In Italy for Love

Chapter 5

5

‘Thanks for asking me to dinner,’ he said softly, his deep voice skittering across her skin. She felt that earnestness in him again – the seriousness.

‘That sounds like “goodbye”,’ she mumbled, staring out over the water.

‘I suppose it has to be, but I meant I really enjoyed having dinner with you, more than I expected – more than you would understand. I would hate to… have missed out on it, so thank you for asking.’

She peered at him. She couldn’t help thinking he was a lot like his instrument: lively notes and poignant refrains and mysterious workings inside. ‘You promised to bore me, but you didn’t,’ she said lightly. ‘Not even close.’

Arco whined, as though in a hurry to keep moving. Without the reminder of real life, she would have struggled to take the necessary step away from the unexpectedly lovely evening.

Alex crouched to pat him. ‘Look after Julia, eh? Be a guard dog,’ he said, giving Arco a stern gaze as he rubbed his ears with both hands.

‘Don’t worry. He’s a good judge of character.’

‘Oh, reall—’ Before he could finish, Arco barrelled into him tongue-first. Jerking away from the wet swipe of dog-tongue, Alex overbalanced and went down on his bottom, laughing as he fended off the over-affectionate dog.

‘Arco!’ she called, clicking her fingers and trying in vain to call him away. ‘He’s a good judge of character, but I didn’t say he had any boundaries.’

‘Urgh, that feels strange!’ Alex chuckled as he batted Arco’s nose away with a gentle hand after he’d been thoroughly licked on the ear.

She held her hand out and helped him haul himself up. When he was on his feet again, he was suddenly close, his toes nudging hers. She became aware all over again of how tall he was, how lovely his mouth looked.

She hadn’t kissed anyone in a long time. She’d barely thought about it amidst the stress of the business and the angst of working with Luca. But she was definitely thinking about it now.

Their ‘not date’ had been the best date of her life, a memory she could treasure when she left, a small counterbalance to all the heartache – a little ‘what if’ to nurture at her lowest moments.

There’d be no harm in a small kiss. She left for the farm tomorrow morning and although it was only a few kilometres out of town, she wasn’t planning to come back to Cividale. In a few short weeks she’d be on the other side of the world. She wouldn’t see him again.

He stepped away, his hand lifting absently to the back of his head. ‘ Allora , I, ehm… should…’ He stumbled as he turned away, shoving one hand into the pocket of his jacket.

‘Wait!’ She took an involuntary step towards him, blood rushing in her ears. He turned back, slowly, his mouth slightly open and his expression dismayed. The thought that she wouldn’t see him again echoed between her ears and although she worried she was misinterpreting the signals – she was woeful at signals – she had to try. ‘H-how about a k-kiss? Goodbye. A kiss goodbye?’

He returned to her so quickly he tripped again, a smile stretching on his lips. Grasping her face with both hands, he murmured, ‘I couldn’t think of anything else.’ His gaze darting between her eyes and her lips, his smile tipping up on one side as she lifted her chin, he inched closer, his breath gusting as he hesitated.

The tender graze of his fingertips over her cheeks and jaw put her off balance, her skin tingling. He was a stranger. She wasn’t supposed to be kissing the random accordion player Arco had accosted in the street – or at least it wasn’t supposed to feel like a key in a lock, like finding something that had been lost. Thoughts of that kind were what had got her into Italian-flavoured trouble to begin with.

She met his gaze, sharing a wobbly smile of disbelief. But as they came haltingly nearer, her hand clutching his jacket and his drifting into her hair, a kiss was definitely happening, the pounding of her heart a hint of what was to come.

His mouth brushed hers lightly at first. She could feel the smile in the way he kissed her and all her doubts fled. Returning the soft kiss, she wrapped her arm around his neck and shivered when he dropped one hand from her face to pull her close.

Light kisses with smiling lips slowly became deeper ones, her mouth falling open and her breath short. With an abortive groan, he tilted his head and pressed his open mouth to hers. The sparks over her skin fizzed immediately into heat and she couldn’t think, couldn’t feel anything except how badly this gorgeous man apparently wanted to kiss her, because his touch had grown rough and a little reckless.

She liked that.

‘Do you—’ The words began to fall from her lips without thought, between burning kisses. ‘I know it’s too fast, but—’ She kissed him again and her hand had found its way into his hair. ‘But I’m leaving so…’ It was difficult to pull away for long enough to get the words out. ‘Do you want to come back to my B&B? For the night? Don’t feel obliged. I don’t really know how to… do this, but I’m leaving and I’d rather be with you tonight than not.’

Settling his forehead on hers, he didn’t answer immediately, but his unsteady breaths and the way he skimmed his fingers over the back of her neck told her something. ‘If you’re sure,’ he said, swallowing hard, ‘I’d love to.’

He smiled again and came back for another clumsy kiss, telling her clearly how much he wanted her.

‘Which B&B are you staying at? I should pick up some…’

‘The one in Borgo San Domenico, on the corner,’ she answered, before taking his hand and heading for the old town, Arco giving an excited bark at this new game.

But Alex stalled. ‘Eh, Maria Grazia’s place?’ he asked.

‘That’s the name of the woman who runs it, yeah. Do you know her?’

He gave another of those nods with his eyebrows, his expression eloquent with discomfort.

‘Oh dear, will she give you the third degree if you show up with me? What about your place?’

‘You don’t mind coming to my place? I at least have… what we need there.’

Her hair stood on end as she processed his meaning, but his gaze was so earnest as he peered at her that she wasn’t put off in the least by the practicalities of a one-night stand, even though she’d never had one before.

‘What about your cat?’ she asked, gesturing to Arco.

‘He’s often out at this time of night, but he’d just hide anyway.’

‘Then let’s go,’ she said softly.

If she’d had any remaining doubts, then his giddy smile erased them, as well as the quick, hard kiss he pressed to her lips before setting off again under the soft street lamps.

Five minutes later, he tugged her through an open gate into a crumbling courtyard, hurrying to a door on the right, by a spreading tree. But Jules wasn’t interested in the tree – or the rest of her surroundings – pulling his head down for another kiss.

‘We’ll be inside in a minute,’ he mumbled, but kissed her again when she drew back to smile.

‘We’ve only just started kissing. I didn’t want to stop so soon.’

‘I know what you mean.’ He fumbled with his keys as he kept one arm around her. Arco gave a sharp bark and Alex froze, his gaze snapping up to the many windows on the upper floors of the buildings clustered around the courtyard. Shuffling his keys, he searched frantically for the right one.

‘Nosy neighbours?’ Jules guessed, soothing the dog with a hand on his back.

When he finally got the door open he all but tackled her inside, shutting the door behind them and switching on the hall light. Seeing his sheepish look, Jules burst out laughing.

‘They’re neighbours, not zombie attackers,’ she joked as she unclipped Arco’s lead and the dog took off nose-first down the hall.

Towing her close by her jacket, Alex wrapped an arm around her and treated her to one of his broad smiles. ‘You don’t know these neighbours.’ Then he kissed her again, slower, deeper, but no less urgent than outside. He kissed her as though he couldn’t not kiss her and Jules’s head was spinning after the first second.

No one had ever been so impatient to kiss her that they hadn’t made it out of the hallway. After his nerves during the early part of the evening and the meticulous courtesy of their ‘no expectations’ agreement, now they’d decided to take things further tonight, his eager delight was a glorious surprise.

‘Ehm, do you want anything?’ he murmured between kisses, gallantry not quite abandoned yet.

‘No,’ she answered, shuddering as his mouth found her jaw and then her neck.

‘Just tell me if you need…’

‘This is exactly what I need.’