Honeymoon For Three Page 6

  She had joked with Nico about extending her visit; she had wanted to see his reaction, to gauge his intent. She had hoped for more soothing words, but all he had said was that they had all the time in the world. Which wasn’t true anyway.

  She wanted confirmation, something, anything from him to tell her that she meant more than his usual one-night stands. She had nobody to ask about him and only his reputation—what some women said and the press reports—to go by. Neither of the two put her mind at rest.

  He seemed more guarded about his feelings, preferring to hide them than to expose the real him. In Venice, he had been more at ease, more open, more receptive. And they had been the closest yet. She had become swept up in the sudden passion of it all, the unraveling of the real man behind the mask, and she could not hold back, not that she had tried too hard to resist him anyway.

  Maybe he was more cautious when back in his familiar surroundings. His father’s expectations and the demands of running the business took over. She knew this affected him more than he cared to admit.

  She liked to think that Nico felt something deeper for her, too, but she was never quite sure of her footing. It kept her on edge, the mix of excitement and the unknown, all blended together into one heady potent mix that she seemed to be getting addicted to.

  Staying on a little longer, even to source a line of clothing, something she would never have considered had it not been for Andrea’s suggestion and Nico’s encouragement, was the right thing to do.

  She regretted being so hasty in telling her mother that she had met someone. The fact that she had done so gave her another indication of her feelings for Nico.

  Even in the short amount of time that they had known each other, it was starting to feel less like a holiday romance and more like the beginnings of something more solid, something that maybe could have foundations of much more. And the thought of that scared the living daylights out of her.

  ***

  Natale had encouraged them to wander around the well-lit and spacious factory floor looking at the designs. There were rows of machinists on one side and long tables of fabric swatches at the other end.

  With Andrea beside her, Ava had inspected the fabric and craftsmanship of the clothes and come away fascinated with what she had seen.

  Andrea had a good eye for clothing and Ava appreciated the second opinion. She knew her customers and the sort of clothes they would like. But she didn’t know Natale, and she needed to know that the fabrics were top quality and that there would be a good line of distribution.

  The two women sat at a table, Ava with a notebook and calculator by her side, making notes in her leather-bound folder as she looked through the catalog.

  “If I’m not careful, I’ll end up buying everything again.” Ava tapped away on her calculator. Too much, she had to pare back on her stock. Gut instinct told her she had a winner, but she needed solid proof first. It would be better to buy less for a trial first.

  “Don’t go too crazy, Ava.” Andrea swept her thick dark curls away from her face and out of the way. “You don’t know yet if these will sell. You can always come back and order more later.”

  “I know.” Ava scribbled down notes and still tapped away on her calculator, before putting down her pen. “I could come back here regularly, couldn’t I?”

  “Of course. You could become that international jet-setting business woman that we both dream of becoming.”

  Ava laughed. She liked the idea of that. If she regularly placed orders and sought out new products, not only from Andrea’s store, but other places and parts of Italy too, as Nico had suggested, she would always have a reason to come to Italy. And visit Nico, too.

  “Coming here wasn’t so bad after all, was it?” Andrea asked.

  “It has turned out to be one of the best things to happen to me.” Ava meant every word. Over the course of her time here, the two women had become close and their friendship had blossomed. Ava enjoyed talking to Andrea and they bounced ideas off one another, both being business-minded women who wanted to succeed. Being in the same market, supplying baby and children’s products, further cemented their bond. It had been Andrea who suggested to Ava about diversifying her online portfolio and selling clothing. And Nico had agreed whole-heartedly.

  Andrea was a good listener, too. Ava, who had had nobody to open up to, found a good friend in her. Though Ava didn’t divulge much about herself, she had mentioned briefly about the jilted wedding and her desire to come to Italy to find herself again.

  “Focusing on your business has done wonders. You’ve got a real glow about you lately.”

  “Thanks.” Ava didn’t want to reveal too much about her recent glow.

  Andrea got up and walked over to the new racks of clothing that Natale had brought in.

  “What do you think of this?” she held up a puffy meringue type dress for Ava to see.

  Ava shook her head in horror. “Too stiff and too ugly.” She got up and walked over, shuffling through the clothes rack fast, pushing clothes out of the way. Finally she stopped and held up a pretty little lemon yellow frock dress. “See, this is nicer, don’t you think?”

  It was made from cotton, a lighter material and much better for baby skin.

  Andrea agreed ecstatically. “Yes, yes, yes.” She reached forward and touched the pale yellow cotton. “It’s very soft, too.”

  “And simple.” Attached to it was a photograph showing a toddler wearing the dress. “I think this little baby would look cute dressed in a plastic trash bag.” Ava gazed longingly at the baby’s fat little cheeks and big, brown eyes.

  “You would like to have babies some day? I think you would make a good mother,” her friend commented. Ava had told Andrea plenty about her niece Tori.

  Ava looked up from the cute baby picture in lemon cotton and nodded her head. “Some day. Not yet, I’m not ready.”

  “You have to find the right man first, no?”

  Ava nodded her head in agreement and felt the urge to share her news about Nico. It was the only thing she had not shared.

  Andrea squeezed her friend’s arm gently. “Who knows? You might end up meeting a handsome Italian man. You look happy, and you look good when you are happy. It suits you. You looked so sad the first time you came here with Nico.”

  Ava’s heart fluttered at the mention of Nico’s name. “It was one of the best things Nico did, bringing me to Montova and introducing me to you.”

  Andrea continued. “He’s a very good, business-minded man. He must have seen that you had a passion for business. It doesn’t surprise me, him offering to help you.”

  “He helped me more than he should have.” It was just on the tip of Ava’s tongue, to reveal her newfound love interest. She felt the heady flush of excitement in her stomach in anticipation of telling her friend about her newly blossoming love affair.

  “Be careful, Ava. Nico is the last man you’d want to get involved with. He’ll break your heart, as he did mine.” Andrea held out a white two-piece sleeveless top and trouser suit. Her eyes met Ava’s. “You and Nico?” Ava’s voice faltered. She didn’t want to know anymore, but her curiosity got the better of her.

  Andrea stared down at her hands. “He was, he is enchanting, charming, sexy and dangerous as hell. I was very much in love with him. Who wasn’t? But Nico is not a one-woman man. We weren’t together long. He broke my heart.”

  Ava’s heart crashed to the floor.

  Mistaking her shock for sympathy, Andrea waved her hand. “Don’t worry, I’m over him now. It was a long time ago.”

  That doesn’t make it any easier.

  Andrea carried on rifling through the clothing with her back to Ava. But Ava lost all interest in the clothes and leaned back on the table for support. Her legs wobbled and she gripped the table for fear that she might sink to the floor.

  “So you say your ex-fiancé has come back, looking for you?” Andrea carried on, not realizing that Ava’s world had imploded.

  “Ava?
”

  “Hmmm? Oh, yes. He turned up a few weeks ago.”

  “I hope you told him to get lost.”

  Natale reappeared and beamed graciously at them both. Andrea spurted off something very fast in Italian and the only name that Ava caught was “Nico.”

  “You like these?” Natale turned to Ava graciously, and pointed to the two racks of clothing she had brought out. Her eyes touched upon the scribbles of catalog numbers that Ava had made in her notebook.

  “Yes,” replied Ava, forcing a smile. Her enthusiasm had fast evaporated along with her warm and fuzzy feelings of love and happiness. “Your clothes are beautiful.”

  Natale smiled broadly. “I will leave you in peace, if you need anything, let me know, si?”

  When Natale disappeared out of view, curiosity pricked Ava. “What were you two talking about in Italian?”

  Andrea looked up, trying to remember.

  Ava pushed, and she didn’t care how intrusive it looked. She needed to know, now more than ever. “What did you say about Nico?”

  “Oh, that he had introduced you to me and that you had bought out most of my store.” Andrea winked at Ava who felt slightly relieved.

  “Natale’s sister was sort of engaged to Nico many years ago.”

  Sort of engaged?

  “To Nico?” Surprise pushed Ava back a few steps.

  How many women had this man had exactly? She tried to laugh it off. “He seems to have dated most of the women around here.” Her laugh was fake, but the knife that pierced her heart seemed all too real.

  Andrea stared at her friend for the longest time and her face turned serious.

  Ava jumped in. Summoning up her best act yet, she said, “He’s such a player, that man. I could see it a mile off. He actually makes Connor look like a half decent guy.”

  But Andrea didn’t smile or laugh. Her eyes bored into Ava’s face and she waited.

  Ava rolled her eyes. “Wait, you didn’t think me and Nico?” She moved her hands as if to signify their togetherness. “Come on. What do you take me for? I’ve already had one disastrous relationship. Do you think I’m ready for another one?”

  The truth of these words fell upon Ava with a thud.

  “Now, what do you think of this white cotton two-piece suit?” she said quickly, pulling out another outfit and refusing to meet Andrea’s eyes. Her friend oohed and aaahed over it and the subject was gone.

  The women worked together for the rest of the afternoon, selecting more outfits than Ava needed. Later, they sat down with Natale and locked heads, negotiating prices and discounts for ten items of clothing in each style.

  As long as Ava had her business hat on, she had tunnel vision for her business only. Any thoughts of Nico were quashed the minute they arose.

  Chapter 11

  Ava stared at her reflection in the mirror of the white tiled bathroom at the pensione. Her arms felt heavy. Putting her make up on was a drag. She didn’t want to go out tonight, but Nico sounded so excited.

  She didn’t want to see Nico tonight, either. But how could she tell him?

  He would be here soon enough. Her stomach lurched at the thought of spending the evening having dinner with him. Even worse, he had promised her he had a surprise planned. She didn’t like surprises at the best of times, and he could not have picked a worse time to do this.

  Andrea’s words now rang in her ears on automatic playback. Nico is not a one-woman man. Those words had obliterated the warm and fuzzy feelings she’d had.

  A man never really could change his habits. She had deluded herself into thinking that he was going to transform into the perfect man for her.

  After Connor she would be crazy to put herself through this. As loud and clear as she could hear Andrea’s warning bell in her head, Rona’s warnings about hot-blooded Italian men also added to the clang in her head.

  She applied her eyeliner, leaving a thin trail along the outside of her eyes. She got out her mascara, then put it away again. No need to make an effort. She huffed in annoyance. She wasn’t prettying herself up for Nico, she was making herself look better. A dash of mascara made her feel better.

  She ran her fingers through her hair and left it at that. Tonight, she would tell him.

  There was no need to extend her trip any longer. Not now.

  She had allowed herself to develop feelings for another man who would only hurt her. She promised herself she would never let that happen again.

  As the quiet roar of Nico’s engine reverberated outside, she rushed, grabbed her bag and darted out the door. She reached the car just as Nico turned the engine off.

  He looked up in surprise as she climbed inside. She knew he had expected to come in, just as he always did.

  She ignored the surge of electricity that charged through her as his fingers brushed hers. Even worse was seeing him in his dark designer suit. He looked like a man out of a cologne ad, the type that had a woman swooning over his chiseled features and bedroom eyes.

  Her heart jolted. This wasn’t going to be an easy evening. Not with him looking like he did. He wore his suits like a second skin and the beautifully cut black Italian suit showed off his tall and slim figure, yet exaggerated his wide shoulders. Goddamn it, she cursed silently. In her desire to dress down, she now felt completely understated in her dark jeans and top.

  “Should I have worn a dress or something?” she breathed, anxious to drag her gaze away from his oh-so-sexy body until her eyes met his, dark, glittering ones. They were just as dangerous. Another stab of excitement tasered her heart. She was a goner. He was turning on his charm big time tonight.

  What was the occasion? She struggled to think about their last encounter and remembered, with a sinking feeling, that she had discussed with him the possibility of staying on longer. She had primed him to expect more.

  And now she was going to have to let him down with a thud.

  “You never look underdressed,” he said, leaning towards her and glancing at her outfit appreciatively. His face scrutinized hers as if he knew immediately that something was wrong.

  “We don’t have to go out tonight, if you don’t feel like it.” His lips barely brushed hers. Oh god, he could flirt and tease. She didn’t want his lips to brush so lightly. She wanted his mouth to sink down on hers and for his tongue to claim hers the way he always did when his hunger always got the better of him. She wanted it, even though she should have known better; even though she knew she was just one of his many.

  She pulled away. She couldn’t give in now, she reminded herself, even as she gazed a little too long at his lips, at the fullness of them, and took in the heady scent of his aftershave.

  She had to be strong and face reality. This was not going to work, no matter how much she liked to believe it might.

  No, staying in tonight at her place with him was not an option at any cost.

  “No, let’s go. I want to go out. What is this surprise?”

  His face registered surprise and confusion at her reluctance to stay close to him, and he didn’t follow through with the kiss that he had obviously intended.

  He watched her carefully. “You’ll see.”

  She knew from his short words, that her reluctance had changed his mood slightly.

  They drove in silence. She had lost the heart to break into normal conversation with him, lest she lead him down the wrong path.

  After a few minutes of strained silence, Nico turned on the radio.

  “Andrea took me to Natale’s factory.”

  “Ah, yes. You did say you were going there.”

  She waited for him to elaborate more, but Nico kept his eyes firmly on the road in front and said nothing.

  After they had been driving for a while, he pulled up and the street looked familiar. She recognized the courtyard and the statue. They were back at the Casa di Giulietta.

  “I didn’t know that you had been engaged to Natale’s sister.”

  “I’ve been engaged many times.”

&
nbsp; Not the answer she was expecting.

  “Really?” her voice went up an octave, giving away her attempt to appear unaffected.

  They had parked and Nico turned to her, apparently not willing to get out yet.

  “Really.” In the darkness of the car, his eyes sparkled. “It depends on who you listen to and what magazines you read.”

  “So you weren’t engaged?”

  “Ava. There was no ‘engagement,’ not in a real sense of the word. Everyone assumed we were going to get engaged, but we were very young. It’s a small town mentality here. People, both our sets of parents, wanted to believe we would get together. She was a sweet girl. She still is, I assume. I don’t know, I haven’t seen her for a long time.”

  The hold on Ava’s heart relaxed a little.

  “Anything else?” he asked patiently, though the edge of weariness in his voice was not lost on her.

  She hesitated, Andrea’s words tip-toed on the tip of her tongue. She waited for him to tell her about Andrea. But he didn’t say anything.

  “I’m sorry if I sounded like I was being nosy. It’s just that Natale and Andrea were talking about you. To me it seems as though you’ve dated all the women in Verona.”

  He let out a loud, audible sigh and gripped the steering wheel, his knuckles white.

  “People talk all the time. What are you going to do? Listen to their gossip? Base your decisions about me on what you hear from idle mouths?”

  “No, no…I…” Words escaped her. She felt foolish and thanked the stars that he couldn’t see her face or the crimson shade she had become now that the tables were turned and he was the one accusing her.

  “Do you still want to eat? Or shall I drive you home?”

  She had made up her mind. She had no choice but to end it tonight. She needed to have this last dinner with him even though she had the feeling that she was going to regret it later.

  “No, let’s eat. I’m sorry. I don’t want to ruin the evening.” Liar. “And we need to talk.”

  These last words caught his attention. “Let’s go, then.”

  He had walked over to her side to get her door, but she was already out. “You don’t have to open my door for me all the time, Nico. I’m capable of doing it myself.”