“No. My parents would never allow it. What about you?”
“I could steal away with you now if I could, but since that isn’t possible, we’ll have to wait until we’re eighteen. Then we’ll do whatever we want. You’re the only girl I want to be with.”
“I think about you all the time.”
He darted her a penetrating glance. “You don’t know the half of it. As soon as we turn eighteen, we’ll go out after every concorso. That’s a promise. In the meantime we’ll have to make do with picnics.”
“Next time it will be my turn to bring the food. I’ll manage it somehow.” She glanced at her watch and moaned. “I’d better go back. Lorenzo gave me an hour.”
“What would happen if you’re two hours late?”
“I don’t dare test him and find out.”
“I was just teasing, but it doesn’t mean I can’t dream.”
“I know. I feel the same way.”
He got to his feet and cleaned up the mess. After putting everything back in the saddlebag, they returned to the stable.
Frustrated that they had to part, Enrico dismounted in front of Blaze’s stall. “I’ll help you down.” He held out his arms. “I won’t let you fall.”
Donetta glanced at him again with that enticing smile. “I’m sure I can trust you.” She reached for him. The second he felt her in his arms, he pulled her against him before lowering her to the ground. Every beautiful part of her fit perfectly, increasing his desire for her.
“I’m going to miss seeing you, let alone our talks, Donetta.” Unable to help himself, he lowered his head to kiss her mouth, knowing he wouldn’t be able to be with her until the next concorso. She tasted so good he couldn’t stop and began kissing her long and hard, sweeping them away until both were breathless. This kiss would have to last.
Sometime later he unwillingly released her. “Until next time. Have a safe flight home, bellissima,” he murmured before reaching for his horse’s reins to walk away.
* * *
Two years later, there’d been twenty more horse competitions where Donetta had met with Enrico. They’d enjoyed picnics and kissed each other until they were breathless. Now that they had both turned eighteen, Donetta was dying to be with Enrico again because they could really be together now for hours and hours.
After she won the overall championship for eighteen-year-olds at the concorso in Vienna, she’d worked it out with Lorenzo to look the other way while she and Enrico went out to dinner. She promised to be back at their hotel by 11:00 p.m., and Giovanni had hired a limo for them.
Donetta almost died with happiness when Enrico took her to a club where they could have dinner and dance. He never let her out of his arms, kissing her cheek and neck.
“You don’t know how long I’ve waited for this, Donetta.”
“Oh, yes, I do! Thank heaven there’s another concorso next month, otherwise I’m not going to be able to handle the separation.”
He kissed her lips before dancing them back to their table. It was already getting to be eleven o’clock, but she didn’t care. She wanted to stay out all night with him.
“Donetta,” he said after they sat down. “There’s something I have to tell you, but I’m dreading it.”
Some nuance in his voice told her she wasn’t going to like it. “What’s wrong?”
“Today was my last time to ride in a concorso.”
She blinked. “What are you talking about? We can ride in competitions until we’re a lot older. I don’t understand.”
He gripped her hand across the table. “Next week I’m leaving for England to attend university at Cambridge. Giovanni will be going with me. I won’t be riding in any competitions from now on. There’s no time. During the next four years I’ll be spending most of my time studying. There’ll be a few visits to see my family.”
Donetta had been so drunk with happiness the import of his statement took a minute to sink in. “I see,” she said in a quiet voice. “What will you study?”
“Business, law enforcement, finance, economics, agriculture.”
“I’m envious.”
“Aren’t you going to be attending college, too?”
“Yes. Next month, but it won’t be in England. My parents insist I get my education at Domodossola University. They don’t want me going far away.”
“I wish you could come to Cambridge, where we could spend all our free time together after our classes are over, to study and do other things...” His words caught at her heart. “Will you be competing in more concorsos while you’re at university?”
By now they’d been served dessert, but she couldn’t touch hers. “Maybe some of them.”
“After the performance you put on today, I have no doubt you’ll continue to win everything. I heard what the head of the Austrian federation said to you after your win. Your ability on a horse is breathtaking.”
“Thank you,” she said, trying to smile, but her heart was heavy.
“It’s killing me that I won’t see you again.”
Enrico squeezed her hand harder. “I know I’ve upset you. Now you have some idea of what the separation’s going to do to me.”
Tears flooded her eyes. “The thought of not seeing you again... I can’t handle it. Your presence has always made the competitions more exciting for me. Everyone asks, is Prince Enrico going to win again? They think I know. And I do,” she said with a teasing smile.
“Now you’re really flattering me. I’ll watch for your name in the competitions coming up on the lists in the next few years and try to get away to see you.”
“Oh, please come!”
“I don’t want to lose you, Donetta. In the meantime let’s write to each other. I’ll send you letters through your equestrian foundation and ask Giovanni to mail them.”
She brightened. “I’ll do the same through your organization and put Prince Giovanni’s name on the envelope so he’ll send them on to you. No one will be able to monitor them. Our families will be incensed if they find out that a Montedoro and a Rossiano have been carrying on a forbidden relationship all these years.”
“You’re right. That old ridiculous animosity over trade rights between our two countries is still a sore spot with my family. But I refuse to worry about that right now.”
“I’ve never worried about it,” Donetta said with stunning honesty. Neither of them had talked about the people they were promised to. Both sets of parents would be enraged about what had been going on behind the scenes.
“Much as I don’t want to, I’d better get you back to the hotel. Lorenzo will be looking for you, and Giovanni will be waiting for me at the airport. We’re flying home on the royal jet tonight.”
That revelation brought more pain to her heart as they left the club in the limo.
“Come closer, Donetta. I don’t want to waste one second of the precious time we have left.” He pulled her into his arms and kissed the daylights out of her until the limo pulled up in front of the hotel.
He finally let her go. “I’ll write to you as soon as I’m in England. Stay safe and send me some pictures.”
“I’ll be waiting for your letters and pictures, too.”
They embraced one more time before he helped her out of the limo. She ran inside the hotel, where Lorenzo was waiting for her.
He looked at his watch. “You’re only a half hour late. I can forgive you for that.”
She hugged him hard. “Thank you for being my friend.”
“Why the tears?”
“I’ve had some disappointing news, but today was the best day of my life.”
* * *
Dear Donetta,
When you told me you were participating in the concorso at Aix-en-Provence in France, I bought this book for your twenty-first birthday. It tells the history of the white Camargue horses of that region. I b
elieve you’ll find it fascinating.
I plan to fly in for your competition and will be staying at the Hotel Cezanne, where you are staying. I’ll ring your room.
We’ll spend as much time together as we can while I’m there. I’m longing to see you again. All the letters and photos have kept me going, but it’s been a century since I kissed you.
Enrico
After reading the book from cover to cover, Donetta kissed Enrico’s letter. It traveled to her purse, her pocket and her pillow. She had it with her when she entered the hotel. This time her staff stayed at a different hotel. So did Lorenzo, who’d flown here with her but had come only to watch her perform, not keep tabs on her.
Once she was in her room, her pulse raced and wouldn’t subside, because she knew she’d be seeing Enrico shortly. She had brought several outfits with her, not knowing what to wear. After much indecision she chose to wear a filmy short-sleeved dress in champagne color and bone-colored sandals.
To please him Donetta left her hair long and flowing from a side part. After applying pink, frosted lipstick, she put on hoop earrings of the same light green color as her eyes. She wanted him to take one look at her and never let her go.
When the room phone rang, she literally jumped before picking up.
“H-Hello?” she stammered.
“Thank heaven your voice hasn’t changed.”
His had grown even deeper. “Neither has yours.”
“Are you ready?”
“Yes,” she answered, almost out of breath.
“Meet me in the lobby in five minutes. I’ve rented a car. We’re going to take off and find a charming spot away from the world where we can be alone.”
Donetta came close to fainting when she saw the man of her dreams standing near the entrance, wearing a tan suit and sports shirt. No man came close to her picture of Enrico, who was the personification of every woman’s dream of a dark-haired prince. At almost twenty-two, he was truly breathtaking and sensuously male.
“Bellissima,” he murmured. His black eyes played over her hungrily before he grasped her hand. They walked to the parking area and got in his car. He drove them out of the city to the suburbs and pulled up to a place called the Patio.
“Before we get out, I have to do this.”
“Enrico—” she cried as he reached for her and his mouth closed over hers. It didn’t seem possible that she was in his arms again and they were giving each other kiss for kiss, unable to get enough.
Evening turned into night as they tried to make up for the years when they hadn’t been able to be together. The letters and photos hadn’t been enough.
“If you’re dying for dinner, we’ll get out of the car, but I don’t want to let you go.”
She shook her head. “I’m only dying for you. After your letter and gift, which I love, I haven’t been able to concentrate on anything. All I want is to be with you.”
“We’re safer here than back at the hotel, where everyone knows us. But this is no way for us to have a relationship. One more year of schooling for both of us and then we can make plans to be together. What if we take a trip after we graduate? How about two weeks to the South Seas or a Caribbean island?”
“I’d give anything to go away with you. Anything!”
“Then we’ll do it. You’re so beautiful, Donetta, I think I’m hallucinating. Kiss me again.”
After another half hour they ended up driving to a store for fruit and some quiche. “I need to get us back to the hotel. You’re performing in the morning and need your sleep.”
“No, I don’t. I only need you.”
The car was their sanctuary. They didn’t go into the hotel until after one. “I’d come to your room, but then you’d never get rid of me and we’d be the target of every eye. I’ll be at the stands in the morning to watch you on Blaze.”
They rode the elevator to the second floor, where he had to get out, but they clung to each other.
“Enrico? How soon do you have to get back to Cambridge?”
“Tomorrow night.”
“Why don’t we just drive away right now until you have to be at the airport. I’ll skip the competition.”
He pressed his forehead against hers. “You can’t do that. I can’t let you. But we’ll be together all day tomorrow.” Enrico let her go and stepped out into the hall. He looked back. “Meet me in the lobby at seven and we’ll go somewhere for breakfast before you have to report to the stands.”
“Don’t go, Enrico. I’m afraid.”
He frowned. “Why do you say that?”
“Because I’m too happy.”
“You don’t know the meaning of the word yet. Buona notte e sogni d’ oro, Donetta.”
Golden dreams. She’d been living in one since they’d met in the lobby. “Buona notte, Enrico.”
The elevator door closed and carried her to the third floor. When she reached her room, the phone was ringing. She rushed to answer it. “Enrico?”
“Good. You’re home safe and sound for tonight. I’ll be dreaming of you.”
“I dream of you every night,” she confessed.
“One of these days we won’t have to do that anymore.”
He clicked off.
She was slower to hang up. If he meant what she thought he’d meant, he wasn’t just talking about a two-week vacation. Filled with elation, she whirled around the room before settling down long enough to undress and get to bed.
Copyright © 2019 by Rebecca Winters
ISBN-13: 9781488043758
Second Chance with the Best Man
First North American publication 2019
Copyright © 2019 by Katrina Cudmore
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