AllFreeNovel
Share Us
nd of cologne he wore. She’d never known anything like it. Woody, alpine, pure man. Without his jacket, his crisp white shirt exposed his broad shoulders and a broad chest that tapered to a slender waist, to perfection.
“Thank you.” She lifted her eyes to his face, and felt like she’d been sucker punched. The air seemed to sizzle between them, in a way she’d never known it to do before.
All her life, she’d heard about love at first sight. She’d grown up on a diet of fairy tales and mysteries. Even her own parents’ marriage had, at one time, seemed to be living proof of the idea of lightning bolt moments in matters of love. But then, her father had gone broke, and the marriage had become equally bankrupt. Her mother had left.
So much for love at first sight.
And yet, that moment on the balcony was carved out of all time and space. Like a special pocket of reality, just for them. The normal rules didn’t seem to apply. Though she’d only known him for a matter of minutes, she felt a ground-shaking connection. A familiarity that defied explanation, and an attachment that was inexplicable.
“And so? Am I right?”
“Right?” She blinked, trying to remember what they’d been talking about.
“That you do not belong here.”
“Oh.” She cleared her throat and lifted her wine glass to her lips, simply for something to do. “Some of them are my friends.” It was a very loose description of the people she knew at the party. “Sort of.”
“But you are not close.”
“No,” she conceded. “Not really. I switched schools when I was still a young girl.”
“I see.” Question after question unfolded in his mind. He forced himself not to rush though. Getting to know this woman was an entirely delicious prospect. Like opening a wonderful present, he wanted to relish the act of unwrapping. “And the man you came with? Connor?”
Her cheeks flushed guiltily. “A friend. More or less.”
Less, if Luca had anything to say about it. “I’m Luca,” he said. But instead of extending his hand in a more traditional greeting, he lowered his head and pressed a kiss against the soft skin of her cheek.
He felt her body tense, and then relax against his, and he wanted to kiss her mouth. To take her into his arms and see if the promise he felt was truly real.
“Luca,” she repeated, tasting the word in her mouth. “It suits you.”
“Thank you. And you are? Besides intriguing?”
She shook her head, but she was smiling. “I’m Rosemary. Though everyone calls me Rosie.”
“Rosie.” He grinned, and it completely transformed his handsome face. She bit down on her lip to stop herself from exclaiming. Rosie had only been with one man in her life, and then, she’d believed herself deeply in love.
But looking up into the face of this gorgeous, mysterious man, she knew she’d go just about anywhere with him. To the ends of the earth, if he asked it of her.
CHAPTER TWO
As if he’d read her mind, he said, “Do you want to get out of here?”
“Get out of here?” She parroted, looking over her shoulder towards the gallery inside.
“I think we’ve done our duty, don’t you?”
And although she’d just been thinking she would walk over hot coals if he suggested it, she hesitated. “I… I don’t make a habit of going anywhere with people I don’t know.”
He nodded, suppressing his natural impatience. “But how can I get to know you here?”
She flashed him a bright smile. “You seem like a smart man. I’m sure you’ll find a way.”
He felt a rumble of appreciation for both her character and her strength of will, despite his frustration at being turned down. “If that’s what you want.”
It wasn’t. She wanted to take her objections back and force them down her throat. But she nodded. A flash of light caught her attention and she turned her body towards the inky sky. “Look!” She pointed over the city’s sparkling blanket. “A thunderstorm.”
Another spike of lightning jarred through the air, and behind it, a loud groan of thunder. “It is in the distance,” he said, wondering how long they had before it reached them.
