work so that the lights can stay on. You know,” she said.
“So, you have never been out of the country?” he asked, and she shook her head.
“No. I have been dying to experience all the different cultures out there. Especially India.”
“You would love to visit India some day?” he asked, and she nodded.
“Everything I see about India is pretty amazing. The food, the people…” She sighed and took another sip of her wine. “I would say that India is my all-time favorite country.”
“Tell you what,” he started. “I am leaving for Italy in a few days. How about you come and visit me out there?”
She raised an eyebrow over the other.
“Leaving Boston?” she asked and he nodded.
“Just for a few days. Maybe a couple of weeks tops.”
She took a long deep breath as the waiter came back with their food.
“So, what do you say?” he asked as the waiter placed their food in front of them.
“I don’t know…” she started.
“Come on, you said you want to experience culture, and Italy is as cultural as it gets,” he said. “I’ll even show you around.”
Natasha looked at him for a long time, obviously wondering what she was supposed to say. He could see it in her eyes that she was tempted. That she wanted to say yes but was fighting against herself, so hard.
“Come on, Bailey. Maybe then I will get to know who you are since it is not like there is a Wikipedia page in your name that my intern can check out.”
She smiled.
“You could always ask about me?” she said as she picked up her fork and knife. “I would tell you anything and everything you want to know.”
He picked up his own knife and fork and began cutting a piece of his steak.
“So, if I asked you now, what made you get into web design, you would tell me?” he asked, and she nodded.
“Maybe,” she said before she took a bite of her own steak.
He smiled at her and shrugged as he took a bite of his food.
“What?” she asked. “Was that some kind of open question?”
“Depends,” he said, and she shook her head.
“On what?”
“If it was, would you answer?” he asked, and she bit her lower lip.
“Depends. What do you want to know?”
“How about…why web design?” he asked, and she took a long deep breath.
“I love it, and I can do it away from people.”
“People?” he asked, and she nodded.
“A few years ago, I worked for an IT company. One of the biggest companies in the state. And it was great until…” Her voice trailed off and she shook her head. “Let’s just say that something happened and I ended up preferring my own company rather than a whole lot of people. So, I quit and started Big Ideas, and I haven’t looked back since.”
He was looking right into her eyes as she took a bite of her food. He wanted to press her for more information. Find out what had happened that was so bad she had decided to work alone. Live alone.
Live and work in absolute solitude.
But he knew better than to press her to talk about something she obviously wasn’t ready to. He took a long sip of his wine.
“You should really consider coming up to my place in Italy,” he said, and she shook her head.
“Your place?” she asked. “I thought you were going to stay at a hotel.”
“I have a villa out there. It was easier to have my own place rather than stay in hotels every single time I travel,” he said matter of factly. “And it has plenty of room. So, you can be in there and I wouldn’t even notice.”
She smiled.
“Is that supposed to be tempting me?” she asked, and he shrugged.
> “Is it working?” he asked and she forced out a laugh.
“Maybe.”
*****
Over the next few days, Natasha was literally buried in work juggling between the B-CAH job and Matthew’s website. By the end of the week, she was exhausted, but she was happy that her clients were happy with her work. She had even made time to go watch the B-CAH rehearsals that weekend. And she was enjoying one of the performances at the back of the Boston University auditorium when she heard her phone vibrate in her bag. She reached for it and gasped silently when she saw the email that had just come in. It was an alert from her bank showing her just how much Matthew had transferred to her account.
When he said that he was going to pay her market value for the work he had contracted him to do, she thought he was just going to give her a couple of hundred bucks over what he was supposed to. Maybe a thousand dollars at most. But he had paid her almost six times what she had quoted. And even though she wanted to send it back, she knew that it was redundant because he was only going to send it back to her.
She began texting him as she leaned back in her chair.
This is way too much.
She waited for him to text back as she watched the children on stage singing. It only took a few minutes before he texted back.
I told you I would pay you what you are worth. And I am a man who keeps his word.
A smile played on her lips as she began typing again.
Well, your word is pretty expensive.
She bit her lower lip and took a long deep breath wondering what she was supposed to do now that someone had decided to give her so much when her phone vibrated again.
I like to think of it as ‘valuable.’
She was no longer paying attention to the performance. Her mind was solely focused on the back and forth texting. She was still trying to figure out what to say next when another text from Matthew came in.
What do you say to dinner?
She smiled as she began typing.
Didn’t you say you were going to Italy or something?
It was only a few minutes before he texted back.
I am. Which is why it would make a lot of sense if I offered you Italian for dinner.
She took a long deep breath and shook her head. She had not taken a vacation in almost five years and everything she knew and remembered about vacations, she didn’t have anymore. She didn’t have any dresses or cute sandals to frolic in the sun in and she sure as hell didn’t have the personality for it. Or at least she thought. She looked down at her phone when another text came in.
Don’t leave me hanging, Bailey. What do you say?
She took a long deep breath and began typing again.
“You only live once,” she thought to herself as she sent the text.
If I considered dinner, would Matt the Nomad have any recommendations regarding flights?
Natasha forced out a laugh when he texted her back.
I will personally send you my own favorites.
Chapter 5
When Natasha’s flight landed in Leonardo Da Vinci Airport in Italy, she was still not so sure she had done the right thing by just packing and leaving on a whim. She had not even bothered to tell Travis that she was leaving the country. Her heart was racing as she went through customs all the while wondering why she had just flown eleven hours from her comfort zone to another country. Another strange place that she knew nothing about except for what she saw in the movies.
She was still wallowing in self-doubt when she saw Matthew waiting for her in the arrival terminal, holding up a sign with her name on it. She walked towards him as she pulled her suitcase behind her. A smile played on her lips as she made her way to where he was. And even though she didn’t realize it then, just seeing him there had taken care of all her fears.
“I thought the sign would be a nice touch just in case you didn’t remember what I looked like,” he said, and she forced out a laugh.
“I think you were right to bring a sign,” she said as he took a step forward and held her cheek, sending chills down her spine. He was looking right into her eyes and standing a little too close. So close to her she could feel his breath on her skin. He lowered his face and for a second there, she felt her heart skip a beat. She was not so sure if he was going to kiss her or not. And she could not even take a step back because for some reason, her muscles were not working the way she would have wanted. All she could do was close her eyes, and Matthew kissed her cheek softly. It was a simple kiss, but he lingered there making her heart beat just a little faster.
“I never thought I would see you again this soon,” he said, and she smiled.
“Well, I had nothing to lose and someone paid me a whole lot more than I expected so I thought I would treat myself,” she said, and he nodded.
“Sounds like a great client,” he said as he took her suitcase from her. “Come on. I’m sure you must be exhausted,” he added as he led her to the waiting town car. “The villa is just a few minutes away. Maybe half an hour’s drive,” he explained as the car began driving away. She looked at him and nodded as she rubbed her temple. She so badly needed a nice long sleep. He was still talking to her, but she was not really listening. And it was not from lack of interest either. She wanted to hear what he had to say, but she was too exhausted to hear anything. By the time they got to his villa, she had already dozed off. It felt like she had closed her eyes for a second before she opened them again to find herself in the driveway right in front of Matthew’s villa. She woke up when she felt his hand on her cheek.
“I’m sorry,” she said as her eyes fluttered open. “I must have dozed off.”
“Yes, you did, and it is all perfectly understandable. You had a long flight after all,” he said.
She pulled away and looked out the window.
“We’re here already?” she asked in a still sleepy voice, and he smiled, nodding.
“Yeah. But I think I will just show you to your room and you can rest up for a little while, huh?” he asked as he got out of the car and helped her out.
“I thought that not sleeping on the plane and keeping awake for the last three hours before I travelled would be enough to reset my internal clock, but I guess I was wrong,” Natasha said, and he laughed.
“Rookie mistake,” he said. “Always go with the flow.”
He led her upstairs to one of the rooms on the right and then stood there, leaning against the door.
“Go on. Rest up. I’ll be downstairs when you wake up,” he said, and she looked at him.
“Are you sure?” she asked as she walked towards the bed.
“I’m sure,” Matthew said, smiling.
*****
Natasha’s flight touched down at four in the afternoon, and considering she had not had any rest since she left Boston, Matthew understood her need to rest as soon as they got to the villa. He had asked his chef to prepare dinner, but in the back of his mind, he kept on wondering what he should have gone with. He did not know her so well, so he was not sure what she would prefer. It had taken him almost an entire hour to finally decide on chicken.
Chicken marsala to be exact. Chicken marsala and a side of risotto.
He was updating his website when Natasha walked into the living room that overlooked the lit well-manicured lawn and pool.
“You have quite the scenery out here,” she said making him look up from his laptop. He smiled and nodded.
“It’s nice and peaceful. Away from the city life and buzz,” he said as he placed the laptop on the coffee table in front of him.
“Well, you definitely got your money’s worth if that is what you were looking for,” she said as she walked towards him. She was in a bathrobe, and he could not help but wonder if she had anything else underneath. “I hope you don’t mind, I took a bath after I woke up. I was just too tired.”
“Of course I don’t mind. Mi casa es su casa.”
He got up and walked up to where she was. He could not help but recogniz
e just how beautiful she looked. Her curls, which were usually held up in a ponytail, were hanging loose, framing her face, and that white bathrobe was a good enough fit to outline her perfectly contoured body.
“You know, I never saw that bathrobe look this good,” Matthew said in a soft voice, and she bit her lower lip, hiding the fact that she was blushing.
“Do you say that to all the women who put on this bathrobe?” she asked, and he shook his head.
“No, just the ones I beg to join me here,” he joked. “I hope you are hungry. Dinner is still warm.”
“Actually, I am starving,” she said, and he smiled.
“Good.” He took her hand and led her to the table which had been set for two. “I was a little skeptical because I was not very sure what you would like…so I just went with chicken.”
“You can never go wrong with a chicken dish,” she said as he pulled her chair out for her.
“So, not even chicken marsala?” he asked as he placed a plate in front of her.
She looked down at her plate and then looked up at him.
“This looks delicious,” she said. “Did you make this?”
He shook his head.
“My chef Fabio made it. He is quite the whiz when it comes to the kitchen,” he said as he took a seat opposite her. “What?” he asked when he noticed that she was looking at him with an eyebrow raised over the other.
“You have a private chef?” she asked, and he nodded. “I guess Travis was right about you. You are the Mark Zuckerberg of travel blogs.”
“Uh-uh.” He put his finger up, and she smiled.
“Yeah, yeah. Mark Zuckerberg is the Matthew Leander of social media,” she said, laughing. “You can really be full of yourself, you know? Has anyone ever told you that?”
He laughed as he poured two glasses of chardonnay.
“Actually, I have heard that a whole lot over the years. But it doesn’t really bother me because I can afford to be full of myself. I am my own man after all,” he said, and she nodded. “I know I sound kind of like an asshole and believe me that is not what I am trying to do here.”
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