“Yes.” Electricity sparked over her skin as he advanced yet another step and brought his fingers to the small of her back, his mouth to her ear.
“Are you sure?” He pulled back slightly to see her expression, but kept his face one centimeter from hers, his winter-whiskey scent flooding her senses. Heat bloomed in her chest. She’d sworn she didn’t want this to happen again, but when he licked his lower lip, her vision blurred. Her eyes dropped to his mouth. She wanted to run her fingers down his neck and across the contours of his chest, then lower. She nodded, incapable of speech.
Andrea reached out to her face and pulled her closer, kissing her like she was air. His mouth was warm and the curve of his lip was as delicious as the first time she’d tasted it. She drew closer to him, tongues touching in sparks of light, and felt all of that heat pooling in her core.
“Don’t tell me you don’t feel that,” he whispered, his hands still holding her as he pressed his forehead to hers.
Her mouth on his again was her answer. There was no use denying how much she wanted him. It blinded her where she stood. They stepped toward the wall together, until she rested her back against it, his hand immediately going for her hip. She drew her arms around his strong shoulders and let him guide her leg up around his waist. Her fingers played with his shirt collar, pulling it aside so that she could lean in and taste the skin where his neck met his shoulder.
His fingers curled around her chin, bringing her lips back to his. She gripped him tighter, pulling their bodies closer. She could feel him against the underside of her thigh, hard as steel. A loud dinging sound filled the garden, but she couldn’t pull herself away from him. It sounded again, reverberating off the walls. Andrea reached around to his back pocket, letting go of her leg and leaning away from her. He squinted down at the phone. “I should get this.”
She straightened the strap of her tank top, which had fallen off her shoulder, and smoothed her hair back into place as he spoke. His voice on the phone was serious but not upset. She could tell the difference now. Finally he hung up.
“Everything OK?” she asked.
“Yes. Your documents are back. You can file them again.” He followed her eyes to his hanging shirttails and laughed.“I don’t think I can tuck this back in yet.” She pressed her lips together, trying not to laugh herself. She cleared her throat.
“Great, should I go do that now?” She pointed out of the garden.
“Yes, I believe thecomuneis open,” he said, glancing at his watch. “Though thesindacomight need a moment to compose himself.”
This time, she laughed as Andrea turned away from her with his hands on his hips. He took a deep breath and blew it out slowly, letting his hands fall away from his body with the thumb and middle fingers touching in the shape of mudra.
“OK, I’m ready,” he said. He tucked in his shirt and turned back, kissing her quickly. “Let’s go. Don’t forget the watermelon.”
Chapter 12
“Will you stop doing that?” Giada glared at Andrea as he sat on a stool at the bar in her apartment kitchen. He’d been flipping a tiny paper box of Leone hard candies over and over while she looked through some paperwork.
“Sorry,” he said, moving the box off to one side. “Did you find it?”
“It’s in this pile, I know,” said Giada. She had asked him to come over on the one day the café was closed to review the lease since the owner of the building was hinting at raising her rent again. Andrea could not understand why the landlord, who was not from Baia Santa, would think it was a good idea to raise the rent so much that their business might struggle at exactly at the moment when it was earning enough revenue to finally pay on time.
“Did she find it?” Vivi popped into the kitchen, still in her pajamas, with her pink hair standing up at all angles. Andrea shook his head. Vivi leaned her cheek on Giada’sshoulder. “You’ll find it. And if you don’t, we can open a food truck.” She laughed and kissed her before turning to pour more coffee.
“It’s here,” she said, again, as Vivi walked into the living room. “I know it is. Wait—maybe it’s at the café.” Giada pressed her hands to her face.
“Listen, I have to go.” Andrea started to get up.
“No, no, wait! It’s only 7:30 in the morning, and you can’t have anythingthatofficial to do before nine. I need to ask you a question.”
“Yes, I think Lora’s idea to add iced coffee to the menu was a good one. I told you the Americans are obsessed with it.”
“That’s not the question, though she was right. By the way, they want it in a plastic cup and they want to walk around with it. Did you know this? Bizarre. Anyway, that’s still not the question.” She paused, redirecting. “What is happening between you two?”
Andrea opened his mouth to speak, but his mind went directly to the garden yesterday. He hadn’t been able to focus on one thing since then. Her soft skin, the taste of her lips, his hand running down under her thigh—
“ANDREA!”
“Yes,” he answered, still dazed. Giada was looking at him like he’d been caught trying to sneak out of class. “As you know, I am helping her, as much as I can, ethically, with getting citizenship. And we’re friends at this point, I think.”Her tongue licking along his collarbone, her soft moan when he grazed his hands along the side of her breast.“But there’s not much to say. She’s made it quite clear that she wants to get outof here as soon as possible, and I respect that. Also, I am busy. You know how busy I am.”
“You’re making ex-cu-ses,” she sang.
“There’s no future there.”
“Except she’s moving into your house. Very kind of you, by the way. And good that you finally got off your ass to finish the renovation.”
“Again, it’s temporary. Look, there is nothing to talk about because no matter what happens in the next few weeks, she is leaving. I am not. That’s the end.”
