‘Yes,’ Alessandro said softly, leaning down and kissing her gently on the mouth. Annabella sank into his touch, her lips welcoming his with such tenderness that his worried mind immediately cleared as a sense of euphoria took hold.
Drawing back slightly from their embrace, he cupped Annabella’s delicate face in his hands. ‘I’m so sorry I didn’t say it straight away, as soon as I saw you. I should have said it then. Ti amo, bella mia. I want to shout it to the world. I love you, I love you.’ He smiled and drew her into his arms again, revelling in the warmth and love he saw reflected in Annabella’s eyes.
‘I love you too, Ale.’ Her voice cracked and she laced her fingers around his neck and drew him towards her, kissing him passionately. With Annabella in his arms, Alessandro had never been so certain of anything in his life; love had finally found him and he would never let it go.
He scooped Annabella tighter into his embrace, and lifting her feet off the ground he spun them around. They both laughed with joyful abandon, the world around them a blur except for her beautiful smiling face.
Epilogue
‘How do you think they’re doing?’ Annabella asked, draping her hand over the sunlounge to run her fingertips over the warm stones of the pebbled beach.
‘Relax, bella, they’ll be fine.’ Alessandro smiled reassuringly at her.
‘I never thought you’d be the one telling me to relax after we left your precious kitchen.’
‘Our precious kitchen, amore mia.’ Alessandro turned slightly on his lounge to grin at her as he slicked back his hair, still wet from their swim.
‘You’re not worried at all?’ While Ale had certainly relaxed a lot since Annabella had returned to Turin eight months ago, she couldn’t believe how fine he was about leaving the kitchen in someone else’s control.
‘Not at all. I’m very grateful Sofia offered to stay back after our wedding so we could enjoy some time off together. And she and my father make a great team, no? What’s to worry about?’ Ale’s words hung in the air while he held her gaze, clearly trying to maintain an air of calm. ‘But we will check in with them when we get back to the hotel.’
‘That’s the man I know and love.’ Annabella laughed, leaning back.
‘What? I just want to ease your mind, amore.’
‘Right, my mind.’ She giggled and reached over to stroke his bare chest.
His lithe, bronzed physique glistened in the afternoon sunlight. His turquoise eyes sparkled like the shimmering Mediterranean Sea that spread out before them. He looked like a quintessential Italian sun god. Her god.
‘What is it?’ he asked, interlacing his fingers with hers.
‘Just admiring the scenery,’ she said, looking straight at him.
‘Why don’t you come over for a closer look?’ he growled.
Alessandro gently pulled her over onto his sunlounge and nestled her against the length of his firm body. Annabella soaked in the warmth of his skin, salty from the sea.
He stroked her back softly and she tingled all over, shivering and delighting in his gentle touch. She closed her eyes as she listened to the soft lapping of the sea and the muffled sounds of other beachgoers dotted along the Côte d’Azur coastline. This was her new bliss.
‘I was thinking, bella, maybe we should extend our honeymoon a while.’
‘Hmmm, that sounds good,’ Annabella said dreamily.
‘There’s a new project I’d like to get started on and it’s going to need a lot of work.’
‘Really Ale? This is our honeymoon, can’t we just leave business at home for while?’
‘I’m not talking about business.’ He shifted to face her and stroked her bare stomach so tenderly she knew at once what he was thinking.
‘A baby?’ She said softly.
Until now, Annabella never would have hoped to have a baby. She knew what it was like to grow up with one parent and be cruelly rejected by another. But Ale made her feel so safe and secure that she’d believed him when he’d vowed on their wedding day he would never leave her. And it was more than words, she knew in her heart he was her one.
She’d daydreamed about starting a family with him one day. But she’d never have thought he’d be the one to suggest it first.
‘Are you sure? I thought you might not be ready yet.’
‘Bella, with you I’m ready for anything. Look at me, I’ve entrusted the kitchen to my father and your sister, I’m relaxed, lying on a beach in Nice, I don’t even have my phone with me. Did you ever think you’d see the day?’
‘Well, I’d hoped.’ Annabella laughed. ‘But a baby, Ale?’
‘I never thought I could find someone to spend the rest of my life with, let alone have a baby with. But then I met you and I can’t imagine a better wife, a better mother. What about you, are you ready, bella?’
‘Ale, I can’t imagine anything I’d want more.’
Alessandro wrapped his arms around her as the afternoon breeze washed over their sun-kissed skin.
‘So, like I said,’ Alessandro whispered as he pulled her even closer against him on the narrow recliner. ‘Getting this new project started is going to require a lot of work, no? I think we might need the extra time away.’
‘I don’t know, leaving your dad and Sofia unleashed in the kitchen, can we trust them to let us back in?’ Annabella teased as she nuzzled into Ale’s nape.
‘I’m willing to take the risk if you are. Deal?’
‘Deal.’
Thanks for reading HOT CHOCOLATE. I hope you enjoyed it.
You can follow me through my publisher’s page here www.escapepublishing.com.au
Reviews can help readers find books, and I am grateful for all honest reviews. Thank you for taking the time to let others know what you’ve read, and what you thought.
This book was published by Escape Publishing. If you’d like to sample some more great books from my fellow Escape Artists, please turn the page.
BESTSELLING TITLES BY ESCAPE PUBLISHING…
Return to Jacaranda Avenue
Kerrie Paterson
A pastry chef returns to her roots and discovers that the flavour of first love improves with age.
Twenty-five years ago, Polly and Matt were in love—but their relationship came to a traumatic end following the death of her best friend.
Now Polly Chappell has moved back to her home town to open a patisserie and care for her elderly parents, and the last person she wants to see is Matt Enright. Until she actually sees him, that is…
Their attraction turns out to be stronger than ever, but both have their reasons to resist rekindling their romance—until someone attempts to run Polly out of town with escalating threats and vandalism, and Matt’s protective instincts surface.
Will the secret she keeps bring them together—or get them killed?
The Goodbye Ride
Lily Malone
A fresh, funny and poignant romance set in the beautiful Adelaide Hills.
Olivia Murphy is a woman on a mission. The Ducati motorbike that once belonged to her brother has come up for re-sale. Liv wants to buy the precious bike, and she needs the ink dry on the paperwork before the approaching long weekend, when tourists with fat wallets will descend on her hometown of Hahndorf.
Only one person stands in her way; and she’s just tripped and fallen at his feet…
Owen Carson likes rare and beautiful things and he has the Ducati in his sights. Then Liv literally falls into his path, and he finds his heart captured by beauty of a very different kind.
How far will Liv go to make the motorbike hers? Can a viticulturalist fall for a man who prefers beer? And will a long weekend among the grape vines be long enough for Owen to convince Liv he’s interested in more than just a holiday fling?
April’s Glow
Juliet Madison
The heartwarming new Tarrin’s Bay novel from bestselling author Juliet Madison is all about moving on – in unexpected ways.
Distracting herself from a string o
f bad luck and a disastrous love life, bubbly April Vedora throws herself into her new business —April’s Glow, a candle store in seaside Tarrin’s Bay — the enchanting scents and colourful atmosphere provide a safe haven. But outside business hours she’s clueless about her personal life.
When a mysterious loner moves in next door, she can’t help but become intrigued, and ex-soldier Zac Masterson is equally fascinated by April. But both have sworn off relationships, and while April avoids her emotions by keeping busy and sociable, Zac hides away from the world — and his past.
As the pair chip away at each other’s facades and secrets are revealed, April fears that the man she is unwillingly falling for could represent everything she’s worked so hard to avoid. Or could they be just what the other needs?
They’ve shared their secrets over the back fence, but resolving the past is going to mean opening the doors to their hearts — and letting each other in.
Mixing Business With Pleasure
Bronwyn Stuart
What’s a girl to do when she finds herself naked except for her stilettos and backed up against a cold mirror, stuck between a rock and a very hard man?
Alison Marcum loves her baby brother and would do anything for him—until the day his loan sharks arrive on her doorstep and demand she pay them ten thousand dollars or else.
With no way to repay the money, and not wanting to find out what they’re capable of, Alison transforms herself from boring social worker to smoking hot model—but getting work isn’t going to be the hard part for a woman who’d promised herself she’d never step in front of a camera again.
Sam Mason is overseeing a jewellery advertising campaign, and after spending ten minutes in the boardroom with a nearly naked Alison, he decides he might actually enjoy the job. Strictly business, though. Sam’s been burned by a model before and no matter how attracted he is, there’s no way he’s getting involved.
As the lies begin to unravel and the loan sharks get impatient, will they both risk it all to be together or lose it all in a bid not to repeat the past?
Connect with us for info on our new releases, access to exclusive offers, free online reads and much more!
Sign up to our newsletter
Share your reading experience on:
The Escapades Blog
Facebook
Twitter
Watch our reviews, author interviews and more on Escape Publishing TV
ISBN: 9781760370473
Title: Hot Chocolate
Copyright © 2016 by Charlotte De Pace
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises (Australia) Limited, Level 13/201 Elizabeth Street, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 2000.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
® and ™ are trademarks of Harlequin Enterprises Limited and are used under license to the Publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in Australia, New Zealand, the United States Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries.
www.escapepublishing.com.au
Hot Chocolate Page 17