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In her limited experience, with only one boyfriend, it had never occurred to her that there was something in the world better than the feeling she could get from her playing. But Stefano’s lips on hers had eclipsed it all, and they’d been fully clothed. She’d never wanted the moment to end.
Lucy tried to ignore the wicked hum inside that tempted her to think of him less...dressed. She couldn’t. Wouldn’t. Some might say that thoughts were free, but that kind of thinking would take her nowhere.
Lucy started with the exercises her physiotherapist had told her to work on, warming up her hands and gently stretching them before picking up her violin, her bow. So familiar they were like old friends, like part of her. She played some simple scales first. Her fingers might be a bit stiff but there was no pain today, so she started a more complicated exercise.
When she’d finished a knock sounded at the door. Soft, not a demand, more a polite request to enter.
Her heart rate jumped fromlentotopresto, and it was only luck and good fortune that stopped her bow slipping from her fingers and falling to the floor.
‘Come in.’ Her voice sounded thready and faint. She swallowed as the door eased open.
Stefano entered the room slowly, as if he wasn’t sure what would greet him. She supposed she had fled from him and the conservatory the day before like a vampire trying to escape dawn. It hadn’t been a dignified exit.
He stood there in his usual clothing. Jeans, boots, sweater. Effortlessly casual and artfully dishevelled. She, on the other hand, was a mish-mash of figure-hugging active wear and a warm pullover that had seen better days but was soft and warm as a hug.
It didn’t seem to matter to Stefano. He looked at her as if she was a steaming cup of coffee after a long, sleepless night. How she wanted him to drink her right down. And all she could think about now was the contrasts of him. Hard body, gentle lips, a kiss that stopped time...
‘Please. I heard the music,’ he said. ‘You don’t have to stop for me.’
Lucy tried not to think about how perfect it had been, having his arms wrapped tight around her. ‘I was only practising a little.’
‘Would you play something?’
‘I don’t have any accompaniment.’
It was a cop-out. She didn’t need a soundtrack. What stopped her was the nerves churning in her belly like that hive of bees again, intent on stinging her. She wanted to know what he thought—whether the kiss had stunned him as much as it had her. It shouldn’t matter, but somehow his approval seemed vital. Because something had changed in those moments in the conservatory. Things she couldn’t give voice to.
‘If you did, what would you play for me?’
Light filtered through the mullioned windows. Outside the landscape lay crisp, cold and perfect. That pristine beauty masked a creeping danger to those who were unwary. And that sense of hidden peril was a lot like the way she’d come to view love—though whythatword should enter her head now she didn’t know.
‘Vivaldi.Four Seasons. “Winter”.’
Stefano pulled his cell phone from his pocket and smiled. ‘For a woman who hates winter, you have an affinity for it.’
‘I can admit it looks pretty,’ she said, as he unlocked his phone and began scrolling through. ‘You know my feelings otherwise.’
He raised a dark, perfect eyebrow. ‘Are you comfortable here?’
The question was a loaded one, but gently asked. She gave a truthful answer. ‘I am, thank you.’
Lucy wasn’t apprehensive the way she had been in the beginning. She was more afraid of herself and her feelings, which seemed to want to leak out all over the place—especially all over him.
He nodded, and something about him relaxed. His stance appeared a little looser, as if he’d been worried before and was not so much now.
After a few short minutes Stefano seemed to find what he was looking for and held up his phone with the screen facing her. ‘Is this you?’
She walked forward, peered at the screen. It was a video of her charity performance with a string ensemble a few years earlier. She swallowed through the knot in her throat. ‘Yes.’
His lips curled into a smile. ‘Then we have accompanying music—of sorts. I can cast the sound to the speakers here. I would love to hear you. The snow’s stopped falling. If it stays that way, the roads will be clear soon enough.’
Meaning she’d be able to go. Walk away from here and never see him again. She didn’t know why that thought hurt. But this was a wish she could grant for the kindness he had shown her. She’d needed a soft landing after all she’d been through, and even though he might not have realised Stefano had given her that.
‘Okay. That should work.’
She would be better than the performance on video, so that would compensate for her lack of practice. She could do this. It would be just like playing along, and the background sound would hide any stumbles from the fingers that still didn’t work so well.
Stefano walked to an armchair in front of the fire and sat. ‘Ready?’
