Draw Me In (17 page)

“
Julie! Come on over!
”
Leo called out from down the hall,
his voice ricocheting off of all kinds of ridiculously expensive and ornate
decorations that coated every square inch of the residence.

Wanting
to hang back to get Ian
’
s
report, but not wanting to ignore Leo
’
s
request, I followed the echo of voices through the vaulted hallway. Paintings
taller than my ceiling back at our loft adorned the walls. There were scenes of
rolling vineyards, the speckled colors of green and red grapes dotting the
patterned vines that twisted across the image. If I hadn
’
t known better, I could have been
tricked into believing I was looking out a window, the paintings were so
realistic.

“
There you are.
”
Hurrying to my side while waving his
hand to beckon me forward, Leo pulled me by the elbow toward him and into the
opening of a large family room. There were gilded high-back chairs and gold
encrusted end tables situated in the middle, and a wall of lead paned windows
that framed the acres of vineyards that sloped down the hill, almost in perfect
likeness to the ones back in the foyer.

Leo
’
s lips brushed against my cheek as he
mouthed,
“
I
want to introduce you to my family,
”
into the shell of my ear. Yeah, I definitely wasn
’
t a lesbian because that small act
alone made all my body parts tingle.

His
family was gorgeous.

I
promise you, I
’
m
typically not one to ogle my almost-boyfriend
’
s father, but Leo
’
s dad was hands down the most
handsome older man I
’
d
ever seen. It was like traveling in some sort of time machine and getting a
future peek at what Leo would look like thirty years down the road. He had graying
hair that was naturally sophisticated
—
that
style and shade which didn
’
t
need the help of dye to make him look young because he had a twinkle in his
crystal blue eyes that hinted at that youth all on its own.

“
This is my father, Eugenio Carducci.
”
It was at that moment I realized I
had a very boring name. I almost wanted to lie and say my name was Juliette
just to fit in, but I
’
d
done the whole lying to impress thing and that didn
’
t play out so well.
“
Dad, this is Julie.
”

Taking
my hand into his large ones, Eugenio pulled me toward him and deposited a light
kiss on either cheek, the way European kissing should be done.
“
Hello, Bella.
”

Leo
’
s brother, Gio, was next and must
take after Leo
’
s
mom, because he didn
’
t
have that obvious family resemblance that Leo and Eugenio shared. He was
equally as good looking, but with lighter hair and darker eyes, their shade nearly
golden in color.
“
Hi,
Julie. Nice to meet you.
”

And
it was nice to meet them. Surreal, in fact, because I was just getting used to
the notion that not only had Leo admitted to having some sort of feelings for
me, but that we
’
d
just flown halfway across the world and were now standing in the very center of
his family
’
s
multimillion dollar vineyard.
This
is
what dreams were made of. Scrap all of my previous dreams.

“
Come on. I
’
m going to show you to your room.
”
Leo dropped his hand onto my waist
and I don
’
t
know if it had something to do with the amount of time I
’
d spent in that airplane, but I was
positive this must be what it felt like to lose cabin pressure. Everything in my
head went fuzzy.
“
Gio,
would you mind taking Ian and his things to his room?
”

Gio
nodded just as Ian waltzed his way into the family room where we were gathered.
I figured he got caught up in the hallway admiring the artwork, but some of
that delay also might have had to do with our little smooching experiment. I
was eager to get the goods from him, but more eager to see my room and get Leo
alone for a few minutes. We hadn
’
t
talked much since last night
’
s
surprise visit at my loft, and though I honestly didn
’
t care if we did any actual talking,
I really just wanted some one on one time with him.

“
You
’
ll be staying in my old room since
that
’
s
where the bust is,
”
he said as we trekked down a hall located off the side of the room we were just
in.
“
I
thought it might help to have it in there. I
’
m not really sure how the whole
artist inspiration thing works.
”

“
I don
’
t necessarily need to sleep with my
subjects in order to draw them, but it would probably help.
”

Leo
tripped. Like he literally tripped on absolutely nothing but my words, because
as far as I could see down the stretch of hallway in front of us, the
travertine flooring was as smooth as glass.

“
Right, yes. Sure.
”

Leo
had been one of my muses. And here I was saying it would help to sleep with my
subjects in order to draw them. No wonder he
’
d tripped. In reality, I should have
been the one to trip, and then end up in a contorted heap on the ground with my
foot in my mouth, because that
’
s
exactly what I should be doing.

“
So here it is.
”

We
’
d rounded a turn down the corridor
and came upon a solid door that arched at the top and stood at least twelve
feet high. It reminded me of something you would find in an ancient castle;
every detail preserved like the rightful work of art it was. Etchings of vines
and flowers twisted across the frame, bringing the wood to life with sculpted flora.
Impulsively, I stretched my hand out to feel the texture underneath my
fingertips and appreciate the intricate work with my own hands.

“
This is original to the Villa.
Renaldo Carducci, the man you
’
ll
be drawing and the founder of our vineyard, carved it back in 1524. Not only
was he an artist when it came to wine, he liked to dapple in many different
mediums. Most of the things you
’
ll
find in this room were his creation.
”

I
couldn
’
t
imagine how I could be any more impressed with anything on the other side of
the door than I was with the actual door, but I should have known better. Leo
had the whole
‘
never
ceasing to amaze me
’
thing down like it was his job.

“
Your room, my lady.
”

It
wasn
’
t
a room. More of a museum where everything in it was worthy to be placed on
display. The four-poster bed mimicked that same pattern on the door, and even
the silk draperies cascading from the iron rods above the windows and balcony
were intricate damask and brocade in texture. Buttery tones clung to the walls
and gold accents glittered on the nightstand and dressers. The room was
gorgeous beyond measure, sort of like the man who grew up in it.

“
This is phenomenal. I can
’
t believe you lived here.
”

“
It
’
s been a few years. But it
’
s still home,
”
Leo laughed, walking over to the
bust situated on a marble column near the window on the wall opposite us.
“
And this is Renaldo, your roommate
for the next few days.
”

It
was as though both Leo and his father had somehow morphed into a bronze
creation and were replicated in the statue in front of me. The likeness was so
uncanny that it honestly did feel a little awkward to think that this bust of a
man would be sharing my living quarters. I could feel the heat of blush
spreading onto my cheeks at the very idea of it. I suddenly wished I packed the
flannel pajamas as opposed to the silk nighty I
’
d tossed in last minute.

“
Alright then. That should do it. Do
you need any help unpacking?
”
I wasn
’
t
sure why, but Leo
’
s
words suddenly became forced and too formal for where I figured we were relationally.
“
Can I get you anything else to help
you settle in?
”

“
Hey.
”
I boldly planted my hands on my new
favorite letter on his body, knowing I needed to squelch whatever awkwardness
was beginning to brew.
“
What
’
s the plan here? Like with us?
”

Leo
’
s entire frame relaxed, his shoulders
dropping.
“
I
’
m not sure I have a plan. But I do
plan to get to know you better. And I plan to do more of this.
”

Curling
his hand around my back, he drew me into his chest, sandwiching my body against
his. Just when his mouth was inches from mine, I blurted out,
“
Who was that girl we kissed?
”
You know, because I was incredibly
awkward like that.

“
What?
”

“
The blonde gal that greeted us. You
kissed her. I kissed her. Pretty sure Ian did, too.
”

Leo
’
s eyes rounded.
“
Why did you guys kiss her?
”

“
It was an accident. I
’
m not a lesbian.
”
Had to throw that out there for good
measure.
“
But
why did
you
kiss her?
”

Closing
his eyes, Leo pulled in a long, deep breath that must have filled his lungs to
capacity and then some because it immediately started flowing back out of his
mouth in an exasperated sigh.
“
That
’
s Sofia.
”

“
Oh, okay. Sofia.
”
Somehow that satisfied me enough and
I was very nearly ready to jump his bones when he apparently decided I needed
more information. That was probably a good call. Sometimes I was too easy to
appease.

“
We used to date.
”

Well,
I wished he would have kept that to himself.

“
And we were engaged once.
”

“
Engaged in what?
”
I obviously knew what he was
referring to, but I couldn
’
t
help the flood of words that poured out of my mouth. I really hoped he didn
’
t go into the details of engaging in
any sort of activities with her and just let me get away with saying stupid
things.

“
It was two years ago, right after
college graduation.
”

“
Okay.
”
I couldn
’
t be upset with that. And truth be
told, I wasn
’
t
even upset about the kissing. I just wanted some clarification.

“
She works as a book keeper for the
business.
”

That
made sense. So she was an employee. I could deal with that. I was one, too. We
were all friendly colleagues here.

“
Who broke it off?
”

“
I did.
”

I
didn
’
t
know if it would have been better to think she had, because then that kiss
wouldn
’
t
have felt significant at all. But something in knowing it was Leo to end things
made me see that greeting in a whole different light.