The Playboy of Rome
Dante raked his fingers through his hair. He’d agreed to this arrangement far too quickly. He should have gone with his gut that said this was going to be a monumental mistake. Now he had to fix things before the camera crew showed up. The last thing either of them needed was to start their television appearances on a bad note—with all of the world watching.
He strode toward the kitchen and paused by the door. What did he say to her? Did he apologize even though he hadn’t said anything derogatory? Did he set a precedent that she would expect him to apologize every time she got upset when he pointed out something that she could improve on? An exasperated sigh passed his lips. He obviously wasn’t meant to be a teacher.
He pushed the door open, prepared to find Lizzie in tears. Instead he found her scraping leftovers into the garbage and piling the dishes in the sink.
“What are you doing?”
She didn’t face him. “I’m cleaning up. What does it look like?”
“But we weren’t done eating. Why don’t you come back to the table?”
She grabbed the main dish and dumped it in the garbage. “I don’t want anything else.”
“Would you stop?”
“There’s no point in keeping leftovers.” With that, she grabbed the dessert.
He knew where she was headed and stepped in her way. What in the world had gotten into her? Why was she acting this way?
“Lizzie, put down the dessert and tell me what’s bothering you.”
She tilted her chin to gaze up at him. “Why should something be bothering me? You tore to shreds the dinner I painstakingly prepared for you.”
“But isn’t that what you want me to do? Teach you?”
Her icy gaze bored into him. The temperature took an immediate dive. “Move.”
“No. We need to finish talking.”
“So you can continue to insult me. No, thank you.” She moved to go around him but he moved to block her.
“Lizzie, I don’t know what it is you want from me. I thought you wanted me to teach you, but obviously that isn’t the case. So what is it you want? Or do you just want to call this whole thing off?”
“I didn’t know we were starting the lessons right away. Or did you just say those things in hopes of me calling off the arrangement?”
“No, that isn’t what I had in mind.” How the heck had he ended up on the defensive? He’d only meant to be helpful.
“So you truly think I’m terrible in the kitchen?”
He took the tray from her and set it on the counter. Then he stepped up to her, hating the emotional turmoil he saw in her eyes. He found himself longing to soothe her. But he didn’t have a clue how to accomplish such a thing. He seemed to keep making one mistake after the other where she was concerned.
“I think that you’re very talented.” It was the truth. And he’d have said it even if he didn’t find her amazingly attractive.
Her bewildered gaze met his. “But you said—”
“That there were things for you to take into consideration while working here. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”
Disbelief shimmered in her eyes.
He didn’t think. He just acted, reaching out to her. His thumb stroked her cheek, enjoying its velvety softness. She stepped away from his touch and his hand lowered to his side.
“Lizzie, you have to believe me. If you’re going to be this sensitive, how do you think we’ll be able to work together?”
* * *
This was all wrong.
> Lizzie crossed her arms to keep from reaching out to him. The whole evening had gone off the rails and she had no idea how to fix things. And the worst part was that she’d overreacted. Big-time.