English Rose for the Sicilian Doc

by Annie Claydon

  ‘Frightening, isn’t it? But it gives us a chance to get on...’ Matteo was looking at the model, frowning slightly in concentration. ‘You’ve done the basic shape of the neck and shoulders.’

  ‘Yes. I was hoping you might help with building up the muscle groups, I’m a little hazy on what goes on below the chin.’

  ‘Really?’ He gave her a smouldering look, laughing as Rose shot him a hard stare.

  ‘I’m sure you have a diagram somewhere.’

  ‘I’m sure I do.’ He got to his feet, walking over to a row of thick, heavy medical books, running his fingers across the spines and pulling one from the shelf. ‘Here we go, skeletal and muscular systems.’

  ‘Sounds perfect. Find the page on necks and we can get started.’

  * * *

  It had been a good day. A great day. Matteo wondered what would have happened if William and Nannu Alberto hadn’t been there. Another kiss maybe. More?

  He dismissed the idea, staring out at the dark sea. There had been more than enough opportunity to kiss Rose, he’d been alone in his study with her for almost two hours before the crashing downstairs had indicated that William and Nannu Alberto were back from their afternoon beachcombing trip and had decided to lay waste to his kitchen.

  But today had been about things that were much more important. Showing Rose that she could trust him, and that he wouldn’t make her choose between him and the other things that were important in her life. Tending the bright shimmer that had ignited between them the moment she’d pulled him down and kissed him, and nurturing it into a flame.

  So he hadn’t kissed her, and somehow the closeness had grown between them even more than if he had. Sharing a common goal. Watching her work while William dozed on the sofa after Nannu Alberto had gone home. It was a closeness that had been fed by distance.

  It probably wouldn’t last, though. Rose clearly didn’t want to risk a relationship any more than he did, and one or the other of them would back off soon enough. Or maybe they wouldn’t. Maybe they’d share something more, keeping it discreet and away from William, so that no one could be hurt.

  The thought almost made Matteo gasp as his heart beat faster. Feeling her body against his, pushing back against his strength, to make something so sweet and heady that he’d be lost in her arms. His fingers jerked suddenly on the arm of his chair, as if reacting to the sensation of a touch.

  He shook his head. He’d go for a swim and then go to bed, because tomorrow would be another early start. Rose would be coming to finish the model and this time she was going to be alone.

  * * *

  William was going to a children’s party, along with Elena’s children, so she’d have the whole day to work. The idea of taking the model back up to the site and finishing it there was unthinkable. This was Matteo’s project, just as much as hers. They’d started it together and they’d finish it together. Rose drove to Matteo’s house and he greeted her fresh from the shower and still a little sleepy-eyed as he ushered her through to the kitchen.

  Two breakfast pastries were on a plate. Just enough and no more. She’d learned that Matteo didn’t keep things like that, preferring to get up a little earlier and buy fresh. Just enough coffee beans, ready to grind. The day that Matteo used coffee that had been ground yesterday would be the day that anything could happen.

  ‘I can’t wait to see how the model’s looking.’ He was taking his time over making coffee, but that was Matteo. His sense of urgency seemed to revolve around moving straight from one thing to the next, rather than rushing anything.

  ‘Didn’t you see it last night? It’ll be much the same this morning.’

  ‘I won’t be.’ He turned and grinned. ‘Fresh eyes. The same as when you paint a room, you have to wait until the following morning to see the real effect of it.’

  He was right. When they’d carried their coffee upstairs and Rose removed the wrappings, her breath caught in her throat.

  ‘Wow.’ Matteo was staring at the model.

  The individual features, which Rose had been working on so closely yesterday, were just the same. But suddenly she was looking at them as part of a whole. The jaw was a little too strong, the cheekbones a little too high for the face to be classically beautiful, but it was mesmerising. A strong face. One that you’d like to get to know.

  ‘She’s smiling.’ Matteo nodded with approval.

  ‘Yes, I thought that if she was loved.... Oh, dear...’ Suddenly two tears rolled down her cheeks.

  ‘Wait.’ He caught her wrist before she could wipe her hand across her face. ‘Don’t, Rose. Please.’

  For a moment she thought that he was going to wipe the tears away himself, but he didn’t. She was making a complete fool of herself again, and it seemed that all Matteo wanted to do was watch her cry.

  She looked up at him pleadingly. ‘It’s okay...’

  ‘I really wish you’d stop saying that, Rose. Not giving yourself permission to feel whatever it is you feel isn’t even slightly okay.’

  It’s okay. It’s under control. I’m fine. All the words that Alec had wanted to hear didn’t work with Matteo. And when she thought about it, they hadn’t worked for her either, but it was a hard habit to break.

  ‘So what do I do?’

  ‘You finish the model. You tell Aemilia what you want to say to her, face to face. And...’ He let go of her wrist suddenly. ‘I’ll leave it up to you whether you want to share it with me.’

  ‘Okay. You’re going to make coffee?’

  He grinned. ‘Sì, capo...’

  ‘Capo?’

  ‘Yes, boss.’

  * * *

  Permission to feel. Matteo leaned in so close when he put the small cup and saucer down on the table in front of her that it seemed certain he’d touch her, but somehow he managed not to. And that left Rose breathless, desire crawling across her skin. His one quiet word—‘Enjoy’—seemed to brush her neck and linger long after he’d walked downstairs, not waiting for her reply.

  Could she give herself permission to feel this? If she kissed him again, she’d no longer have the excuse that it was the heat of the moment, an answer to the challenge he’d thrown down.

  Rose turned to the model, looking at it carefully. ‘One thing at a time, eh, Aemilia?’

  She worked steadily for three hours, the quiet, muffled sounds of Matteo moving around downstairs keeping her focussed. At ten o’clock, just when Rose was thinking about taking a break, she heard the door that led out onto the veranda slam shut.

  Rose walked over to the window, allowing herself to watch as Matteo walked down the beach, a towel dangling loosely from one hand. He stopped a few yards short of the shoreline and threw the towel down.

  She caught her breath. Muscles that she’d felt tighten under her fingertips now flexed and stretched in the sun as he pulled his T-shirt over his head. He seemed unhurried, as if he were inviting her to take a look.

  Turn around. Turn around... If he did turn and face her, she’d know that this was all for her benefit. And she longed to see what she’d only felt, dark, sun-kissed skin rippling over the taut muscles of his chest.

  Matteo didn’t turn. Rose watched as he waded into the sea and then started to swim, long, languid strokes taking him away from the shore.

  She went downstairs, taking her sandals off and leaving them on the veranda. Under the heat of the sun the sand was warm under her feet, and she picked her way down to the spot where Matteo had left his towel and sat down next to it, smoothing her dress over her legs.

  He was striking back for the shore, glittering reflections spilling around him, like shards of broken light. Maybe, now he’d thought about things, he’d decided that he wasn’t the one to hear her jumbled thoughts spilling out like sand crabs, ready to bite anyone that got too close.

  Matt
eo walked towards her, droplets of water streaming from his body. It was an almost palpable shock to realise that his lazy, everything’s okay smile was doing a great deal more for her than the image of him rising from the water. Although, thinking about it, the rising from the water thing hadn’t exactly been disagreeable to watch.

  ‘How’s it going?’ He picked up his towel and scrubbed at his hair.

  ‘Good. Nearly done. I thought I’d take a break from sitting in one position.’

  He nodded. ‘Want to take a walk?’

  ‘I thought I might just paddle. I’m going back in a moment for some finishing touches, and then I’ll have to let it dry out thoroughly before I apply a colour wash.’

  He held out his hand to pull her to her feet, and she took it, breathless and afraid but somehow warm and with a sense of happiness that she hadn’t felt for a long time. She could trust Matteo, just as she could trust the sun to rise in the morning.

  ‘You know, I was thinking...’ She looked up at him speculatively.

  ‘You’re waiting for the go-ahead from me to think something? Or just to say it?’ He kicked the water, splashing her foot. ‘That’s already yours to take.’

  Rose kicked back, sending water sloshing over his legs. He raised his eyebrows, and she laughed. ‘One of the things I think is important about archaeology is showing that ancient people were a lot like us in many ways. Their lives might have been very different, but I think they still dreamed and loved.’

  He nodded. ‘It’s a good thought.’

  ‘That was what I didn’t like about the image of her. It was technically superb, but you didn’t feel the delight when she’d received those brooches as a gift. Or the pain when someone hacked a sword into her leg.’

  ‘Maybe that’s something that comes with experience. A little delight, and a little pain of your own. Can I come up and see it?’

  ‘Do you mind waiting? Just until I’ve finished for today?’

  Matteo laughed. ‘You want me to feel something? I already do.’

  ‘I want to shock you a little.’

  His eyelids lowered, lazily. ‘Just to see if I can take it?’

  This was all about the model, and suddenly all about everything else as well. How far they could push, and how much they could both take. Rose felt her legs wobble as she wondered just how far Matteo could push her.

  ‘Yes. Just to see if you can take it.’

  ‘Fair enough.’ His finger touched the back of her hand just for a moment. They were standing close, but it was no mistake. Matteo’s touch was always exactly what he meant it to be. Rose looked up at him in response.

  ‘When you’ve finished, we could have an early lunch and go out somewhere. Stretch your legs and get rid of the aches and pains.’

  ‘That would be nice. Where would you like to go?’

  He grinned. ‘We could drop in at your place and you can fetch a swimsuit. Then I’ll take you somewhere special.’

  ‘A surprise?’

  He nodded. ‘Yeah. Think you can take a surprise?’

  And see how it made her feel. How it made both of them feel. ‘I can take it.’

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  UNFINISHED BUSINESS. IT hung around them like a stormcloud, ready to produce electricity at any moment. It wasn’t just the kiss, although that had been enough to occupy any man’s mind for any amount of time. It was the way that Rose was slowly bending him out of shape, so that he loved her ice as much as her fire. The one only intensified the other.

  Rose had disappeared again for an hour and a half and had then come back downstairs, declaring the model finished. He’d gone upstairs to take a look, and they’d sat in silence in front of the face, full of warmth and life. A young woman who had loved and been loved.

  ‘I can let go of her now.’ Rose reached across and took his hand.

  ‘Yeah. Me too. It’s stunning.’ He lifted her hand, pressing his lips to the backs of her fingers.

  They walked away from the model together, knowing that they’d done all they could for Aemilia now. After a quick meal, they were ready to go, driving first to her house and then heading out of Palermo. It wasn’t long before Rose recognised the road they were taking, and her guesses about where they were going became less improbable. ‘The winery. Are we going to the winery?’

  ‘Close.’

  ‘Does your uncle know we’re coming?’ She tried a different tactic.

  ‘I called him. I said we might pop in.’

  ‘Okay, so it’s not the winery and we’re not necessarily going to see your uncle... Anyone else in your family?’

  ‘Give it up, Rose. You’re never going to get it.’

  He drew up by the side of the track and she got out of the car, pulling her striped canvas beach bag onto her shoulder and looking around. ‘This is it?’

  Matteo smiled. ‘This way.’

  He led her up the small, rocky ridge that bordered the cultivated land, and then further uphill. Rose toiled behind him, and he stopped to wait for her, offering her his hand as they slithered together down a small incline.

  ‘Ugh!’ She pulled a face, covering her nose and mouth with one hand. ‘Is the smell what you’ve brought me here for? Or is that just incidental?’

  ‘It’s sulphur. A lot of the rock around here is volcanic.’

  ‘A volcano? You’re taking me to see a volcano?’

  ‘You’re getting closer.’ Matteo led her to the edge of a gully that cleaved the side of the hill and heard her gasp. Beneath them the wide pool of clear water, beckoned him, just as it had when he was ten years old.

  ‘A hot spring?’ She tipped her face up to him, and the warm rush of how he’d felt when he’d kissed her left him breathless for a moment. ‘It’s a hot spring, isn’t it.’

  ‘Yes.’ Matteo couldn’t help smiling at her excitement.

  ‘How did it get here? Did your uncle...make it? If you make a hot spring, that is...’

  ‘No. A hot spring’s a gift of nature. My grandfather cleared it, and the family come up here once a year to remove any silt that’s collected. But it’s all natural. There are a lot of small ones, just like this, all over Sicily.’

  ‘And we can bathe in it?’

  He laughed. ‘That’s the general idea.’

  * * *

  The place was beautiful. On one side was a rocky incline that led down to the water and on the other side a view across the mountains. Rose had scrambled down to the pool’s edge and bent to dip her hand in the warm water, before she realised that she couldn’t just plunge in. She was going to have to change into her swimsuit.

  Matteo had that in hand. He pointed to a fold in the rocks that formed a natural screen. ‘You can get changed there.’

  Rose bit her tongue before she had a chance to ask where he was going to get changed. Probably here at the water’s edge, where she could see him if she had the temerity to creep to the mouth of her hidey hole. Perhaps he knew that she wouldn’t.

  She shimmied quickly out of her dress and put her swimsuit on, glad that she’d decided on the rather utilitarian one-piece. Slipping on her canvas shoes, she clambered across the rocks and saw Matteo’s head bobbing up and down in the water. His shoes lay next to a gradual incline that led down to the water, and she found that she could walk easily into the pool.

  ‘This is wonderful. It really is hot, like a bath...’ Like one of the best hot baths she’d ever taken.

  ‘Yep. Be careful, don’t go too far over there.’ He pointed across to one corner, where bubbles sporadically broke the calm of the water. ‘Those rocks get pretty hot.’

  ‘Is this good for you? Like a spa?’ It felt as if it was doing her good. The slightly effervescent water seemed to be massaging away all of the little aches and pains in her back.

&nb
sp; ‘Of course it is. Come here once a year, and you’ll live to be a hundred.’

  ‘And that’s your considered medical opinion.’ She grinned at him and Matteo chuckled.

  ‘Look at it this way, wouldn’t you live to be a hundred, just to come back here one more time?’

  She supposed she would, floating in warm water, the sky above her head and the mountains around her. If this wasn’t heaven then it was a very close approximation. She could actually feel the muscles around her shoulders letting go of the stress of the last few days.

  They drifted in silence, enjoying the warmth of the water and the cool breeze of the mountains. Every breath she took seemed to clear her mind, to lift some of the weight that had lain so heavy on her chest for such a long time.

  ‘I’m thinking...wondering actually...’ Rose turned in the water so that she could face him ‘...whether I might touch you. Whether you’d want me to...’

  His eyes darkened suddenly. ‘Do you really need to ask?’

  No. The question had carried no risk with it because it was obvious what they both wanted.

  ‘I thought it would be polite to ask, since I didn’t last time.’

  ‘You can do that again any time you feel like it.’ Matteo reached out, brushing the side of her face with his fingers.

  ‘I’m not the one you want. You know that, don’t you? I’m only here for a few months and then I go back to London. I can’t do anything else because I don’t know how to begin again.’

  He lifted his arm out of the water, holding on to the rock that lined the pool to steady himself. She felt his other hand on the small of her back, pulling her a little closer to him.

  ‘You are exactly the one I want, Rose. We can neither of us go back and undo the past, but we have the present. And I never dreamed that just the present could be so special.’

  The pressure of his hand increased a little and her body drifted against his. The friction of their bodies in the water made her gasp. Then he kissed her, just a brush of his lips on hers.

  She felt his finger trace her spine. ‘A little ice first. Then a little heat...’ He kissed her neck, and she jolted against him as he nipped at her ear. ‘Then you call out for me.’