Читать книгу The Vineyards Of Calanetti - Rebecca Winters - Страница 22

Mic almost spit out his beer. He wanted nothing more than to go back to Lily’s condo with her.

It was what she wanted. He could see it in her eyes. But something wasn’t quite right. They’d never made love just for sex. It had always been about love. And what she suggested now, a hook up, gave him an odd feeling he couldn’t quite interpret.

So he left the decision to chance. “How about if we play darts for it?”

She laughed. “What?”

“If you beat me, we do as you wish.”

She rose from the table. “Wow. I’ve never had a man turn me down before.”

Jealousy speared his heart as he also rose. “There have been many?”

She laughed and took his arm, leading him to the dartboard. “There was no one.”

He said, “What?” but she ignored him, walking to the board and removing the darts for them to play.

The thought that she’d spent eight years celibate rattled through him. Confusion destroyed his dart game, and she easily beat him. And he wondered if that hadn’t actually been her plan.

He met her gaze. “Looks like you get your wish.”

She smiled and reached for her coat on the hook, but he grabbed it before she could and held it for her to slide on. “So we go back to your condo now?”

She turned, her eyes bright with humor. “You must be invited again?”

His heart kicked. He hadn’t realized how much he’d longed for her smile, her presence, until that very second. With the pretense gone and all questions answered, he just wanted to be with her.

“No. I don’t need to be asked twice.”

She headed for the exit. He followed her, opening the door when they reached it, and she walked into the cold night.

Still, as much as he wanted to be with her, something about this troubled him.

“So you worked for Signor Bartolini for eight years?”

“Actually he died a while back. But Melony and I were there for years. He made his home our home.”

He took comfort in that, and relaxed a little. But her statement that there had been no one for her since their relationship popped into his head again, haunting him in a way he couldn’t quite figure out.

She’d spent the time they were apart truly alone. A sign that she’d had trouble forgetting him—forgetting what they’d had. She’d genuinely sacrificed so he could live his dream. The power of it humbled him.

He pulled the collar up on his jacket. “It’s really cold.”

She shoved her hands into the pockets of her simple black wool coat. “Our coldest January in a long time.”

Moonlight spilled over the streets and the glistening water of the fountain.

“You never did tell me your wish.”

“Because I want it to come true.”

He laughed and caught her hand, joy filling his heart. Maybe the thing to do would be forget the past and let this night happen.