Hired:The Italian's Bride

She could hardly hate him for it. Even if his cool treatment of her this morning stung. She longed to simply flee, but somehow she knew she had to handle this with some sort of dignity and composure. It would only be more awkward later if she ran out. They still had to work together for the time remaining in the renovations.

Luca ignored the voice inside that told him to knock it off. He looked at Mari and could only see her face last night as she told him about her stepfather. He’d had to help her. He’d wanted to.

But now, in the bright light of day, he needed to step back. This felt too much like a relationship and he wasn’t prepared. The last time he’d been involved with a woman deeper than a dating level, he’d let it interfere with work, too. He’d fallen for Ellie, had trusted her. He’d told her that he loved her. Only that time he’d discovered it wasn’t him she wanted at all, but his Fiori connection. The Fiori name almost seemed a curse to love, and he wasn’t willing to put his heart out there again.

So these feelings for Mari weren’t supposed to have happened at all. Their kisses shouldn’t have happened. His eyes remained cool even though he knew she was right. This was exactly what he would have done for a woman the morning after, and the truth of it stung. “That’s a bit low.”

“I’m sorry, Luca. I think I’m still a little off balance after yesterday. I believe I will eat something,” she said, going to the dining table and taking a seat. A platter glistened with raisin-studded French toast and fragrant circles of ham. She filled a plate and poured warm maple syrup over the lot of it.

He should have known better than to flirt with her like he did with other women. Mari wasn’t that type and somehow he needed to extricate himself from whatever it was they shared. But he would not call it a relationship. In relationships people hurt each other. Like his father had been hurt. Like he’d been hurt when Ellie betrayed him. He’d told Ellie things and she’d used them to hurt him later, to taunt him.

Mari wouldn’t do that, the voice inside argued. But this time that wasn’t his worry. He was more worried he’d hurt her, and she’d been hurt enough. What an unusual position he found himself in.

A break to friendship was the best plan, wasn’t it? Mari didn’t need a man who would break her heart. And a man who didn’t do relationships surely would. What she needed now was a friend.

“Juice, freshly squeezed.” Solicitously he poured her a generous glass. “Enough vitamin C to last all day.”

“Thank you.” She sipped, then put the glass down and picked up her fork. “Aren’t you going to eat anything?”

“Indeed.”

He took the seat opposite and uncovered another platter containing scrambled eggs and a bowl of mixed berries.

Mari took one bite, then two, wondering how long she could be expected to survive this agony. Eating breakfast like there was nothing to be said. It was a complete farce after their intimacy of the day before.

There was nothing to fault in his behavior. Nothing. It was perfectly polite. But it was clear he was distancing himself.

It was cold as hell.

She wanted to ask him, didn’t yesterday mean anything to you? Wanted to say how much she appreciated how he’d taken care of her. But she couldn’t. He was acting like it had meant nothing. Like having breakfast together in his suite was an ordinary occurrence. It was no more personal than…than a business meeting.

The bite she was chewing went down with difficulty. There was only so long she could keep this up. She was still raw from yesterday’s events and the insight that she’d fallen for Luca. For him to treat her so now was confusing and insulting and it hurt. Made her wonder if she’d imagined his gentle understanding all along. If he’d only been placating her because she’d been so distraught.

She put down her fork, keeping her mask carefully in place. She had misjudged him, had misplaced her trust. It just went to prove how poor her judgment still was.

“Thank you for breakfast, but I need to go now.”

She pushed out her chair, avoiding his gaze.

“There’s no need. You can refresh yourself here, Mariella. I’m sure the clothes I sent for will fit. You can go straight to your office from here.”

Oh, he had it all planned out. He’d had lots of time to think about it, all evening last night while she’d slept, no doubt. His consideration was hardly touching. Nothing he could have said or done this morning could have made her feel worse than this politeness.

“You have it all planned out, don’t you Luca?” She struggled to keep the tremble out of her voice. “I thought I was the one for planning and you were the impulsive one, but how wrong I was. You’ve planned it from the beginning—how to get around the difficult manager, how to handle your sister, how to handle me.”