‘I don’t intend to. I’ve caused enough trouble …’ He hesitated. ‘But sometimes things aren’t as simple as they look.’
‘Please, Adam, no excuses, no more lies.’
‘I haven’t told you any lies.’
‘Right now, I feel as if our whole relationship was a lie.’
He pressed his lips together but didn’t deny it and fortunately the boat pulled up alongside the quay. She approached the boat, trying to pretend he wasn’t there. She had to put down her bag as the skipper shouted and threw a rope to her. She caught it and looped it around the cleat.
‘Evening, Jess. Your chariot awaits,’ he said. ‘Evening, Adam.’
‘Evening, mate,’ Adam replied, and handed Jess her bag. ‘You’ll be needing this.’
She took it, her fingers brushing his knuckles. ‘Thanks,’ she muttered and immediately gave it to Jem before climbing on board.
Adam untied the rope and threw it to Jess. She muttered a thanks, wanting Jem to see her and Adam on civil terms. He was one of the more discreet people around, but she didn’t want to wash any more dirty laundry in public than she already had.
She sat in the stern with her bag on her lap. It was impossible not to see Adam as the skipper pulled away from the quay. He watched her, his arms folded across his broad chest, like a stone statue that had been there for centuries. It was difficult not to sense he was judging her, yet he was the one in the wrong.
She calmed her breathing as the boat speeded up and Adam grew smaller. She had to forget she’d even seen him tonight, but kept turning his words over and over.
‘Sometimes things aren’t as simple as they look.’ Perhaps she should have listened, but she didn’t have time and she hadn’t wanted her evening ruined. Besides, nothing he could say would change her feelings of anger and hurt. Could it?
She swore under her breath and turned away from him, holding onto the rail as the spray flew over the bow and Petroc came into view. She wouldn’t think about Adam. Luca didn’t deserve that and she didn’t deserve to have the evening ruined. She was more determined than ever that tonight would mark a new phase in her life.
*
‘How’s your fish?’
Jess glanced up from the table to find Luca watching her. ‘Sorry?’
‘I asked how your bream was.’
She pushed her fork into the white meat of the fish and forced a smile. ‘It’s delicious.’
‘Phew. Good because I was wondering if it was off. You’ve hardly touched it.’
She saw the fillet lying in its bright saffron sauce on the white china plate, still almost intact. ‘Sorry. I guess I’m a bit nervous.’
The truth was that she couldn’t shake off her encounter with Adam, no matter how hard she tried.
Luca had acted like the perfect gentleman in the cottage, leaving her bag on the sofa and suggesting they go for a cocktail in the Petroc Bar before their meal. As they’d sipped pre-dinner mojitos on the deck of the bar overlooking the channel between Petroc Island and Gull, she’d tried to relax. She could see the familiar sight of the lights twinkling on the terrace of the Driftwood Inn opposite. Maisie, Patrick and all her friends didn’t seem so far away. She’d spent many nights in there with Adam before it had all gone wrong. Laughing, joking, singing along to bands …
‘I think our table’s ready.’ Luca cut into her thoughts and a waitress approached with two menus.
‘Great. I’m starving,’ said Jess, pushing her memories away with a smile and hoping that her appetite would improve once she sat down to dinner.
‘Are you sure you don’t want to order something else?’ Luca’s voice was tinged with concern as he spoke to her across the table a while later.
‘No. No this is fabulous. I’m sorry. I was miles away.’ She carved off a chunk of fish and shoved it in her mouth. It was a lovely meal but she was still not that hungry despite what she’d told him. ‘Mm. This sea bream is really delicious.’
Looking happier, Luca topped up her glass with the New Zealand Pinot Gris he’d chosen. She’d almost choked when she’d seen the price but didn’t want to seem unsophisticated by protesting. Besides, hadn’t Luca said he was on expenses? And Maisie would love the thought of Jess dining and drinking at Hugo Scorrier’s expense. Not, strictly speaking, that Hugo was the owner of Petroc, but he was certainly responsible for its profits. Jess had to stifle a laugh and started coughing as she found a tiny fish bone.
‘Are you OK?’
‘Y-yes.’ She reached for the water glass but it was almost empty.
He filled it swiftly from a jug, his face concerned. He really was ridiculously handsome. She hadn’t been too nervous to miss the envious glances from the other people in the Rose & Crab’s dining room. She stopped coughing and dabbed her mouth with the napkin.
He shook his head, still worried. ‘Man, I’m going to have to stop asking women out for dinner if I put them off their food and almost choke them.’
Jess felt a rush of sympathy for him. ‘I’ve hardly been the best date so far, have I? But this is new for me. It’s the first time since I split up with my ex.’
‘Ah, I see. Would that be the postman?’
She gasped. ‘Oh my God. The gossip round here is terrible!’
‘I’m sorry. Hugo told me …’ Luca lowered his voice. ‘This is very unprofessional and he may be my client, but I do take what he tells me with a large pinch of salt. On the other hand, I’d also heard a whisper about this Adam Pengelly from a member of the gig crew. I’d no idea that you hadn’t been out with anyone since he left though. It must have been tough to go through a break-up in the full glare of the Scilly spotlight.’
‘Tell me about it.’ Her courage rose: she knew almost nothing about Luca’s personal life so now was her chance. ‘What about you?’
‘I split up with my ex a few months ago,’ he said. ‘Actually, we’re getting a divorce.’
‘Oh. I didn’t know you were married.’
‘It was over some time ago and we’ve finally decided to make a clean break after several trial separations. Rachel’s virtually moved in with another guy now in London. You won’t have heard, because I don’t discuss my private life if I can possibly help it …’ He glanced round him and grimaced. ‘So maybe asking you to your local and now mine wasn’t the best idea.’
‘I don’t really know where we could have gone for any privacy, short of jetting off with a takeaway to some windswept corner of one of the uninhabited islands,’ said Jess, slightly taken aback by the news that Luca was still married, even if the relationship was obviously over from what he’d told her.
Luca raised an eyebrow. ‘Sounds like a great idea to me … by the way you look gorgeous. Again.’
Warmth flushed from Jess’s cheeks down her neck to her cleavage. She took a glug of the Pinot Gris and realised the bottle was almost empty. ‘I don’t think my own mother even recognised me out of wellies,’ she said, making a joke of the compliment.
‘I don’t know. I rather like you in wellies too. Shall we get another of these overpriced bottles of white?’ Luca said and lowered his voice. ‘Familiarising myself with all aspects of Petroc’s customer service is all part of my job.’
She laughed, feeling the tension ease. ‘If it’s work, and Hugo’s paying, then why not?’
*
‘Coffee? A nightcap? I’ve got some very good grappa in here … I can even rustle up some decent coffee and amaretti.’
Luca stood behind the counter in the open plan kitchen of the holiday cottage that was his temporary home. Although it was called a cottage, it had actually been recently built to match the local houses dotted around Petroc’s rolling countryside and tiny harbour. It was situated at the end of a row on a headland whose pink granite rocks glowed in the setting sun. Even by Scilly standards, the views were incredible from his patio, with no sign of human life other than a lighthouse on a rocky islet a mile away: just the open sea and islands inhabited only by seabirds.
He rolled his eyes. ‘“I shouldn’t” almost always means “I want to but I feel burdened by some misplaced sense of Anglo-Saxon guilt.” I’ll put the machine on and get the drinks.’
Half an hour later, the only trace of the grappa was the hint of amber in the bottom of the glasses, glinting in the soft light of the table lamps. ‘I shouldn’t’ had turned into ‘I should have two’ and Jess was sitting with her feet up on the sofa in Luca’s lap. One of his arms dangled over the arm of the sofa, bare below his rolled-up shirt sleeves. His other hand rested on the top of her bare feet. The heels she’d changed into after getting off the boat lay on the rug. She hadn’t noticed how she’d come to be in that position, and watched in surprise as he started to massage her sole gently.
‘How does that feel?’ he asked, circling his thumb around the ball of her foot with just enough pressure to relieve the tension but not hurt. Her legs gleamed in the lamplight, the result of an eye-watering home wax session and a tub of luxury body butter Maisie had given her for Christmas. Her toes were painted in a shell pink. If only he could have seen those feet the previous day, encased in fishermen’s socks and wellies. She giggled. ‘OK?’
‘Mmm. It tickles a bit.’ She shifted in her seat. Luca laughed. Jess laughed too.
‘Try to relax,’ he said, caressing the blade of her foot in languid, deft strokes. Jess had the feeling she was being handled by an expert … even after the wine and grappa, he knew exactly what he was doing. Knew what she was doing too.
Adam hadn’t intruded into her thoughts since she’d left the restaurant: a good hour. That surprised her … and she was disappointed that he’d found his way into her mind now. She lay back on the cushion and closed her eyes as Luca’s fingers circled her ankle and his hand skated over the smooth skin of her shin.
She tried to chill out and just let things happen while his fingers skated higher, resting on her thigh under the hem of her dress. She tensed slightly but she was definitely turned on. He slid his hand down her leg to her shin again.
‘Jess. Do you want to take this upstairs?’
Her eyes opened and she burst out laughing.
Luca stared at her. She felt the pressure of his fingers increase slightly. ‘What have I said?’
Jess flushed deeply, not that she wasn’t already warm. ‘Taking it upstairs … Oh …’
‘What?’
‘I c-can’t say.’ She stifled a giggle.
Luca grabbed her ankle and started tickling her foot.
‘No!’ she shrieked, trying to wriggle away.
His fingers danced over her sole.
‘No! Please!’
‘Sorry. No can do.’ He ran a finger from toe to heel and Jess squirmed and cried out.
‘OK. OK! It’s the innuendo. Like something we used to say at school. Take it upstairs when you were talking about what a boy wanted to do.’
‘Ah …’ Luca kept hold of her foot but stopped tickling. ‘I see.’ He gently pushed her feet off his lap and pulled her to her feet. ‘Well, however you want to look at it, as a euphemism or not, I do want to take this upstairs. I want – very much – to take you to bed and I hope you feel the same way.’
Pulled to her feet so unexpectedly, she felt a little light-headed and swayed. Luca had his arms around her waist. She realised that she felt shaky, and not only from the wine. He leaned close to her face, took it in his hands and kissed her softly and carefully. He smelt as gorgeous as he looked. Just a hint of some sinfully expensive aftershave, of Italian digestif and a freshly laundered shirt.
‘Well?’ he said.
‘I think I want to …’
‘Think isn’t enough. And if you’re still on the rebound from the postman …’
‘Don’t call him that,’ she said, slightly hurt by his tone.
‘From Adam, then. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to belittle him and I’m not going to be the one to tell you to move on. Only you can know when it’s time, but it has been many months, Jessica. And he left you.’
‘I don’t need you to tell me that. I know how long it’s been …’ He was right about it being a long time since Adam had gone and about him leaving her and being back with another woman, Jess was insane to even hesitate about tonight. About all of tonight.
She removed Luca’s hands from her waist and stepped back from him.
His face fell – momentarily, disappointment and surprise filled his eyes – but then he held up his hands as if in surrender and said, ‘Fair enough. I’d never put you under any pressure. I’ll take the sofa. You can have my bed.’
‘No. I don’t want your bed,’ said Jess, a new tide of boldness rising within her. ‘Not unless you’re in it too.’
He raised an eyebrow and his eyes glinted. ‘Wow. I’m not going to object to that.’
She took Luca by the hand and led him to the twisty staircase off the sitting room. He didn’t say a word, but allowed her to lead him into the bedroom. It was lit softly and the curtains were open, giving a view out over the dark sea beyond their own reflections in the glass. There was nothing out there but the moon and the beam of the lighthouse on Round Island winking a mile across the sea. No one to see them or know what might happen over the next few hours, no matter how much anyone speculated or gossiped. This was between her and Luca – and she was in control.
Chapter 25
‘Coffee?’
Jess blinked awake to find Luca next to the bed, with a fluffy white towel draped low around his hips, and bearing two mugs of coffee. The morning sun highlighted his nut-brown skin. Tiny droplets of water glistened in the springy hair around his nipples and in the trail that arrowed from his navel beneath the towel.
‘Oh, thanks.’ She pushed herself up onto the pillows, trying to keep the duvet above her own nipples, all too aware she was naked under the cover. The blinds were still open from where they’d had sex in the moonlight and although no one could see into the room – apart from the seals – it felt strange to be naked in the full glare of day.
Luca handed her the mug and sat on the edge of the bed. ‘Sorry, I can’t stay for breakfast with you. I’ve an early meeting with Hugo.’
‘Breakfast? Oh my God, what time is it?’ A drop of coffee spilled from the mug and splashed onto the white duvet cover. ‘Sorry.’
He smiled. ‘Relax. Housekeeping will clear that up and, anyway, it’s only half past seven.’
‘Half seven? I should be at the farm by now. Will wants me to help with the bulb replanting.’
‘Surely he knew you’d be a bit late after your night here? It is Sunday.’
‘Well, I didn’t exactly spell out the details of my plans for him, but I guess you’re right.’
Jess hadn’t spelt out anything at all to Will because she hadn’t decided one hundred per cent to stay over until she’d got on the boat after her confrontation with Adam. As for sleeping with Luca … that had been a decision she’d held off until right until she was certain he hadn’t expected her to be a sure thing. Now, with him smiling contentedly by her side, like a cat that had got the cream, she wasn’t convinced she really had been in control, only that he’d carefully managed the situation – and her – until she’d thought she was making all the running.
Oh God, did it really matter? She’d enjoyed her evening and what had followed.
As the heat stole into her cheeks, she hoped Luca would put it down to the searing coffee. She tried not to wince as she sipped hers. It might be Italian and authentic, but it was also strong enough to strip the enamel off her teeth.
Luca asked her a little more about what her day held, during which the duvet slipped down. It was odd having a conversation about uprooting bulbs and tractor maintenance while you had nothing on, she thought, while trying to appear as if she did that sort of thing every day.
Luca put his mug on the dressing tabl
e. He kissed her and sighed. ‘Unfortunately I need to get dressed now. I can call the jet boat for you, when you’re ready?’
‘No. Don’t worry, I’ll catch the scheduled morning boat.’
‘If you’re sure.’
‘Yes, thanks.’
He turned away to open a drawer opposite the bed and dropped the towel from his hips onto the floor. His very fit bum – almost as tanned as the rest of him – was feet from Jess’s face. She gulped the coffee. It had been one thing being naked in the dark with Luca, but in the cold light of day, his nudity – and hers – brought the memories of what they’d done together back in Technicolor detail. Nothing weird … Luca had been considerate, but he’d also been very energetic and quite creative. She sank back against the pillows and closed her eyes, holding her mug with both hands.
‘OK?’
She opened her eyes a slit. He was now wearing a pair of tight-fitting Armani boxers and shrugging on a snowy white shirt. Will’s comment came back to her: if he was an ice cream he’d lick himself to death. She breathed out discreetly. That phrase would live in her mind forever now.
‘There’s juice in the fridge and some pastries ready to be warmed up in the oven. I’m gutted I have to leave you. Shall I call you later?’
‘That’d be good.’ She put her mug on the bedside table. His eyes lingered on her breasts.
Luca paused, halfway to buttoning up his shirt, and let out a breath of appreciation. ‘Wow. Maybe I should reschedule this meeting with Hugo. It is a Sunday after all, not that Hugo cares.’
‘Oh, don’t do that on my account,’ said Jess, burning under his scrutiny. The momentousness of what she’d done last night was dawning on her more every minute. Most women wouldn’t care but … surely, she could forgive herself for feeling a little disoriented after her first night with a new guy? Especially one like Luca Parisi.
Luca zipped up his suit trousers, gave a theatrical sigh and kissed her lips. He tasted of espresso and smelled of the same aftershave as last night. ‘I will call you,’ he said. ‘I hope you aren’t regretting what’s happened between us?’
Spring on the Little Cornish Isles: Flower Farm Page 20
