“Okay, sure. What is it?” Her tone made him nervous. He usually thought so clearly about women, but she had him all jumbled up.
She sat up and stared straight at him. “Are you allergic to my cat?”
His first thought was that he was going to murder Jack. “Not anymore.”
She let go of his hand and threw her hands up. “Why didn’t you say something?”
He blew out a breath. And looked into her eyes, as blue as the summer sky. “Because you’d had all the stress of your breakup and the business folding and then this crazy marriage. I just couldn’t make you give up something important to you, and I—”
The next thing he knew, his arms were full of soft, curvy woman. Kissing him. Wrapping herself around him, flooding his senses with her softness and her scent, with the touch of her lips on his.
Soon Leo was lost in her kisses, which were enthusiastic at first, and then deep and slow. He angled his mouth to kiss her more thoroughly, cradling her face in his hands.
His heart was pounding, steady and fast. And half of his head was pushing the panic button. He was feeling too much, allowing himself to cross a line that he never crossed. He pulled back a little. “Maybe we should talk about where this is going, because I want to be honest, I’m not sure—”
She interrupted him. “I’m okay with doing this just for fun,” she said a little breathlessly. “Because when our agreement is done, I’m moving. Whether I get into pastry school or not. I want to experience a different place. And I want to learn to bake. So maybe I’ll move to Chicago and get a job in a pastry shop.”
“Oh.” Just what he wanted to hear—which was also what he’d never expected to hear from her. But…she was moving? Definitely?
“I wanted to tell you something else,” she continued. “I owe you a thank-you. You helped me get back something really important that I’d lost for a long time.”
“What was that?” His mind was still stuck on I’m moving.
“Myself,” she whispered. “I was…I was stuck. You showed me what was possible. I mean, it seemed impossible, but we actually have a shot at this. And did I tell you my mom’s already gotten three new clients based on your dad’s connections?”
He shook his head. “Tessa, you would’ve done everything anyway. Just on a slightly different time schedule.” He believed that with all his heart. No one he knew worked harder or was more determined than she was.
“You gave me the courage to put my dreams front and center again,” she said with feeling. “I can’t even tell you the difference that’s made.”
He shook his head. “It wasn’t one-sided. You took a chance on me, on this wild scheme. You believed it was actually possible.” She’d believed in him.
She smiled. “Well, I really believe you can accomplish anything you set your mind to.”
“Tessa, you’re a force. Anyone who can move my father—”
“He just has a soft spot for me. Because of the cannoli.”
He circled his hands around her waist. “So do I,” he whispered.
He bent his head to kiss her. Her lips met his, the contact soft and lush and electric. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he took in the feel of her in his arms, the taste of her, sweet and addictive.
The contact made him dizzy. Points of light danced behind his eyelids like the tiny lights that dotted the valley before them. What is she doing to me? He’d known a lot of women. He knew a lot about sex. But this…this felt…
Well. He didn’t want to overthink it. Just that he couldn’t get enough of her lips, her scent, her amazing curves. And her enthusiasm for kissing him back.
And he was filled with a desperate need to show her, not just tell her, how beautiful she was. So she would know beyond a doubt. He wanted to erase all memory of that loser who had hurt her and made her question herself. Permanently.
For the first time in his life, Leo was…lost. In her sweet scent. The softness of her skin. The kindness and generosity of her spirit.
Whatever this was, it was a whole lot different than anything he’d experienced before.
On impulse, he tugged her up from the glider.
“Where are we going?” she asked as she took his hand.
“Just trust me.”
He led her around the house to the front door, where he suddenly scooped her up. She let out a little squeak.
“Clean slate,” he said. “No faking this time.”
“No faking,” she whispered, her arms around his neck.
Then he carried his wife through the door and up the stairs to their bedroom, where they spent time showing each other the many ways that French and Italian culture can actually mingle together quite well.
…
A long time later, they lay awake in the dark bedroom, Tessa’s head tucked under Leo’s chin, her hair spilling over his chest. A light breeze drifted in through the windows, as well as an occasional whoo from a resident owl in the old oak tree.
She felt a little stunned. A little blank.
But something niggled at her brain. “Since this is just for fun,” she said, “I hope you don’t mind if I ask you a question.”
“Okay, sure,” Leo said as he reclined against the headboard. “Anything.”
She sat up on one elbow. “Sam told me I don’t have a passionate nature.”
“Sam needs to piss off.”
She burst out laughing. “I’m serious about needing to know what you thought…about me.”
He lifted a brow in surprise. “Are you serious? You want a critique?”
She nodded vehemently. “I need to know.” She didn’t want to guess like she did with Sam about their lovemaking. “When he cheated,” she explained, “I was taken by surprise. So I want to know how you felt about…everything.” She knew how she felt—that being with him was mind-effing-blowing. But she wasn’t about to tell him that.
He touched one of her curls. Tentatively, like he was thinking very carefully about what to say. It made Tessa nervous, like he was struggling to find the words, trying to be nice. She held her breath, waiting for him to speak. “Tessa, if making love with you was a wine, you’d be DOCG.”
Okaaay. “I have no idea what that is.”
“It’s an Italian wine classification that denotes the highest quality. It takes into account the grape ripeness, the winemaking process, and the barrel maturation.”
“Oh. Thank you. I think.” He was comparing her to Italian wine? Was that a good thing?