by Melissa Hill
‘I hope you don’t mind, but I ordered a bottle of red to get us started.’
Annie paused a little. She really should refuse, given her vow not to drink too much and risk losing the run of herself altogether by behaving like a lush in front of him. She wanted to say no, but the eager look on his face made her change her mind.
This was their first proper date, after all. She didn’t want to ruin it by coming across like a goody-two-shoes.
‘Perfect.’ She smiled as he poured her a glass.
‘So how’s your week been?’ he asked, and Annie was surprised to find he actually seemed interested to know. Again, most guys she’d been with couldn’t be arsed with polite conversation – or indeed conversation full stop, she thought wryly. ‘How’s your friend after her accident?’
‘She’s great – taking it easy, but that’s no hardship in a spot like this.’ She was also touched that he’d asked after Colette. Just went to show that not only did he really listen to her, he also cared about what she said, and wasn’t just out for what he could get.
Though, she thought with a grin, she kind of hoped that he was interested in that too …
‘Must say I’m still impressed that you’re a solo traveller,’ he went on. ‘Though I can’t quite imagine taking off on holiday on my own, I can see the attraction in getting time to yourself. The boys are great, but can be a bit full-on …’ He shrugged. ‘It’s nice to get away and do my own thing for a bit.’
‘I get you. Though it’s been sort of the opposite for me. I came to Italy alone but I’ve made some friends since I’ve been here.’ She grinned. ‘Yourself included.’
‘I’m not surprised – you’re obviously the sociable type.’ Then he reached across the table to touch her hand. ‘And I’m very glad you chose to socialise with me, though I rather hoped you might consider me a bit more than a friend …’
A delicious thrill snaked up Annie’s spine at his touch, and she was sorry when shortly afterwards their primi arrived and the moment was broken.
Despite the hokey surroundings, the meal was incredible. Harry’s posh upbringing had obviously made him well-versed in food and wine, and Annie was enjoying the fruits of his expertise.
On his recommendation, she opted to forgo the Italian old reliables on offer and instead try a French cassoulet, enjoying the rich mix of white beans, duck legs, and melt-in-the-mouth pork. He, in turn, decided on tartiflette, a savoury potato dish with cheese, bacon and onions.
For dessert they shared chocolate mousse and clafoutis, a kind of berry-filled cake covered in a flan-like batter. Followed, of course, by two shots of limoncello, which, Annie noted, they pretty much handed out like water in these parts.
She guessed she was probably going to put on at least half a stone with the richness of this meal but for once she didn’t care.
Now she grinned as Harry fed her some of the clafoutis and she practically purred over the sweetness and the lightness of the crust.
‘Told you you’d like this place.’ He smiled as he watched her. ‘Now hurry up and finish that wine, there’s somewhere else I want to take you.’
She raised a curious eyebrow in his direction. ‘Where?’
‘You’ll see,’ he insisted mysteriously, calling the waitress over for the bill.
Annie looked at her glass. It was her second – or was it third? It was hard to tell when the waiter kept topping them up and it was still quite a way full.
With that and the limoncello, she was already feeling a nice buzz and didn’t want to run the risk of knocking it back too quickly – especially on top of all that rich food.
She was kind of sorry he wanted to rush off, too; she was really enjoying their conversation, and the opportunity of getting to know him properly without his mates in the mix.
‘Just going to nip to the loo while you finish that,’ he said, dropping a credit card on top of the bill. ‘If the waitress comes back, tell her I’ll just be a sec, OK?’
‘Grand.’ Annie wondered if she’d get away with just leaving the rest of the wine behind, but she suspected it was an expensive choice, perhaps even vintage, so she’d better not.
Actually … She idly reached forward to check the bill for the price of the wine, glancing at Harry’s Visa card as she did so.
Then Annie’s heart started to beat a little faster as she noticed something that made her pause and then look twice.
Strange …
‘Ready?’
But she had no time to think about it any further as Harry had arrived back at the table and beckoned for the waitress to take payment.
Annie’s brain was reeling a little, both from the wine and what she’d just seen. Had she been imagining it? Granted it was so dark in here but …
She shrugged. There was probably a perfectly good explanation, or else she’d just got things wrong from the get-go.
As he put his arm around Annie’s shoulders and led her from the restaurant, everything else was very quickly forgotten.
Once outside, his hand slid down to hold hers, their fingers intertwining, and she smiled involuntarily. ‘Aren’t you going to tell me where we’re going?’
‘I’d rather show you,’ he replied mysteriously, continuing to lead her along. The pair walked along the streets beneath the olive trees, meandering off the main drag until a cliffside hotel just above Spiaggia Grande, the main beach, came into view.
Annie didn’t catch the name of it, not that she had much of a chance to, as Harry started to lead her down some steps cut into the side of the rock towards the beach.
She could hear the water lapping against the shore as they got closer to the sand.
‘Take off your shoes,’ he urged, as he began to slide his feet out of his own. He hooked them over his fingers and offered her the other hand for stability as Annie removed her heels.
Once off, she hooked the straps over her own fingers as they walked onto the sand. Thankfully, unlike Fornillo, the beach was less rocky underfoot and the damp grains immediately worked their way between her toes.
The cool water caressed their feet as they walked hand in hand along the shoreline. The usually packed beach was silent with no one around, only the faint noises from the hotels and restaurants up above.
Annie smiled headily. Now that she’d hit the air, the wine was very definitely affecting her.
He stopped then and turned to face her, pulling her into his arms. ‘Do you know how long I’ve waited to get you alone?’
Annie laughed lustfully. ‘And why’d you want to get me alone?’
He brushed an errant strand of hair from her face. ‘Why wouldn’t I want to have the most gorgeous woman in Italy all to myself?’
She had to laugh. ‘In all of Italy, huh?’
His hand slid around her waist and then up behind her neck as he pulled her closer, moulding her to his body. ‘More than just Italy, even,’ he whispered before his lips met hers.
The water cooled her feet as the rest of Annie’s body automatically started to ignite.
Annie. Control yourself.
She could hear the words in her head but they didn’t seem to be getting any further than that as she kissed him back.
She didn’t want to take control. She knew it was crazy, but she was really falling for this guy. No, she’d already fallen. Hard.
‘OK,’ she said breathlessly when their lips finally parted. She leaned her forehead against his chest. ‘This is … intense.’
‘What d’you mean?’ he asked, kissing her neck again.
‘This is just a holiday thing, yeah?’ she said, between kisses.
‘Don’t worry about that now,’ he replied and Annie groaned as he kissed her neck again. ‘Right now you’re here with me and that is the only place my mind is. I really wish you’d just be here with me.’
Her eyes drifted back up to his face. ‘I don’t want to be anywhere else,’ she said, desire overwhelming her.
‘So don’t talk about it. You’re here wit
h me now and that’s all I want. Right this moment. Don’t you?’
Annie shivered at the intensity of his gaze and the power in his words.
‘Yes,’ she breathed before his lips silenced her. The passion in his kiss muddled her brain and sent all thoughts of caution scampering as her shoes dropped from her hand into the sand.
‘Come with me,’ he asked as they parted. He was as breathless as she was and the passion in his eyes was savage. He led them back along the beach towards the pier and Annie followed, her eyes wide, wondering if he was actually planning on an al fresco shag.
‘Hang on a second. Where are you going? We can’t … Not here.’
‘Not the pier,’ Harry answered with a grin. ‘To the hotel … My room.’
Nice one …
Her limbs trembled with desire as they climbed back up the stone steps and hurried to the hotel.
In the lift, he wrapped himself around her, kissing her with such intensity that she felt like hitting the emergency stop button and going at it there and then.
This was probably going way too fast but she couldn’t stop it. And what else was new? Their heads were swimming and both were going under. She wanted him, desperately wanted to be with Harry.
Or whatever his name was.
Chapter 23
Then
‘You really don’t have to keep coming here,’ Colette argued for the thousandth time. ‘I’m fine now.’ She sat rigidly on the tatty old sofa in the living room, while Luca brought her food.
She appreciated his efforts but she was sure the man had better things to do.
When Luca smiled it was like the clouds opening on an overcast day, and suddenly the sun came through in full force, making everything brighter.
Colette couldn’t help but study him as he moved. He was so cool and authoritative in everything he did. The way he walked with long calm strides. The controlled way he moved to unpack the tray of food he’d brought with him.
However, what really got her was the way he looked at her. His dark eyes seemed to peel back all of her defences and cut straight through to what was beneath.
‘I told you, I will be here until you are fully recovered,’ Luca insisted as he set a glass of water on a side table and took a seat on the sofa next to her. ‘Besides, I promised my aunt I would look after you. I would be in big trouble if I didn’t.’
Colette smiled. Yes, Mama Elene was sweet but fierce, she’d seen that much for herself. ‘I’m guessing she can be a bit of a drill sergeant,’ she joked.
‘I always thought her more of a general,’ Luca said as he set the tray on her lap and carefully arranged everything out in front of her. Colette had never been so well looked after in her entire life. Not even her mother had been this attentive when she was a child.
‘There is another reason I come,’ he said then.
‘What’s that?’
His dark eyes brightened a little as she met his gaze. ‘You.’
Colette felt as if her head was about to explode. She must have misunderstood. ‘What do you mean?’
He smiled again and took her hand in his. ‘I mean that I want to get to know you better, my English rose.’
‘I don’t understand,’ she said, slowly removing her hand from his. ‘Why?’
Her question seemed to amuse him as Luca began to chuckle. ‘You really don’t see yourself, do you?’
Her brow furrowed at his odd response. What did he mean she didn’t see herself?
‘Why wouldn’t I want to get to know you?’ he asked. He folded his arms over his chest and adjusted where he sat to make himself more comfortable. ‘Tell me. I’d love to hear it.’
Colette could feel the heat rising up through her body and she could only imagine what hue her cheeks had taken on as she fumbled for the right response to his question.
‘I’m just … not the kind of person someone like you notices,’ she began with a shrug of her shoulders.
‘And what kind of person do you think you are?’
That was a loaded question. Colette had to think for a moment. ‘Well, I’m not particularly outgoing, or gregarious like, say, Annie,’ she began. ‘And I’m not worldly or beautiful like Kim,’ she added softly. ‘I’m just … simple, I suppose.’
Luca smiled. ‘Usually the simplest things are the best things.’
Colette couldn’t help the reaction his response had on her. A large smile spread across her face.
‘And you’re wrong,’ he added a moment later.
‘About what?’
‘You are beautiful,’ he replied as he curled a strand of her hair around his finger and forced her chin up with another so that their eyes met. ‘Don’t ever say or think that you aren’t.’
There were wings inside her chest and knots inside her stomach as Colette sat there in amazement. The most gorgeous man she’d ever laid eyes on was telling her that she was beautiful. Maybe she’d hit her head harder than the doctor thought.
‘You don’t believe me?’
She shook her head. ‘Not particularly, sorry.’
‘It’s because you don’t see what I see,’ he replied as he leaned closer, one finger still entangled in her hair.
‘And what’s that?’ she asked as she swallowed the lump in her throat.
‘I see a brave woman with a caring heart. I see someone who has been through a lot and hasn’t let the hardship destroy her. I see someone who doesn’t know her own beauty because she thinks trappings like clothing, money, and colour from a bottle is what makes a woman beautiful. I don’t see any of that. I like my women in their natural state.’
Colette almost choked on her food. His women? Was he implying that he wanted her to be his woman?
Don’t get ahead of yourself. He’s just telling you what he likes.
Luca leaned in and, in a low voice, said, ‘Did you know that you blush a lot?’
‘Only around you, it seems.’
‘Why is that?’
Colette’s eyes tried to stay on his but the gaze he returned was just too intense for her. She shrugged. ‘I don’t know.’
‘I think you do,’ Luca replied. ‘I think you know a lot more than you pretend. You aren’t like your friends.’
‘What does that mean?’ she asked defensively. She hadn’t known Kim and Annie long, but in the short time that they’d been here she’d come to care a lot about them. Each was unique and wonderful in her own way.
‘I mean that your friends are who they are because of what they know and see. They aren’t their true selves,’ he replied.
‘How can you know that?’
‘I’ve learned to pay attention to people,’ Luca answered with a smile. ‘Plus, I have five sisters.’
‘Five?’ Colette repeated as her eyes grew large. How had he survived? She’d barely got through with one sister, far less five. She didn’t want to imagine what bathroom visits were like in his house when he was growing up. All that oestrogen, too.
‘Yes. I was the only boy and firstborn child. I had a great deal of responsibility on my shoulders.’
‘How did you manage?’
‘Very carefully,’ he chuckled. ‘I helped my father with his import business and my mother with my sisters until I graduated. Then I went on to get my business degree and follow in my father’s footsteps.’
‘Do you enjoy it? Business, I mean.’
‘Business is good. We do well with it.’
‘But you don’t love it, do you?’ Colette realised. She could hear it in his words. ‘What do you love to do? What is your passion, Luca?’
He smiled again as he took a forkful of food and raised it to her lips. ‘This,’ he said, and Colette opened her mouth to taste it. She hummed her approval. ‘You like it.’
‘I love it,’ she replied between chews, covering her mouth with her hands. ‘Mama Elene is such a great cook.’
‘My aunt didn’t make this for you,’ he replied simply. ‘I did.’
‘What?’ Colette raised an
eyebrow. There was no hiding her surprise this time. ‘You made this? But I thought …’
‘I’ve always loved to cook. Elene taught me everything I know.’
‘Then why didn’t you become a chef like her?’ Luca’s expression faltered then, and she knew she’d strayed into a sensitive area. ‘You don’t have to answer that if you don’t want to.’
‘It’s fine. I’ve spent the last few days getting to know you better. It’s only fair that you get to know me as well, no?’
Colette didn’t reply. If she said yes she might seem too eager, but if she said no it would be a lie. She wanted to know more about Luca. She wanted to know everything.
‘My father had plans for me. I had a mother and five sisters at home depending on me. I had to do what was right for them,’ he replied. ‘That’s how I know when a person isn’t being their true selves. Because I’m not.’
Colette refused the second forkful of food he offered. She leaned in closer as she studied his face. ‘Why? That must have been years ago surely. Why don’t you be who you want to be now?’
‘I still have my family to think of. My youngest sister is at school. It will be a few years until she’s ready and able to take care of herself.’
‘So until then, you do what you have to, just not what you love?’ Colette said sadly.
‘I will be responsible,’ Luca replied. Another forkful of food was directed to her mouth then and Colette duly accepted it. It was so delicious, perhaps even more so now that she knew he’d made it just for her.
‘Why do you feed me like that?’ she asked. ‘I can do it myself.’
‘Because I like to watch your eyes when you eat,’ Luca replied. ‘I like to watch your expressions when you taste what I’ve made. Especially now you know that I’ve made it.’
‘How many of my meals have you made?’
A mischievous glint reflected in Luca’s eyes but he didn’t respond. Instead, he fed her another bite.
‘All of them?’ she exclaimed.
‘Hush, do you want your friends to hear? They’ll think I’m doing something inappropriate in here.’
Heat flooded her chest and neck once more. ‘You really did all this for me?’