Give a Little (15 page)

“The bath is heaven,” she said against his lips.

Heaven was her arms and her lips. He’d caught a glimpse, and he knew he could never go back. He held her closer, kissing her harder, the urgency for her to realize what they had clawing at his throat.

Five more days. Five days for him to convince her that they were more than casual lovers.

He sent a prayer up, hoping someone heard it and sent some help. He could use everything he could get.

Rowdy was on his way to pick up Chloe when his father called. “Hey, Dad.”

“It’s been a while, Rowdy. Your mom was worried about you.”

Meaning Hank was worried about him. The old man was cute. “Tell Mom I’m sorry I haven’t called. I’ve been busy.”

“Working your way through Pop’s bucket list.”

Rowdy made a face as he stopped at a light. “Actually, I’ve been too busy to work on that, but I only have a couple more items to tick off.”

“Because you’re setting up your rehab clinic?”

Actually, because he’d been spending time with Jasmine. He was
way
into her.

They hadn’t had sex yet, which was a new thing for him. Usually he met a woman and, if he liked her, they hopped into bed right away.

He liked Jasmine—a lot—and she was smokin’ hot. She’d made it clear that she was fully amenable to sex, too. After all, a woman didn’t go skinny-dipping with a guy she had no interest in hooking up with.

But he was enjoying the chase. He liked getting to know her, and he liked the anticipation. He knew that they were going to get it on; it was just a matter of when and how freaky they were going to get.

He couldn’t wait.

“Rowdy?”

“Yeah, Dad?”

“So the clinic is going well?”

“Uh”—he began to inch forward in the traffic—“Life’s been busy, wrapping up loose ends and following new ones.”

“Is the new one’s name Jasmine?” his father said astutely.

Mom
. Rowdy rolled his eyes. “What did Mom say?”

“That you liked this woman.”

“Well, I do. But she’s not interfering with the clinic.” He was being a slacker all on his own.

His father was quiet for a long time, and then he said, “Don’t get so distracted by life that you lose sight of what you want.”

“Of course not.” Was that what he was doing? “I’m about to go check out equipment for the rehab center now.”

“Good. I love you, son.”

“Love you, too, Dad.” He hung up, feeling oddly guilty. Then he went to pick up his afternoon date.

Chloe was in front of her school with her boyfriend Hunter. They stood facing each other, holding hands, eyes only for each other.

Ah, young love. Rowdy honked his horn loud and rolled the passenger window down to yell, “Get a room!”

Chloe shook her head at him. She took her sweet time kissing Hunter goodbye and then strutted toward his car like the badass she was.

“That was classy,” she said as she got in.

“It’s how I roll.” He grinned at her. “How’s Hunter?”

“Quite well, thank you.”

“You totally remind me of your Aunt Bea right now.”

“That’s not such a bad thing.” Chloe leaned toward him. “Aunt Bea is in Italy with Luca.”

“Did the Apocalypse happen and I missed it?”

“Right?” Laughing, the kid shook her head. “It defies all the laws of chemistry.”

“How about you and chemistry?” At her blank look, he said, “With Hunter.”

“What do you mean?”

He pretended to casually observe the road. “I mean, has someone talked to you about the birds and the bees?”

“Birds and bees? No. But just today Hunter and I were discussing having an orgy with the school chess team, so I have some questions about that.”

He slammed on the brakes, and the car shrieked to a stop. “
What?
” he exclaimed, facing her.

“I’m just kidding, Rowdy,” she said loudly, her hands braced on the dashboard. “Are you mental?”

He pursed his lips, giving that question real thought. “I might be. I like a girl.”

Shaking her head, she tugged her seatbelt looser. “Well, get a grip, because at this rate you’ll die before you go out with her.”

“We’ve gone out,” he murmured as he began driving.

“Who is this woman, and why haven’t I heard about her?” the teenager asked indignantly. “Do you like her?”

“I wouldn’t go out with her if I didn’t like her.”

“No, I mean, do you
like
her?”

Yeah, he did. He didn’t even need to think about it. He liked Jasmine Hayes a whole heck of a lot. “You could say yes.”

“So you’re in love with her?” Chloe said.

“I never said that,” he said, pulling into a parking spot.

“You didn’t
not
say it either.” Chloe got out of the car and waited for him outside. When he joined her, she was looking around, confused. “This isn’t the ice cream shop.”

“We’re making a pit stop first.” He slung his arm around her neck and walked her toward the fitness equipment showroom.

“You never said who this woman is,” Chloe said.

“You’ll never guess.”

The kid stopped abruptly. “I know her?”

“Maybe.” He opened the door for her.

“It’s not one of my aunts,” she said, brow furrowed in thought as she stared at him. “The only single woman I can think of is Franny, and I don’t think she’d go for you.”

“Gee, thanks, kid.” He slung his arm around her neck and pulled her inside.

The showroom was jammed full of random gym equipment. He hadn’t been here before, because he’d figured he was going to buy the cheaper machines that most gyms had.

That’d been before Pop’s money. Now he could put in an order. He’d have the bucket list done way before the shipment was ready.

“This stuff is expensive,” Chloe whispered loudly. “If I knew you had this much money I’d have made you take me out for sushi with the ice cream.”

“I’m getting an inheritance from my grandfather soon.”

“But you don’t have it yet?” She frowned. “Shouldn’t you wait until you have it? Because what if it doesn’t work out?”

“It’ll work out.” It always did. He had a good feeling about all this.

“Yes, but maybe not as quickly as you think.”

He tugged her hair. “I’ve got this, kid.”

“No goal is that easily attainable. If it is, it means it’s not worth it.” Chloe shook her head. “Moreover, in a story, the hero always has an ‘all is lost’ moment where his goal is completely out of reach.”

“That’s not me,” he said firmly.

She looked doubtful. “So what if it
does
happen?”

“I’m the captain of my own ship, kid.” He shifted the cables on one of the machines and tested it with a few reps. “I’m steering this thing exactly where I want it.”

“But what if there’s an iceberg you don’t see? What if you sink?”

“I’m not going to sink.” He put the cables back and frowned at her. “You need to stop watching
Titanic
.”

“I hope you’re right.” She worried her lip, not looking convinced. “What happens if you don’t have the money for the machines when you’re supposed to pay for them?”

“They’ll eat my deposit.”

“So you’ll lose all your money?” she said as though he were an idiot.

He put his arm around her shoulders. “But that isn’t going to happen. I’ve never failed at something that I set out to do.”

“Doesn’t that just mean that you’re likely due for an instance where you don’t get what you want?”

He tugged her hair. “Stop being so pessimistic, kid. I got this.”

She widened her eyes in disbelief but didn’t say anything else, even as he wrote a deposit check for all his savings.

Bea woke with Luca’s arm around her middle holding her tight. She could feel his heartbeat against her back and his breath on her neck. She snuggled against him, and he held her closer, murmuring incoherently before nuzzling her shoulder in his sleep.

She sighed, happy.

Then her eyes opened wide. What was she
doing
?

She hurried out from under him, found some clothes, and quietly dressed. Not bothering to brush her hair, she pulled it back into a sloppy bun and picked up her mobile, purely for comfort, before she slipped out of their room.

She went down the old stone stairs as quiet as she could in her boots, exhaling in relief when she was outside. She walked a ways from the farmhouse and then lifted her mobile.

Still no service.

She tried her email anyway, and then a text. She knew that she’d probably be able to make a call, but it was early and, quite frankly, she didn’t really want to talk to anyone because then she’d have to explain how she came to be in the middle of nowhere with a man she didn’t trust.

She may not be able to trust him, but she had no problem sleeping with him.

Panic clawed at her throat, and she began to pace on the dirt path outside the farmhouse.

What had she done?

“Nothing,” she told herself, standing straight and taking a deep breath. She’d made a bargain with him, and now she was living up to it. Of course she’d enjoy herself—Luca was notorious for his charm.

The problem was that she was discovering that he was more than just charming.

But she’d already known that, hadn’t she? Her mother had been right. The way he took care of her family—not to score points with her, but out of sincere caring. Even in her most cynical moments she couldn’t dispute that.

A peacock sauntered close to her, pausing as if to see if she were worthy of his time. He was brightly plumed, his feathers blue and purple glory, flaunting them.

He looked like Luca.

She made a face at it. “I know your type. You’re only useless decoration, aren’t you?”

Only Luca wasn’t useless. The so-called accomplished men she normally dated were the useless ones.

As much as she didn’t want to admit it, Luca was actually quite lovely. He
listened
to her. He was interested, and it appeared genuine. He’d been good to her the whole trip, even if he had an overbearing hand.

She glanced at the peacock, who looked at her pityingly. “I’m sorry if I judged you on your colorful feathers. I realize that’s unfair.”

The peacock tossed its head and sauntered away, completely unconcerned by her.

She imagined Luca walking away from her like that and her heart gripped in her throat. She’d never known anyone like Luca. No man had ever affected her the way he did.

He admired her. He wasn’t intimidated by how powerful she was or resentful of her success.

That feeling filled her chest until it was so full she was afraid it’d burst. She put a hand to her sternum and closed her eyes, trying to determine what it meant. It felt important.

Like love.

Only for all her experience, for all her knowledge, she had no idea what romantic love felt like. She knew what she felt for her family, and this was
nothing
like that. This felt like suffocation and desperation, with a bit of stark elation thrown in.

What had he done to her?

The thing was that she only had a few more days with him. Time was winding down, and she knew her window was closing. Normally she wouldn’t care—she’d shrug and find another window.

She hated to admit it, but Luca’s window was different.

Maybe when she returned to London, she’d be back to normal. She’d have her mobile and her family and her work, and Luca would be gone.
She was looking forward to it
, she lied to herself.

Frowning, she trudged back toward their room. Four more days with him. An eternity.

Then why did she feel like the world was going to end when it was over?

She woke up the same way she had the last couple mornings: entwined in Luca. The only difference was that the feeling of being on rocky ground was less this morning, which concerned her even more.

“Good morning, Beatrice,” Luca murmured, cradling her closer.

“Morning,” she managed to get in before his lips were on hers.

The kiss started innocuously enough, but soon they were both panting and his body pressed over hers, showing her how good each morning could be.

But she knew better, because one day he’d wake up and she wouldn’t be enough.

She hated that she cared about that. She was on top of the world—what did it matter what he thought, present or future?

Gently disengaging from him, she sat up and brushed her hair back from her face. “Are we going back to Bologna today?”

He was silent for a bit, and then he shrugged. “I thought we’d take a drive on the motorcycle.”

She studied him, suspicious. “Are you keeping me here captive?”

His lips curled with amusement. “You aren’t tied to my bed, are you?”

“I might as well be.” They’d barely left it in the time they’d been there.

“Would that be so horrible, Beatrice?” He ran a hand down her back, resting on her hip. “You can’t tell me you haven’t enjoyed yourself.”

She had. That was the problem.

“Come.” He eased out of bed. “Let’s get dressed.”

Getting dressed took longer than it should have, because as she started putting clothes on, Luca undressed her again to play. By the time they had something to eat and went down to the motorcycle, it was past noon.

“Where are we going?” she asked as she buckled herself into the helmet.

“Nowhere, and everywhere.” He held out his hand. “Do you trust me?”

She looked at his hand and put hers in it.

They wound through country roads. Every now and then Luca would speed up, taking the curves at an exhilarating speed that she found exciting.

They reached a small town and slowed down to a slow prowl. Luca pulled up to a curb, in what seemed like the main square.

If you could call it that
, Bea thought as she eased the helmet off and looked around. If this place was more than a couple streets long, she’d be surprised. As it was, there seemed to only be two stores on the street: a potter and a cheese shop.

Luca was watching her when she turned to face him. He smiled as he took the helmet from her hand and hung it on the handle of his motorcycle. “It’s a small place.”

“That seems rather an understatement.”