The Hidden Heart of Rico Rossi (17 page)

She rolled her eyes. ‘The Roman boy goes in search of yet another fountain.’ But she let him lead her into the bathroom. And he thoroughly enjoyed taking a whirlpool bath with her, teasing her and arousing her until she climaxed again under his touch.

Later that night, Rico lay awake. He never asked his girlfriends to stay over. If anything, he made sure they didn’t get that close and he kept them away from his private domain. But having Ella beside him—he couldn’t even begin to explain to himself how it made him feel. All he knew was that he wanted this. And he wanted more.

And it scared the hell out of him.

She’d been hurt before. What if he let her down? He’d promised her that he wouldn’t let her down … and he didn’t intend to. But what if he failed? He hadn’t been enough for his parents to love him. And he knew that his grandparents had seen him as the heir to the hotel empire rather than for himself. Could he be something more than that, for Ella?

In business, he never doubted his judgement. Emotionally, it was a whole different ballgame. And one where he didn’t have a clue what the rules were.

Waking with her in his arms was definitely something Rico wanted to do again. It made the whole morning feel full of sunshine.

‘Well, Signor Hotel Tycoon, what are the plans for today?’ she asked.

‘Whatever you want to do. I’m in your hands.’

She gave him a truly sensual smile. ‘Good. I have an idea …’

An idea that blew his mind and put a smile on his face.

And, after he’d driven Ella home to change, Rico enjoyed walking along the river with her again.

‘So now The Fountain is relaunched, does this mean you’re going back to Rome?’ she asked.

‘Not yet. I’m spending the next week doing a few hours in every role, so I can work out what the staff training needs are.’

She gave him a speculative look. ‘You’re going to be a waiter, then?’

‘Yes.’

‘I’m so tempted to come and pester you and be a difficult client.’

He just laughed. ‘You can try. I’m good with difficult clients.’

‘Hmm. That sounds like a challenge. When exactly are you on duty?’

‘Tuesday morning. Ready for morning coffee at ten o’clock.’

She grinned. ‘Oh, this is going to be
such
fun.’

On Tuesday morning, Ella dropped off the orders at the cafés, then headed for Rico’s hotel.

‘Good morning, madam. May I show you to a table?’ Rico asked.

He was dressed the same as the other waiters, in a fitted burgundy jacket, white shirt and black trousers. And he looked utterly delectable. She smiled at him. ‘Thank you. May I have a table with a view of the garden?’

‘Of course, madam.’ He ushered her to a table, held the chair out for her, then brought her a menu.

When he came back to take her order, Ella purred, ‘What do you recommend?’

He gave her a sultry look. ‘That depends whether
madam is in the mood for light and frothy, or dark and intense.’

She burst out laughing. ‘Rico, you’re a terrible waiter. I hope you don’t say that sort of thing to all your clients.’

He grinned and took a seat opposite her. ‘Only to you. What I recommend for you, madam, isn’t actually on the menu.’

She went hot at the thought.

‘But, if I’m recommending something to you as a customer, then I think you’d like the cappuccino here. And, yes, I’ll ask them to hold the cocoa dusting because I know you hate it.’

‘Sounds good to me. Anything else?’

He went back into official waiter mode. ‘All the cakes are fresh today, madam, if you’d like to make a selection from the counter.’

‘Is your counter as good as the one we went to in Vienna?’

He gave her a speaking look. ‘The Fountain Hotel isn’t a specialist patisserie, madam. But I believe we are looking at a new supplier. The hotel owner has made a recommendation to the head chef.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘Who might have time for a word with her right now, if madam isn’t busy.’

She smiled. ‘I only came to test your waiting skills, Rico.’

He grinned. ‘I believe in multi-tasking. Seriously. I told John about the hummingbird cakes, and he says he’d like samples.’

‘Then I’ll make a proper appointment and bring samples with me,’ she said.

‘Hmm. I might have to work a shift in the kitchen, that day.’

‘Behave. And I must tell the head waiter that his staff
leaves a lot to be desired. I ordered a cup of coffee about half an hour ago and my waiter still hasn’t brought it.’ She tapped her watch.

‘It wasn’t anywhere near half an hour ago. And
you’re
the one who wanted to talk.’ He rolled his eyes. ‘All right. Hint taken. I’ll go and get your coffee,
bellezza
.’

When he came back, he had other customers to attend to; Ella watched him, and he was thoroughly charming, smiling and paying attention to what his guests wanted. The four middle-aged women he served would definitely be repeating their visit, she thought. He’d made all of them smile and feel special.

Though not
quite
as special as the way he made her feel.

Then she took a sip of the coffee.

It was absolutely vile.

She blew out a breath. She knew Rico would want to know the truth, but she’d have to find a nice way of telling him.

He came back over to her table. ‘Is everything OK,
bellezza?
You’ve barely touched your coffee.’

She bit her lip. ‘Rico, I’m so sorry. It’s just, um, not how I’d normally have a cappuccino.’

‘You mean it tastes revolting?’ He frowned. ‘That’s not good. I apologise on behalf of the kitchen, and obviously I need to keep an eye on quality control. Or maybe change the coffee machine they use at the moment. May I?’ He tasted it, then looked at her in surprise. ‘Ella, it tastes fine to me.’

‘Maybe it’s me.’ She shrugged. ‘I’m probably overtired and I’ve drunk too much coffee lately,’ she said.

‘Let me get you something else.’ He came back with a peppermint tea.

It was really refreshing, and the first sip took away the slight queasiness the coffee had induced. ‘That’s lovely.
Thank you.’ She paused. ‘Would you do that for all your customers?’

‘Yes. You don’t think you’re getting special treatment just because you happen to be dating the owner, do you?’

She laughed. ‘Well, am I?’

‘Well, I wouldn’t actually taste anyone else’s coffee,’ he admitted, ‘and I wouldn’t be sitting here opposite them, chatting. But I would make sure that anything they weren’t happy with was replaced.’ He sighed. ‘You’re a distraction,
bellezza
.’

‘Go and do your work,
garçon
,’ she teased.

He leaned over to steal a kiss.
‘Garçon
, indeed. I’ll see you later. And I meant it about ringing John. I want those hummingbird cakes on the menu.’

‘Yes, sir.’ She gave him a teasing salute. ‘Can I pay my bill?’

‘No. Because it’s on me,’ he said.
‘Ciao, bellezza. ’

Later that evening, lying on the sofa with Rico, Ella stroked his hair back from his forehead. ‘Sorry I put you off, this morning.’

‘Actually, I quite liked having you around. Though I did have to explain to the other ladies I was serving that I was actually the owner of the hotel doing a bit of quality control work, and you were my girlfriend—my staff didn’t really go around kissing random customers.’

She laughed. ‘Were they very disappointed?’

He laughed back. ‘Oh, you’re such a bad girl.’

‘So are you happy with the way things are going at The Fountain?’ she asked.

‘Yes. I have a good team. Some of the management needs replacing, but I’ll handle that myself until I get the right person to do it.’

‘So you’re staying in London for a bit longer?’

‘Yes.’ But wild horses wouldn’t drag it from him that the real reason he was staying was Ella. He could quite easily send a manager from one of his other hotels to take over in London, but right now he wanted to be in London. With her. And if he had to make up excuses to do it, so be it.

‘I
T’S
officially lunchtime, but obviously you’re working through your lunch break today,’ Rico said.

‘No, I’m having a proper break. See?’ Ella gestured to her plate and glass.

Rico eyed her sandwich and grimaced. ‘That doesn’t look very nice, Ella
bellezza
.’

‘Actually, it’s gorgeous.’

‘What is it?’

She smiled. ‘Marmite and celery.’

He looked completely baffled. ‘Marmite?’

‘It’s an English thing, a yeast-extract spread,’ she explained. ‘Very savoury. People either love it or hate it. Try a bite.’ She gestured to the plate.

He did as she suggested, and then had to take a gulp of her orange juice to take the taste away. ‘Ella, how can you possibly eat that? It’s repulsive!’

She shrugged. ‘As I said, people either love it or hate it. I’m on the pro side.’

He pulled a face. ‘I’ll believe you. Otherwise I’d say it’d have to be a food craving.’

She rolled her eyes. ‘I’m not pregnant, Rico.’ Then she went white.

He felt his eyes narrow. ‘What’s wrong,
bellezza?
’

She lifted one hand, gesturing to him to wait; she was
clearly running through something in her head. ‘Oh.’ She bit her lip.

‘What?’

‘I’m late.’ She took a breath. ‘Two weeks late.’

Rico went cold. ‘Is that normal for you?’

She bit her lip again and shook her head. ‘Though it’s probably just because I’ve been working madly. Last time I worked this hard, my periods went all over the place. And we’ve been careful.’

But the only one hundred per cent guaranteed contraception was abstinence. And he knew she knew it, too. ‘Ella, you need to do a test.’

‘You’re overreacting.’

He stared at her in disbelief. ‘Your period’s two weeks late, you say that’s not normal for you, and you tell me I’m
overreacting?
’

‘I don’t have any other symptoms of being pregnant.’

‘Yes, you do.’ Memories slid into his head. ‘The other day, you didn’t like the coffee and it tasted perfectly normal to me. And you’re tired all the time.’

‘Because I’ve been working hard. You’re probably right about burnout. And I haven’t been feeling sick or anything like that.’

Oh, man, was she in denial. It was all adding up for him. Nastily so. ‘Not everyone feels sick. My best friend’s wife didn’t. You need to do a pregnancy test,’ he repeated.

‘It’s not the kind of thing I have just lying around my bathroom, you know.’ She narrowed her eyes at him.

‘Fine. I’ll go and buy one. Is there a pharmacy near here?’

‘I don’t need to do a pregnancy test,’ she repeated. ‘I’m fine.’

He folded his arms. ‘Where’s the pharmacy?’

‘Don’t bully me, Rico.’

‘I’m not bullying you.’ Though he was having a hard time containing his irritation. She was being ridiculously stubborn about something that would take only minutes to sort out. If the test was negative, they could both start breathing again and go back to normal. If it was positive …

He didn’t even want to think about that right now. ‘OK, if you’re not going to tell me, let’s do it the quick way.’ He grabbed his mobile phone, flicked into the Internet and tapped in her postcode. The website brought up a list of the nearest pharmacies. ‘Right. I’ll be back in a minute.’

She scowled. ‘You’re
so
overreacting.’

No, he wasn’t, he thought as he banged the door closed behind him.

If she was pregnant … Oh, hell. He’d always sworn he’d never have children, never subject another living being to the kind of childhood he’d had. But how could he possibly walk out on his child? He didn’t want to be like his father had been, feckless and absent. Rico wanted his child to grow up feeling secure, knowing that both parents always would be there for him or her. A home and a life with the kind of structure and security he hadn’t had until his grandparents had stepped in.

On the other hand, he didn’t want to make his parents’ mistakes and get married for the baby’s sake. And, given how Ella’s engagement had ended, he knew she wasn’t going to be particularly warm to the idea of marriage, either. Though she’d admitted that she’d missed having a father, growing up.

Would she want to make a go of it with him? Though, if she did, he didn’t have a clue where to start. How to be a father. How to be part of a loving family. It was completely outside his terms of reference.

What a
mess
.

Maybe she was right, and he was overreacting. But his gut told him that this was trouble.

He found the pharmacy, bought a pregnancy test kit, and went straight back to Ella. The second he walked through the door, she looked as if she was spoiling for a fight. Which wasn’t what he wanted, at all. He just needed to know the truth. To know where they stood.

He handed her the packet. ‘I need to know for sure, Ella. One way or the other. Please.’

That last word seemed to take the wind out of her sails, and her shoulders dropped. ‘OK. I’ll just be a minute.’

Though she seemed to take for ever. Why did women take so damned long to go to the loo? Rico wondered, trying to stem his frustration.

She came out holding the test stick. ‘We’re meant to keep it flat,’ she said.

‘OK. How long does it take before we get the result?’

‘Two minutes—I read the instructions before I did the test.’

Oh. So that was why she’d been such a long time.

Both of them stared at the stick.

‘There’s a blue line in that window,’ Rico said, pointing to it.

‘That’s the control window. It shows the test is working.’

She sounded calm, but he noticed she was gripping the stick so hard that her fingers had turned white.

A second blue line started to appear. And then it turned into a plus sign.

Positive
.

She stared at him, looking utterly shocked.

Rico could barely breathe. This couldn’t be happening. It really couldn’t. ‘One of the lines is fainter than the other.’

‘It doesn’t matter—if there’s a plus sign, it’s positive,’ she said. She shook her head, as if trying to clear it.
‘Pregnant. I … I can’t be. I just can’t.’ Her face was filled with panic. ‘I’ve just got my business off the ground. It’s absolutely the wrong time for me to be pregnant. How am I going to be able to carry on the business, when I’m looking after a baby?’