by Chloe Blake
Dani held her breath, waiting for a tantrum. Toni’s attempt to spear a mushroom from the pappardelle was interrupted by his shocked look. “That’s impossible. It’s my restaurant.”
“I thought it would be best since you had such objections.”
“No,” he said, leaning in to give her a pointed look. He jabbed the mushroom and sucked it from his fork.
Dani bit the side of her cheek. “Then maybe we should set some ground rules.”
“All work and no plays make Dani a dull girl.”
“First negative, and now you’re calling me dull.”
“I’d call you beautiful but you’d hold it against me somehow.”
Wide-eyed, Dani stared at his gorgeous face. His gaze dropped to her lips and held. A memory of that mouth trailing down her torso and stopping between her thighs had her brain on stutter and stop. Suddenly an image of him kissing his ex-wife woke her like an ice bath. She blinked rapidly, trying to get a handle on her pulse.
“You’re a compulsive flirt.”
“I like your hair down.”
“This isn’t a date.”
“No? Two single people?”
“You didn’t look single earlier.”
His look was pregnant with exasperation. She’d been right, his ex-wife’s advances were unwanted. Ignoring her comment he continued.
“Good food. Good wine. You could do worse.”
“I’ve definitely done worse.” His half smile was too sexy.
“You’re talking about Andre.”
“Well, it’s never smart to get involved with a colleague. I know better.” And I won’t do it again.
“So do I. I plan on not being involved for some time.” She frowned, wondering what happened that he was so surly and disheveled.
“That bad?”
“That bad.”
“Okay, good. First ground rule, no sex.”
Toni paused.
Dani’s right brow went up.
“No sex,” Toni repeated.
“Second ground rule, what I say goes.”
“No.”
“I’m chef until Marcello comes back.”
“You are responsible for the food. The rest is mine.”
“The wines are part of the food.”
“No.” He didn’t even look up from his plate.
“We’ll see.” She smiled when he looked at her under his lids. Toni shoveled more food on her plate while she continued. “The waitstaff is yours. They’ll need training. I was thinking maybe Liam could come out and train them.”
He pointed his fork at her as if he was about to say no. “That is a good idea.”
She’d take that.
After dinner they walked a bit to digest their food, and were startled when the sun began to rise over the canal bridge.
Dani squinted at the pink-and-gold sky. “My God, what time is it?”
“Must be around five. Look. Over there.”
Blues, yellows, purples rose over the canal. They were arrested by the beauty. Before they could turn to leave the bridge, a group of bicycles raced by and Toni held Dani close and out of the way.
It happened then. His hands spread over her back, his lips found hers and they were deep into a kiss. He sucked at her lower lip and she rose on her toes to jam her tongue fully into his mouth. She moaned and greedily clutched at his shoulders. His hands traveled down to her ass and squeezed, then roughly pulled her against him. They both withdrew, breathless. Staring at one another as if unsure that the kiss was real.
“I’m sorry,” they said in unison.
“I don’t... I can’t,” Dani started, unable to catch her breath.
“Me, neither,” Toni said, his voice filled with sex.
“Good, so that’s clear.” Dani nodded, masking her desire to claw his clothes off.
“Yes,” Toni sighed, gripping the bridge. “Clear.”
Chapter 11
They’d need markers to the restaurant, Toni mused as midafternoon traffic eased. He easily navigated the unmarked country roads that stretched a little more than twenty minutes outside the city limits of Milan toward the villa, but he’d been driving the area since he was a boy.
He tried to see the roads with fresh eyes. Maybe just a sign here and there to assure their guests they were headed in the right direction? He paused, wondering if part of the novelty of what he hoped would be the most sought after food experience in Italy could be actually finding it.
He tabled the thought for after the soft opening, for which the list of attendees was growing enormously. So was his anxiety.
In the seat next to him Dani dozed, her head lulling to the side after only ten minutes on the road. He smiled. Sophia watched a video on her phone in the back seat. Teenagers. What was he going to do when she was older and going on actual dates?
Dani stirred, her face rising briefly, only to drift slowly back to her shoulder. Her hair was in a severe ponytail, making him long for the soft waves he’d seen just a day ago. Sitting with her over red wine and good food had been one of the best dates he’d had in a very, very long time. Even if she was quick to point out it wasn’t a date.
When Nicole had sent him to the canal to check on her, he’d taken the charge with no question. Dani had left the party abruptly and he felt he had some explaining to do, maybe even some apologizing, for his ex-wife’s behavior. Yet he remembered Dani’s cool countenance as Ava threw subtle barbs about her full figure, making him aware that Dani was clearly no stranger to the slights. He glanced at her sleeping form again, taking in her smooth skin and parted lips. He wanted to apologize. He wasn’t sure why it mattered, it just did.
“Papà, how much longer?”
“Not long.” Glancing in the rearview mirror, her head was bent over her phone. “Do you ever put that phone down?”
“Of course. But I’m doing homework now.”
“Texting is not homework.”
“I’m reading. But getting texts.”
“We had a deal, Sophia. You pass your next test, then you can talk to him.”
“It’s not him, Papà.” Her voice rose.
“It better not be.”
“You have a boyfriend?” Dani stirred and twisted toward the back, her brows raising in teasing question.
Toni cringed at Sophia’s blush. “No...he’s just a friend.”
“But you like him.” Dani and Sophia smiled at each other like secret conspirators, making him uneasy, like he was seeing behind a pink curtain.
“Well...he’s a year older.”
“What does he look like?”
“He’s tall. With black hair, like really black. And green eyes.”
“Sounds handsome.”
“He is.” Sophia said with an unconscious hair flip.
“No, he isn’t,” Toni gritted out.
They both peeled into laughter.
“What’s so funny?”
“Have you seen him?” Dani asked.
“Yes. He hides behind a tree when I pick Sophia up from school. He’s skinny.”
“Tall and skinny? Sounds familiar,” Dani said with a wink to Sophia he wasn’t supposed to see.
“I am not skinny. You can’t compare the physique of a boy to that of a man. It’s like apples and oranges.”
“Oh really?” Dani said with a half smile.
“Really. That boy has no muscle tone. He needs to play a sport. Like calcio.”
“Papà almost played professionally, so he thinks everyone should play.” Sophia sighed.
“And you play beautifully, cara mia. I taught her everything she knows.”
“Maybe you could teach her friend.”
“Over my dead body,” he whispered to Dani, who suppressed a smile before turning front.
“Wha
t did you say, Papà?”
“I said go back to your homework. We’re almost there.”
Bright green hills and measures of clear blue sky were peppered with huge stone houses and acres of wildflowers.
“This is stunning.” Dani stared out of the window.
“It hasn’t changed much in the years my family have lived here. The roads are better, but not by much.”
“Tell me about your family. What does your father do?”
“He is in banking, but you won’t meet him today. He’s—”
“Grandpa is in Brazil with a whole other family,” came from the back seat.
“Cara mia, read your phone.” Toni said into the rearview. Then he turned to Dani’s shocked expression.
“My parents are divorced. My father had an affair in Brazil where he traveled frequently for work. I have a half sister who is about six years younger than me.”
“What! That’s insane. I mean, that must have been really hard on you and your mother.”
“It was, but my mother has always been supported by her own family. She has five other brothers including Marcello. They helped us through.”
“How old were you?”
“I was ten when he left.”
“That must have been hard. A young boy losing his father.”
He only nodded. He’d been devastated.
“I bet you are a better father for it though,” she said low. “It makes sense why you are so protective.”
Her insight surprised him. Being a good father was the most important thing to him in the world.
“All fathers are bears. Your father was protective, no?”
“No,” Dani chuckled. “My parents were never married. And they both traveled so much that I only saw him for short stints at a time. Plus, my father is a Swedish hippie. He doesn’t believe in discipline.”
“I’m having a hard time seeing your glamorous mother with a Swedish hippie.”
“He was a fashion photographer when they met. Now he owns a tattoo parlor in Manhattan.” Dani held up her colorful left forearm. “It’s an odd pairing, but they do seem to love each other in a strange ‘I can’t ever live with you’ sort of way.”
“Do you have siblings?”
“No. You?”
“Just Theresa in Brazil. We’re actually quite close. She is a designer and sends gifts to Sophia all the time.”
Theresa. The name sounded familiar to Dani. Nicole spoke of a blonde hottie who went out with Destin. “Wait, not the Theresa who dated Destin?”
“They didn’t ever date, although she tried to get him into bed numerous times.”
“The blonde hottie is your sister?”
Toni laughed. “Yes, and she was heartbroken when your friend Nicole came and stole Destin’s heart.”
“How does your mother feel about Theresa?”
“My mother tolerates my father but she loves Theresa. We are a strange family, but we’ve made it work.”
“Amen to that,” Dani said.
“And on that note. We’re here.”
Villa Lorenzetti rose centuries old and majestic above them with stone walls covered in vines and wildflowers. A large greenhouse stood off to the right while a newly finished barnlike structure took over acres to the left.
“You grew up here?” Dani stared in awe. Her gaze scanned the greenery and landed on the pond surrounded by ducks several yards away. “It’s like a dream.”
“I went to a boarding school in the city. When school was out, I was here.”
“Luca!” Before Toni could switch off the engine Sophia jumped from the back and ran toward his mother’s small beagle mutt, who was running toward the car at full speed. His mother appeared from the side of the house, sliding her feet from her gardening slippers into her heeled shoes. Toni felt a rush of affection for her.
“I should probably warn you now that my mother can be...commanding.”
Sophia and his mother embraced, and then she waved Sophia and the dog toward the house. Toni suspected a full meal waited for them.
“Meaning she likes things her way,” Dani said.
“Exactly. But she’s gentle about it.”
“I think I can handle that.”
He recalled his meeting of Dani’s mother and imagined she could handle it.
Unlike Ava, who met his mother’s suggestions and invitations with flat-out refusals. Ava never participated in picking vegetables in the garden for a family meal. She didn’t want to get dirty or for the wind to muss her hair. She refused to pet the dog or even sit in the same room with him. She complained so hard that the Wi-Fi was spotty that he spent a ridiculous amount of money rewiring the house.
And his mother had tolerated all of it for him. She was his wife, after all, and the mother of her only grandchild. Yet his mother’s patience, and maybe his own, had thinned the day his mother had thrown a family baby shower for Ava and she’d refused to eat the special meal his mother had prepared. It was too heavy, Ava had complained.
Just thinking about Ava’s obsession with her weight during her pregnancy made him angry. She’d gained the minimum amount and Sophia was born premature with low birth weight. Seeing his baby on a feeding tube had been a nightmare. His mother had talked him through it.
Dani wasn’t Ava, but what if there was something else? What if she hated the wind or needed to watch HBO? He refused to make his mother uncomfortable in her own home gain.
He sighed and slammed the car door, making Dani turn and search his face.
“Are you okay?”
He blinked. Ava had never been in tune with his moods.
“Yes. It slipped.”
Dani opened the back door and reached for her coat and her smaller bag, which was nestled next to his and Sophia’s belongings.
“I’ll get that—”
She held their coats and slung both bags over her shoulder.
“You get the big ones,” she said with a smile. Her ponytail swung and kissed her exposed neck. He tore his gaze from the supple skin at the open neckline of her Henley before it drifted farther down to the two undone buttons at her cleavage.
His body heated, recalling how soft she felt against him by the bridge.
“Antonio! Get her bags!” His mother’s voice was like a splash of cold water.
“Mamma, she doesn’t listen to me. Like you.”
His mother came forward with a snort of laughter. Then she held out her arms to him, holding his face and kissing him on both cheeks. She turned to Dani with open arms.
“Welcome, Danica! Welcome. I am Grace Lorenzetti. We are so excited to have you here and I get to practice my English.” Dani leaned in to the kisses with a smile and Toni relaxed, aware that his anxiety was popping through at random. He needed to calm down. It wasn’t like he was introducing a new girlfriend. She would be working with them. And when Marcello was well, she’d be leaving.
He adjusted the roller bags in both hands and scowled.
“Food is getting cold. Come, come.”
Toni watched Dani follow his mother into the house and once he’d gotten the rest of their belongings into the hallway, he found the three of them in the kitchen.
Sophia noshed on a pizzelle and Dani held a full glass of wine. The kitchen island was filled with meats, cheeses, olives, herbs and fresh vegetables. Olive oil and bread acted as centerpieces beside a bouquet of wildflowers.
“It’s lovely here. Marcello mentioned there was a vineyard on the property.”
“It’s behind the restaurant. One of the special dining rooms has a gorgeous view.” His mother opened the oven and removed two long pans of lasagna. “Sophia, stop eating all of the cookies and check the pasta.”
“I’ll do it.” Dani found a fork and dipped it into the boiling pot. Expertly she rolled the spaghetti and flicked a
string into her mouth. His mother caught his gaze and wiggled her brows. He rolled his eyes back at her. It was an age-old test his mother performed on all the women he brought to the house. If they asked to help they got points. If they knew how to test the pasta, they were marriage material.
Ava had failed.
“One more minute. That lasagna smells divine.”
Toni snatched a pizzelle from Sophia’s hand and put it in his mouth. “Mamma, you cooked enough for ten people.”
“You and Sophia polish off one lasagna by yourselves. Danica and I want to eat too.”
Without asking, Dani reached for the strainer and tackled the pasta. “What else do you need? I see garlic. Do you need it chopped?”
“You will be doing enough cooking starting tomorrow. Sophia needs to learn how to dice properly.”
“Nonna, I’m better. Dani showed me.” Sophia popped up from the table and found a knife and a small garlic bulb. They all watched as she began to slice, slow at first, then with a little more fervor.
His mother let out a happy yelp and tears sprang to her eyes. She grabbed Sophia to her chest.
“Such a good girl.”
“Ma, it’s a little garlic.”
“It’s tradition. Now, Toni and Dani finish setting the table. Sophia and I will finish here.”
Toni poured himself some wine.
“Follow me.”
Toni stopped at the elaborate setting. The cherrywood table shined. His nonna’s good china and crystal goblets graced four place settings. A chilled decanter of Lambrusco sat at the head of the table. Silver utensils sat in a pile for placement.
What the hell? The last time his mother brought out the china he’d brought Ava to meet her. Alarm bells went off in his head.
He planted the wineglasses on the table and whipped around to Dani’s confused look.
“I’ll be right back.”
“Sophia, go help Dani,” he said, storming back into the kitchen. He waited till she left and lowered his voice to a whisper. “Mamma, why is the good china out?”
“Whaaat? I know it’s not romantic having your mother and daughter at the table, but—”
“Romantic? What are you on about?”
“Marcello said you liked her.”