He paused. “I didn’t?”
“No, but Henry…” Ellie summoned her courage and met his eyes. “Understand how unbelievable this is for me. I never expected someone like you to be willing to kiss me, let alone desire more, and I was simply surprised.”
Henry chuckled low in his chest. “Willingto kiss you?” He shook his head and dipped his lips close to her ear. “For a relative novice, you are a tremendous kisser. I lost myself in your mouth, just thinking about what other skills it may possess.”
The heat of the Roman summer sun would have been a welcome respite from the flush of fire racing through every inch of her body, his breath skimming over her jaw and raising a shiver along her spine. But under the burn, an unpleasant worry twisted in her gut.
“Have we already ruined things between us?” she whispered, his lips close enough to her cheek that if she had just moved the slightest bit, they would be touching. “Can we go back to the way we were?”
His breath ghosted over her skin as he sighed. “That’s what you wanted, Ellie,” he said, his voice low. “Everything will go back to normal when we get back to London, remember?”
She nodded, melancholy dissipating any lingering heat in her body. “How could I ever forget?”
Chapter 20
Elliecouldwriteanentire series of love letters to the Roman food alone. After a lifetime of feeling the need to restrain her intake, widowhood had tossed her into the deep end of culinary self-indulgence.
“Yes, I wouldadoremore cheese,” she said, fluttering her lashes at the waiter. He raised an eyebrow, a bowl of freshly shaved parmesan in his hand. She sighed and cast a desperate look at Henry.
With one smile and some garbled words sounding vaguely Italian, Henry had sufficiently charmed their server, and Ellie faced a plate of pillowy gnocchi invisible under the heaps of white cheese. “I’m not certain what you said, but I didn’t need the entire bowl,” she said with a grateful smile.
Henry shrugged, looking pleased with himself. “Is there ever such a thing as too much cheese?”
“If there is, I don’t want to know about it,” she replied. “Thank you, Henry.”
A pink flush appeared high on his cheeks, and he waved a hand as though brushing away her thanks. “If I am dependable for anything, it would be providing women with pleasure.”
Why does he always do that?Ellie watched as Henry turned to insert himself into conversation with Miles and Alice. He was so quick to downplay anything positive she said about him, any praise she offered.
By the time the couples had returned to their hotel, Ellie was blissfully full and happy, content to slow each step to prolong the evening. As they said their goodnights to the Richardsons in the lobby, Henry bent low to Ellie’s ear. “Would you like me to visit your room tonight?”
Her blood pumped hot in her veins and she gripped her fingers in her skirt, feeling as though she had consumed at least a dozen of the espresso drinks Miles enjoyed in the morning.
“I don’t have to, if you don’t want me,” Henry said, and when she met his gaze, his brows were furrowed, as if he expected her rejection.
“No, I-I hadn’t thought, I mean—” Her tongue suddenly seemed too large.
“I understand.” His expression shuttered as he took her arm and led her up the staircase. The silent journey was like climbing a mountain, each step drawing them closer to a conclusion she did not want to reach, the answer to a question she was not ready to ask.
I could end things now,she thought.We can go back to being friends.
Henry opened the door to their rooms and stepped aside to let her enter, his expression nonchalant but his shoulders slumped. Her heart squeezed and decided for her.
“I want you to come see me tonight.” She lifted her chin even as her lip quivered. “If you want to.”
His eyes opened wide as the corner of his lip pulled. “I will.” He bit his lip. “Do you need a moment to get ready?”
“For what?” she blurted, then clapped her hands over her burning cheeks.
Henry chuckled and stepped forward, pulling her into his arms and bringing her head against his chest. “I’ll give you some time, and you can always change your mind, Ellie. I’ll do whatever you need.”
She nodded, wondering if what she needed was simply to spend the rest of her life like this. In his embrace, all worry dissipated. She had no fears and no regrets, and nothing could harm her.
Despite knowing the knock was coming, the gentle tap rattled like a clap of thunder in Ellie’s ears, her pulse rocketing in her throat. “Come in,” she called, hoping to sound like a temptress but sounding more like a geriatric toad.
Henry’s head poked through the door frame, a shy smile on his lips.By god, he’s beautiful.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
