“We….” His eyebrows flick up as if surprised. “There’s a word I….” His voice trails off.
“You haven’t heard before?”
He smiles above me. “I kind of like it.”
I sit up to look at him as I fake horror. “Well, you better.”
He chuckles and rolls me over onto my back and holds my hands over my head. “Or what?”
“Or you’re going to get it,” I tease. “That’s what.”
“And you’re going to give it to me?” He widens his eyes in jest as he spreads my legs with his knee. “Go on then, tough guy.” He kisses me. “Do it now.”
I struggle to break free as I laugh out loud and he stares down at me, we fall serious.
“What’s that look?” I whisper.
“You look….” He frowns as if searching for the right words.
I smile hopefully, I like this game.
“Disgusting.”
“What?” I burst out laughing. “Disgusting?” I gasp.
He rolls us over so that I am on top of him. “Disgustingly fuckable.”
I sit up as I straddle his body, his hand reaches up and cups my breast, his thumb brushes back and forth over my nipple.
We fall silent as we stare at each other, the magic swirling between us.
“It’s you who’s disgusting,” I say.
He smiles up at me. “I know that for certain.” He grabs the back of my head and drags me down to him and kisses me. “We’re disgustingly perfect for each other.” l laugh against his lips, he’s right, to hell with the world.
We are.
*
I turn and look at my behind in the mirror, my tight black dress fits in all the right places. “Are you getting ready or not?” I call.
“Not,” Giuliano replies flatly from the living room. “You go, I’ll wait here for you.”
I walk out to see him lying on the couch, totally uninterested, and I put my hands on my hips. “Why don’t you want to go to dinner with Anna and Carlo?”
He rolls his eyes. “Because I don’t.” He exhales heavily and turns the television off then throws the remote onto the ottoman.
“Why not?”
“It pisses me off that I can’t touch you and they get to fawn all over each other after knowing each other for all of five fucking minutes.”
I sit down on his lap. “I know, but don’t you want to go out?” I kiss him and brush the hair back from his forehead. “We can’t just stay in this apartment and have sex all the time.”
He raises an eyebrow. “Works for me.”
“Giuliano, we need to get used to acting as friends.”
His unimpressed eyes hold mine.
“I mean…we have to do it for a lifetime.”
He pushes me off his lap and stands in a rush, he goes to the window and stares out over the view. He’s not okay with this arrangement, I can tell already.
I shouldn’t have said that.
“Hey.” I hug him from behind. “As long as we’re together, right?” I kiss his shoulder. “Nobody said this was going to be easy, we knew it was going to be like this.”
He keeps staring out the window in silence and if the truth be told, he’s struggling with this secret a lot more than I am. It isn’t in his nature to lie. Giuliano is used to being exactly who he is.
I, however, have been lying about our relationship since the day we met.
“Look, I promised Anna I would come, I can’t back out now.”
He nods, seemingly deep in thought.
I wait for a moment, this really is bothering him, maybe I should give him some room to get his head around it, pressuring him to do something that he’s uncomfortable with isn’t going to help. “It’s okay,” I agree. “You don’t have to come, I’ll only be a few hours. We were going in separate cars anyway.”
I kiss his shoulder once more and retrieve my bag. “I’ll see you in a few hours?”
“Okay,” he murmurs softly, he’s completely distracted.
I hesitate and turn back to him as I get to the front door. “You really won’t come?”
“You go, babe, have fun.” He turns and comes and kisses me. “I’m sorry…I just don’t want to ruin a perfect day.” He sighs.
My heart sinks and I smile sadly. “Okay.”
He kisses me once more. “You look beautiful, by the way.”
“Thanks.” I take the elevator down to the ground floor, is this how it’s going to be?
Separate lives, only being together in private?
You know it is.
The doors open on the ground floor and I step out confidently. “Good evening, Miss Ferrara,” Bruno says.
“Good evening.” I fake a smile as I walk past them, but I don’t feel happy. I feel a sense of dread.
I left my heart upstairs.
Anna
I sit at the table and stare into the big brown eyes of Valentino. His girlfriend is in the bathroom of the restaurant and I’m here with Carlo.
This is the first time we’ve seen each other while with other people.
It feels weird.
Carlo’s phone rings and he glances at the screen, “I have to take this, back in a minute.” He marches off toward the front doors.
I rearrange the napkin on my lap, feeling uncomfortable.
“How are you?” He asks in his deep sexy voice.
“Okay.” I force a smile.
His dark eyes hold mine, “You look good.”
The air swirls between us and it’s there again, this cosmic attraction to each other.
In slow motion, he lifts his wine glass to his lips and takes a sip, “Real good.”
“Val.” I whisper, “Cut it out.”
“I don’t like you with him.”
“You have a girlfriend.” I whisper angrily as I look around.
“I’m not coming onto you, I’m just saying I don’t like you with him.”
“You don’t have a choice.”
“You won’t be happy with him.” He snaps.
“I’m not asking for your opinion.” I whisper infuriated.
Valentino’s girlfriend comes back to the table and sits down, she’s so nice and friendly. She smiles warmly over at me, “It’s so lovely to meet you.”
“You too.” I fake a smile. I take a big gulp of my wine, hurry up and get here Francesca.
Francesca
The restaurant is a hive of activity and I smile as I make my way through to the table. Milan…is there a more vibrant city in the world? No, there isn’t. I know that for certain.
I see Anna and Carlo sitting at the table with another couple and I smile and wave, my stomach drops a little. Great, a double date…and me.
Damn it, why didn’t he come?
“Hello.” I smile as I arrive, Anna stands and kisses my cheek. “Hey, thank God you’re here, I thought you were going to bail on us?”
I really wish I did.
“No.” I smile.
Anna turns to the others. “You remember Carlo, and this is Val and his girlfriend, Giovanna.”
My eyes flick around the table. “Hello.” They all smile.
I awkwardly sit down into my seat.
Damn, Valentino turned into one hot man. I remembered that he was good looking as a teenager, but now he’s….
“It’s so lovely to meet you,” Giovanna says from her seat beside me. “Anna tells me you’re an interior designer?” She fills my glass with wine and passes it to me, with long dark hair and a figure to die for, she’s super glamorous.
“The best in Italy,” Anna interrupts, she holds her wineglass up in a toast symbol.
I roll my eyes. “Hardly, do you work?” I ask her.
“Yes, I’m a doctor, I work at the Memorial Hospital in pediatrics.”