Say Yes To Love (Strong Brothers 1)

“We’ll go with what Signor LaMont suggests,” Ryan said. I nodded in agreement.

“Very well. We’ll start with the aperitivo.”

He brought us a bubbly wine and cheese to start. When we finished that, he brought regular wine and antipasti.

“I love prosciutto,” I said, taking a slice.

“It’s very good with the melone,” Mr. Belluci said.

“Really?” I’d never had meat with my cantaloupe before.

He nodded, urging me to try them together. He was right, the sweet and salty, dry and juicy worked well together.

The next course he called primi, and I figured it was our main meal as it was pasta with a delicious red sauce.

“How do Italians stay so thin with all these carbs? Bread. Pasta,” I asked using my bread to soak up the red sauce, as I noticed other patrons doing.

“I don’t know. Perhaps it's all the wine they drink.” Ryan poured more of said wine into each of our glasses.

“Or walking. They seem to walk a lot more than we do at home.”

Mr. Belluci came back with a waiter who took our plates. “Are you ready for secondi?”

“Second?” I gaped. “How many courses are there?”

“We have Vitello ai Funghi, which is veal with mushroom sauce.”

“Sounds delicious,” Ryan said. His hint of a smile showed amusement probably at my reaction.

“We also have roasted vegetables in balsamic glaze as the contorni.”

“Contorni?”

“I believe you call it a side dish,” Mr. Belluci said.

And it truly was a side dish as it came on a different plate from the veal in mushroom sauce.

“I feel so decadent,” I said, moaning in delight, as I tasted the meal. We had good food in San Diego, but not this. At least not that I’d ever tasted.

“The Italians have a passion for all the primal parts of life; food, drink, sex.”

Ryan’s comment had me looking over at him. I was surprised he’d bring up sex.

“It’s a sensual country,” he finished, pouring me more wine.

I watched him for a moment over the candlelit table. Maybe it was the delicious, yes sensual, food. Maybe it was the wine. Whatever it was, I was stuck by how handsome and sweet and sexy he was. It was hard not to get carried away by the atmosphere and our fake marriage.

“Is Italian your favorite food?” I asked him.

“It’s hard to have a favorite. When in Italy, it’s fantastic, but I don’t know that I’ve had this good Italian back home.”

“Mexican food. We have really good Mexican food.”

He laughed. “Yes, we do. We’re fortunate to be so close to the border for that.” He reached over with his thumb, and gently wiped the corner of my mouth. The moment his warm thumb touched me, we both froze.

“Sorry.” He pulled back. “You have a little bit of sauce…”

I used my tongue to lick the corner of my mouth. His eyes flashed with heat that made me swallow hard. He looked like he wanted me for the next course. Hell, I wanted him for the next course.