“I am comfortable with you, Matteo. It’s strange, since we met two days ago, but…” She shrugged. It didn’t make sense, but this ease she felt in his company was as real and solid as this stone tower.
He nodded, his cheek against her hair. “Yeah, I feel it too. Some things you can’t explain. They just are.” He pressed a kiss to her temple.
Throwing caution to the stiff, coastal wind, she raised her chin and met his gaze.
He cupped her jaw in both hands, dark eyes sharp, as if he could see right through her fear, right to her galloping heart. His plush lips pressed to hers for a long, sweet moment. Pulling back, he threaded his fingers into her hair. “More?”
She nodded, and with a soft, hungry sound, he took her mouth in a luxuriant kiss. She relaxed into his hold, parting her lips to welcome the velvet heat of his tongue.
She’d forgotten how intoxicating it could be, this rush of desire washing through her like an incoming tide.
He slid one hand between her shoulder blades and splayed the other on the small of her back. He broke the kiss long enough to murmur her name, then pressed her to the wall, his strong arms cushioning her. A hard, hot ridge nudged her belly.
Must be the sea air, the dizzy height—because this was not her, this wanton woman groping and groaning atop a tower for the whole world to see. Her breasts ached for his touch, and her core throbbed in time with her racing heart.
With a soft chuckle, Matteo grasped her arms and stepped back. “Wow. That was—wow.” Ignoring the erection straining against his zipper, he tenderly stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers. “I apologize, bella.”
“Don’t apologize.” She grasped his hand and kissed his palm. “It’s been a long time since anyone kissed me properly. You are”—she sighed—“a wonderful surprise, Matteo. Thank you.”
His gaze danced over her face, and his kiss-swollen lips parted in a wicked smile. “You like surprises, Danielle?”
She bit her lip and nodded.
“Good to know.” He glanced toward the open door. “But I can’t entertain you properly up here. Shall we go down?”
Her imagination sprinted toward steamy possibilities, but she forced her gaze upward, to his sparkling dark eyes and not the sweet temptation below his belt. “Yes, let’s.”
He didn’t speak much on their walk back to town, but he held her hand, his grip easy and loose. The ocean breeze cooled her fevered skin, but her mind raced ahead. Where were they headed? Back to her place for a tumble in her rented bed? Nothing had ever sounded more enticing. Or more terrifying.
With quick, darting glances, she sipped at Matteo’s beauty—the wind ruffling his curly dark hair, the play of light and shadow across his smooth brow and sharp cheekbones, his graceful gait.
For eighteen years, Jason had been her only lover, his body as familiar as her own. She’d chalked up his declining libido to the passage of time, to their busy schedules, to the inevitable cool-down that came with knowing your partner so well. Turns out, she hadn’t really known him at all. And his libido was as frisky as ever, just directed elsewhere. The day his now ex-girlfriend called to drop the bomb about their affair was the day her sex drive closed up shop. Shutters down, lights out, doors locked.
Until Matteo.
When they reached her corner, he spun and clasped her hands. His broad chest rose and fell while his eyes searched her face.
Panic tightened her throat. This was it—crunch time. He was going to ask her back to his place, or to hers, and she had no freakin’ idea what to say.
He glanced heavenward and blew out a long breath. “Bella, I’m in a tough spot right now.”
Something inside her deflated. He was groping for a way out.
He stepped off the sidewalk to make room for a family with four bouncy kids heading toward the beach. The littlest child bonked into Danielle with his enormous inflatable unicorn. “Sorry!” he chirped.
Still holding her hands, Matteo drew her to a patch of shade beneath a cluster of anemic palm trees and flashed an adorable, shy grin that crinkled the corners of his eyes. “Danielle, I really like you, but I don’t want you to feel like I’m pressuring you to do something you’re not ready for.”
“I’m ready!”her id hollered and waved like an over-excited second grader.
Matteo twined his fingers with hers. “Unfortunately, Sal needs me this afternoon, and I’m driving him to Aberdeen tonight. How about tomorrow? We could have a picnic lunch on the beach. There’s a special spot I’d love to show you.” He dipped his head and nuzzled the sensitive crook of her neck. “Are you still up for it? Or have I scared you off with my grabby hands?”
The heat of his breath scrambled her brain. No doubt about it, he wanted her. And she wanted him so badly her teeth ached.
She sucked in a deep breath. “I’ll bet you get a lot of single women tourists throwing themselves at you.”
He shrugged. “A lot of women flirt. Doesn’t mean anything.” He rested his forehead against hers. “I collect drawer pulls, and doorknobs, and picture frames, not women.”
She pressed her lips together and dropped her gaze to their joined hands. This guy definitely earned an A-plus in handholding. Never had such a simple act felt so intimate, so sensual. The way his thumb traced arcs across her knuckles made her imagine what those hands could do on her bare body, stretched out on her king-size bed, the sea breeze lifting the curtains while his palms glided over her breasts…
