looking for the places she remembered her grandmother talking about.
Some areas were still so relatively unspoiled that she felt she could almost be seeing them exactly as Nonna had when she’d been a girl.
Away from the coast, the region was largely a gently rolling plateau covered by farmland and pasture. The wheat fields had already been harvested, this late in the season, but some of the olive groves were still a hive of activity.
Taddeo was more interested in the land closer to the coast with its belt of orchards. It was almost impossible to drive past a wayside stall without giving in to his pleas to stop to sample some of the luscious peaches, apples or plums.
But it was the evenings she enjoyed the most, when she could have Matt all to herself.
Already he’d taken her to an open-air concert and an art gallery as well as a selection of the finest restaurants the area had to offer. Finally, she’d had to put her foot down.
‘I can understand that your Italian pride won’t let me pay for you,’ she’d said last night when they’d arrived at yet another obviously expensive bistro. ‘But I can’t let you pay for me all the time either.’
‘You don’t enjoy being taken out for a meal?’ He had seemed almost affronted and she’d hastened to smooth his ruffled feathers.
‘I love being taken out for a meal, especially when the company is good. But I don’t need expensive entertainment and wining and dining all the time. I also like spending time peacefully…away from other people,’ she’d explained, hoping she hadn’t sounded ungrateful. ‘I have enjoyed every minute of the last week, but sometimes it’s good to relax informally rather than having to dress up to go out.’
So here she was, dressed to order in a pair of lightweight trousers and a shirt and waiting for her escort to arrive to take her to a mystery destination. She had a fleece jacket in her bag and a pair of trainers in case her sandals were too flimsy.
She was filled with a mixture of guilt and excitement at the promise this evening held. Excitement that they were going to be spending time together and guilt that she’d almost engineered the fact that they would be alone.
A gentle tattoo at her door made her heart leap into her mouth and she hurried across to open it.
Matt bit his tongue and concentrated on drawing in a steadying breath.
What was she trying to do to him with her dark hair tumbling around her shoulders? Her body looked slender and willowy in those dark trousers and as for what that white silk shirt did to her skin…
It had been a week since he’d agreed to limit the two of them to friendship and he’d regretted it the very second he’d opened his mouth to say the words.
How was he supposed to stay sane when every hormone in his body ached at the thought of her, and as for spending time in her company…
It was obvious that the five years since he’d wanted to be close to a woman had been far too long. It was true that the events surrounding Taddeo’s birth had left him more than wary, and the excuse that he had a son to care for was legitimate up to a point, but the way he felt at Lissa’s slightest touch was turning him inside out.
Was it just that she was forbidden fruit? He knew that she would only be in San Vittorio for a little while longer, and that she wasn’t the type to indulge in a mindless holiday romance, but…if he’d taken her to bed would the urgency have faded…disappeared?
He looked into those dark honey eyes and when he felt the familiar tension begin to rise he knew the very idea was crazy. Making love with her once would only make him want to do it again, and it didn’t help that he could see two beds at the other side of the room. If he didn’t say something now, he could end up ruining the little they had together.
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