His chuckle was soft, intimate. “I love a lot of colors,tesoro mio.”
“No fair! You have to pick one,” she tried to sound indignant rather than wanting to laugh.
“Then blue.”
“Whatkindof blue?” she asked.
“The color of a summer sky, that deep, bright, intense blue,” he said. “The same color as your eyes.”
His favorite color was the same blue as her eyes? Why did that make her throat tighten? She tried to contain a torrent ofnew feelings and drew in a breath, trying not to let him hear how much that single statement had affected her.
She tried to think of something clever to say, but only came up with, “You are such a flirt,” spoken in a prim tone, but her Italian God only chuckled again.
Angelo chuckled again. “I can’t help it, it’s in my blood. But know this, Kara, I’m a one-woman kind of man. I’ll flirt with you the rest of my life if you let me.”
“Is that you or the morphine talking?” she quipped and he only laughed louder.
“Probably both,” he admitted.
Something pinched her heart when she thought of Angelo in her life for the rest of her life. That wasn’t possible, but she didn’t have the heart to shatter the illusion just yet. Maybe… she could indulge herself in that fantasy for just a little while? What harm could it do?
“What do you like to do for fun?” Angelo asked. “Do you have any hobbies?”
Again, it was such an innocent question, but it stung her because she had no answers. How could she indulge in a hobby when all she could do was work, eat, sleep… and run.
“You go first.” If she could get him talking about something else, he would forget to ask her about her own hobbies.
“I like to cook.”
“That’s obvious,” she laughed. “I’m reading one of the cookbooks on your nightstand right now. You have to get excited about something other than cooking.”
“I get excited about you,” his husky reply had her face flaming with heat and yet she laughed too.
“Youarea flirt,” she said.
“You said you were reading one of the cookbooks? Which one?” She heard the creak of the hospital bed in the background.She could picture him lounging back on the multitude of pillows the nurses had tucked behind his back when she’d last seen him.
She flipped the book to check the cover. “It’s the one with the classic American recipes. This corn casserole sounds good. You put a note about using saltines rather than torn up bread, why?”
“Crackers make casserole a little looser, more like a soufflé. It’s more of a personal preference, really.”
“So, cooking and what else?” She couldn’t deny she was curious about him.
“Um… travel. I love to travel. I’ve been to restaurants in a number of different countries. You can read all the history books yor travel guides ou want about a place, but if you really want to understand it? Learn how they cook. Travel and cooking are my two big interests.”
She considered that. “I think I’d like to travel overseas… I’ve just never had the ability to get a passport. But I have traveled around the United States a bit. I try to pick a new place that interests me each time I move. But I would love to visit Europe.”
“I’d love to take you to Ortigia,” he said. “Show you where I grew up during the summers.”
For a moment she let herself pretend that might actually happen. “That would be nice.”
“Okay, how about something youhaven’tdone butwantto?”
Angelo’s question made her think of so many things… and right now far too many of them involved him naked and a bed. She tried to keep her responses appropriate.
“I’d really like to learn how to swim. I never really got the chance.”
“I was on the swim team in high school. I could teach you,” he volunteered. “It would be fun.”
