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Instead, it was all part of this indulgence that I was enjoying, and I wasn’t going to push any of it away.
“I’m serious. All of this is so perfect that I could stay here forever.”
Natalia’s stomach growled, and my lips spread into a smile against that fragrant spot on her neck that I’d lost myself in for a brief moment. “Seems your stomach doesn’t agree with your statement?”
She pulled away from me, the color of her face beginning to flush with embarrassment. “I have no idea how I’m hungry, especially after Nonna kept piling food onto my plate at lunch. You saw how much I ate. And I know your mother was counting calories for me.”
“Oh, I’m aware, gorgeous. I was right there with you.” I pulled her away from the railing, led her toward the table set aside for us, and drew out the chair for her. Almost immediately, the waiter came by with the bottle of wine that I imagined Nat’s glass had been poured from.
“Ciao signore, signorina,” he said, smiling down at the two of us. “Come stai questa sera?”
“Benissimo, grazie,” I said, weaving my fingers through Nat’s. “Due bichieri di acqua, per favore.”
He nodded, walking away with a pleasant smile, and Nat looked up at me pleadingly. “Please tell me you can manage this order. There’s no way I can decipher this menu, no matter how good my Spanish is.”
I chuckled. “Sure. Under one condition.”
She frowned at me. “I’m not going to like this, am I?”
“I get to choose everything we eat. Is there anything that you absolutely will not eat?”
“Nope. I’ll put anything in my mouth at least once. You know that,” she finished with her usual smirk and confident stare.
I started at her words, my jaw dropping in shock at how her lips barely twitched. I could hardly stand it for a second before I leaned down and captured her wicked mouth with mine.
“How’s that for putting anything into your mouth?” I asked against her lips, not considering the few scandalized looks coming our way from a few older patrons seated around the terrace. Still, most of our fellow diners didn’t give us a second thought.
“Scuzi,” I heard, and I broke off the kiss as our waiter placed our glasses in front of us, giving us yet another charming smile. “Vuoi avete deciso?”
I offered Nat a mischievous grin before I seated myself next to her, then proceeded to order.
* * *
“Okay. This might be getting a bit ridiculous,” she said, using a slice of the thick, crusty bread to mop up some of the rich sauce left over from the gnocchi we’d essentially inhaled.
I contained a laugh, “What’s ridiculous? The fact that my date is mopping up her plate with bread as if we’d been married for thirty years or—”
She took her sauce-soaked piece of bread and eyed me in some flirty, dangerous, and adorable way. “No, we haven’t been married for thirty years, and yes, I’m mopping up my plate since we’re not just on a date. Honey, we’re married.”
I softly laughed as she popped the bread into her mouth, closing her eyes and savoring the bite.
“I’m mistaken,” I teased. “We are married, even though it’s not official, so I guess I should watch my mouth?”
“Exactly,” she said. “More importantly, as much as I have planned on thoroughly enjoying my food while I’m here, at the rate I’m going, I really might not be able to fit into the dress I brought for the wedding. You might have to roll me out of Italy if I keep it up.”
“Well, I like that you are in the moment, enjoying everything Italy has to offer. Although, I could see myself enjoying you with a little more weight. I wouldn’t mind.”
“Shut up, jackass,” she said, swatting my hand away deftly so that she could nab the last shrimp from the risotto bowl. “What a thing to say.”
“What do you mean?” I said, placing my hand on her knee and sliding it up her beautiful thigh. “All I’m saying is that if my consideration is what you’re worried about, you don’t need to limit yourself.”
“Jesus Christ, man. Your ego knows no bounds,” she said as I stabbed a piece of grilled octopus with my fork and brought it to her mouth. She hesitated for a second before opening and eagerly taking the bite. “Who said anything about you in this equation? You’re maybe a tenth of what I was concerned about.”
“And since you just admitted that I was a part of that consideration,” I said, grinning, “the problem is solved, then.”
“Um, no,” she said as she made a quick swipe of the risotto with her spoon and licked it off in a way that made me groan with longing. “That still leaves us with ninety percent of this problem. For such an incredible businessman, your math is severely lacking. You’ve solved nothing, actually.”
I snorted before signaling the waiter. “In that case, let’s walk while we get dessert. I thought we could get gelato at my favorite spot by the lake.”
