All day, Travis couldn't resist playing a dangerous game with Lily's hand soft and warm in his. His imagination overflowed with visions of their naked bodies slipping and sliding against the silks that hung around their very own master-carved four-poster bed.
Quietly, as he watched her run her talented hands over an ancient statue at his favorite wholesale landscape store, another puzzle piece slipped into place. What if he gave in to the way Lily made him feel?
Leo, the proprietor, said something that made Lily throw her head back and laugh. Her laughter washed over Travis, and he snapped back to attention, feeling left out of the joke and wishing he was the only person who could make Lily look so happy.
He slid his arm around her waist, and as Lily leaned her head on his shoulder, the proprietor conveniently left them alone with each other. "I swear," she said with a sigh, "I'm going to move here."
Travis smiled. "I've thought of that a time or two myself." He mock frowned. "Don't tell me Leo asked you to marry him."
Lily giggled again. "Well ...now that you've come right out and asked..." She kissed Travis on the cheek. "Actually, he said I should be a model for one of these." She gestured to a statue and blushed. "I know he's a big ol' flirt, but still..." Her voice drifted away, and she looked unsure of herself.
Not wanting anything to ruin her good mood, especially not her insecurities about the very body that he found himself having an ever-growing appreciation for, Travis made a show of inspecting the life-sized female statue in front of them. He ran his hands over the breasts and grinned wolfishly.
"First of all, your breasts are much more impressive than hers."
Lily smacked him on the shoulder. "Shh. Not so loud! You're embarrassing me."
Travis raised an eyebrow. "What? Don't you think that Leo has already noticed and admired them?"
Lily crossed her arms across her chest, but not quickly enough to hide her rapidly hardening nipples. "No, I hadn't thought that, thank you very much," she said, but she couldn't hide her grin.
"In that case, young lady," he teased, "you have quite a lot to learn when it comes to men. Particularly any man with Italian blood in his veins." Travis turned back to the statue and ran his hands down past her waist. "Yup, I'd have to say you are a lusher, much more intriguing package than this broad. No question about it."
"Lush?" Lily snorted. "When did you introduce that word into your vocabulary?"
Travis took Lily in his arms. "When I made love to you for the first time."
Lily blushed, but she didn't pull away when he bent down and gently kissed her lips. The kiss wasn't so much about passion as it was about comfort. And just as he had all day whenever things felt too right, too good, whenever his new feelings for Lily threatened to overwhelm him, Travis had to fight the urge to let go of her. To run as far away from her as he could.
Somehow, the thought of going back to the life he had always loved so much--the freedom of being with a different woman every weekend, someone who looked pretty on his arm, but rarely was witty enough to make him laugh--didn't seem all that great anymore.
As if she could read his mind, Lily gazed at him, turning shy and anxious as he grew quiet and pensive. Amazingly, it was Lily's uncertainty that made Travis snap out of his mood.
I don't want to go back to how things were before, Travis thought with sudden clarity. This is so much better.
He grabbed Lily's hand, called out to Leo that they'd telephone later to arrange for shipping, and said, "Let's go have some fun."
Lily followed him out to their little rental car and climbed into the passenger seat. "I'm already having such a good time, Travis. This whole day has been a dream come true for me."
Travis threaded his hands into her hair and kissed her once, hard and possessive. He turned on the radio and drove past fields of olives and grapes, whistling to the pop songs on the radio. He pulled Lily's hand onto his lap and was happy when she left it there, drumming her fingers on his thigh in time to the music. He tried not to think dirty thoughts, but with her fingers inching closer and closer to his growing erection, he was having a hard time working the stick shift.
He pulled the car into a small gravel lot outside an old stucco farmhouse. He hoped Nonna was home. The grandmother of one of his previous clients. Travis had met Nonna five years ago on a buying trip, each time he was in town, and visiting her was like coming home. And he was certain that she would adore Lily. The gate opened, and she spoke in rapid-fire Italian. Lily emerged from the car, and the woman approached and kissed both her cheeks.
Travis explained, "Nonna makes the best picnic basket lunch in town." He squeezed Nonna's hand. "Cestino per il picnic?"
She nodded with glee. "Certo!" Nonna looked slyly at Lily. "E una bella donna, vero?"
"Yes," he said as Lily blinked uncertainly at the both of them. "She is a very beautiful woman."
Lily blushed and began to protest, but Travis cut her off. "You don't want to insult Nonna's ancient wisdom when she's about to put together the best lunch of your life, do you?"
"No," Lily said, as a radiant smile took hold. "I wouldn't want to insult this lovely woman. Oh, how I wish I could understand Italian."
Travis and Lily followed Nonna into her kitchen-cum-store. "Next time, we'll come stay for a month. You'll pick it up in no time."
Lily stopped dead in her tracks. "Next time?"
Travis was at a loss for what to say. He had been stunned when the words came out of his mouth, but they felt so right he had let them fall. And since he couldn't think of a response, he did the only thing left in his repertoire: He kissed her.
Nonna cackled with glee behind them. Lily pushed him away. "We're embarrassing her," she insisted.
Travis, relieved to have sidestepped the awkward moment, said, "On the contrary, she's loving it. I think you're the one who's embarrassed."
Rising up to his challenge, Lily grabbed him, said "Is that so, wise guy?" and thoroughly French-kissed him. When she finally released him, he had to concentrate on breathing for a full five seconds.
Travis hid his smile of victory. "Nope. I guess you've proved me wrong."
Lily kept proving him wrong again and again. From mousy to magnificent in a matter of days--what could possibly be next?
He pulled out a chair for Lily, and they sat at a worm-eaten wood table sipping the glasses of grappa that Nonna poured from a short, round bottle with dried red wax along its throat. The three of them fell into a companionable silence as Nonna cut thick slices of homemade brown bread stuffed with black olives and capers. She pulled a large wicker basket from the hooks on the ceiling and loaded the bread in along with fresh pate, a handful of cheeses, salami, prosciutto, olives, pickles, and a bottle of Chianti.
Lily's stomach grumbled, and Travis chuckled as her cheeks turned pink. "Every time I get near Nonna I become a ravenous beast," he said, to try and ease Lily's hang-ups about food. He leaned close to her and said, in a soft voice full of promise, "Actually, the same thing happens every time I get near you, too."
Lily smiled, but it wasn't a big, true smile. It was a trembly little smile that made Travis want to stroke her hair. "I'll bet you've been here with a lot of girls. I wonder how Nonna thinks I compare."
Travis stifled a groan but couldn't completely suppress his irritation. "Lily, do we have to keep doing this?"
Lily reddened and faced him. "I'm not the one who's had dozens, no silly me that's not nearly enough, more like hundreds of girlfriends! Why is it so wrong for me to assume that you have been here before with at least one other woman?"
Nonna stopped filling the picnic basket. "Ha un'accelerazione da zero a sessanta in dieci secondi."
Travis nodded. "Si, Nonna."
"What?" Lily slapped her open palm onto the table, jumping with surprise when she looked down at her hand and realized what she'd done. Somewhat sheepishly, she said, "How do I say sorry in Italian?"
"Scusi."
"Scusi, Nonna," she said, her big blue
eyes filled with repentance, then narrowed them and turned back to face Travis down. "Go ahead, I'm waiting. What'd she say?"
Travis cleared his throat and tried not to laugh. Now was not the time for humor, not when Lily looked mad enough to castrate him. "She said you go from zero to sixty in ten seconds."
Lily's mouth dropped open. "Me?"
Travis nodded.
"She must be mistaken," Lily said, dropping her hands to her lap and clasping them together primly. "I'm very even-keeled."
Travis pried opened her hands and squeezed them between his own. "Trust me, Nonna means it as a great compliment. In her day I'll bet she was a real firecracker."
As if Nonna understood his words, she winked at them over her bony shoulder. "And by the way," he added, "since you were wondering, you are the only woman I have ever brought to see Nonna."
Lily raised her blue eyes, a small flicker of hope shining through. "Do you swear?" she whispered.
He placed her hands on his heart. "Cross my heart, Lily."
Nonna sighed and handed Travis the picnic basket. "Divertirsi!"
Lily thanked Nonna with the only Italian words she knew so far, but her "Tante grazie" was cut off by the woman's spontaneous hug.
Travis pulled Nonna into a hug next and made a mental note to send a generous gift to the wonderful woman. Then he picked up the picnic basket with one hand and Lily's hand with the other. He was still smarting from her attack in Nonna's kitchen, but at the same time, he wasn't clueless enough to think he hadn't brought it on himself. He couldn't think of a single time in the past twenty years that he had done anything that would have captured Lily's trust.
So then why was he suddenly so desperate to have it?
"Got anywhere special in mind for the picnic?" she asked, as they drove back down the hill from Nonna's farmhouse. "Or should I be keeping my eyes open for a rock wall in a patch of shade?
Travis took his eyes off the narrow road to grin at Lily. He was glad her good mood was back. "I think you'll like the place I have in mind." He took a sharp left at a crumbling shed.
As the road became bumpier and less maintained, Lily said, "If I didn't know better, I'd think you were trying to kidnap me."
"No one will ever find you out here, my pretty." Travis faked a maniacal laugh.
Lily giggled as they crested the final hill. Travis stopped the car in front of a wide, tall cypress bush next to several other beat-up cars. He grabbed the basket and motioned for Lily to follow him down a narrow footpath. "It's through here." Although Lily looked doubtful, she followed him.
Moments later, they were standing on the banks of a small, stunning lake. Several couples and families were spread out along the grass while their babies threw sand up into the air with miniature shovels. "It's so beautiful," Lily said softly.
She caught sight of the large wooden swing on an ancient oak tree and ran over to it. She slid onto the wooden seat and swung herself off the ground.
Travis gave her a firm push. She gasped, "Not so high, Travis!" as she flew up into the air, but when she came back down he pushed her hard again and again, until her hair was flying free behind her and her skirts were up over her knees and she was laughing.
Travis couldn't resist her laughter, so he let her come back down to earth and, when she landed, he caught her in his arms and kissed her.
Travis's stomach grumbled loudly. "Guess it's time to eat," Lily said, her breath warm against his ear before she pulled away and reached for the woolen blanket that Nonna had given them to sit on. Lily spread it out on the soft grass and unloaded the food.
"My God," she said as more and more wrapped packages emerged at the bottom of the basket. "I guess I wasn't paying attention to what Nonna put in here. There's enough food to feed an army."
"Nonna knows I've got a big appetite," Travis said with a wink, trying to step carefully around the food minefield by turning the focus to himself.
"Well," Lily said with a laugh, "I've certainly noticed that you have a big appetite for something."
Travis made a show as if to pounce on her, but she just laughed and stuffed a piece of bread in his mouth. "Eat," she said, so he relaxed back into the blanket and watched the sunshine play off the calm lake as he munched on the crust.
They ate companionably in the dappled shade beneath the huge shelter of the oak tree, and Travis couldn't remember ever feeling quite so content. Sated, he stood up and drew Lily into his arms.
"Dance with me, Lily."
"Travis," she said, her laughter coming out in warm puffs against his neck, "everyone will think we're crazy."
He pulled her close, then dipped her until her red locks nearly brushed the ground. Gently curving her back toward him, he said, "They're too busy thinking I'm the luckiest guy in the world."
Lily stiffened in his arms. Travis wondered why his compliments had such an adverse effect with her. Most women lapped them up like cream. How could she doubt that what he said was true when he had been fighting men away from her left and right?
Travis surveyed the flowing layers of red-and-lavender silk that caressed her curves. Her dress dipped low to expose the creamy flesh of her breasts. The hem twirled sexily around her slim ankles, which were encased in strappy sandals, and her brightly painted toes peeked out with every step.
"Have I told you how beautiful you look today?"
Lily kissed his cheek softly. "Thank you," she whispered into his ear, sending chills through him, straight to the rapidly growing bulge between his legs.
He ran his hand down her back. "I can't keep my eyes, or hands," he said, with a mischievous smile, "off you today."
Lily shook her head and tried to pull away. "It's not me that's beautiful," she protested. "It's Janica's dress. She's so talented, she could even make a hippo look good."
Travis scanned the park. "Funny, I don't see any hippos anywhere." He lowered his voice to an intimate hush. "I see you, Lily, and you are incredibly beautiful to me."
This time, Lily let herself be held by him. A soft wind blew over them as time stood still.
LILY DIDN'T GET IT. The Travis she had been with all day was straight from her fantasies. Even when she'd had her little hissy fit at Nonna's, which she was still awfully embarrassed about, Travis had been gallant, charming, and, amazingly enough, impressed with her creative ideas for his client's house.
He had been, simply, the perfect man to share Tuscany with.
Which meant, of course, that all day Lily was waiting for the other shoe to drop. She couldn't help but wonder at his abrupt transformation. After so many years of being treated like a second-class citizen--none of which had stopped her lustful dreams about him, sadly enough--the new-and-improved Travis was almost too much to take in.
Lily needed some time alone to process things. It was all happening so fast. She felt perilously close to overload. They parked their rental car at the hotel and walked into the square. When Travis got engrossed in a conversation with a master woodcarver, Lily took it as her chance to escape for a little while.
"Travis, I'm going to go down to the corner cafe to jot down some notes." He made a move to wrap up his conversation, but she insisted, "Please don't rush on my account. Take all the time you need."
His eyes flashed something unreadable. Lily actually thought that she might have hurt his feelings for a minute, but that was laughable. How could she, Lily Ellis, actually make the king of all players upset?
Her head spinning with an odd mixture of hope and confusion, Lily made her way down the sun-filled lane to the cafe they had passed a few minutes ago. She stopped at a postcard display on the sidewalk and thumbed through them, wishing that Janica could be there. How her sister would love the natural, overwhelming beauty of Italy.
Lily could only imagine the kind of designs Janica would come up with after seeing the way the locals dressed. Tuscan women had a natural sexuality to them, whether they were big or small, and Lily noticed that they made a special point to show off their br
easts and hips. Lily wished she had the guts to dress like that on more than just special occasions. But she would feel so naked without her layers of clothes to cover her flaws. Maybe Americans didn't have that special brand of European confidence, she mused. But Janica did, and Lily was certain that her sister would understand how to tap into the Italian flair for sensuality and beauty.
But then again, Lily thought with a naughty grin, if Janica had been there, everything would have been different. No shared baths with Travis, no trysts in an olive grove.
Lily clasped the postcards tighter as the realization hit her that this was the first time she'd ever been on her own without someone to take care of.
Taking care of Travis? That was laughable. He could be thrown into a fast-moving stream with no paddle, and he'd somehow manage to not only come out of the ordeal alive, but with the white water wrapped around his little finger, obeying his every command.
But Lily had always taken care of Janica. Even before their parents died Lily had felt responsible for her baby sister and her happiness. This really was the first week she could ever remember truly being on her own. Until the trip to Italy there had been no time for pampering herself.
Had she given too much of herself away in the raising of her baby sister?
No, that was crazy. Everything she had done for her sister she had done for love. And that made it all worthwhile. Not to mention the fact that Janica had grown up to be a brilliant designer and Lily's best girlfriend in the whole world.
She was so lost in her thoughts that when a gorgeous Italian man slipped the postcards from her fingers, and said, "I will buy these for you," she nearly jumped out of her skin.
"Oh my," she said, her hand clutching her rapidly beating pulse, "I didn't see you standing there."
The tall, dark man smiled, and something warm fluttered through her. He wasn't Travis, nonetheless, he was very yummy-looking. He placed some coins on the counter and took her arm, leading her down the sidewalk.