Читать книгу Tall, Dark and Italian - Carol Marinelli - Страница 13

RAFE could see she was surprised by his choice of venue. It made him wish he had asked his housekeeper for a packed lunch that they could have eaten in more salubrious surroundings than this. But then, he hadn’t known he was going to ask Tess to join him when he’d left the villa that morning, he reflected drily. That impulse, like the impulse he had now to comb his fingers through the silky tangle of her hair, was not something he should consider repeating.

Now, however, she looked at him out of the corners of those limpid green eyes of hers and he realised she had misread his intentions. ‘Do you usually patronise sandwich bars, signore?’ she asked tightly. ‘Or do you gauge your eating habits according to the sophistication of your companion?’

Rafe pulled a wry face. ‘You are offended because I have not taken you to an expensive restaurant?’ he queried innocently, and saw the familiar colour darken her cheeks.

‘You know that’s not what I meant,’ she declared hotly, pushing her back against her seat. ‘But if you’re only stopping because of me, don’t bother. I rarely eat lunch anyway. I can wait until we get back to San Michele.’

‘Well, I cannot,’ he retorted, pushing open his door and getting out of the car. ‘And contrary to popular supposition, plenty of good food can be found at roadside kiosks, no?’

‘I can’t see you eating a burger, signore,’ said Tess, pushing open her own door and joining him. The brilliant noonday sun immediately burned on her uncovered head and shoulders, and she caught her breath. ‘Goodness, it’s hot!’

Rafe studied her bare arms with some concern. ‘Perhaps you should stay in the car,’ he said, resisting the desire to smooth his fingers over her soft skin. ‘It is cooler there.’

‘What? And miss the chance to see what the chef has on offer?’ she asked lightly, and his pulse quickened at the unexpected humour in her face.

‘Okay.’ He saw her looking at the curving line of the shoreline that fell away below the promontory. ‘Let us get something to eat and drink and find somewhere more private to enjoy it, no?’

Tess caught her breath. ‘You mean, go down to the beach?’ she asked, viewing the precipitate descent with some concern. ‘Isn’t it too steep?’

‘Do not tell me you are afraid of heights, cara.’ He teased her mercilessly. ‘Where is your sense of adventure?’

Tess shook her head. ‘I don’t think I have one, signore,’ she murmured unhappily. ‘But—if you can do it—’

‘An old man like me, you mean?’ he queried wryly, and she turned to give him an impatient look.

‘You’re not old, signore,’ she protested, and he sighed at her continued use of the formal means of address.

‘Then why do you persist in calling me signore?’ he countered, his eyes intent on her flushed face. ‘You know my name, Tess. Use it.’

‘I—I don’t think I should call you Rafe,’ she exclaimed, and he had the impression that she found it difficult to drag her gaze away from his.

‘Why not?’

He couldn’t prevent himself from pursuing it and this time she succeeded in breaking the connection. ‘Because—well, just because,’ she mumbled lamely. Then, in an effort to divert him, she added, ‘Oughtn’t we to choose a sandwich or something? The owner will think we’ve just stopped here for the view.’

‘Works for me,’ murmured Rafe before he could stop himself, and she cast one astonished look in his direction before moving away towards the van.

Rafe was pleased to see that the man who ran the booth was offering cheese-filled panini and steaming slices of pizza as well as the more common tramezzini or sandwiches. There were ready-made salads, too, in foil-wrapped containers, and spicy bruschetta, spread with olive or tomato paste.

It was obvious Tess didn’t know what to choose, so he took it upon himself to place two orders for pizza and salad, and a slice each of tiramisu for dessert. Sealed cups of black coffee completed the meal and he was aware that Tess looked at him rather doubtfully as he carried his purchases back to the car.

‘I—how do you propose to carry all that?’ she asked, and he remembered that she still thought he intended to scale the cliff to reach the beach.

‘You will see,’ he said, opening the boot of the Ferrari and putting the bags and containers inside. He smiled to himself at the thought of what his mother would think of him—as she would put it—abusing the automobile in this way. Tess hadn’t been far wrong. He wasn’t in the habit of eating the food from roadside kiosks. But that was not to say he wasn’t going to enjoy it this time.

Tess was frowning now, and circling the car, he swung open her door. ‘Get in, per favore.’

Tess hesitated. ‘I thought you said—’

‘Just get in,’ he urged her softly, and, although he could see the uncertainty in her face, she was too polite to refuse.

He watched as she swung her legs inside, assuring himself he was only waiting to close the door when in his heart of hearts he knew he had a more personal reason. He enjoyed watching her, enjoyed disconcerting her. However much he might regret his impetuosity tomorrow, for today he intended to live each minute as it came.

A moment later, he slid in beside her, instantly aware of the feminine aroma of her heated skin. It was a disturbing scent, unfamiliar and definitely sensual. It aroused him as nothing had that he could remember, and the urge to touch her was almost overwhelming.

But he controlled himself, consigning the insistent pull of attraction to the back of his mind. All right, he sensed she was aware of him, too, but she’d probably run a mile if he acted on it. Apart from anything else, they hardly knew one another. So why did he feel as if he’d known her for half his life?

Casting her a brief half-smile, he started the car and drove away from the headland. But not far. Just a few yards further on, a winding track almost overhung with wild bramble and juniper dipped away from the coastal road. Anyone who didn’t know it was there would never have noticed it, particularly at this time of the year when the blossom was out.

He was aware that Tess had turned to stare at him now and he guessed what she was thinking before she spoke. ‘You never had any intention of climbing down the cliff, did you?’ she exclaimed, but her tone was more relieved than accusing. Then as the car swung round a hairpin bend she groped for the edge of her seat. ‘Is this road going somewhere or are we likely to get stuck halfway down?’

‘Relax, cara,’ he said, taking a hand from the wheel to briefly touch her knee. ‘I know what I am doing.’

But did he? he wondered as he withdrew from that strangely intimate connection. Once again, he had acted on impulse and now her gaze was decidedly uncertain as it darted away from his.

‘I hope so,’ she mumbled almost under her breath, but he heard her and chided himself for causing more tension between them. He’d intended this to be a light-hearted interlude before he returned her to Porto San Michele, but he was in danger of creating problems that might be far harder to deal with than Marco’s boyish infatuation for her sister.

The track narrowed as it neared the bottom of the cliffs and he winced as the untamed bushes scraped along the sides of the car. A mistake in more ways than one, he thought ruefully, but that didn’t stop him from feeling an ungovernable sense of anticipation at spending a little longer in Tess’s company.

As he’d hoped, the shallow plateau above the beach was deserted. There was just room enough to turn the car and his satisfaction at their seclusion was only equalled by his relief that his memory of the place hadn’t been faulty.

And it was just as beautiful as he remembered. The untouched stretch of beach was enclosed on either side by a rocky promontory, and the sand was as pure and untouched as when the cove was formed. At the shoreline, waves broke into rivulets of foam, and beyond the dazzling brilliance of the sea the sky rose, a cloudless arc of blue above. They could have been alone on some desert island were it not for the sails of a yacht heading far out towards the horizon.

Tess thrust open her door as soon as he stopped the car. Getting out, she walked to the edge of the turning area and lifted both hands to protect the top of her head. He wondered what she was thinking as she stared out to sea. He hoped she wasn’t regretting coming with him. For the first time in more years than he cared to calculate, he was enjoying himself and he didn’t want anything to spoil it.

But he had been sitting there too long watching her, and when she glanced back over her shoulder he saw the doubt in her eyes. He at once opened his door and, pushing his feet out onto the sun-baked earth, he crossed the space that divided them.

‘I suppose you knew this was here,’ she said as he joined her. Then, turning back to the view, she added somewhat wistfully, ‘It is a marvellous place.’

‘You like it?’ He was pleased. ‘Thankfully, it has not yet been discovered by the tourists.’

‘Down that track?’ A smile was in her voice. ‘I dread to think what you’ve done to your car.’

‘It is only a car,’ he assured her mildly. ‘If it needs a paint job, then so be it.’

Tess shook her head. ‘You say that so casually. Most people have to take care of their possessions.’

Rafe sighed, realising he had been careless. ‘Perhaps I measure my possessions differently, cara,’ he said softly.

‘People are more important to me than—what shall I say?—pretty toys, no?’

She shrugged and as she did so he noticed how the sun had already tinged the skin of her upper arms with a rosy glow. She would burn easily, he thought, the knowledge increasing the sense of protection he already felt towards her. He wanted to—

But, no. He was already getting ahead of himself and, turning back to the car, he collected the bags containing their lunch from the boot. ‘Come,’ he said, stepping into the tangle of reeds and grasses that bordered the plateau. ‘We can have lunch in the shade of the cliffs, yes?’

‘Okay.’

He saw her give another glance back towards the car before she followed him down onto the sand. Then, kicking off her shoes, she seemed to relax, and by the time he had spread his jacket for them to sit on she was right behind him.

‘I know,’ he said as she dropped her shoes beside her. ‘This will not do my jacket any good either. But in this instance, it can be cleaned.’

‘If you say so.’

Apparently deciding she had no choice than to trust him, she seated herself at the edge of the jacket, drawing up her knees and wrapping her arms about them. Rafe dropped down beside her, trying not to stare at the smooth flesh disappearing into the cuffs of her shorts. Imagining what lay beneath the pink cotton was not only unforgivable, it was stupid, and he distracted himself by opening the bags and containers and setting them out between them.

‘What would you like to eat?’ he asked, when Tess seemed to be more interested in the tiny shells that dotted the sand at her feet than the food. ‘Salad? Pizza?’

‘What? Oh—’ He was suddenly sure she was only pretending not to have noticed what he’d been doing. ‘Um—salad sounds good.’

He met her wary gaze with a deliberately neutral stare. ‘Only salad?’

She shifted a little awkwardly. ‘Well—maybe a slice of pizza, too,’ she agreed, accepting the salad container from his hand. ‘Thanks. This looks good.’

‘I hope so.’ He helped himself to a slice of the pizza and bit into it with feigned enthusiasm. The tomato juice oozed onto his chin and he grabbed a napkin to wipe it away. ‘Hmm. Molto bene.’

‘I’m sure you’re only saying that,’ she murmured, forking a curl of radicchio into her mouth. ‘But it was kind of you to do this. I appreciate it.’

‘I did not do it out of kindness.’ Rafe was stung by the implication that there could be no other reason for him to want her company. He swallowed another mouthful of pizza, licking the melted cheese from his lips before continuing tersely, ‘It is I who should thank you for accompanying me to Viali.’

Tess hesitated. ‘I don’t know why,’ she said at last. ‘It would have been easier for everyone if I hadn’t been there.’

‘I think we covered that some miles back.’ Rafe was impatient. ‘Can we not forget the reasons why we started out on this expedition and concentrate on the here and now? Are you not enjoying yourself, is that what all this is about?’

Tess cast a brief glance his way. ‘All what?’ she queried tensely and he blew out a weary breath.

‘You know,’ he told her flatly. ‘Ever since we left the albergo, you have been as—as jumpy as a cat. What did I do? What have I said to upset you?’

‘Nothing.’

The answer came far too quickly and Rafe thrust his pizza aside and got abruptly to his feet. ‘If you would care to finish your salad in the car, we can leave immediately.’

‘No.’ That answer came quickly, too, but this time it was accompanied by an embarrassed glance at his face. ‘Please, I didn’t mean to annoy you. It’s just—well, I’m sure there are places you’d much rather be than here.’

‘And if there are not?’

Her tongue appeared between her teeth and he felt the sudden tightness in his loins as she wet her lips. ‘You’re sure you’re not just saying that?’

‘No.’ He hunkered down beside her, one hand moving of its own accord to cup her cheek. He tilted her face to his. ‘Believe me, cara, at this moment there is no place I would rather be than here.’ His eyes darkened as they rested on her mouth. But only for a second. He was on dangerous ground, he realised, aware of what he really wanted to do. Withdrawing his hand abruptly, he got to his feet again, looking down at her. ‘Bene,’ he said tensely. ‘Enjoy the rest of your meal. I will not be long.’

Her eyes widened. ‘Where are you going?’

Rafe stifled a groan. He wondered how she would react if he told her the truth. That he was desperate to put some space between them before he did something unforgivable. He didn’t just want to stroke her cheek or make casual conversation as they’d done in the car. He wanted to put his tongue where hers had been a few moments ago, to cover her mouth with his and find a partial release of his frustration in a kiss.

‘I thought I might take a walk,’ he offered at last. ‘I need to stretch my legs.’ And cool my libido.

Tess’s eyes moved from his constrained features to the undulating water and he glimpsed the wistful look that crossed her face. But, ‘Okay,’ was all she said and it was left to Rafe to feel a heel for behaving so callowly. He’d brought her here, per amor di Dio. It wasn’t her fault that he couldn’t control his rampant desires.

‘Io—come with me. If you wish,’ he said, before he could stop himself, and she sprang eagerly to her feet.

‘You don’t mind?’ she asked, dropping the carton containing the remains of her salad onto the sand. He gave a faint smile of acquiescence. It seemed the decision had been made and he would have to live with it. It wasn’t as if he wanted to leave her alone.

Tess left her shoes with the rest of their belongings, practically skipping across the sand to dip her toes in the cooler waters of the gulf. She shivered dramatically, laughing as the incoming tide swirled about her ankles. She was like a child, he thought ruefully. As natural and uninhibited as his own children had been before adolescence, and their mother’s desertion, had had such an impact on all their lives.

‘Oh, this is heavenly,’ Tess said, linking her fingers together and stretching her arms above her head in obvious delight. ‘Thank you so much for bringing me.’

‘I am happy you are enjoying yourself,’ he said politely, forcing himself not to linger. He was quite sure she was unaware of the effect she had on him but it was far too easy to imagine his hands circling that deliriously bare midriff as he tumbled her onto the sand.

Unknowingly, he had quickened his step and by the time he realised it and glanced over his shoulder Tess was some distance behind him. She was following much more slowly, splashing through the shallows, her delight in her surroundings apparently dissipated by his indifference. Once again he felt the familiar pangs of guilt. It wasn’t fair of him to spoil the day for her.

Despite his reluctance, he waited for her to catch up with him, but now she wouldn’t meet his gaze. She halted beside him, her eyes seemingly glued to the yacht that was now disappearing over the horizon. She had obviously sensed his ambivalence and misread the reasons for it.

‘What is wrong?’ he asked, as if he genuinely didn’t know. ‘It is very hot, is it not? Have you had enough?’

‘Have you?’

Her retort caught him unawares and he didn’t have an answer for her. ‘It is—getting late,’ he said lamely, although it was barely three o’clock. ‘I would not want you to get burned.’

She lifted first one arm and then the other, looking at them as if she hadn’t considered them before. But she didn’t look convinced. Despite the fact that the skin of her shoulders looked slightly sore, she gave a careless shrug. ‘Perhaps you’re right,’ she said without conviction. ‘If it’s what you want.’

Rafe stiffened. ‘What I want does not signify.’

‘Oh, I think it does.’ He caught a glimpse of indignant green eyes, quickly averted. ‘I should have realised before. When you said you were going for a walk. You didn’t really want me to come with you, did you?’

‘Io—’ Rafe was nonplussed. He hadn’t realised he had been so transparent. ‘That is not true.’

‘I don’t believe you, signore.’ She used the term deliberately, he was sure, and it infuriated him. ‘All this—buying the food, bringing me down here—was just a way of appeasing your conscience.’

Rafe’s jaw dropped. ‘Appeasing my conscience?’ he echoed, stung by the accusation. ‘Why should I feel the need to appease my conscience? I have not done anything wrong.’

Yet.

‘You feel as if you have,’ said Tess doggedly, and for a moment he wondered if she’d read what he was thinking. He hoped not. And, to his relief, she seemed to confirm it. ‘You think you’ve upset both your daughter and me,’ she continued. ‘So you decided to pacify one of us with a peace-offering. In this case, an hour of your precious time, right?’

‘Wrong.’ He was annoyed by the objectivity of her reasoning. Not least, because it was so far removed from the truth. ‘When I invited you to have lunch with me, it was because I wanted to. Not for any other reason.’

‘So why do you want to cut the afternoon short?’ she asked impulsively. ‘Am I keeping you from some important previous engagement?’

‘No.’ His breath gushed out in a rush. ‘I am sorry if I have given you that impression.’

‘Well, what else can I think when you seem determined to avoid me?’ she countered, looking up at him now with a wary, uncertain gaze. ‘You seem to—to blow hot and cold in equal measures. I—well, I don’t know how you really feel’

Rafe’s good sense deserted him. ‘I was not trying to avoid you,’ he said huskily. ‘If it seemed that I was—and I am admitting nothing, you understand?—perhaps it was because I find you far too—appealing, no?’

He’d shocked her now. He could see it in the face that she turned up to him. But, what the hell, he’d shocked himself, and that was far more disturbing.

‘You don’t mean that,’ she said, and he knew that this was his last opportunity to escape the consequences of his outburst. He had only to tell her he was teasing and he might be able to get out of this unscathed.

But he didn’t do it.

‘I do mean it,’ he said, the words coming even though his brain was trying desperately to silence him. ‘You are—enchanting. And beautiful. And I would not be a man if I did not find you desirable, mi amore.’

Her lips parted then, and, although he sensed she was as uncertain of the good sense of what they were doing as he was, she didn’t move away. Instead, she came a little nearer, her toes brushing the front of his loafers, those clear green eyes keenly searching his face. Almost involuntarily, it seemed, she lifted her hand and stroked the roughening skin of his jawline, and Rafe could no longer control the instinctive hardening between his legs.

‘So—do you want to kiss me?’ she breathed barely audibly, and the quicksands of passion moved beneath his feet.

‘Tess—’ he said hoarsely, and even then he thought he might have found the will to resist her. Yet when her hand dropped to the open neckline of his shirt and he felt those tentative fingers against his bare skin, he totally lost it. The groan he uttered was purely anguished, and his hands found her shoulders to haul her into his arms.

Her lips were already parted, inviting the hungry invasion of his tongue. He didn’t disappoint her. One hand moved to grip her nape, angling her face towards him as his mouth fastened greedily over hers. His kiss both enticed and seduced, drawing a response from her that sent his head spinning. He felt his own gnawing hunger controlling his actions as his senses whirled out of control.

Her arms wound around him, her palms spreading against the damp curve of his spine. She must have been able to feel the heavy weight of his erection throbbing against her stomach but she didn’t recoil from him. When his hand cupped her buttocks, bringing her into intimate contact with his arousal, she arched against him, letting him feel how responsive she also was to his touch.

A sexy little moan emerged from lips that were already wet and swollen from his kisses and his conscience resurfaced. Dio mio, he thought, if he didn’t stop this soon he would go all the way. He was in real danger of acting out the images that had been taunting him all morning, and while he couldn’t deny he wanted her, she was simply not for him.

She was too young, for one thing, and she probably saw this as just a pleasant adjunct to her holiday. She’d had a tough time of it so far, what with Ashley’s disappearance and her stepmother breathing down her neck. Not to mention his own less-than-subtle hints about what he thought of her family. He wasn’t conceited, but he could quite see that having him lusting after her might offer some compensation. Particularly if, as seemed likely, she had little experience with older men.

His own feelings were less straightforward. And however tempting making love with her might be, he still had enough sense to step back from the ultimate betrayal. He could do without any more complications in his life, he thought cynically. From his point of view, it would be a recipe for disaster.

Which was why, when he lifted his mouth from hers, he didn’t succumb to the urge to slide his hands beneath the hem of her tank top and let his thumbs caress the undersides of her breasts. He wanted to. Dio, he wanted to feel her pert nipples taut against his palms and to take those firm mounds of flesh into his hands. Instead, stifling a groan, he gripped her forearms and put her gently away from him, feeling every kind of a heel for having led her on in the first place.

Her confusion was obvious and he couldn’t blame her. He hadn’t been able to hide his body’s reaction to her and in her book there was probably only one conclusion to this affair. But when he met her troubled gaze with eyes that were deliberately regretful, she soon got the message. She took a stumbling backward step before turning and hurrying away along the beach.

‘Cara!’ He couldn’t use her name, that would be too familiar. ‘Cara,’ he called again. ‘I am sorry. I do not know what came over me.’

She muttered something then, but she was too far away for him to hear it. But he could imagine it wouldn’t be complimentary and who could blame her? He had behaved abominably and she deserved so much better. She was bound to think he had as little respect for her as he had for her sister.