Mia Dolce (3 page)

“How can I keep my hands off you for hours?” he asked after
she opened her hotel room door to him two hours later and his gaze ate her up.

“Must you?” She stretched up to place a tiny kiss on his
mouth. “In that tuxedo, I will be searching to please you, my darling.” Her
hand drifted to his trouser zipper. “My god, how lucky I am.”

“We will both be in agony.” He kissed her back and groaned. “In
this gown,
bella
, you are a vision. Turn around.”

She spun for him to see the lime green silk tissue that fell
like graceful leaves to the floor and pooled in a train.

His eyes narrowed. “How do you walk in that?”

She parted the panel that draped over her left leg.

“Ah.
Bene
. I can touch you then. I feared I would be
without you on my fingers for far too long.” He stepped toward her, inserted
his hand beneath the silk and found her pussy. “Regina,” he murmured as his
lips nuzzled her collarbone. “How do you expect me to be a good man if today I
know you wear no panties?”

She arched as his fingers dived into her wet cunt. “I know
you are good man, Sergio and that’s why I’m naked. Oh god,” she moaned, hearing
how succulent her cream sounded as he stroked in and out of her, “let’s get out
of here before we never leave.”

On the way down to the gardens in the elevator, he asked if
she’d talked with her sister.

“I did—and it was short and not so sweet. She’d left five
messages on my voice mail. In each one she was wondering where I was, but about
message number three, she gave up the pretense and said she figured I was with
you.” Reggie rolled her eyes at him. “When I called back, she was leaving to go
help Sandy get dressed, so she had no time to scold me.”

Sergio cast Reggie a tender smile. “Older sisters.”

“Yes.” Reg swallowed, avoiding asking if he had one. “Donna
fills the role well. Giving advice whenever she feels like it.”

“Did she like your husband?”

She stared at Sergio, momentarily taken aback by the non
sequitur. “Yes. Most people did. Tim was a sweet man.”

“What was his work?”

“An attorney. Copyright.”

“Not very exciting, eh?”

“No.”
Very quiet. Very…dull.

“And how did he die?”

“You knew?” She was shocked that Sergio had personal
knowledge of her husband’s death.

“After I read your book, I was curious about you and I asked
Sandy to tell me more.”

Reggie held his gaze. “I see.”

“I think not. I tried your recipes. And I have come here as
much to see Sandy married as to meet you.”

His astounding revelation was a compliment that floored
her—and had her struggling to find the train of their discussion.

But he persisted. “How did he die, Regina?”

Her eyes met his gaze again as the elevator bounced at the
first floor and the doors sighed open. “An auto accident.”

He took her arm, his gaze never leaving hers as he led her
around those who waited to get on the elevator. “How long ago?”

He asked so nonchalantly that she halted in the foyer.
Sergio faced her. People drifted around them.

“Three years.”

“And you are no longer missing him.”

No question, his words had her nodding and confessing, “But
I am lonely.”

He drew her close and whispered, “I know, my darling. I
could see it last night at dinner as you looked at me across the room.”

Are you lonely?
She was dying to learn more about
him—and mentally kicked herself into action so that she voiced her question.

He reached up to trace her jawline with the backs of his
fingers. “I was lonely until I met you here last night,
bella
.”

“Sergio,” Reggie flowed toward him, stunned with his
perception and his endearment. “You are the sweetest man and I—”

“
There
you are!” Donna rushed up to both of them and
wound her arm through Reggie’s. “I am so glad you are here.” Though she really
didn’t look it with the way she examined Sergio as if he were a creature from
the Black Lagoon.

“What’s up, Donna?” Reggie asked her.

“It’s the caterer. He was late—and the bruschetta and
antipasti are ready but the stuffed pork is only half done. You know how long
that takes and if it’s raw then—”

Reggie put up a hand. “Stop, sweetie. Let me go talk with
him. Come with me, Sergio?”

“Of course, Regina.” Sergio put a hand to her back to lead
her down the hall.

The two of them left Donna standing in the hallway.

“Is she still looking at us?” Reggie was fighting a belly
laugh.

“If I look back, I might be struck blind.”

Reggie erupted in laughter, turned a corner and pulled him
close. “You are a wonderful tonic for me, Sergio.” In her joy of him, she took
the moment to tell him more about her husband than he had asked for. “I loved
my husband. He was a kind, caring, considerate man. Not a big success at what
he did, but he certainly earned enough money to insist I quit my catering job
and cook—and experiment—so that I was able to write that cookbook.”

Sergio hugged her. “And did he ever know you made the
bestseller list?”

“No, he died before the book took off. And I was never able
to say thank you for the generous gift he gave me.”

Sergio traced her lower lip with one fingertip. “That gives
you regret.”

Tears blurred her vision. “Yes. Tim was not…many things. But
he was the reason I have done well with the book—and now my agent is talking
with a cable channel about a possible television show.”

Producing a handkerchief, Sergio dabbed at the corners of
her eyes. “Don’t cry, my darling. Your husband knows you are successful. And
grateful.”

She gave Sergio a strained smile because she realized if
that were true, Tim would also know she felt sexually needy. Sexually deprived.
And so hungry that she was becoming assertive about fulfilling her desires.
Yet, Tim had known that in life because she often saw on his face how he
worried he had not satisfied her—and how he insisted she not make demands of
him. But Sergio was the opposite and she planned to enjoy him—and her own
liberation. “You are right, Sergio. Tim would be happy for me.”

At the end of the hall, a few waitstaff emerged from the
kitchen doors to argue loudly with each other.

Sergio smiled. “Come,
bella
, let us give hell to the
caterer. And then, you and I, we will talk more about what else you would like
in your life, eh?”

* * * * *

But the chance to talk never came. Instead, the two of them
spent an hour helping the caterer and his staff working on the pork as they
should. Then Reggie donned an apron and helped the baker assemble and position
the four-tiered wedding cake. Sergio was fully occupied talking with the
bartenders about the order of the Champagne and the wines for dinner.

When the time neared for the wedding ceremony, Reggie hung
up her apron, found Sergio and the two of them strolled to the garden where
lawn chairs were set for the two hundred guests.

“Thank you for your help.” She leaned close to him as they
sat listening to the four violinists begin the entertainment.

“Regina, I was happy to help.” His eyes were dark, brilliant
and happy. “For you, all for you.”

She looped her arm through his and closed her eyes, content.

He patted her hand and kissed her temple. “I cannot wait to
dance with you.”

She grinned up at him. “You dance. Wow. My day is made.”

He arched both brows. “You like to dance?”

“Waltz, cha-cha, boogie.”

“Tango?”

“Oooouuuie, absolutely. Do you?”

“Very well. Taught by my father and mother who were superb.”

“I have gone to heaven.” She squeezed his biceps.

“Ah. That comes later.”

She burst out laughing. “How right you are.”

His gaze swept over her. “I must keep you laughing like
that. It has been too long for you.”

“Oh yes,” she sighed at his accurate insight. “Years and
years.”

“Even before he died,
si
?”

This time his insight was a question. And she honored it
with a direct look into his eyes and honesty. “Yes. I loved him. But always
there was something lacking.”

“And you despaired there could not be more with any man.”

She was so stunned, her mouth dropped open. She snapped it
shut. “Yes. He loved me but he lacked an ability to let go. He lacked a…a joy
of little things that barred us both from,” she tilted her head as she gazed at
Sergio, “bliss.”

He cupped her throat, his thumbs tracing the edge of her
jaw. “I have felt the same. Looking for a mate who could find delight in the
moment and the grand plan. Looking for one who could match me. Wondering if
such perfection could exist. I am thirty-six years old, Regina and I will tell
you I have had many
amores
. But none who meant all to me.” He leaned
over and, in full view of her gathering family and friends, kissed her with a
full possession of lips and tongue. “I am captivated with you beyond the
moment, the bed, the sex,
cara mia
. I give you fair warning that I mean
to have more.”

Whatever his meaning, time to discuss it with him died as
cousins from Nebraska came to exclaim over her and tell her how they’d just
arrived because of airplane delays. Within minutes more relatives arrived to
clasp her to them, sigh over the decorations and the sunny weather off the
Atlantic—and to ask to be introduced to Sergio.

“You are a hit,” she told him as four more musicians took up
their spot and began the wedding march. “My family will be after me tomorrow by
phone and email and carrier pigeon to learn just who that luscious man was by
my side.”

“But what if I am by your side tomorrow?”

“What?”
Her hearing must be bad.

His gaze fell to her mouth. “Shh. Think on it. The wedding
begins.”

She had no idea what vows Sandy and her fiancée exchanged.
No idea how her niece looked. How the dinner tasted. She only knew she was
desperate to be alone with Sergio again soon and for a very long time.

But she was besieged with wedding duties. Finding the
wedding planner who seemed to have disappeared into the kitchen in the midst of
a tirade with the caterer. Advising Sandy and her groom how to cut the cake
properly so the damn thing wouldn’t collapse. Gathering up the wedding bouquets
when the family portraits were to be taken.

When she finally got back to Sergio’s and her table, she
found him in deep conversation with one of her great aunts. They were speaking
in Italian, which was a blur to Reggie and she began to step away. But Sergio
snagged her hand, wrapped his arm around her waist and caught her to him.

“Stay, Regina,” he instructed. “Your Aunt Corinna tells me
stories of you when you were a child.”

Reggie smiled at her tiny aunt who was now eighty-nine and
her mother’s mother’s sister. “Did she tell you what a terror I was?’

“
Si, si
,” Aunt Corinna chuckled and pointed at
Reggie, “a bomb.”

“Bomb?” asked Sergio, bending down to the little woman.

“A bomb,
si
. She was so much like fireworks. After
her mother died, always.”

Sergio looked at Reggie. “When did your mother die,
bella
?”
His voice was deep, velvet concern.

“When she was five,” Aunt Corinna said. “Sad thing. To lose
a mother so young. But Donna was a little mother, was she not, Regina?”

“Yes, Aunt Corinna, she was. Our father was very grateful
too,” Reggie told them both. “Donna was eighteen, Sergio, when our mother and
our brother died. In an auto accident.”

His brows knit together in dismay. He was noting, Reggie was
sure, how her life had been torn apart by tragedies. “No wonder you were a
bomb.”

Aunt Corinna and Reggie smiled sadly at his use of the word.

“She is now a very quiet lady, are you not, Regina?” her
aunt asked. “To lose a husband too, is a terrible thing. It makes her afraid to
live.”

“Oh Aunt Corinna, I am f—”

Her aunt bent up to Sergio’s ear. “She needs a good man,
Signore
Avanti. A very strong and wise man who can teach her to feel safe to love and
laugh again.”

“Aunt Cor—”

“I believe you,
Signora
.” Sergio kissed Corinna on
her wrinkled cheek.

Her aunt sidled closer to him. “I have seen how you look
upon her with hot eyes,
Signore
. Will you be that man?”

“Ah, Aunt Cor—”

“Think about it,
Signore
! I must go now to take my
pills. Too much wine and the pills work very fast!” She clapped her hands
together and motioned for Sergio to lean down to her. She kissed his cheek and
crushed Regina’s hand then said to her, “You must give him the chance, Regina.”

“Well!” Regina blushed as she watched her aunt trundle off
toward her table and her son’s and daughter’s families. “Nothing like being
revealed for all you are worth.” She faced Sergio with a scolding grin on her
face. “And
you
were encouraging her. Flirting with her too.”

“Ah,
mia regina.
” He pressed flush against her, his
arousal long and hard and so very delicious-feeling beneath the tuxedo
trousers. “Are you jealous?”

“Among other things, yes.”

“
Bene
,” he whispered, drew her back into his arms and
kissed her oh-so thoroughly. And when he pulled away and she drifted back to
reality, she heard music playing. “Come now, Regina. We are dancing.”

The tune the band played was slow and dreamy, just fine to
match Reggie’s muddled senses. She let Sergio lead her in the simple steps and
hold her far too close.

“You fit me exactly,” he told her, and pressed her loins
against him.

She grinned against his throat. “I learned that last night.”

“I want you again tonight.”