Hidden Heart (2 page)

Tessa bent over the
balcony’s banister and looked into the darkness below. Her feet
hurt; dancing for an entire hour on high-heels no longer seemed
like a good idea.

“
Nice evening. Would you
care for some champagne?” asked a thickly accented Italian
voice.

Tessa straightened and
turned. To her surprise, a handsome stranger stopped close to her,
a bottle of champagne in one hand and two glasses in the other.
The
same
stranger
from the sky gondola, the
same
man she’d clung to for dear life only hours
ago.

“
You speak English!” Her
voice sounded jittery and she hated it.
Oh, God I’m in trouble, so much trouble!
Telling him earlier what she’d do with him,
to him
was one thing; him
understanding was different, totally different. Butterflies filled
her stomach and her heart drummed like the staccato bass of the
music. Her cheeks burned with embarrassment as she covered her face
with both hands, then peeked through her fingers.

A playful spark ignited his
dark eyes while he tried to conceal a grin, failing miserably. He
poured champagne in one glass and offered it to her. She accepted
it with shaky hands, and took a sip. Sweet, bubbly expensive—her
taste exactly.

“
Yes, as a matter of fact I
do.” His voice had a buttery tone sounding like a lover’s whisper.
He poured champagne for himself and placed the bottle on the nearby
banister. He inclined his head slightly while sensual lips curved
in a smile that revealed perfect teeth. Clinking his glass to hers,
he said, “Happy birthday!”

Words had never failed
Tessa.

Until now.

Would she ever regain her
voice?

“
I met Carlo, your friend
at the bar.” He shrugged one shoulder with a sheepish grin. “We
Italians tend to make friends fast. He told me about your birthday.
I am glad the scare earlier did not stop you from
celebrating.”

Coming out of his mouth,
English never sounded more alluring spoken with the sensual Italian
accent.

“
My name is Alessandro,
Alessandro Santinelli.”

“
I’m Tessa, Anastassia
Cosma. I’m from Romania. I’m here with my friends on
vacation.”

He tilted his head, took
her extended hand, lifted it slowly to his lips and kissed it with
infinite gentleness. His lips felt warm and smooth on her hand, a
touch that made her stomach tighten. Under any other circumstance,
Tessa would have thought the gesture old fashioned, and perhaps
would have burst out laughing, but coming from this man, it seemed
smooth, gracious and right.

“
How is your
shoulder?”

“
Oh, much better, thank
you. I kept a pack of ice on it.” Tessa absent-mindedly rubbed her
sore shoulder. The memory of her body pressed against his rushed
through her mind.

“
So, you…where did you
learn English so well?” her curiosity got the best of
her.

He raised one eyebrow and
smiled. “As a child, my parents let me watch cartoons in English,
but I didn’t understand a word. Since Batman was my favorite, I had
no choice but master the language.” Alessandro looked like a child
that just discovered ice cream.

“
How about you?”

Tessa looked in her glass
and couldn’t help but smile.

“
I had a crush on my second
grade English teacher. He looked like Alain Delon, you know, the
French actor. I figured if I did all my homework and studied hard,
he’d notice me.”

“
Did he?”

She laughed, throwing her
head back. “I doubt it.”

Alessandro chuckled. “So,
you are from Romania, how is it there? I always wanted to visit
your country.”

“
It’s nice, I guess.
Depends on what you are expecting from such a trip, what you are
looking for.”

“
I read a lot about the
Roman Empire invading your country, centuries ago; I guess we have
something in common; our ancestors are the same. I always wanted to
see the ruins of Sarmisegetuza.” Alessandro brushed a hand through
his hair then sampled his champagne. His eyes never left her
face.

Is he hitting on
me?
Alessandro seemed a remarkable,
intelligent, funny man; too bad she didn’t believe in long-distance
relationships.

“
That’s correct;
interesting you know this.” Grateful he tried to make her
comfortable and forget about her blunt outburst hours ago, Tessa
knew she needed to clear her name.

“
Alessandro…listen, about
what I said earlier today…” She drummed her nails on the champagne
glass and looked inside as if a jinni would jump to her rescue.
Attempting to win back her dignity she continued, “I had no idea
you understood what I was saying, otherwise I never would have said
what I did, but I…you have to forgive me for being so silly. I am
so sorry!”

A half-crooked,
irresistible smile spread over his lips. “And I am not. Fulfilling
the first part of your wish wasn’t that hard, was it?” He lifted
his glass and pointed towards it. “Shall we dance?”

As if someone waved a magic
wand, the music switched to a bluesy tune.

“
Perfect timing,”
Alessandro announced, took her glass and placed it next to his on
the banister. He took her right hand into his left and placed his
other hand on her lower back. He locked eyes with hers and
waited.

Tessa took a step closer
and cupped his shoulder. Bulging muscles threatened to rip the soft
fabric of his shirt. His scent reminded her of sandalwood and
lemongrass—pure masculine.

One step right, one step
left, one step right, one step left. Nothing complicated. Yet his
proximity made her forget about everything as the world around
disappeared behind clouds of haze. His strong arms held her captive
without force. Her knees weakened without buckling and a floating
sensation took over her senses. His fire-burning stare hypnotized
her, paralyzing her willpower. Warmth radiated from his body as she
nestled in his embrace. No words needed, nothing else
mattered.

Alessandro spread his
fingers on her lower back, hugging her closer. She felt as if she
were pressed against a wall of rigid, resilient muscles. Instead of
holding her hand lateral from their bodies, he pulled it in,
resting it on his chest. She couldn’t tell if he was nervous, but
she felt his rampant heartbeat. His hip felt hard against hers, his
long powerful thighs brushed hers. With each gulp of air, Tessa’s
breasts swelled, touching Alessandro’s ribs. With each touch,
Alessandro’s breath quickened and a moan escaped his
lips.

One step right, one step
left.

A song finished as another
started.

He stopped and took her
face between his hot palms, caressing her cheeks with his thumbs.
He gently touched her, like one does a fragile Russian doll, a
tingling sensation coursing through her body. He searched her face
hungrily as if trying to memorize every single inch, every single
feature and when his gaze stopped on her lips, Tessa’s heart
skipped a beat.

She bit her lower lip,
swallowing hard. She lifted her chin and angled her face closer to
his, her lips near his mouth. He pressed his lips on hers, and then
parted them, kissing first her upper lip, then lower lip. She
closed her eyes in ecstasy when he licked her upper lip, nibbled at
her lower only to assault the inside of her mouth the next second.
His tongue made love to hers, probed, circled, teased in a dance of
total arousal. Little ripples spread down her belly like waves
breaking against the shore.

I must be dreaming…such
things exist only in fairyta—

“
Tessa! Tessa, there you
are!”

Tessa’s eyes flung open at
the sound of Carlo’s voice. Alessandro pulled away and pressed a
hand to his lips, looking down like a thief caught in the
act.

“
Oh, I’m sorry, I… didn’t
mean to… we…I was looking…” Carlo’s puzzled look darted back and
forth between Tessa and Alessandro. He finally seemed to understand
what he had just witnessed. A wicked smile spread over his face as
he nodded his head approvingly.

“
It’s okay, don’t worry,”
was all Tessa could mutter. Could the balcony just open up and
swallow her alive? She couldn’t be more embarrassed than being
caught kissing a stranger by no one other than her friend, who for
years teased her for being too uptight, too scared to let her guard
down.

“
Sorry to interrupt, but we
need to go,” Carlo said.

“
Why so soon? What’s the
matter?”

“
Well, Lara doesn’t feel
too good. Too much cake is not good for the baby, so we have to
take her home.”

“
I’m coming with
you.”

“
Oh, no, no, no. No need
for you to come. But we can take you to your hotel, if you’d like,”
Carlo said. He extended his hand and shook Alessandro’s, then
patted him on the shoulder. “Nice meeting you, man.” He took a step
aside and waited for Tessa.

She turned and looked at
Alessandro, then whispered, “Thanks for a wonderful evening…I had
fun...Nice meeting you.” She stood on her toes, placed a kiss on
his cheek and walked away.

“
Tessa, wait,” Alessandro
said.

She stopped and so did
Carlo.

Alessandro caught up with
them. “Let me walk with you to your room. This way Carlo can take
his wife home faster.”

They walked inside the club
where the rest of the group waited. Lara looked ready to throw up
and after short introductions, everyone was on their way outside.
They parted in front of the club, making plans for the next morning
to meet and drive up to Taormina’s beach. Of course, Alessandro had
been invited to tag along.

***

“
You’re kidding me, Victor,
right?” Tessa slumped on her bed, her cell phone caught between her
shoulder and her head while she snapped her watch and bracelet open
from her wrist.

Once inside her room after
Alessandro dropped her off and promised to pick her up around nine
the next morning, Tessa checked her cell phone. Its storage memory
neared its threshold due to messages left by Victor, her boss, at
ten minutes intervals. She decided against calling him, but then
did it anyway. Too late regretting she’d called.

“
Kiddo, I wish I did. But
I’m not. I need you back in the office tomorrow.” Victor’s voice
sounded serious and Tessa doubted he played a prank only to annoy
her on her birthday.

“
You do realize my vacation
just started two days ago, right? And I haven’t been on one—thanks
to
you
—in more
than three years!”

“
Tessa, we’ve worked on
this project for too long to let it slip away. If the Council wants
to negotiate now, then we should jump at this opportunity. It’s now
or never.”

“
You mean
I
worked on this project,
unless sitting at your desk and barking orders counts as
work.”

“
Hey, don’t you get snappy
with me. On your way back to the office see if those Italians have
something for sassiness, pills or something. You need them more
than anybody I know!”

“
Who said I’m coming
back?”

Victor sighed so loud Tessa
thought her eardrum might explode. She heard him shuffling papers,
then grunting.

“
Kiddo, please. You know
I’m not good with words…I beg you to come back. The company’s
future depends on you. I know, I know, I’ve promised to let you go
on vacation, but I just can’t do it without you being at the
negotiations table.” He sighed again, trying to catch his
breath.

Tessa closed her eyes
envisioning her boss still at work so late at night, mugs of coffee
under every pile of papers and no connection to the outside
world.

“
I can’t believe you are
doing this to me…” she made a last attempt to convince herself—or
him—this was not a good idea.

“
Look, I’ll pay all your
expenses, I’ll pay for your ticket to change the date, and I swear
I’ll pay for another vacation—anywhere you want, just tell me and
I’ll cover everything.”

“
Damn right, you’ll pay for
everything. This agreement better be waiting for me on my desk,
signed by you.” Tessa walked to her luggage and began shoving her
clothes back in.

“
So you’re
coming?”

“
Do I have another
choice?”

“
Kiddo, that’s why I just
love you. I knew I could count on you. See you
tomorrow!”

“
Yeah, see you tomorrow,”
Tessa said and hung up on her boss.

So much for a vacation. So
much for spending time with her friends. So much for soaking lazily
in the sun for two weeks…so much for getting to know Alessandro.
Not that she should; after all, a relationship was excluded since
they lived in different countries. But still; it would’ve been nice
to be with him…maybe continue what they started on the
balcony—kissing and dancing…

Stop dreaming, girl. Get
your head back to reality—there is no Alessandro or any other man
for you for that matter…
She shrugged as
disappointment spread over her like a plague. She felt lonely and
on the verge of crying.
Why did I call
Victor? Why can’t I enjoy a damn vacation without having to
work?