Oceans Between Us (A Cinderella Romance)

by Taylor, Helen Scott

  A little burst of hope filled her. "Come back and see me again, Dino. You must have some free time."

  He dredged up a sigh from the depths of his chest and stared out to sea. "I do not know when I'll have the chance. My manager keeps my schedule full. I didn't even make it home at Christmas."

  Dino pressed a hand to his forehead and closed his eyes as if his thoughts hurt. "After New York, I will be on tour," he said, his voice barely more than a whisper. "A few days in each city, then I move on. It is not much of a life, tesoro. Not for me, and not for you, I think."

  The hope trickled away and left Maria empty and aching inside. Even if she enjoyed traveling, she couldn't live out of a suitcase. She wanted Dino to stay here. But when she tried to visualize him running the Crow's Nest with her, she couldn't. He might have helped her decorate and move furniture, but she had known right from the start that this life was not for him.

  They sat silently staring out to sea for what felt like an eternity. Maria's emotions had hardened to a frigid lump in her chest. A hopeless emptiness filled her. She shivered in the wind, goose bumps popping up on her skin. Dino put his arm around her and pulled her towards his warmth. She clutched his shirt and buried her face against his chest.

  "Maria, amore mio." His hand smoothed over her hair, soothing, gentling. She couldn't bear to lose him. Should she take a chance and go with him? Her parents would be back in a few days to look after the Crow's Nest. But what would she do while he was busy? She'd be left alone in hotels all over the world, knowing nobody, sometimes unable to speak the languages. It would be a million times worse than her trip to Austria. The thought terrified her.

  She had known from the start that Dino was wrong for her and still fallen in love with him. How foolish. But if she had the chance to do it all again, she wouldn't change a moment of their time together. At least she knew what it was like to fall in love. He would live on in her heart forever.

  Maria raised her head. The moonlight limned Dino's features, glinted in his dark eyes, transformed him into a mysterious man of shadow and light. Tonight was her last chance to make love to him. She snuggled closer and kissed him. Tonight she wouldn't take no for an answer.

  ***

  Dino had fought to control his desire for Maria, told himself he was doing the right thing. But as she kissed him, turning his blood to fire, he struggled to hold his resolve. He returned her kiss, her body soft, warm, and yielding in his arms. Leaving her would be the most difficult thing he had ever done. She had helped him overcome the pain of losing his son, yet in coming here, he had exchanged one pain for another, that of losing her.

  Maria shivered and he held her closer. "You're cold, tesoro. We should go home." She didn't resist as he helped her to her feet. They walked back to the village hall, his arm around her shoulders to keep her warm. Maria retrieved her bag from inside the hall. They climbed into her car and drove the short distance home.

  She clung to his hand as they walked up the path. He took the key from her and opened the front door. They entered the hall and she turned into his arms, pressing her face against his neck. "Don't go, Dino. I want you to stay with me."

  "Maria, amore mio, I wish I could." Dino held her tight, kissed her hair, and for the umpteenth time wished his life could be different. They stood like that for ages, the only sound the clock ticking in the dining room. She shivered in his arms, her light yellow dress not warm enough for the time of year. "Come," he said, leading her towards the stairs.

  When they reached the first landing, she held on to him as if scared he would leave her. He'd only been up to the private top floor where she and her parents lived once, but now he took her elbow and led her up the stairs. At the top, he guided her to her bedroom and opened the door. Her room was much like her, pretty, but not overly fussy. "Get ready for bed," he said. "I will make you a hot drink to warm you up."

  As he turned to leave, she gripped his hand and pulled him back. "I want you to warm me up."

  Dino leaned his forehead against hers and closed his eyes, a battle raging inside him. It would be so easy to forget his principles and give way to desire. But it wasn't fair to her. "I should not. You know I must leave tomorrow."

  "Dino, I want you. This is our last chance."

  ***

  Maria wrapped her arms around Dino's neck and stood on her toes to kiss him. She pressed her body against the hard planes of his, putting every scrap of love and yearning into the kiss. He resisted for a moment, then his arms enfolded her and pulled her close as he answered her passion with his own.

  Together, they moved towards the bed. She shoved his jacket off his shoulders and her hands fumbled at his shirt buttons in her eagerness. He solved the problem by yanking the garment off over his head. Her hands explored his warm skin, stroked across his back, his shoulders, glided down over his chest and flat stomach. He was so beautiful, so perfect. And for tonight he was hers.

  Dino pulled down the zipper on the back of her dress and she wriggled it down over her hips and let it drop. He took a step away, grasping her fingers, his gaze devouring her. "Maria, amore, you are my dream come to life."

  His fingers grazed down her sides and he grasped her hips, drew her closer, and trailed kisses from her shoulder to the top of her breasts. She cupped his head between her hands, pressed a kiss to the springy black waves of his hair. They settled on the bed and she worked on his belt, heat flooding through her, everything about him filling her senses.

  He shucked his trousers and rid her of her underwear. She floated on the sensation of his skilled lips and hands caressing her body, drawing murmurs of pleasure from her, the blissful sensation of his naked skin sliding against hers. She had imagined making love with him many nights, but her imagination hadn't even come close to reality.

  Dino whispered to her in Italian as he stroked and kissed her. The words meant nothing to her, but the beautiful cadence of his voice brushed across her senses, heightening her pleasure. He fished his wallet from his jacket pocket and she watched as he protected himself.

  He leaned over her and pressed a kiss to her lips. "You are sure?"

  "If you stop now, I might have to kill you."

  He laughed, a low sensuous rumble and moved over her, the wonderful weight of his body pressing her into the mattress.

  She hung on tightly to him as he slid inside her, wrapped her legs around him, wishing she could keep him here forever and never let him go. She loved this man, loved him so much it hurt. She couldn't lose him. For Dino, she would try to overcome her fear of traveling. Then the hot, melting sensation washed away all coherent thoughts.

  ***

  Reluctantly, Dino moved off Maria and settled at her side. He drew her into his arms and kissed her hair. His eyes closed, languorous and sated. She was so eager and sweet, so genuine. The soft little murmurs of pleasure she made when he caressed her touched him deeply. The women he usually slept with all seemed to have an ulterior motive, they either wanted him to push their singing careers or spend money on them. Maria was a breath of fresh air. This night would stay with him forever.

  "I don't want to go to sleep and waste my last few hours with you," she said, turning in his arms to face him.

  "Tesoro." Dino stroked her hair, trailed his fingers across her cheek.

  "Sing to me. The sort of thing you sing in an opera."

  He chuckled. "Those songs are much too loud. But I will sing you an Italian lullaby my mamma used to sing me when I was a boy."

  Lying in the warm cocoon of their bed, his arm loosely around her, he started singing softly, tentatively, very aware that his voice was rusty. Maria laid a hand on his chest and watched him with an almost childlike curiosity. She epitomized all the good things that he had lost from his life.

  Memories flooded back into his mind, things he hadn't thought of for ages—his happy childhood in Riomaggiore, his brothers and sisters, laughter, a time of hope and excitement before he let himself be drawn along his current career path by Freddy S
hort's promises of fame and fortune.

  Maria's eyelids fell, her cheeks flushed with spent passion. Dino let his song trail away and the sound of her soft, even breathing filled the room.

  It hit him then, a flood tide of pain he'd held back that suddenly breached his defenses—he would lose her. She obviously had feelings for him, but yesterday she had made it very clear she would not come to New York. She had her future planned and it was here in Cornwall, running the guesthouse.

  Dino rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. He imagined what it would be like to stay here and share her idyllic life in Porthale. He would enjoy being with Maria, but he would die a little every day if he could not perform. Singing was as vital to him as breathing.

  A nauseating sense of loss swept through him. There was no way they could be together and he must accept that. He curled on his side and drew her into his arms, careful not to wake her. He only had a few more hours to hold her. While she slept, he stroked her hair, pressed his lips to her nose, her eyelids, and her lips, whispered words of love that she did not hear. Said goodbye.

  In the early hours, Dino rose from the bed and dressed. A tearful parting in the morning was more than he could bear. He carefully placed the small gift he had bought her in its red box on the bedside table, a tiny something to remind her of the few weeks they had shared. He gazed around her room, trying to memorize every detail of what made it unique to her so he never forgot.

  He kissed Maria's temple, inhaled her floral fragrance and committed it to memory, then rested his hand over hers on the pillow, unable to tear himself away. But eventually he did. With a last glance over his shoulder, he went downstairs and quickly packed his bag.

  Maria had refused payment for his room, but he could not leave without at least contributing to the cost of his meals. He left some money on the bureau in the hallway. Then, with a final look around at the place he had called home for nearly a month, the place where he had lost his heart, he walked away.

  Chapter Six

  The ringing alarm clock woke Maria at seven. She blinked awake, her mouth dry. Dino! The thought shot through her with a jolt as she remembered that it was Saturday, the day he would leave. She raised herself up on an elbow. He'd been with her when she fell asleep. Where was he now?

  She sat slowly, her head aching from the vodka Chris had slipped into her lemonade. On her bedside table was a small, red gift box with a square of cream vellum on top. She picked up the card. On one side was a watercolor of a posy of violets, on the other Dino had signed his name and drawn a heart. She smiled, bittersweet. Inside the box, nestled in cream silk, rested the gold heart pendant from the jeweler in Mevagissey.

  A thrill raced through her as she took out the gift and held it up to her neck in the mirror. It was sweet of him to go back and get the pendant, but she wished he'd given it to her in person. She hurried to shower and dress so she could go down to the kitchen and cook his breakfast. This would be the last one so she wanted to make the meal special.

  She touched the tiny heart, smiling with tears in her eyes. Her emotions swung from pleasure to sorrow and back again, leaving her light-headed. Saying goodbye was going to be heartbreaking, but she still had him, if only for a few hours.

  When she descended the stairs to the next floor, she noticed the door to number twelve stood ajar. Was he already downstairs waiting for her? Maria hurried down. Her step faltered at the sight of a wad of cash folded beneath the brass bell on the reception bureau. A terrible sense of foreboding filled her.

  The dining room clock ticked loudly in the deep silence. Surely Dino hadn't gone without saying goodbye?

  She dashed to the front door and pulled it open. The space where his rental car had stood was empty. "Dino..." The word slipped out on a sob, and her hand rose to clasp the gold heart. Why hadn't he said goodbye? How could he do this to her? Then she understood. The card with the gift had been his goodbye. But it wasn't enough for her. Not nearly enough. She wanted to hug him and kiss him and memorize his face so she never forgot.

  Maria backed up and dropped down to sit at the bottom of the stairs, her hands pressed over her mouth, the hollow ache of loss almost too much to bear. He hadn't even left her his mobile phone number or an e-mail address. She had no way of contacting him. That meant he didn't want to keep in touch. She'd been so certain he had feelings for her. It couldn't have just been wishful thinking.

  ***

  In a zombie-like state, Dino drove until he could not keep his eyes open any longer. Then he pulled into a rest area, tilted back his seat, and fell into an exhausted sleep. He woke nearly two hours later when someone banged their door against his car. He blinked awake, eyes gritty with fatigue and misery.

  He splashed cold water on his face in the restroom and bought a double espresso to wake himself up. Then he continued his journey to London. It was nearly ten thirty by the time he got going again. Maria would be up and have breakfasted. She'd be baking now, or maybe she wouldn't, as she no longer had anyone to bake for. His thoughts drifted back to the happy mornings spent sitting at her kitchen table watching her cook, inhaling the wonderful fragrance of her creations. She truly was a culinary angel. His angel.

  She filled his thoughts, pushing out everything else. If not for his pressing commitments, he would turn around and go back to her. He'd been hurting when he left London, now he was hurting just as much on the way back. Something was badly wrong with his life if he could never see those he loved. It was time to make changes that Freddy would not like, changes that were long overdue.

  He dropped off the rental car on the outskirts of London and took a taxi to Freddy's office. The receptionist jumped up as Dino entered, eyes wide. "Mr. Rossellini, Freddy's been trying to reach you for weeks."

  "I know, Trisha." Dino held up his mobile phone to show he had received every one of the calls, texts, and e-mails. "Is he busy?"

  She picked up the phone and started to speak. A moment later the door to Freddy's office burst open and he strode out, tall and imposing. "Where in hell's name have you been for the last month? You can't just disappear like that. I've had the record company breathing down my neck about the next album. They scheduled a recording studio. You've let them down."

  Dino let Freddy's tirade wash over him without reacting. He'd always felt he owed Freddy, owed him for discovering him, developing his career, giving him the opportunity to sing and be successful. But when Freddy went behind Dino's back and encouraged Rachel to put his son up for adoption, that wiped out any debt.

  Dino headed into Freddy's office and waited until the older man followed and closed the door. "I needed a break to consider my future," Dino said.

  "You won't have a future if you pull a disappearing stunt like that again," Freddy snapped.

  Dino gestured dismissively. That might have been true once, but not now.

  Freddy swore. "What's happened to you, Dino?"

  "Have you forgotten so soon why I walked out?" Dino raised his eyebrows but held his temper.

  "Okay, you were ticked off about the kid, but move on. You'll have others."

  Dino shook his head. How had Freddy been his personal manager for five years and still not know him? He wasn't getting into an argument about the way Freddy had handled Rachel's pregnancy. That was in the past. Dino could do nothing to get his son back. But he could take control of his future.

  Freddy pushed a sheet of paper across the desk. "Sit down and go through this. It's the record company's suggestions for tracks on the new album."

  Dino scanned the page. He grabbed a pen and went down the list striking out all but two of the titles. He would no longer record pop songs that anyone could hum in the shower. They were musical fluff. It was time to recover his artistic integrity, perform only songs that challenged him and gave him pleasure.

  "Dino, mate, they're not going to like that. We have some wiggle room on the choice of tracks, but not that much."

  "All right." Dino tossed down the pen and held up his
palms. "Tell them the next album is cancelled."

  "Whoa. Hang on. You can't do that. I've been negotiating terms on this for six months."

  "I have not signed anything yet."

  "I've acted on your behalf."

  "Then you sing the songs." Dino straightened, faced up to his manager, held his steely, hard gaze. "I will no longer compromise my principles."

  Freddy clenched his jaws and nodded once. "I'll go back to them and sort this out. You come up with a list of songs, but keep it light. This isn't supposed to be a classical album."

  "Where is my schedule for the next few months?"

  Freddy opened a spreadsheet on his computer and printed off the list of venues, then handed it to Dino. After La Bohème in New York, Dino was booked solid with North American dates and a few in Europe, right up until he returned to Italy for his mamma's birthday celebration.

  After that, he was fully committed for a few more months. He scanned the rest of the schedule: Rome, Madrid, Paris, Milan, Barcelona…on and on, city after city. As usual, Freddy had him booked tight. His vague hope that he might be able to visit Maria again faded. He shook the printout in the air. "Are all these dates firm?"

  "Most are already sold out."

  Dino pressed his lips together. He wanted to ball up the paper and toss it in the trash. Instead, he folded the list and tucked it in his pocket. "Do not book any more performances. When these are done, I intend to return to my roots and join an opera company."

  "That would be a big mistake." Freddy was around the desk in a couple of strides, a placating expression on his face. "Who've you been talking to, Dino? Someone's got to you, haven't they?"

  "No one has got to me. I have had time to think, and I've made a decision about my future." Dino headed towards the door. "I mean it, Freddy. Do not commit me to anything else without my permission."