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And he’d also snapped at her when she’d arrived at his office smiling and holding out a platter that might as well have contained the spirits of doves for all the peace treaty it obviously was.
This was why he needed to be alone. He knew what kind of company he was, particularly now, at the anniversary of Carmen’s death. He knew how he made people feel. He didn’t want to hurt anyone – he just wanted to be by himself. That was a simple enough request, wasn’t it?
He thought of her more often than he liked, for the rest of the day his ability to concentrate was hampered by an image of her emerald green eyes as she’d looked at him with such obvious surprise.
They were an incredible colour, like the pine trees that formed the forest surrounding Il Nido, vivid and shimmering, and rimmed with curling brown lashes. Her nose had a smattering of freckles across the bridge, and her lips were a deep shade of pink.
Not only were her eyes a striking colour, they were expressive and easy to read, revealing what she was feeling even if she had no intention of such a betrayal. They’d looked at him with clear, unmistakable woundedness and he hated that. It was like kicking a Labrador puppy. She’d brought him cookies, for God’s sake.
Dropping his pen to his desk, he scraped back the chair and prowled to the door, wrenching it inwards and going in search of her before he could second-guess his intentions.
“You got online okay?”
She didn’t look away from her screen. She didn’t trust herself to look at him, and wasn’t sure she could speak. It had taken her a good hour, but Isabella had finally grappled with her feelings, and made sense of why she was being so emotional. She was completely stranded with this man, and after the trauma of crashing her rental car and being frozen to ice in an alpine forest! No wonder she was a little fragile today.
She clicked down the browser and nodded, because she had to acknowledge him in some way. She heard him behind her, but still didn’t turn. A moment later, he’d taken the seat opposite, the dining table feeling instantly smaller.
“Are you working?”
“Yes.” To her relief, her voice sounded almost like always.
Silence sparked between them, and of their own volition her eyes sought his, jolting away again just as quickly at the sharp sense of lightning bursting beneath her skin. Her mouth went dry and she swallowed to bring moisture back to it. She stared at her screen, her lips compressed into a flatline.
“I like being here alone.”
His words were spoken quietly, as though being dredged from the depths of his soul.
She didn’t look in his direction.
“I don’t want you here.”
She flinched. “I’m aware of that.”
He made a sound beneath his breath. “That isn’t what I meant to say.” When she looked at Gabe, he was shaking his head with obvious frustration. “This is not about you personally. I have no issue with you, Isabella.”
“Just my presence at Il Nido.”
His eyes narrowed. “Yes.”
“I didn’t plan to be here, believe me. This was an accident, plain and simple. A mistake.”
But his face grew ashen at her words and for a moment he looked completely shattered, as though a part of him had fallen through the cracks of her sentence and was staring at her from a long way away.
“I really don’t want to invade your space. I’m trying to stay out of your way. Now that I have internet access, you’ll barely see me. I promise.”
He nodded, looking a little more like himself. “Bene.”
Good.
She tried not to let his easy acceptance of her promise hurt. She didn’t know the man and as soon as the weather permitted, she’d be out of his hair for good.
“Why did you make cuccidati?”
The question was unexpected. She chewed on her lower lip then stopped when his eyes dropped to the gesture. “I had my first one in Rome last week. It was delicious, but I wanted to experiment with the recipe the woman gave me.”
“If it was delicious, why experiment at all?”
“I just thought it could use something else – a hint of depth. I added some coconut to the first batch –,” his brow lifted in surprise, but she barrelled on. “Then some dried thyme, which I bought at a market. I think it works.”
