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‘No.’ Sharon shook her head and gave an incredulous laugh. ‘No! I don’t believe it. I never saw a man more in love with a woman than Luca is with you. He’s crazy about you.’
Tia closed her eyes and took steadying breaths.
If only…
‘Trust me on this one, Sharon,’ she said finally. ‘Luca is not in love with me.’
‘So, if he doesn’t love you, why are there one hundred and forty people waiting for you to marry him, and why am I dressed like a green blancmange?’
There was a long silence and when Tia finally spoke her voice was little more than a hoarse croak.
‘Because I’m pregnant.’
The room was suddenly deadly quiet. ‘Tia?’
‘That’s the reason he’s marrying me.’ Tia gave a wobbly smile and blushed deeply. ‘And before you say it, yes, I’m a midwife and I should know the facts of life, but somehow I forgot them when I met Luca.’
In fact, she’d forgotten pretty much everything the moment she’d set eyes on Luca.
Fundamental things like how to walk away from a man before things became serious.
The truth was that Luca Zattoni was the most overwhelmingly attractive male she’d ever met. Cool and confident and stunningly good-looking, the chemistry between them had stopped her brain from functioning from the moment they’d met.
And that moment was etched in her memory for ever.
She’d been backpacking aroun
d Europe and she’d arrived in Venice late at night. As she’d left the bus station, a group of young lads had started to bother her and she’d felt a rush of relief when a car had suddenly pulled up.
Luca had stepped out of the driver’s seat, broad-shouldered and menacing as he’d strode towards the youths who had surrounded her, his glossy hair shining blue-black under the streetlamps. He was clearly a man who could handle himself in any situation and her tormenters had melted rapidly into the darkness, leaving the two of them alone.
So she’d been left standing next to an empty bus station, awkwardly muttering her thanks to this handsome Italian stranger whose dark-eyed scrutiny had made her feel decidedly light headed.
‘It’s late to be wandering the streets of Venice,’ he observed, his gaze flickering over her backpack and resting on her sturdy walking boots. ‘Can I give you a lift somewhere?’
He spoke in English and he had the sexiest voice she’d ever heard. Smooth, masculine tones tinged with enough of an Italian accent to make the blood heat in her veins.
Tia’s heart was thumping so hard she thought it might burst through her ribcage. ‘H-how did you guess that I’m English?’
‘Not difficult.’ His eyes rested briefly on her silver blonde hair and he gave her a smile that made her breathing stop. ‘Hair the colour of yours is very unusual in Italy. As you will discover if you continue to walk the streets at this time of night.’
She was still staring at him like an idiot. ‘I haven’t found anywhere to stay yet…’
‘Venice is generally a very safe city,’ he told her, ‘but a woman like you shouldn’t be walking around on her own this late.’
A woman like her…
Her eyes locked with his and something passed between them. A feeling so powerful that her knees weakened alarmingly.
His eyes held hers captive, drawing her in. ‘I would be happy to show you around and help you find somewhere to stay…’
She knew that getting into a car with a stranger was foolish in the extreme, but this man didn’t seem like a stranger and their relationship progressed so fast she barely had time to reason.
And then Tia discovered that she was pregnant.
She dragged herself back to the present, aware that Sharon was still staring at her, clearly taken aback by her announcement.
‘And you think that’s why he’s marrying you?’
