by Susan Meier
Disappointment filled him, but he quickly shook his head to clear it. What was wrong with him? He should be glad his one-on-one time with Morgan was done. He’d already had to berate himself for missing her when she went shopping with Nanna. He could not let them get close again.
Before he got the chance to say anything, Nanna directed the conversation to Morgan. She didn’t mind talking about her famous dad, making Riccardo’s family laugh with her misadventures as his hostess, or her years at boarding school in New England. Julia interjected a few stories about her boarding-school experience and Alonzo joined in.
When they retired in the sitting room for after-dinner drinks, Morgan huddled in with Julia, talking about friends and silly things they’d done as kids. Though Morgan had been told the story of Julia stealing Alonzo from Mitch, she never gave any indication that she knew. Riccardo’s dad continued the discussion of the neighboring vineyard that might come up for sale and suddenly it was almost midnight.
Morgan yawned. “Oh, my goodness. I didn’t realize how late it was getting.” She rose. “I think I’d best get myself to bed.”
Riccardo set down his drink. “I’ll walk you over.”
“There’s no need,” Morgan said with a smile. “I’ll use the time to unwind. It’s a beautiful night.”
“I insist.”
Nanna frowned at him, but he got an obvious nod of approval from his father and Santiago.
When they were outside, under the star-filled sky, she said, “It was nice of your uncle and dad to want to make sure I got back to the condo safely.”
Because she wasn’t looking at him, he rolled his eyes. The old coots were afraid she’d run and bring the wrath of her father down on them at harvest time. But she didn’t need to know that.
“They want all guests on the estate to be treated well.”
“In spite of your scandals, your family is very nice.”
“We’re just normal people.” He knew he wasn’t supposed to get into any deep, thoughtful conversations with her, but this was something she needed to hear. “Every family has things happen. The trick is to forgive and move on.”
“Yeah, well, it remains to be seen if my dad agrees.”
He winced and said, “He will,” but he let the conversation die. He already loved her laugh, missed talking to her and was seeing the real her, but he couldn’t—wouldn’t—get involved with another woman who needed him.
They reached the building, walked beneath the crystal chandelier in the lobby and into the elevator. The ride was short. In less than a minute, they were stepping into the corridor facing the doors to their condos. She walked to hers. He walked to his.
As she punched her security code into the keypad, she said, “I’m so confused about the time zones that I’m not even sure how long I’ve been up.”
She pressed the final button and opened the door, but before she could go into her room, he said, “Technically, the nap we took on the plane counts as last night’s sleep.”
“Yes. I wouldn’t have been able to keep up with Nanna if we hadn’t slept. And I’d have lost out on a great chance to see the light.”
“The light?”
She shrugged. “You know...the way. The path.”
He laughed. “What did you talk about with Nanna today?”
“My wedding. She asked about it. So, I told her.”
“You told her everything?”
“Yes. Riccardo—” Her voice softened and her eyes became liquid pools of blue. “After talking to your grandmother, I understand why you brought me here and I really, really appreciate it.”
He might not get involved with women on the rebound, but there was no denying that he liked Morgan. Especially her honesty. He didn’t get a lot of that in the superficial dating life he’d created for himself, and for the first time he realized how much he missed true intimacy.
When he didn’t say anything, she caught his gaze. “Maybe we’re both tired?”
He had to be. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be standing by yet another door with Morgan, wishing he could kiss her. Wishing he could comb his fingers through the thick strands of her hair. Wishing he didn’t have to walk away.
But he did. She might be the most honest woman he’d ever met, but she was about a week out of a serious relationship. Plus, he was still her keeper, still responsible for her to her father. If the Colonel didn’t like the idea of Riccardo not bringing her home, he’d probably explode if he thought the man he’d chosen to protect her wanted to seduce her.
He took another step back. “Good night.”
She smiled. “Good night.”
Everything inside him responded to that smile. The urge to kiss her rose, swift and urgent, a blinding need as sweet as it was desperate.
He forced himself to turn, to walk across the corridor and into his own condo.
CHAPTER SEVEN
A KNOCK AWAKENED Morgan the next morning. She grabbed her new pink satin robe and ran into the main living area of her condo. “I’m coming!”
Though it was foolish, she wished it was Riccardo. From the second he’d turned from his door and sauntered over to her the night before, her stomach had been in knots. Her chest had tightened. Her breaths felt shivery. He hadn’t seemed to be able to pull himself away from her, and she was absolutely positive he was going to kiss her.
Just the thought had been delicious. Scary, yet wanted. Her throat got so tight, she’d have paid every cent in her trust fund to swallow—
But for the second time, he hadn’t kissed her. He’d gone into his condo, leaving her with no choice but to enter hers, and the disappointment had been like an ache in her chest.
She’d tried to prevent her mind from jumping to the logical conclusion, but that was like telling her brain not to think of the color blue. The realization popped into her head like a neon light.
She liked him.
Not the way she’d liked Charles, the convenient, easy man who was always around. She liked Riccardo the way a woman was attracted to a man. A man who made her pulse skip and her insides quiver.
And he liked her, too. Enough to almost kiss her twice.
But when she answered the door, Nanna stood in front of a smiling man who pushed a cart with a tray of buttery croissants, a large bowl of fruit and a pot of coffee.
“I normally drink tea,” Nanna said, motioning for the tall man to bring in the cart. “But for you and Lila, I’m more than happy to join you with coffee.”
“That’s very sweet,” Morgan said, tightening the sash on her robe, fighting misery that made no sense. Even though it had been hard for Riccardo to walk away the night before, he had walked away. Maybe because he didn’t want to get involved with the daughter of one of his biggest clients? Maybe because he still saw himself as being responsible for her?
And that seemed wrong. Now that she had her bearings, she could as easily spend the time before her dad’s trip to Stockholm in Paris, and Riccardo would be off the hook. He did not need to be her keeper anymore. She was fine. She could leave.
Of course, if she left, she probably wouldn’t see Riccardo again. If something didn’t happen here in Spain, whatever was going on between them would be nothing but a few thoughts, a few almost kisses, a few nice conversations, easily forgotten when he got back to his real life in New York City.
“Are you okay, dear?”
Morgan’s head snapped up. “Yes. Yes. I’m fine. I was just thinking about when I go home.”
“Oh, honey. Of course you are.”
The gentleman with Nanna slid the cart beside the table that sat between the kitchen and the arrangement of the sofa and club chairs that formed the sitting area. Nanna thanked him in Spanish and he left.
Morgan’s training immediately kicked in and she said, “Please. Have a seat.”
Nanna sat at the far end of the
table. “Thank you.” She frowned. “Are you thinking about going home because you’re still afraid of talking to your dad?”
“No. Thanks to you, I have that all sorted out now,” Morgan said, as Nanna took a croissant and offered the plate to her.
The knife Nanna had picked up to butter her croissant stopped. “Then what?”
She didn’t think it appropriate to tell Nanna that just thinking about kissing her grandson made her shiver. So she said the first thing that popped into her mind.
“If I leave too soon I won’t get to meet Lila and I’d love to talk to her.”
“Why is that?”
“She grew up without her mom. Not the same way I did, but she still had to fend for herself, learn everything on her own. In all the thinking I’ve been doing since I ran from my wedding, I’m starting to wonder if I might have missed some things growing up without a woman to guide me.”
“What do you think you’ve missed?”
“Well...” She thought about the crazy, wonderful feeling in her stomach the night before when she and Riccardo stood looking at each other, not speaking about much of anything, but not able to walk away. If she’d had normal teenage years, a mother to ask questions and dates with men her father hadn’t chosen for her, she might have grabbed Riccardo’s shirt collar, pulled him down to her level and kissed him.
But she couldn’t tell his grandmother that.
Still, there were plenty of other things she’d missed out on. “Do you know I’ve never cooked beyond breakfast.”
Nanna’s face fell. “Seriously?”
“My last two years at university I had an apartment, but I really didn’t prepare meals except eggs and toast, pancakes, French toast. My dad had made breakfasts for us when the cook had days off. I’d learned the basics watching him.”
“And that’s it? That’s what you think you’ve missed?”
Embarrassed, she fumbled with her silverware. “That and a few other things that aren’t easily explained. After hearing about Lila, it just seems talking to her would help me get a bunch of things straight in my own brain.”
“She’ll be home in a few days.”
Morgan wasn’t sure she had a few days. Her head said the smart thing to do would be to leave, get Riccardo off the hook and hope they met again. The crazy feeling in her stomach told her to stay. Spend enough time with Riccardo that he might call her when they returned to the States.
“In the meantime, I could give you a cooking lesson or two.”
Morgan snapped back to reality. “I’m sorry. What?”
Nanna shot her a curious look. “I said I could give you a cooking lesson or two.”
If Morgan’s dad kicked her out and she ended up on her own, trust fund or not, she’d need to be able to cook more than eggs, but that hardly seemed like a reason to prolong her stay.
“Thanks, but...”
“I made these croissants.”
Morgan looked at the flakey croissants that had melted in her mouth. Even if she decided to leave, she still had a day or two of planning to get herself off the estate. She could probably request the use of a limo and go to an airport without having booked a flight—she still had Riccardo’s credit card to pay for a ticket—but that could mean hours waiting at the airport for the next flight to Paris.
And she couldn’t get help from Riccardo or anyone in his family. If her dad found out they’d known where she was going, he’d blame Riccardo. So she had to leave on her own. To do that she had to get access to a computer.
“I’ll show you my favorite websites to find recipes.”
Her brain perked up. “Websites?”
“I do everything on the computer these days.” She paused. “Actually, my tablet is much easier to keep on the counter while I’m cooking.”
“You work from a tablet?”
Nanny smiled. “Yes. I might be old but I’m not crazy. Computers are better.”
Maybe this was her answer to whether she should stay or go? If life was so easily going to give her access to the internet, maybe she was being nudged to leave.
“What time should I come to your residence?”
“First, we need to take a trip into town for your gown fitting. Then we can come back here and make our own lunch.”
“Here? In this condo? Not your kitchen?”
Nanna laughed. “The tablet’s portable.”
The relief of having access to the internet was briefly overshadowed by her hatred of deceiving Nanna, a smart woman who wouldn’t be easily fooled for long. But she didn’t want to give away her plan and risk making her dad angry with Nanna if he discovered she’d helped her. She had to act as if everything was fine.
“Sounds great.”
They finished their breakfast and Nanna left to get ready for the trip to the seamstress. A household employee arrived a minute later to get the breakfast cart. Glad her father had insisted she learn four languages, she smiled at the middle-aged man.
“With whom do I speak about arranging for a car to take me somewhere?”
Stacking the dishes to make pushing the cart easier, he said, “Dial three-four-seven on the phone and you will be connected to household services.”
That would get her off the vineyard to an airport. Now, all she had to do was get a ticket.
After the butler left, she showered and slid into a pretty blue dress and white sandals.
Happy, she picked up the big sun hat and sunglasses and walked out of her condo to meet Nanna for the dress fitting. As she pressed the elevator button, Riccardo’s door opened.
She turned with a smile, but when she saw he wore only a white bath towel knotted around his waist, her mouth dropped open.
“Where are you going?”
He was male perfection. Broad shoulders, muscular legs, strong thighs and a flat stomach. Her heart thumped in her chest.
This was why she couldn’t figure out what to do. She was absolutely getting feelings for Riccardo, and she believed he was getting feelings for her. Why else would he jump out of the shower to see her? But every time they got close, he pulled back. If she left now, he’d never contact her when they returned to the States.
Something had to happen between them. Something strong. Something important. So that he’d call her when they returned home—or she’d feel comfortable enough that she could call him.
“You’re not going off the estate, are you?” He tightened his hold on the towel at his waist, taking her eyes to his flat stomach.
She had to clear her throat before she could answer. “I’m having my gown for the ball fitted this morning. Nanna’s taking me.”
“Oh, okay. Good.”
Water drops clung to his wet hair and shoulders. He’d obviously raced out of the shower to catch her to find out where she was going...
She sighed. He still thought of himself as her keeper, thought of her as his responsibility.
The disappointment she’d been fighting all morning settled on her shoulders like a snow-covered coat. The silence in the little hall became deafening. He wasn’t getting feelings for her the way she was for him. She was just another task on his to-do list.
She turned away and punched the elevator button again. The damn thing was taking forever.
“You look pretty in blue.”
She closed her eyes and savored the compliment before she faced him again. “Thanks.” She kept her voice light, friendly, though everything inside her wanted to walk over, place her hands on his gorgeous chest and kiss him. “You look very nice in your towel.”
He laughed. “There’s that sense of humor I’ve been missing.”
She longed to bridge the space between them, to be close enough to touch him, close enough that she could flirt, but she stayed rooted to the spot. She had no idea what he felt for her. One minute he was silent, a man only inter
ested in her because he was her keeper; the next he was telling her she was pretty. And she’d just officially broken off an engagement. It didn’t seem right to be this attracted to another man so soon.
She was a mess.
Her whole life was a mess.
“You call it a sense of humor. I call it saying stupid things.”
“To-may-to, to-maw-to.” He smiled. That’s when she noticed the morning stubble on his chin and cheeks. The sheen of desire in his dark, dark eyes.
Her heart felt like it did a cartwheel.
There was no point in trying to talk herself out of this attraction. It was alive and well and scaring her silly.
“I’ll see you later.” Riccardo’s eyes took another stroll down her blue dress and her bones felt like they melted.
“See you later.” She turned and quickly got herself into the elevator, away from him. When the door closed, she pressed her hand to her chest. Freedom had multiplied the sensations running through her when he looked at her. Her pulse had scrambled. Her breath stalled. And all the while he’d smiled at her as if to say if she wanted him, really wanted him, she could have him, but she’d have to be the one to make the first move.
Where another woman might have reveled in the power of it, Morgan froze. He was sexy and strong, and she was just finding her feet. It would take years for her to catch up to him in confidence. Forget about ever having his swagger.
Plus, she was leaving. If not now, in a little over a week, when her dad went to Stockholm.
She closed her eyes, but she could still feel the warmth of his gaze on her. Curiosity about kissing him rose in her like a tsunami. The thought of leaving seemed so, so wrong.
Downstairs, she stepped outside, grateful the air was cool. Nanna stood by the limo, cell phone to her ear. When she saw Morgan, she waved as she said, “Yes, darling. I hear you loud and clear. Never out of my sight. Not for one second.” She clicked off the call and smiled at Morgan. “We are ready?”