a private conversation with her. I walked in on you.” On that note, he headed for the living room.
She followed him. “But I want to tell you.”
He turned toward her with his hands on hips in a totally male stance. “Tell me what?”
“Mother’s still living in denial about me and Andreas. If I’d finished that sentence I would have said, ‘I always will love him as a friend, but I realize now that I was never in love with Andreas or he with me.’”
At the enigmatic expression on his arresting face, she added, “Otherwise I could never have gone to bed with you. No woman could do that if she were truly and deeply in love with another man.”
“I agree,” his voice rasped.
“Contrary to what you might think about me, in my twenty-seven years of life I’ve only been intimate with two men, and you’re one of them.”
His jaw tautened. “I never suggested you were promiscuous.”
“No, but you’d have every right to think it after I fell like the proverbial ripe plum into your hands. I look back on it now and can’t believe what I did. It still shocks me.”
Miraculously, his compelling mouth broke into a half smile. “I confess I thought I’d died and gone to some heavenly place for a short while.”
She’d thought the same thing, but couldn’t bring herself to tell him that yet. “Vincenzo?” Irena eyed him frankly. “Can we put the past to rest? My relationship with Andreas? It’s over.”
He gave a slow nod. “Amen. Shall we go?”
Thankful they’d weathered that small storm she said, “I’m coming. Let me get my purse.”
“How hungry are you?”
“I think a pasta salad would hit the spot.”
“There’s a trattoria across from the church Dino was talking about.”
“I—I’ve been thinking about that,” she stammered. “Maybe—”
“Irena—Dino assumed it would be a church wedding because that is what’s real to him,” he broke in quietly. “We don’t have to do it there, and I understand your concerns about such an arrangement, but it will convince other people that our marriage is real. Wouldn’t that be best for all of us, especially the baby?”
She knew Vincenzo was right and sensed he wanted a church wedding, too. Could she go through with such a public display for the sake of the baby growing inside her? She looked at the handsome man in front of her who was doing so much to help her. Smiling, she touched his arm tenderly before speaking.
“You’re right. After we have a visit with the priest, we’ll walk over to eat.”
VINCENZO GRASPED HER HAND. They walked down the road and around the curve, breathing in the fragrance from the masses of flowers blooming in pockets of explosive array. In ways she felt like she was moving through some fantastic dream.
Before long she spied a centuries-old yellow church on the right. He tightened his hand around hers. “Dino likes to go to church.”
“He’s so sweet. If our getting married here will help keep his world intact, then it’s important to me. I’m thinking ahead to the baby’s baptism, too.”
A gleam of satisfaction entered Vincenzo’s eyes before he opened the door and they stepped inside the somewhat musty vestibule. Beyond the inner doors she gazed around the semiornate interior. The lovely stained-glass windows gave the small church a jewellike feel.
“Vincenzo?” A tall middle-aged priest had entered through a side door. The two men carried on a conversation in Italian.
Finally, Vincenzo said in English, “Father Rinaldo, this is my fiancée, Irena Spiros. We would like you to marry us.”
“That is a great honor for me.”
“The honor’s mine, Father. I’ve brought the signed document giving you permission to waive the banns so we can be married in a private ceremony on Thursday.”
His eyes smiled. “You are in a great hurry, then.”
“You could say that,” Vincenzo responded in his deep voice.
Heat rose from Irena’s neck to her cheeks.
“It’s about time, my son.”
“I had to wait for the right one, Father.”
“And how does Dino feel about it?”
“When we left him a short time ago, he said he couldn’t wait. Do you think you’ll be able to fit us into your busy schedule?”
The priest’s expression grew more serious. “For you, nothing is impossible.”
Again Irena received the strong impression Vincenzo was someone of importance.
“Thank you, Father.”
“Have you been baptized, Signorina Spiros?”
Irena nodded. “In Athens.”
“Bene. Would one o’clock suit the two of you?”
Vincenzo glanced at Irena for her input. She nodded. “That will be the perfect time.”
“Come ten minutes early to sign the documents.”
“We’ll be here, Father.” The way Vincenzo was looking at her just then caused her legs to go weak. He cupped her elbow and ushered her out of the church. After the darker interior, the sunlight almost blinded her.
They walked across the street to the crowded trattoria. Tourists were lined up to get inside. But she was with Vincenzo. When he appeared, suddenly they were welcomed on through and shown to a table on the terrace where the waiter hovered to grant them their every wish.
“You’ve made a conquest of him,” Vincenzo murmured as the younger man hurried off with their order.
“You think?” she teased.
“I know. Have you forgotten I looked at you the same way when you swept into my office that day?”
Irena had to admit it had been an electrifying moment. At the time she’d tried to ignore what she was feeling, but apparently not hard enough as witnessed by the fact that she was seated next to Vincenzo and had just spoken to the priest who would be marrying them.
“Much as I like flattery as well as the next woman, I’m afraid the waiter’s attention has everything to do with you. Who are you, Vincenzo? I’d like to know the man who’s about to become my husband.”
One
