AllFreeNovel
Share Us
They sat in silence until their meals were served. Dante was waiting her out, and Alicia was overwhelmed, unsure now whether to ask for his help.
The spaghetti was generously covered in grated cheese, black pepper too, and finally they ate. There were few days that Alicia could recall when she hadnoteaten pasta, but she was so awkward now that it felt as if she held chopsticks.
‘So,’ he asked, ‘how is Milan treating you?’
‘Well.’
‘How often do you go back?’
‘Back?’
‘To Sicily.’ He gave her a thin smile. ‘I could have saved you the trouble. I have a hotel on the east...’
‘I’m not in Milan foryou, Dante.’
‘That was actually a joke,’ he said. ‘So, how often—?’
‘Here is home.’
‘Seriously?’
‘Milan’s beautiful.’
‘Indeed. So you don’t go back?’
‘Why would I?’
They were fumbling—or she was—through the catching up. And she skipped over Beatrice because she didn’t know what to say now.
He asked about friends, and if she was seeing anyone—all of it like squeezing blood from a stone, really.
‘No.’ Alicia went a little pink at the last question, for she found this topic exquisitely uncomfortable.
She had had first dates—many,manyfirst dates—but even the good ones had led to the inevitable... After all, a good date should end in a kiss, and ultimately Alicia had found that she could not go through with it.
‘I’ve actually just broken up with someone...’ She gave a tight shrug, thinking of the most recent disaster. ‘You know how it is... We wanted different things...’
Alicia stared at the orange flame of the candle between them rather than at him. It was dawning on her—or rather, she was finally admitting—that her issue with other men was that she’d prefer they be him.
‘You would certainly be...’ Dante hesitated, for they were heading into dangerous territory indeed.
Oh, she sat demure now, twisting her pasta, yet holding Alicia was like being handed a bolt of lightning. She came full pelt out of the gate. Always, and not just with sex. She just lunged into passion, headed straight to devotion, with no moment to catch your breath in between.
Still, he was not here to give Alicia Domenica dating advice.
She persisted, though. ‘I would certainly be what, Dante?’
‘A challenge.’
She gave a mirthless laugh. ‘I’m sure women would say the same about you.’
‘I meant you would certainly not be looking for a...shall we say atemporaryarrangement.’
‘You don’t know that.’ Alicia lifted her eyes to his. ‘Are you forgetting this morning?’
‘So you would have simply dressed and left?’
‘I would have wanted dinner tonight,’ Alicia answered smartly, and gestured to her plate. ‘But I got that without sleeping with you.’
