Rome is Where the Heart is: An uplifting romantic read, perfect to escape with (From Italy with Love Book 1)

by Tilly Tennant

  ‘I’m sure she meant well and she only wanted to see you happy. But it’s difficult for someone else to know exactly what will make you click with a partner – best to let them do it themselves.’

  ‘Click?’ he asked, raising one delectable eyebrow. ‘What does that mean?’

  ‘You know. . . what will make you get on well. . . have a good time. . .’

  ‘Like you and I?’

  ‘I suppose so,’ Kate said with a small smile. ‘I suppose you could say we’re clicking.’

  ‘I dated Orazia for my mother, to make her happy. It did not end well.’

  Kate had to wonder at this point just what his mother might make of her if she could see them sitting together under the shade of a parasol outside the café, heads close over tall glasses of cloudy lemonade as they shared their secrets. Somehow she didn’t think she’d fit the brief of suitable potential wife or even a girlfriend, but then with a divorce behind her at thirty, would she fit any mother’s? Divorce meant baggage, and there was no way of getting around that.

  ‘Does all this mean you’re ready to find love again?’ she asked. ‘I mean you must have felt you’d moved on a bit to start dating again?’

  He paused, held her in a molten gaze. ‘Perhaps,’ he said. ‘Are you?’

  She gave a self-conscious guffaw, another spontaneous and completely unbecoming reaction she would later burn crimson at the memory of. ‘I think I’m having too much fun on my own to worry about another man just yet.’

  ‘That is a shame. Perhaps you will change your mind?’

  ‘If I find the right man. I certainly haven’t seen much to change my mind in Manchester so far.’

  He gave a short nod, a smile playing at the corner of his lips. Kate might have been tempted to say it was just a little on the cocky side. It should have irritated the hell out of her but, strangely, it didn’t.

  The conversation with Alessandro had lightened and turned to stories of his sister bossing him around, anecdotes from his police-training days and horror stories of awful women that his mother had tried to pair him up with. But all too soon it was time to go. Kate wished she could suggest somewhere else for them to go on to, but it seemed rather forward, and as he hadn’t suggested anything, perhaps he’d had enough. So she left the café with him, regretful but accepting of the fact that their date was over.

  As they walked the road back to Kate’s hotel, Alessandro turned to her.

  ‘Will you be meeting your friend for dinner tonight?’

  ‘I hadn’t arranged anything with him.’

  ‘Hmmm.’

  ‘Why do you ask?’

  ‘I wondered. . . You have enjoyed today?’

  ‘Of course, I’ve had a wonderful time. . .’ She shot him a playful look. Did he want to carry on after all? Perhaps this was the moment to try and figure him out. ‘Do you know a good place to eat?’

  ‘I know many.’

  ‘Aren’t you going to offer to take me to one of them? I am a stranger to Rome, after all. . .’

  He broke into a slow smile. ‘I would like that very much.’ He looked at his watch. ‘You would like to go back to your hotel first?’

  ‘I could do with freshening up. But I don’t want you to go off in case you don’t come back for me – I want the dinner I’ve been promised. It might be a little forward, but would you like to come up to my room to wait? I won’t be long and you can get a drink from the minibar.’

  ‘I would always come back for you, but if you prefer me to wait in your room then I will.’

  ‘I would,’ Kate said. ‘It seems silly to send you away when you’d be coming back in less than an hour anyway.’

  Jamie had sent a very irreverent text in reply to Kate’s news that she was going to have dinner with Alessandro and she hoped he wouldn’t mind. It said something along the lines of how he would be most disappointed to hear that she hadn’t seduced Alessandro, and that he wanted to hear all about her date when he saw her again. She was glad and relieved to see he didn’t seem to be offended that she had effectively ditched him for dinner that night, and it crossed her mind to ask what he was going to do with himself instead. But her thoughts were distracted by the sight of Alessandro sitting on her bed and the question soon slipped from her mind. While she wasn’t going to take Jamie’s advice completely, she had made up her mind to get closer and to get a taste of the one thing she had been gasping to do all day.

  Emerging from the bathroom with her teeth cleaned, hair unclipped and brushed, make-up touched up and perfume spritzed, she strode over to where he sat and perched next to him.

  ‘I’ve had a fantastic day,’ she said, holding his gaze. ‘Thank you.’

  He said nothing in reply, simply wrapped her thoughts in those dark eyes until they were filled with nothing but how much she wanted him.

  And then they moved as one. It was obvious he wanted it as much as she did, and as their lips met it was like a jolt of electricity running through her. She had never felt anything so intense, not in all the hundreds of times she had kissed Matt, and it was all she could do to stop herself digging her hands straight into his shirt and ripping it off.

  She couldn’t breathe, could barely speak as they broke off, could only stare at him dreamily, hungry for more. And then he obliged, pulling her closer still, one hand in her hair and the other on her cheek. She could feel his chest pressing against hers, and she could imagine her heart beating right out of it. Back onto the bed they fell, and she rolled on top of him, his groin springing to life as her tongue searched his mouth. He groaned as her hands ran down his flanks and pulled his shirt from his trousers. He went for the zip of her dress and she heard it slide open. She wanted him – she wanted him so badly it was an ache that consumed her.

  ‘Kate. . .’ he panted, breaking off. ‘This. . .’

  ‘What’s wrong?’ She pulled away, looked at him. With the lust in his eyes, there was uncertainty. The sight jolted her to her senses. How could she have misread the situation so badly?

  ‘I’m so sorry. . .’ she mumbled as she climbed off him and re-zipped her dress. ‘You must think I’m such a whore.’

  ‘No,’ he said, sitting up and reaching for her arm to guide her gently back to the bed. She sat beside him, deflated now and feeling very stupid. But he smiled and stroked a lock of hair from her face. ‘I think you are a beautiful and sexy woman. . . very passionate. And I think that no man has been passionate with you for some time. I would love to show you that passion. . . But you are in Rome for days, not years, and I must live with only memories when you are gone.’

  ‘I don’t understand.’

  He leaned in to kiss her, softly this time. ‘I do not want just a taste of what I can never have again. It is too cruel.’

  What was he saying? That he didn’t do one night stands? Didn’t all men do one-night stands? But then it hit her – she didn’t do one-night stands and maybe he knew that. Could he tell she would regret it? Was he saving her from herself?

  ‘I feel so embarrassed,’ she said.

  ‘There is no need. If you lived in Rome, I would want this with all my heart because I would know we would meet again.’

  ‘Why ask me out for the day then?’

  He seemed confused by her question for a moment. ‘Because I like you and I wanted to show you my city.’

  ‘But you didn’t know this would happen?’

  ‘Yesterday, no. Today, I thought maybe yes. But I decided I would be strong if it did.’

  ‘Unlike me, who was about as strong as a jelly,’ she replied with a rueful smile.

  ‘You are stronger than you think, Kate.’

  She tugged a hand through the tangle of her hair. ‘So, I don’t suppose you want to have dinner now?’ She had asked the question, and in light of what had just happened and been said, she wasn’t sure what she wanted the answer to be. It would be awkward as hell for both of them, but a tiny part of her wasn’t ready to let him go yet, despite this.

  ‘Wh
y not?’ he asked with an encouraging smile. ‘I am hungry. You must be hungry too.’

  ‘A bit,’ she admitted.

  ‘Then we will have dinner.’

  Chapter Nine

  Kate was woken by Anna’s call. She reached over to pluck the phone from her bedside cabinet and clamped it to her ear.

  ‘Hey. . .’ she mumbled, rubbing sleep from her eyes and trying to shove her brain into gear. ‘This is early – what’s up?’

  ‘I have to call early because apparently you’re too busy to talk to me at any normal hour.’

  Kate sat up in bed, suddenly wide awake. ‘OK, I get the impression you’re pissed off with me.’

  ‘Of course I’m not.’

  ‘That’s definitely your pissed-off voice. I’ve heard it enough times over the years to know it by now.’

  ‘Oh, alright then, I am. But I’ve phoned you about twenty times since you got to Rome and you either don’t pick up or you’re with someone and you can’t talk.’ Anna made certain to emphasise the word someone, as if she didn’t approve of it one bit. ‘I mean, how many someones are there?’

  ‘I’ve been spending quite a bit of time with Jamie, which you know about. . .’ Kate hesitated. She had never kept secrets from her sisters and she didn’t want to start now, but she wasn’t sure how Anna would take the news of her day out with Alessandro. It wasn’t that Anna was a prude, or that she pretended to know what was best for Kate, but she would worry about the emotional implications of getting involved with someone while the ink on her divorce wasn’t yet dry, and if Kate was perfectly honest with herself, she had started to wonder about those too. Dinner had been surprisingly good-humoured after her brief and ultimately embarrassing encounter with Alessandro on the bed, and she had even begun to relax in his company as he went out of his way to let her know, without actually spelling it out, that she had no need to feel awkward. He was gallant, witty, charming, and oh so much sexier for trying not to be. Alarm bells had started to ring in the back of Kate’s mind somewhere towards the end of the evening, and she had almost fancied herself falling for him in a real, actual true-love kind of way. It was not good at all, and yet the thought of not seeing him again, despite how sensible that plan would be, had left her feeling hollow. Then, for reasons only he knew, before they’d parted he’d asked her to join him again for a second trip to the Colosseum, ostensibly so he could make up for the visit she’d had to abort when her purse was stolen. Without hesitation, she’d said yes. Now, as she recalled that decision, she wondered how wise it had been. And what Anna would say if she knew the half of it.

  ‘You would have said if it was Jamie,’ Anna cut into her thoughts. ‘I already know about Jamie. Have you hooked up with someone else? I only want to know what you’ve been up to, and only because I’m jealous as hell because you’re in Rome having a fantastic time and I’m stuck at work in rainy old England.’

  ‘Sort of.’

  ‘What does that mean?’

  ‘I met a man and he took me out yesterday. To the Vatican. And then to dinner.’

  ‘A man!’ Anna squeaked. ‘Oooh! How exciting! Where’s he from, is he staying in your hotel, how did you meet him, is it a date situation or just friends, are you going to get his number when you get back home—?’

  ‘Whoa! It’s not all that. We’re just friends. He’s actually a policeman.’

  ‘A policeman? Is he on holiday on his own too?’

  ‘He’s a Roman policeman.’

  There was silence at the other end of the line.

  ‘Anna?’ Kate prompted. Silence wasn’t good when it was coming from Anna. It meant she had something to say that she knew Kate wouldn’t like.

  ‘He’s local?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Oh. You’ll find it hard to keep in touch then. Was it a date?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Liar. Men don’t just take you out for no reason.’

  ‘Jamie did.’

  ‘Jamie was different. Unless this Alessandro is gay too?’

  ‘Not that I know of,’ Kate replied, blushing as she recalled the evidence of his absolute heterosexuality.

  ‘He’s not one of these men who shag a new tourist every week? Like that one in Shirley Valentine?’

  ‘Shirley Valentine? What the hell—’

  ‘Is he?’

  ‘We haven’t had sex. And it would be nothing to do with anyone else if we had.’

  ‘But he might want to. I bet he’s taking you out again.’

  ‘Actually he’s—’

  ‘I knew it! Have you told him you’re newly divorced?’

  ‘Yes but—’

  ‘Then he totally thinks you’re ripe for the plucking! Jeez, Kate!’

  ‘Anna! Calm down. I’m not completely stupid you know. I’m thirty, and I think I can handle a date with a man at this point in my life.’

  ‘You’re not stupid, but you are in a vulnerable place right now. . .’ Anna’s tone softened. ‘I know you can look after yourself and I don’t think you’re stupid. I don’t want to see you hurt, that’s all. You’ve literally just received your decree absolute and. . . Well, I can’t pretend to know how that feels but I think my emotions might be a mess if it were me. A bit of flattery from a local would go a long way to making me feel better and before you knew it. . .’

  ‘I’m not going to fall in love with him if that’s what you mean,’ Kate said haughtily. ‘I’m not that needy.’

  Even as she said it, she pushed the thoughts of kissing Alessandro on the very bed she now sat on firmly from her mind. Anna’s interference wasn’t welcome, but perhaps she had a point. She just hated it when Anna was right, which was most of the time.

  ‘I know,’ Anna said. ‘Just promise you’ll be careful.’

  Kate pulled at a loose thread on the hem of her pyjama top. ‘I’m having a bit of fun, that’s all. That’s what I came on holiday to do and you said I should get out more. . .’

  ‘I would have felt easier if you’d been having your fun with a fella there might be a future with.’

  ‘An Englishman you mean? There’s no guarantees for that to last longer than the holiday either. Don’t you remember what happened when you had a little holiday fling with. . . what was his name. . .? Craig in St Ives in 2003?’

  Anna laughed lightly. ‘OK, you got me – I was an idiot to expect that boy to phone me when he got back to Skegness. Point taken.’

  ‘But it did lead to you getting together with Christian, who is the best husband anyone could have. So you never know what can come of something that might not seem good at the time.’

  ‘True. But remember that Christian and I were friends already at that point. Although I’m still not sure that crying all over him because of another boy could be recommended as a come-on tactic for anyone else.’

  ‘I agree. I’ll try to avoid that myself. But I also want to make my own mistakes, and you have to let me. Maybe the thing that seems like a mistake at the time won’t turn out to be a mistake after all.’

  She heard Anna let out a sigh. ‘OK, so tell me more about this Alessandro. Maybe I won’t think he’s so bad after all.’

  The first hour of the day had felt thundery, but the clouds burnt away as the sun climbed to reveal a sky as blue and clear as the day before. Alessandro arrived in the same car, driven by the same woman, who subjected Kate to an even steelier stare this time before driving off.

  ‘I don’t think your friend is keen on me,’ Kate said as he kissed her on both cheeks.

  ‘My friend?’

  ‘The woman who dropped you off.’

  ‘Ah! Lucetta!’ He laughed. ‘My sister. She is curious about you. She says she likes your orange hair.’

  Kate’s brow furrowed. The icy look she’d got from Lucetta didn’t exactly scream approval but she let the comment pass. At least it wasn’t his other sister, Maria, who was apparently friends with a certain Orazia, who seemed to hate Kate with a passion and had probably filled her head with all
sorts of nonsense about how awful she was. She had to wonder whether the news of their dates had got to either of those women yet. Kate could leave it all behind her at the end of the holiday, of course, but it still made her uncomfortable to think of them slagging her off, even just for the week. From the look on Lucetta’s face, perhaps they had all been discussing her, hunched over a cauldron with a voodoo doll and some pins.

  Alessandro offered his arm. ‘Would you like to walk again?’

  Kate nodded and linked with him, marvelling at the easiness between them despite all that had gone on the day before. As she’d dressed that morning she’d wondered whether, in the cold light of day, he would change his mind about coming to meet her today, or whether it would be awkward and uncomfortable between them, but he seemed as relaxed and jovial as he had at the Vatican. It made her feel easier too. Perhaps she was just seeing problems where there weren’t any.

  ‘Your dress is nice,’ he said.

  ‘Thank you. I made it myself.’

  ‘You made it?’

  She nodded. ‘It’s a hobby. I make most of what I wear. I like that I can have different clothes than what’s in the shops that way, and it means I never turn up to a party in the same dress as someone else.’

  He gave her another once-over and a nod of approval. ‘You are very good. I think Lucetta would like you even more if she knew that.’

  ‘Would she?’ Kate asked, still unconvinced that what she had seen on Lucetta’s face was anything but contempt.

  ‘She would ask you to fix her wedding dress.’

  ‘Is there something wrong with it?’

  ‘Big arguments with the shop. They say it fits, Lucetta is not happy but we have no money to buy another one now.’

  ‘That’s where you took her the other night, to ask them to look at it?’

  ‘Yes. . . you remembered.’

  ‘I take notice where dresses are concerned. And the shop won’t fix what’s wrong?’

  ‘They have fixed it five times. No more, they say.’

  Kate was thoughtful for a moment as they walked. ‘What does Lucetta think is wrong with it?’