The Italian Effect

‘Neither was I,’ she admitted fervently, then could have kicked herself. What on earth was wrong with her? Over the last few weeks she thought she’d become adept at hiding her thoughts and feelings from others. Surely an evening in his company wasn’t enough for her to lose that hard-won control. She’d really hoped that she’d learned not to reveal her thoughts so impetuously.

How humiliating to lapse now, she groaned silently, turning her face away. And he was probably only being his usual polite self, telling her what he thought she wanted to hear…

‘Ah, Melissa, it’s more than that!’ he exclaimed, breaking into her scrambled thoughts as he turned her back to face him. ‘Tell me that you feel it, too—this crazy attraction between us.’

He captured each of her hands in his and pressed them against the soft cotton covering his chest.

She was so overwhelmed by his unexpected exclamation and so aware of the warmth of his body and the rhythmic beat of his heart that she almost missed his next words.

‘Do you not know that ever since I saw you standing there in the hospital, all long bare legs and big dark eyes, you have filled my mind…my thoughts.’ He brought her hands up to his lips and pressed a kiss to each.

Lissa was lost for words, her own heart beating so loudly that she was sure he must be able to hear it over the sound of the sea.

‘But this is so crazy,’ he continued, his tone almost one of exasperation. ‘We’re not teenagers to be overtaken by lust in the blink of an eye. We’re both responsible professional people. This can’t be real.’

‘You’re right. It is crazy,’ she said, trying to hang on to logic in the face of almost overwhelming temptation. How was she supposed to resist when he was looking at her like that?

‘Matt, we only met a few days ago and under the most fraught conditions.’ She tried to pull her hands free but he wouldn’t release her, forcing her to stay close enough to breathe in the musky warmth of his body. It certainly didn’t help as she tried to put her thoughts into words.

‘I’m just a visitor here,’ she continued, trying to be logical. ‘And I certainly didn’t come here looking for a holiday fling.’ Ah, but the thought of it was so beguiling. For the first time, she could almost identify with those groups of girls she’d been watching.

‘I never thought it for a moment,’ he agreed gently. ‘I’ve seen the young men lurking on the beach and in the square. It’s probably the same in the discos and nightclubs, although it’s years since I last bothered to go.’

It was almost uncanny how closely his thoughts had mirrored her own and when the silence grew between them she somehow knew that he was wondering where they went from here, too. He was still holding her hands against his chest and she drew comfort from the fact that he hadn’t released her.

‘Can we be friends?’ she suggested quietly, but without much hope that he would agree. He was such a strong, decisive sort of man, so vibrant, that she was afraid he wouldn’t be interested in half-measures like friendship.

CHAPTER THREE (#ulink_628bbb5c-503d-5a89-810f-75efc15465e2)

‘I DON’T think mere friendship will be possible between a man and a woman,’ Matt had said in a husky voice that had thrilled and dismayed Lissa all at once. ‘Especially when there is so much attraction between them.’

His softly accented voice had had an effect all its own as they’d stood in the moonlit darkness of the Italian night. She’d seen from his shadowy expression that he hadn’t been happy with his thoughts and had found herself holding her breath as she’d waited for him to finish. She could hardly have blamed him if he’d wanted nothing more to do with her, but something deep inside her had wanted to know more about the effect he had on her.

Not just the physical awareness, that had been easy to understand. It had been the indefinable ‘something’ she’d felt when he’d been near her…

‘But if that is what you wish,’ he’d conceded softly, ‘then that is how it must be.’

His words had repeated themselves so often in her head that they had become part of her dreams and her nightmares.

At the time, she’d been so relieved that he hadn’t dismissed the idea out of hand that she hadn’t commented or asked any questions. It hadn’t occurred to her until much later that she’d tacitly agreed to being attracted to him.

Had he been one of the unscrupulous Lotharios she’d seen on the beach, he would probably have taken advantage of that attraction in spite of her misgivings.

The fact that he hadn’t even tried was either proof of the fact that he was honourable enough to stick to their agreement, or that she’d effectively killed his interest.

It didn’t stop him being a pleasant, albeit platonic companion but it left her with a growing dilemma. The more time she spent with him, the more she enjoyed it, but the more she found herself reacting to his slightest touch. Unfortunately, he didn’t seem to feel the same way.

Now, nearly a week later, she was more than tempted to push the boundaries of their ‘arrangement’ but had no idea how to do it, or even if Matt still wanted anything more than her company.

Not that he’d given her any hint that he was bored; he was far too much of a gentleman for that.

She certainly wasn’t complaining about the turn her holiday had taken. There had been no time to lie on the beach wondering how to fill the hours when she knew Taddeo was going to arrive at any minute demanding her attention.

Each day they would explore the rock pools left behind by the tide, then embark on the building of yet another of her young friend’s individually designed sand castles.

Her swimming ‘lesson’ came next, as he coached her about her style so that, ‘if you practise hard enough, one day you might be able to swim as fast as me’.

Lissa hated to admit it, but her swimming had actually improved since she’d started taking his advice. Tonight, she would have to remember to thank Matt for the secondhand tuition.

Just the thought of seeing Matt was enough to send her pulse rate up several notches and put a smile on her face.

Spending so much time in his company was rapidly becoming one of the most frustrating things she’d ever done, but she’d never enjoyed herself so much.

After the chaos of the food-poisoning episode, his workload had apparently settled down into the usual madness of the summer season, but at least he’d been able to take his proper off-duty hours for the last few days. And it seemed as if he was just as keen to spend those hours with her as she was to have his company.

Several afternoons they’d taken Taddeo with them when they’d gone exploring the countryside, looking for the places she remembered her grandmother talking about.

Some areas were still so relatively unspoiled that she felt she could almost be seeing them exactly as Nonna had when she’d been a girl.

Away from the coast, the region was largely a gently rolling plateau covered by farmland and pasture. The wheat fields had already been harvested, this late in the season, but some of the olive groves were still a hive of activity.

Taddeo was more interested in the land closer to the coast with its belt of orchards. It was almost impossible to drive past a wayside stall without giving in to his pleas to stop to sample some of the luscious peaches, apples or plums.

But it was the evenings she enjoyed the most, when she could have Matt all to herself.

Already he’d taken her to an open-air concert and an art gallery as well as a selection of the finest restaurants the area had to offer. Finally, she’d had to put her foot down.

‘I can understand that your Italian pride won’t let me pay for you,’ she’d said last night when they’d arrived at yet another obviously expensive bistro. ‘But I can’t let you pay for me all the time either.’

‘You don’t enjoy being taken out for a meal?’ He had seemed almost affronted and she’d hastened to smooth his ruffled feathers.

‘I love being taken out for a meal, especially when the company is good. But I don’t need expensive entertainment and wining and dining all the time. I also like spending time peacefully…away from other people,’ she’d explained, hoping she hadn’t sounded ungrateful. ‘I have enjoyed every minute of the last week, but sometimes it’s good to relax informally rather than having to dress up to go out.’

So here she was, dressed to order in a pair of lightweight trousers and a shirt and waiting for her escort to arrive to take her to a mystery destination. She had a fleece jacket in her bag and a pair of trainers in case her sandals were too flimsy.

She was filled with a mixture of guilt and excitement at the promise this evening held. Excitement that they were going to be spending time together and guilt that she’d almost engineered the fact that they would be alone.

A gentle tattoo at her door made her heart leap into her mouth and she hurried across to open it.

Matt bit his tongue and concentrated on drawing in a steadying breath.

What was she trying to do to him with her dark hair tumbling around her shoulders? Her body looked slender and willowy in those dark trousers and as for what that white silk shirt did to her skin…

It had been a week since he’d agreed to limit the two of them to friendship and he’d regretted it the very second he’d opened his mouth to say the words.

How was he supposed to stay sane when every hormone in his body ached at the thought of her, and as for spending time in her company…

It was obvious that the five years since he’d wanted to be close to a woman had been far too long. It was true that the events surrounding Taddeo’s birth had left him more than wary, and the excuse that he had a son to care for was legitimate up to a point, but the way he felt at Lissa’s slightest touch was turning him inside out.