In the Italian's Sights

by Helen Brooks

  How long the kiss lasted she had no idea. The flames of hot pleasure were taking over time and reality and her nerve-endings were sensitised to screaming point. His hands were stroking her body, and although she knew she should stop this, her need of him was stronger than her will-power, stronger than reason.

  It was the car horn blaring as Vittorio shifted position that broke the spell. He swore, softly and fluently, in his native tongue, before muttering, ‘This is ridiculous. I have not made love to a girl in a car since I was sixteen and borrowed my father’s Ferrari for the purpose. It was uncomfortable then and it’s uncomfortable now.’ He eyed her wryly. ‘This is what comes of letting one’s heart rule one’s head, mia piccola.’

  Cherry stared at him, struggling to bring her whirling brain to order so she could match his cool amusement but it was beyond her. Necking in a car! She could just hear her mother’s voice.

  Vittorio settled back in his own seat before taking her hand and raising it to his lips. He kissed the fleshy mound at the base of her palm, then let the tip of his tongue caress the delicate, sensitive skin on the inside of her wrist.

  She shivered. She couldn’t help it. But common sense was paramount as she tugged her fingers from his. ‘Don’t. Please don’t. I meant what I said yesterday. I’m not looking for a holiday romance.’

  ‘I am aware of that,’ Vittorio said softly, ‘but one kiss is not a romance, mia piccola.’

  Well, that had told her, Cherry thought, with a stab of piercing hurt. Say it as it is, Vittorio, by all means.

  Before she could say anything, he added, with shocking honesty, ‘That is not to say I do not want you in my bed, Cherry. I do. Very much. But even if you had not spelled it out for me I would have known you are not the type of woman who indulges in casual relationships.’

  Why? Because she wasn’t beautiful enough? her poor self-esteem asked immediately. He thought she didn’t get many offers?

  ‘Some women can handle such intimacy and move on with no regrets when it is over. But you are not like that. This is why you have been fighting the sexual attraction between us which was there from that first moment on the road yesterday. You know this, as do I. It is useless to pretend.’

  The presumption was beyond belief. It was also true, Cherry admitted silently, but she would rather walk barefoot on burning coals than admit it. ‘Actually, and I know this is going to come as a terrible shock,’ she said testily, ‘not every woman in the world would kill for your body.’

  He smiled. The wretch smiled. And, from wanting him so badly she had been oblivious to anything but what his hands and mouth were doing to her, Cherry now wanted to kick him.

  ‘I’m fully aware of that,’ Vittorio drawled silkily, ‘but you want me, Cherry.’

  In view of how she had just responded to him it was foolish to deny it, but she did so anyway. ‘In your dreams.’

  To her utter chagrin, his smile widened. ‘I had you in my dreams last night, mia piccola, and although pleasant it is not like the real thing, si? But,’ he continued, his face settling into an expression of wide-eyed innocence—if a man like Vittorio could ever look innocent—‘you are here to help Sophia. I know this. And taking you into my bed would complicate matters for sure. Added to which, I can see you are not ready for such a step yet. Whether because of this Liam—’ the name was said with utter contempt ‘—or because you need to get to know me better first, it does not matter. Suffice to say I understand we need to take it slowly.’

  Cherry stared helplessly into the smoky grey eyes holding hers. This was surreal. She’d told him she had no intention of starting anything but his magnificent arrogance made it like water off a duck’s back. Furthermore, he was making her feel silly and she didn’t like it.

  ‘There is no “it”,’ she said primly, and then wished she had bitten her tongue. She had sounded unbearably priggish to her own ears, and his chuckle confirmed he thought so too. The current of mutual attraction he’d spoken of flowed between them and charged the air with an electricity that was palpable—and, unfortunately, undeniable.

  ‘We will make the deal, si?’ he said suddenly, his voice soothing. ‘I will behave and treat you as I would my elderly grandmother while you assist Sophia with the preparations for her wedding. No lovemaking, no kisses, OK? But you will allow me to show you my beautiful country while you are here as you cannot work all the time on the wedding. I forbid it. We will be friends. Is this good?’

  It was a darn sight better than grandmother and grandson, Cherry thought with a touch of dark amusement. Although how any red-blooded single woman could be friends with Vittorio was questionable. She knew it was beyond her. But as long as he didn’t know it she could probably act well enough to carry it off. Dubiously, she nodded.

  He chuckled again. ‘Oh, Cherry, you have the Italian face—do you know this? All your emotions and thoughts are there to see.’

  She didn’t like that. It made her feel vulnerable. To counteract the feeling, she said frostily, ‘You’re Italian, aren’t you? And I’d hardly say your emotions are easy to read. In fact you’re a closed book, if anything, so I hardly think that observation is valid.’

  He lifted up a lock of her hair and then let it fall on to her shoulders as though remembering their arrangement. ‘But I am not just Italian. I am a Carella,’ he said imperiously. ‘The normal rules do not apply.’

  She opened her mouth to argue, saw the twinkle in his eye, and shut it again. He might have been joking, she thought darkly, as Vittorio brought the Range Rover to life again, but many a true word was spoken in jest.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  WHEN Cherry was to look back on the weeks that followed they seemed like a rollercoaster, full of climactic highs and lows.

  Sophia’s morning sickness became all-day sickness, and Vittorio’s sister rose late and went to bed early, tired and wan and feeling very sorry for herself, so the practical working-out of the ideas Sophia had for the wedding was left almost entirely to Cherry. Fortunately things were relatively simple. The marriage was to take place in the rather splendid church in the next village, and the merrymaking which was to follow would be held in the grounds of the house, with a huge feast, dancing, and a carousel for the children.

  Cherry found that at the heart of Puglian life was tradition—in all senses. The prevalence of Catholicism in the region meant that even the tiniest village boasted an often incongruously impressive church, or even a cathedral, and the church where Sophia was to be wed was no exception. It was remarkably beautiful, and Vittorio had written an open cheque for the wedding so the interior of the church was going to be filled with flowers, and the huge arched front door garlanded with the same.

  Sophia was to wear her mother’s wedding dress, which had been carefully preserved and which mercifully would fit her without too many alterations, and Santo’s sisters’ children were all bridesmaids and pageboys—thirteen in all—with their dresses and outfits provided by one of the big shops in the town of Bari, again courtesy of Vittorio’s chequebook.

  The arrangements were hard work, but Cherry found unlimited money paved the way most satisfactorily and ironed out any difficulties, leaving her with more spare time than she had expected—something Vittorio took full advantage of. He seemed determined to immerse her in his Italy, which was staunchly lived the classically Italian way, in all its interpretations—proud, traditional, family-orientated, and with people of the soil who had none of the fawning attitudes which could be found in places more reliant on vacation wallets.

  She’d met Santo and his parents the day after Vittorio had taken her to Locorotondo and liked them immediately. Santo was quiet, even shy, but clearly head over heels in love with Sophia, and his parents were older than she’d expected—his father white-haired and craggy-faced and his mother small and rotund, with a warm, beaming smile.

  She was introduced to Santo’s sisters when Vittorio took her to Bari for the purchase of the bridesmaids’ dresses and pageboy outfits. They met
the families at a restaurant where Vittorio treated everyone to lunch before they made their way to the shops, and although conversation was a little difficult—Santo’s sisters spoke no English—the women were friendly and kind and made her feel welcome.

  Vittorio had hired a firm of caterers for the wedding, and Margherita had offered to take over the selection of the menu, the wines and so on, as well as the supervision of the team—something Cherry was extremely grateful for. The marriage ceremony was due to take place in the morning and the celebrations would continue all day until late at night; she had been quietly panicking at the prospect of organising enough food and drink for the three hundred or so guests.

  At the end of her first week at the Carella villa, she sat by the pool late one afternoon, checking off the frighteningly long list she had initially made of things to do. The church was booked, Sophia’s wedding dress was being altered by a local seamstress, the bridesmaids’ dresses and pageboy outfits were ordered, the caterers chosen, a huge marquee arranged, and the carousel secured for the children. She still had to organise the flowers for both the church and the marquee, along with Sophia’s bouquet and posies for the bridesmaids, little gifts for the best man, bridesmaids and so on, a photographer, and several other things besides. But at least she had made a good start, she decided. She lay back on a sun-lounger and shut her eyes, and immediately thoughts of Vittorio intruded.

  Apart from the trip to Bari for the wedding finery, he had insisted on taking her out the day before to Trani, a seaside town up the coast from Bari, which in the Middle Ages had been a thriving and important sea-trading centre and was rich with medieval churches and Baroque palazzi. She had objected when he had announced his intention over lunch, but within the hour had found herself sitting in the midnight-blue Ferrari as Vittorio drove them swiftly towards the coast.

  They’d looked round Trani’s seafront fortress when they’d first arrived in the town, which was centuries old, before moving on to the neighbouring cathedral which dominated the harbour with its Romanesque rose-pink façade and elegant belltower. By then it had been late afternoon, and the sun had lost its heat haze. The beautiful building had basked in a wonderful rose light. The cathedral was breathtaking, with its vast bronze doors and exquisite marble columns in the crypt, but it had been Vittorio’s face and voice as he acted as her guide which had really had Cherry entranced. He was touchingly proud of his country and its remarkable history, she’d realised, and not afraid to show it.

  They had eaten at a seafront ristorante—a grand building with immaculate white linen tablecloths and uniformed waiters—and Vittorio had been the perfect dinner companion: amusing, attentive and self-deprecating, making her laugh as he’d told her story after story against himself.

  She realised what he’d been doing, she thought now, sitting up sharply and gazing at the blue water of the vast swimming pool in front of her. He’d been beguiling her, whittling away at her defences, getting under her skin. And it had worked. She groaned softly, lying down once again and shutting her eyes.

  They had left the ristorante when the sky was black velvet studded with a million twinkling stars and the moon a big white ball in the sky, and she had fully expected him to take her into his arms once they reached the seclusion of the car. But he hadn’t. Nor had he stopped at a convenient point on the way home or, once they’d arrived back at the villa, asked her if she’d like coffee or a liqueur before she retired. No. He’d just smiled as he had wished her goodnight, kissed her hand Latin-style and watched her as she’d climbed the stairs to her lonely room.

  Stop it. The admonition was strong. She had told him she wanted nothing romantic or intimate, hadn’t she? And it was for the best. Each day proved that, because each day she was more and more drawn to him. Vittorio was such a masculine man: strong, self-assured, even ruthless, but with a tender sensitivity she’d sensed more than once. And it was this, the softer side, that was so seductive. That and the fact that every gesture he made, every move of his head or action, held a male magnetism that was so sexy it made her ache.

  It was blissfully peaceful in the Carella gardens, the only sound the gentle buzzing of insects in the vegetation and the subdued twittering of birds in the trees surrounding the pool, but Cherry didn’t feel peaceful inside. She didn’t think she’d ever know a moment’s peace again until she was far away from this place. Or from Vittorio, to be exact.

  She was falling for him and there was nothing she could do about it. In fact, truthfully, she’d fallen for him the moment she’d seen him, and even then she’d sensed, deep in her subconscious, that this man could be her Waterloo. She had got over Liam without too much trouble, apart from bruised pride and a definite distrust in the male sex for a while, but Vittorio wasn’t the type of man you got over. Not if you’d been foolish enough to give yourself, body and soul. And unfortunately that was the only way she would be able to give herself.

  He was looking for a brief affair, a pleasurable sharing of intimacy that would remain as a warm memory once it was over. She understood that. But it wouldn’t be like that for her, and no amount of wishing could change the fact that she had to distance herself from him. Self-preservation. She nodded at the thought. Definitely. Yesterday had proved that, if nothing else. She had been longing for him to make a move when they had left the ristorante, practically trembling at the knowledge he would kiss her—which was stupid. Stupid and pathetic. Hell, how had she got herself into this mess anyway?

  She must have slept, because when the chinking of glasses woke her it was from a dream so intimate it was definitely X-rated. She opened her eyes and saw Vittorio carefully placing a tray holding a cocktail shaker and two glasses on the table at the side of the lounger. He was wearing the minuscule bathing trunks again, his body as brown as a chestnut and the long muscles in his arms flexing as he let go of the tray and straightened.

  ‘Did I wake you?’ he asked softly.

  She tried not to stare at his hairy chest and the inverted vee running down his flat stomach to disappear in the trunks. ‘No,’ she lied. She was always lying around him, it seemed. ‘I just had my eyes shut.’

  He nodded, taking the lounger beside her and pouring them both a pink cocktail before handing her one.

  ‘What is it?’ She’d sat up, pushing back her hair.

  ‘A drink,’ he said, poker-faced.

  She wrinkled her nose at him. ‘You know what I mean. Is it another of your concoctions?’ By now she’d come to know that Vittorio’s cocktails carried a lethal sting in the tail. They appeared relatively innocuous when you were drinking them, but you had more than a couple at your peril.

  He smiled. ‘This one is nothing more than pink champagne with a shot of Angostura bitters and a white sugar cube. I might serve this when everyone first arrives at the house after the marriage and I would like your opinion.’

  She sipped it tentatively. It was delicious, but then Vittorio’s cocktails always were delicious—that wasn’t the problem. ‘It tastes potent. What’s it called?’

  Black eyebrows quirked. ‘“Wicked Seduction”?’

  ‘You can’t. Sophia would never forgive you.’

  He grinned. ‘Then, mia piccola, you name it.’

  She thought for a moment. ‘“Celebration”.’

  He sighed. ‘Boring.’

  But that was just it. That was the difference between them. She was run-of-the-mill and the sort of person who would call a cocktail ‘Celebration’; he was anything but run-of-the-mill, hence ‘Wicked Seduction’.

  She shrugged to hide what had felt like a punch in the stomach. ‘You did ask.’

  ‘Si, this is true. OK, Cherry. Sophia’s cocktail is named “Celebration”. Now, finish yours and I will pour you another. Maybe after two you will prefer my name?’ He turned his head to look at her fully and her breath caught in her throat at his handsomeness.

  Somehow she managed to keep her voice light. ‘One is more than enough, thank you. I need to keep a clear head. The
re’s still masses to do for the wedding and—’

  ‘And you must have fun too. This was part of the deal, was it not? So we will sit and drink cocktails and watch the sun go down before I take you out to dinner. There is a place I know where the food is good and the dancing even better. One friend showing another a good time. That is all.’

  Cherry shook her head. ‘I don’t think so, Vittorio.’

  ‘Si. I think so.’ His grey eyes scanned her face. ‘We will eat and dance and forget all about the wedding for a while, and you will be refreshed to begin work again tomorrow.’

  Did he know she was fighting herself even more than him? That there was nothing more she would like than to spend the evening with him, which was exactly why she mustn’t? ‘We said—’

  ‘I am being very good.’ He interrupted her again, but this time his voice was unashamedly cajoling. ‘I do not make love to you, as I would like. I am keeping my promise, so this is my reward. We will spend the evening together, away from lists and plans and schedules. OK?’

  She might have still been able to resist if he hadn’t leaned over and taken her free hand, lifting it to his mouth and kissing the pulse beating in her wrist. She stared down at the dark head and knew she was lost.

  He settled back on his lounger, letting go of her fingers. ‘OK?’ he said again.

  She nodded weakly. Which wasn’t the way to deal with someone like Vittorio, she knew. The trouble was, how did you cope with a man who was as sexy as sin and twice as irresistible?

  CHAPTER NINE

  A COUPLE of hours later she was gazing despairingly at herself in the mirror in her bedroom. She had seized the opportunity when they’d been sorting out the bridesmaids’ dresses and pageboy outfits in Bari to buy herself two new frocks, so she didn’t have to keep alternating the two dresses she’d brought with her from England each night, but now she wasn’t sure she had chosen well. The draped silk-jersey dress in a pale peach had seemed perfect in the shop, but now she wondered if the neckline was a little too plunging and the material a trifle too clingy. And her other acquisition, a red shot-silk chiffon dress, seemed to scream look at me, and she didn’t want Vittorio to think she was trying too hard.