Her Italian Soldier
She averted her eyes. “That sounds wonderful.” Away from the farmhouse she wouldn’t feel like they were sitting ducks.
The whole time she rushed to get ready, she feared there’d be another knock on the door. But when she walked through to the kitchen minutes later, he was there alone waiting for her with a covered basket.
Their gazes fused. “I made us a picnic.”
“You’re amazing. Have you got your pills?”
“Yes, nurse.”
She ignored him and hurried out to the car to pop the trunk. He trailed her and put their things inside. When they were settled in the car, he smiled at her before putting on his sunglasses. “There’s nothing like having my own driver and medic in one. I could grow to like this arrangement.”
“Until the doctor tells a certain fighter pilot he has recovered enough to get behind the wheel of a car again.”
When he laughed, Annabelle gave him a covert glance. “With rest and good food, you’re walking so well, you’re hardly recognizable from that first night.” She drove out to join the road leading down to the major highway.
“You sound happy.”
“I am.” I am.
“Even though you had to supply comfort to a vet this morning?”
“Let’s not pretend I didn’t enjoy it after you woke up.” Enjoy didn’t cover it. “You proved to me there’s life after death.”
“That’s nice to hear.”
“Mel has been worried for me, but if he’d seen us together, those fears would have dissolved. That’s your contribution, Lucca. Would you hate me if I told you I’m grateful to you for making me feel like a woman again?”
“I only kissed you a few times.”
“It was enough for this relic to feel the heat.”
She heard a harsh sound come out of him. He jerked his head toward her. “Is that how you really feel about yourself? How old are you? Twenty-five?”
“Almost twenty-seven.”
“Don’t you know what a beautiful girl you are?”
Oh, Lucca.
“I’m no girl.” Yet his father had called her the Amalfi Girl.
“You’re the stuff men’s dreams are made of. Don’t let what your ex did distort the truth. This morning I found out what a loving, giving woman you are. Don’t tell me I don’t know what I’m talking about because I was there with you.”
She smiled. “I know. That means there’s hope for you, too. For two survivors, we’re not doing so badly after all. We’ve got a bit of a drive ahead of us to reach the marina. Tell me about your stepbrothers. What are their names again?”
“Ruggero and Tomaso.”
“Do you like them?”
“Not in the beginning. We all had to live together in a villa farther up the mountain.”
After losing his mother, Annabelle couldn’t imagine how hard that would have been. “I didn’t realize they had children as old as Fortunato.”
“They were a couple of years older. I’m surprised my father hasn’t told you all this.”
She put on her sunglasses. “I think you’re under the impression I’ve spent loads of time with him, Lucca. But you’d be wrong. Guilio was only in Los Angeles two days. During that time we were in meetings with Mel. When I flew to Rome last week, he met my plane and it’s been work ever since.”
He rested his head against the window. “Have you met Maria?”