Raffaele had “thrown together” a steak Florentine for them that melted in Lindsay’s mouth. She was definitely putting it on the wedding menu.
She wondered if Raffaele knew how to make cornettos.
“I’m exhausted,” Louisa told Lindsay toward the end of the delicious meal when they had the table to themselves. “But it’s a good tired.”
“It’s the same for me.” Lindsay sipped her wine. “We accomplished a lot today. The landscapers will start tomorrow and the owner assured me they would make up the lost time.”
“That’s great. I’m glad we were able to get it done for you.”
“I’m so impressed with the townspeople. How they rallied together to help out and were so cheerful even working in the heat and mugginess.”
“Well, they’re all enjoying dinner. This was a nice gesture.”
“Zach’s the one to thank. But we were happy to do it. Everyone worked so hard. I can tell you I’ve decided to order some big fans for the wedding and reception. I want the guests to be comfortable.”
Louisa clinked her wineglass against Lindsay’s. “I like the way you think. I’m sorry I dropped the ball.”
“Don’t sweat it. You worked as hard as anyone today.” Lindsay eyed Zach talking with Nico, Alonso and a couple of other men near the bar. “And I know how easy it is to get distracted.”
“Are the two of you involved?” Louisa asked.
Lindsay’s gaze whipped back to her fellow American.
“There’s a...tension between the two of you,” the woman explained.
“He’d like there to be.” Lindsay rolled the stem of her wineglass between her fingers, watched the liquid swirl as her thoughts ran over the past two weeks. “But I need to stay focused on the job. As today clearly proved.”
“He can’t take his eyes off you.”
“And Nico keeps you in his sights. Is there something between the two of you? You seemed to be arguing this morning.”
“We’re always arguing.” Louisa’s gaze flicked over the man in question. Her expression remained as composed as always, but there was no hiding the yearning in her pale eyes. “That is why it’s good there’s nothing between us.”
A loud cheer went through the patio. Lindsay glanced around to see Rafe and Danielle had joined the party. Another round of cheers sounded as waiters flowed through the room with trays of champagne glasses.
Alonso grabbed a flute and held it high. “Primo, a huge grazie to Raffaele and Mancini’s for hosting us tonight on such short notice. And for the wonderful meal he provided.” More cheers. “Secondo, we are all excited to be here to share in the joyous news of Mancini’s receiving the Good Food Award!” He held his glass high. “We had no doubts, amico mio, none at all. Complimenti!”
“Complimenti!” The crowd clapped and cheered, lifting their glasses and sipping.
Rafe stood on a chair. “Grazie, grazie. I am happy so many of my friends could be here to share this with me tonight. Business picked up when Mancini’s was chosen to feed the royal wedding guests. Now, we have the Good Food Award the tourists will come even more. Monte Calanetti is on the map!”
A roar of approval rose to the roof.
“Nice touch, sharing his success with the citizens.” Zach slid into his seat. “Classy.”
“Raffaele is good people,” Louisa affirmed. “I’m going to congratulate him on my way out. Good night. Zach, thank you for dinner.”
“My pleasure.”
Louisa walked away, leaving Lindsay and Zach alone together. He picked up her hand. “You look tired.”
“I am.” Too tired to fight over possession of her hand. She really needed to tell him the day in Milan had been a mistake and they needed to regroup to where they’d been before the trip. But every touch weakened her resolve.
“I’m sorry I messed up.” There was a quality to his voice she couldn’t quite pinpoint. She dismissed it as fatigue and the fact he probably didn’t have to apologize for his work effort very often. Like never.
“You thought you were hiring the best crew,” she reminded him. “And, you know, I really enjoyed today, getting to know more of the local people, seeing how they all rallied around each other to help. It was an inspiring experience. As you said before, too often people are all about their own agendas. Today reinforced my view of humanity.”
“Sometimes those agendas can be well-meaning.” Again his tone was off.
“You mean like Fabio obsessing over his girl and their baby? I get that, but look at how many lives he impacted by not honoring his contract. Yes, I enjoyed the day, but the landscaper is still going to have to make up lost time, and I lost a whole day. Life is so much easier when people are up front with each other.”
He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed her knuckles. “Let’s go home and soak our aches away in the Jacuzzi.”
Oh, goodness, that sounded wonderful.
And dangerous.
She’d promised herself she’d get her head on straight today, put her infatuation aside and focus on the job. It was the smart thing to do. All he wanted was a summer fling. She had only to recall how he’d clammed up after she’d shared her humiliating history with Kevin to realize his interest was strictly physical.
And still she tangled her fingers with his. “Let’s go.”
CHAPTER TEN
AFTER THE INTENSE heat of the day, the balmy softness of the night air caressed Lindsay’s shoulders with the perfect touch of cool. The rest of her, submerged in the hot, roiling water of the spa, thanked her for her foolish decision.
“I really did need this.” She rolled her neck, stretching the tendons.
Strong hands turned her and began to work at the tightness in her shoulders. “So much stress.”
The low timbre of Zach’s voice made her whole body clench in need. She tried to shift away, but he easily held her in place.
“I never would have thought a wedding would be so much work.”
She bit her bottom lip to suppress a moan, not wanting to encourage him. “Why, because it’s just a big party? It’s more than that, you know. It’s two people creating a life together. That requires the meshing of many moving parts. The bride and groom, family members, attendants and, in this case, palace representatives and dignitaries. And that’s just on the day. Before that there’s flowers, food, wine, cake, photographers, seating in the chapel, setting up for the reception. Seating arrangements. Thank you, once again, for your help with that. I got the final approval from the palace today.”
“My pleasure.”
There was that tone again. She glanced at him over her shoulder. “You stopped listening after family members, didn’t you?”
“You caught me.” He let her float away a bit before turning her so she faced him.
“What’s up with you?” She brushed the damp hair off his furrowed brow. “You’ve been slightly off all night.”
“Today was my fault.”
So that was it. Zach was so laid-back with her she sometimes forgot he ran a multibillion-dollar company. He was used to being in control and being right.
“We already talked about this. Stop feeling guilty.”
“You know how I feel about large weddings.”
“So what? You deliberately hired someone you knew couldn’t do the job? You’re just feeling bad because you’re a problem solver and today it took a lot of people to fix the problem. It’s okay. You repaid them all with a very nice dinner. And they all got to celebrate Mancini’s award with Raffaele. I didn’t hear a single gripe from anyone today, so cut yourself some slack.”
“It’s not that. I can’t help but think Tony and Christina are making a mistake.”
“So you subconsciously sabotaged the cleanup?”
He looked away, staring out
at the lights of Monte Calanetti. “Something like that. They barely know each other.”
“They’ve been engaged for four years.”
“And he’s lived in America the whole time.”
This was really tearing him up. So often since they’d met he’d been there for her when she’d needed him. She wished she had the magic words that would ease his concerns.
“They have no business getting married.”
“Zach—” she rubbed his arm, hoping to soothe “—that’s not for you to say.”
“They’re going to end up hating each other.” The vehemence in his voice reinforced his distress. “I watched it happen to my parents. I can’t stand to watch it happen to a man I think of as my brother.”
She cupped his cheek, made him look at her. “No matter how much we love someone, we can’t make their decisions for them. We wouldn’t welcome them doing so for us and we owe them the same respect.”
He sighed then pulled her into his lap, nuzzling the hair behind her ear. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tight. His arms enfolded her and they sat there for a while just enjoying the closeness of each other.
“She threw me over for my father.”
Lindsay went still. “Who?”
“The woman I once got close to marrying.”
“Oh, Zach.” She tightened her grip on him and turning her head slightly, kissing him on the hard pec she rested against. “I’m so sorry.”
“We met in college. My name didn’t intimidate her, which was a real turn-on. It seemed all the girls I met were supplicants or too afraid to talk to me. Julia was a political science major. She said that was to appease her parents, that her real love was her minor, which were arts and humanities.”
“She targeted you.”
“Oh, yeah, she played me. Right from the beginning.” He suddenly rose with her in his arms. “It’s time to get out.”
“I suppose we should.” Her arms ringed his neck as he climbed out. She longed to hear more but had the sense if she pushed, he’d close down on her. So she kept it lighthearted. “I’m starting to prune.”
He claimed her lips in a desperate kiss, holding her high against him as he devoured her mouth. His passion seduced her body just as his vulnerability touched her heart.
He carried her to the cabana where they’d left their towels. He released her legs and let her slide down his body. In her bare feet he towered over her, a dark shadow silhouetted by the nearly full moon. It took him a mere second to bridge the distance before his mouth was on hers again, hot and unsettling.
The right touch and she’d be lost to reason. From the reaction of his body to hers she knew he felt the same.
But he’d started his story and if she let this moment slip away, she may never hear the full tale.
She pulled back, leaning her brow on his damp chest while she caught her breath. “Tell me.”
His hands tightened on her and then his chest lifted in a deep breath. He reached for her towel and wrapped it around her before grabbing his own.
She slid onto the double lounge and patted the cushion beside her. He joined her and pulled her into his arms so her back was to his front and the vista of Monte Calanetti spread out before them.
“She showed disinterest to catch my attention. And when I finally got her to go out with me, we just clicked so smoothly. We enjoyed all the same things. Had some of the same friends. She made me feel like she saw me, Zach Sullivan, as more than the son of William Sullivan. I reached the point where I was contemplating marriage. So I took her home to meet the parents. She was so excited. For the first time she asked me why I wasn’t studying political science.”
“With your family background, you’d think she’d ask that fairly early in the relationship.”
“Yes, you’d think. I explained that I wanted nothing to do with politics. That technology was my passion. And I told her what she could expect with my parents. How they married to connect two politically powerful families and how they spent more time with others than with each other.”
“And she went after your father.”
“She barely spoke to me for the rest of the flight. I thought she was mulling it over, feared I’d put her off.”
“You just gave her a new target.” She held him tighter.
“She assumed because I grew up surrounded by politics that I didn’t need to study it. And when I let her know I had no interest in it, and revealed my father liked to play discreetly, she went for the big guns. I caught them kissing in his study.”
“I’m so sorry. I know how debilitating it is to walk in on a scene like that. The shock, the embarrassment, the betrayal. But I can’t imagine how much worse it must hurt for her to be with your father.”
With a double betrayal of this magnitude in his past, she kind of got why he didn’t like big weddings. And why he was concerned for his friend.
“I just wanted out of there. My dad stopped me and said she’d be the one leaving. She’d come on to him, surprised him with the kiss. He wasn’t interested. After she stormed off, he told me he may not be the best husband, but he’d never put a woman before his son.”
“Well, that was good, to know he didn’t betray you. Still, it’s not something you can unsee.”
He rested his head against hers, letting her know he sympathized with her, too. “It meant a lot. It’s the single incident in my life I can look back on and know he put me first.”
Wow, how sad was that? And yet when she looked at her own life, she couldn’t find one instance that stood out like that. The difference was that her mom may put herself first, but Lindsay knew her mother loved her. From what Zach described, his folks rarely displayed affection.
She rolled her head against his chest, letting him know she understood his pain.
“So you’ve never gotten close to marriage since?”
“No. I’ve never met a woman I could see myself with five years from now let alone fifty. I don’t ever want to end up like my folks. I want someone who will knock me off my feet.”
“Good for you. That’s what you should want. Hearing you say that about five years down the line, I realize I didn’t have that with Kevin, either. I could see myself in a nice house with a couple of kids, but Kevin wasn’t in the picture.”
“I can see you in my future.”
Her heart raced at his words and she had to swallow twice before she could answer. “Do you now?”
“Yes, all the way to tomorrow. I got a call from the dealership. The Ferrari will be here by nine. I thought we could drive to Sophia’s.”
She bit her lip, waffling a tad because she’d lost so much time today it was hard to justify the drive when the helicopter did the job so fast. Still she didn’t want to make him feel even guiltier about today’s events.
And, truly, how often did she get the chance to drive through the Halencia countryside in a Ferrari convertible with a handsome billionaire by her side?
This was probably a once-in-a-lifetime adventure. So why not stop fighting the inevitable and let the billionaire seduce her? She only had him for another couple of weeks. Less, really. She didn’t want to look back and regret not knowing him fully.
Because she was very much afraid she’d be looking back a lot.
“Do I get to drive?”
“A little pixie like you? I don’t think so.” He laughed, his body shaking with the sound. The good cheer was wonderful to hear after his earlier despair.
“Come on. We both know it’s not the size that matters, but what you do with it.” His laughter shook her some more. “I feel I earned the opportunity to drive it at least once.”
“We’ll see.”
“Oh, I’m driving.” She snuggled into him. “I can tell it’s going to be a lucky day.”
“Yeah? Ho
w?”
“Well, if you’re going to get lucky tonight, it seems only fair I get lucky tomorrow.”
He picked her up as if she was no bigger than the pixie he called her and set her in his lap. Using the edge of his hand he tipped her face up to his and kissed her softly.
“Am I getting lucky? What about your strict policies?”
She brushed his hair back, enjoying the feel of the silky strands running through her fingers. “I should stay strong, but you are just too tempting, Mr. Sullivan.”
He leaned forward and nipped her bottom lip. “I like the sound of that, Ms. Reeves. Shall we start with a bath in the claw-foot tub?”
How did he know she’d been dying to soak in that tub? It was a modern version of the old classic and could easily hold the two of them. She’d just been waiting for him to be gone long enough to slip into the master bathroom.
Something was still off with him. Why else suggest walking back to the house and risk her coming to her senses? Seated as she was in his lap, there was no doubting his desire for her. Maybe his attempts at humor hadn’t quite rid him of his funk in talking about his near miss with wedded bliss.
Unwilling to risk him coming to his senses, she leaned into him, looped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his. “Why don’t we start here?”
He needed no other prompting. He rolled her so she lay under him. Her head was cradled in one big hand holding her in place for his kiss that belied the fierceness of his embrace by being tender. He cherished her with his mouth; seducing her with soft thrusts and gentle licks until she melted in his arms.
He pulled back, his face unreadable in the darkness of the cabana. A finger traced slowly down the line of her jaw.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he said, his breath warm against her skin.
“Then don’t,” she responded and pulled him back to her.
There were no more words after that, her mind too absorbed with sensation to put coherent thoughts together. The balmy night and towels served to dry them for the most part but she found a few stray drops of water on his side and he shivered when she traced her fingers through the drops, trailing the wet across his smooth skin.
The Best Man & The Wedding Planner Page 14
