Page 72 of The Fall Affair

I leaned forward and spoke softly. “I want you, Allegra. I’ve wanted you since I saw you that first day on the side of the road. But I don’t want just a hookup. Not from you.”

Allegra’s face fell. “Oh.”

“I want more. I want something real.”

She shook her head. “I have too many issues, Matteo.”

“Who doesn’t have issues?”

“Not to mention, I live four thousand miles away.”

“You said yesterday that you’re happy in Italy, yes?”

“I know, but…my life is in New York.”

I shrugged. “So I’ll move to New York, if it works out and that’s what you need.”

Allegra’s eyes bulged. “Your entire life is here.”

I didn’t want to scare her by saying she already felt like the biggest part of my life. Instead, I told her a different truth. “We can figure it out.”

She shook her head. “It’s not a good idea.”

The room went quiet, except for the ticking of the old kitchen clock hanging on the wall. Not exactly the way I’d imagined my morning. I’d thought Allegra would be hungover and sleep in. I’d grab some pastries at a local shop, along with some aspirin for her headache, before we drove home. Instead, I was questioning whether I’d lost my sanity—pushing for more with a woman I’d fantasized about in the shower more times than I could count over the last few weeks.

Allegra ate a few bites, then scattered her food around her plate with her fork before getting up and tossing the rest of her breakfast in the garbage. “I’ll be ready to leave in forty-five minutes. I’m going to take a quick shower.”

She started past me, and I reached for her arm. “Allegra, wait.”

“It’s fine, Matteo. I understand. I’m just a little…embarrassed, that’s all.”

“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

“Okay.” She slipped her arm from my hand. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to pretend this conversation never happened.”

***

“Do you have the shop’s address?” I tossed our bags into the trunk and shut it.

“What shop?”

“The antique shop you have something to pick up from?”

“Oh.” Allegra shook her head. “I completely forgot.”

“You said it was in Minori, yes?”

She nodded.

“It’s a beautiful village. After we get your antique, I will take you to a delizioso caffé that makes the best cannoli.”

Allegra smiled sadly. “I appreciate the offer, but I think I’d rather go home. We could even skip picking up the teacup. It’s not really important.”

I got the feeling it was less about the cup and more about getting away from me. Though I hoped I was wrong. “We’ll pick up your teacup and head home.”

The drive to the small fishing village of Minori was only forty minutes, but it felt longer in total silence. When we arrived, the shop was down a cobblestone street that didn’t allow cars, and there was nowhere to park. Allegra told me she’d run down to the store and be right back. While I waited, I thought about how to handle this situation between us.

Had I been wrong to turn down her offer? What man in his right mind declined such a thing? But I would be lying to her by agreeing to a fling when I already had feelings for her. And a couple of months of a physical relationship would only make it harder when she up and left. I’d been through that once, a woman deciding she was done and walking away. I wasn’t eager to live in that particular hell again.