She took a breath and held still as she said, “I didn’t like sleeping alone. I wanted you there.”
He flinched. Sheena waited for him to cross the room, but he didn’t. He held his shirt and nodded at her as he said, “We’ll talk soon. Let me get ready and meet you downstairs.”
Right. Fair. Her face was hot but she clutched the roses and headed downstairs. In the sitting room she grabbed an empty vase when a staff member walked in.
Every room already had fresh flowers that decorated the corners. She handed over the vase and roses. “Please have these arranged and sent to my room.”
The woman took the flowers and Sheena’s arms felt empty. It was like she’d handed over her baby to a stranger which was silly. She glanced out the window and saw the perfectly cut green grass and the olive trees that went as far as the eye could see. In a short time, this had become her home.
Her dress had a pocket that vibrated with her cell phone. She headed toward the informal dining hall in the family quarters and answered her best friend. “Hey, Chelsea.”
Chelsea’s bubbly laughter showed her excitement as she said, “Sheena, Cassidy and I are going shopping. Alex wants to return to our vineyard tonight. Can you join us?”
Any other time, but not now. She hadn’t talked to Matteo about anything real. She pressed her palm to her neck. “I don’t want to go out today.”
“Because of Charles?” Chelsea asked.
She let out a sigh and closed her eyes, stopping in her tracks. “Partly. I want to fix things with Matteo.”
“Are things broken that you need to fix them?”
Sheena’s eyes flew open and her heart raced. Broken? As in her heart? Maybe. All the jitters she’d had returned as she felt heat rise in her cheeks. “Yes and no. I just need to figure a few things out.”
Chelsea said, “Like that you love him?”
And if that was even remotely true, she’d been a stupid fool. He’d asked her, and she hadn’t answered, afraid to take a chance. Sheena cringed at the memory. “I… was afraid of the whole love thing you now believe in wholeheartedly.”
Chelsea sucked in her breath, like she always did when she tried not to talk. Sheena knew the slight sound and could imagine the action as Chelsea said, “Because of Charles.”
Heat flushed her face so much she knew she was bright scarlet. “I know that’s stupid.”
“It is,” Chelsea said. “Though my mom might have reacted even worse than you when she met him at your party.”
“I was so busy. Did something happen to your mother I didn’t catch at the party?”
“No. My sister took her out fast so you’d have never noticed.”
Chelsea’s mom was a former model but that didn’t really matter. Thankfully Sheena’s father was steadfast and dependable even if he sometimes flared with a temper in his kitchen as he demanded perfection in every dish.
Sheena wondered if her expectations on love weren’t matching the whispering in her heart. And if she didn’t listen to herself she wasn’t being very smart. Footsteps echoed outside the dining room. “Chelsea, we’ll talk soon. I have to go.”
“Of course.” Chelsea hung up. The door flung open.
Matteo, with his dark brown eyes, strode into the room. Sun shone through the windows making the area warm and bright without the need of lamps. She pushed her phone back in her pocket and smoothed her hair. He clasped her nervous hands as he asked, “Who was on the phone?”
“Chelsea.” She glanced up at him. She’d been so afraid of what another man had done in her past that she hadn’t given Matteo a fair chance in the present.
Sheena needed to choose love and not be afraid to try again.
Matteo’s easy laugh and how he made her body ache for him were things no one else had ever done half as well. He smiled at her with so much charm as he said, “Friends are like family sometimes. Stefano found me on my skateboard last night.”
He took her arm and guided her to sit at the oval dining room table that held eight people. She had a bounce in her step. At least he’d been skateboarding and not at some party surrounded by people with loose morals. He held her chair for her and she asked, “So you were drinking with Stefano?”
“Not to excess, but the whiskey hit worse because I’d raced up the mountain and hadn’t eaten anything all day.”
When slightly intoxicated people showed up at her father’s restaurant, he’d trained her and his staff to ensure they had carbs to eat almost immediately and usually grabbed her father’s garlic breads. She reached across the table and handed him a chocolate chip muffin. “Try this.”
He put it on his plate and pinched off a piece. “Sheena… thanks.” He ate the small bite of the muffin and then poured them both coffee. She took the mug from him and he stared at her hand and said, “Can I ask you a question?”
