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They both stopped at the sound of a woman’s excited voice. Angelo glanced over his shoulder to see an older woman rushing toward them. She looked vaguely familiar.
“It is you.” The woman couldn’t be much more than five feet tall, if that. She beamed up at him. “I knew you’d come back.”
It took him a moment, but then the woman’s gentle smile and warm eyes clicked a spot in his memory—Mrs. Caruso. He hadn’t seen her since he was a teenager. Back then, she’d had long dark hair that she kept braided over one shoulder. Now, her dark hair had given way to shades of gray, and instead of the braid, her hair was pinned up.
Kayla elbowed him, and at last, he found his voice. “Mrs. Caruso, it’s good to see you.”
“What kind of greeting is that?” She grabbed him by the arms and pulled him toward her. When he’d stooped over far enough, she placed a hand on either side of his head, and then kissed each cheek. “You’ve been gone much too long. You’ve been missed.”
She pulled him back down to her and gave him a tight hug. He hugged her back. Heat warmed his face. He wasn’t used to public displays of affection...no matter how innocent they might be. This would never happen back in the States. But then again, Monte Calanetti was a lifetime away from New York City, and the same rules didn’t seem to apply here.
They chatted for a bit as she asked one question after the other about what he’d been doing with himself. The years rolled away as she put him at ease with her friendly chatter. The best part was that she really listened to him—as she’d done all of those years ago when he was a kid. Mrs. Caruso and her husband ran the local bakery. They’d never had any children of their own. Angelo always suspected that it wasn’t from the lack of wanting or trying. Without little ones of her own, she’d doted on the kids in the village.
“You are going to do the royal wedding pitch, aren’t you?” She smiled and clapped her hands together as though she’d just solved the world’s problems.
“Nico asked me to work on it. My assistant and I just extended our stay here in order to work up a presentation for the royal family.”
“Wonderful!” Mrs. Caruso beamed. “Now I’m more certain than ever that the village will host the wedding. Everyone will be so grateful to both of you.”
“I don’t know about that—”
“You’re just being modest. You always were.” Mrs. Caruso’s gaze moved to Kayla. “Now where are my manners? Angelo, introduce me to your girlfriend.”
His girlfriend? Hadn’t she heard him say Kayla was his assistant? His gaze moved from her to Kayla, who was smiling. Why wasn’t she correcting the woman? Was she just being polite? Or should he be concerned that she was taking this friendly outing far too seriously?
“Hi, I’m Kayla.” She held out a hand while Angelo struggled to settle his thoughts. “I’m actually Mr. Amatucci’s assistant.”
Mrs. Caruso’s brows rose as her gaze moved back and forth between them. “I could have sworn that you two were— Oh, never mind me. I’m just so glad that you’re both here to help with the wedding.”
They promised to stop by the bakery soon and moved on down the walkway. He still didn’t know why Mrs. Caruso would think they were a couple. Then he glanced down to where Kayla’s hand was resting on his arm. Okay, so maybe from the outside the lines in their relationship appeared a bit blurred, but they knew where they stood. Didn’t they?
He swallowed hard. “I’m sorry about back there with Mrs. Caruso jumping to conclusions about us.”
“It’s okay. It was a natural mistake.”
A natural mistake? Wait. What exactly did that mean?
He glanced over at Kayla. “But you know that you and I...that we’re, um...that nothing has changed. Right?”
She smiled up at him. “Relax. We’re just two business associates enjoying a stroll through the village. It’s a mission. We have to learn as much about this place as possible so that you can do some brainstorming about the pitch when we return to our suite.”
She said all of the right things, but why did they sound so wrong to his ears? Maybe he was just being hypersensitive. He took a deep breath and blew it out. “Exactly.” Now he needed to change the subject to something a little less stressful. “Mrs. Caruso certainly seemed hopeful about the royal wedding.”
“She did. It seems as if the whole village is buzzing with excitement about it.”
“I just hope they don’t end up disappointed.”
She lightly elbowed him. “They won’t be. You’ll see to that.”
At this particular moment, she had a lot more faith in his abilities than he did. “I don’t know if I’m that good. This is just a small village and we’re talking about a royal wedding—the sort of thing they write about in history books.”
“And who better to sell the royal couple on the merits of Monte Calanetti?” She gazed up at him with hope in her eyes. “You just need to loosen up a bit and enjoy yourself.”
“I am relaxed.” As relaxed as he got these days.
She sighed and shook her head. “No, you aren’t. Let down your guard and enjoy the sun on your face.”
“Why is this so important to you?”
