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“I saw you. At the engagement party.”
Anna’s eyes darted down.
“Did you? I didn’t see you.”
“Didn’t you?” She looked up, startled, and he held her gaze. “I could have sworn when I looked out from the balcony you saw me and turned away.”
She sighed.
“I didn’t feel like having the first time we saw each other after...” Her voice trailed off and she waved a hand in the air. “Theincidentbe at your brother’s engagement party.”
The Incident. She sounded almost disdainful when she said the words. He narrowed his eyes. She was physically attracted to him. And when she’d fallen into his arms, he could have sworn he’d seen the same emotion on her face that he’d seen when she’d told him she loved him.
Now...now he couldn’t tell. Her blue-amber gaze was shuttered, her face still as if it had been carved from the same marble as the statues behind her.
“Anna.”
Kess approached them, the sundress molded to her tall frame. So tall, in fact, that her dark green eyes were level with his.
“I didn’t realize you had friends in Rome.”
She stopped next to Anna, her eyes razor-sharp, her look of warning clear in its meaning. Anna was someone she cared about and if Antonio did anything to hurt her, she’d make him sorry.
He gave her a slight nod.
“This is Antonio. He’s an old friend.”
The producer extended her hand. “Kess.”
“I know.” He smiled as he accepted her hand, acknowledging her place in Anna’s life and her subtle threat.
Kess stared at him a moment longer. Whatever she saw must have passed her test because she returned his smile.
“Ready to go back to the hotel?” Kess asked Anna.
Dismay settled heavily in his chest. He’d only planned on stopping by to see the show and say hello, make sure she was handling the newfound publicity all right and then leave. But the evening had gone by in a flash, each moment whirring by so quickly, time had been like water in his hands.
That he wanted just a few more minutes in her company was indicator enough it was time for him to bid farewell and put as much distance between Anna and him as possible. He’d hurt her once in his quest to do the right thing. He wouldn’t risk hurting her again.
That and, despite his brothers’ obvious happiness, a long-term relationship wasn’t in the cards for him. Most definitely not now, perhaps not ever. His career took him all over the world. With the addition of his collaboration with Alejandro on the floating hotelLa Reinain Marseille, and future projects in the works, he had no time for a girlfriend, let alone a wife or children. Anna had spoken often of wanting to be a mother. As much as the thought of another man being with her—touching her—bothered him, someone else would have to give her the gifts of commitment and motherhood.
Even if he’d been interested in marriage, even if they’d both be able to get past the pain of their last encounter, he would never be able to trust himself to take a risk again.
And Anna was most definitely a risk.
“I don’t know,” Anna replied to Kess’s question, drawing him out of his thoughts. “I’d thought about going to see the Spanish Steps.”
“It can be crowded at night,” Antonio interrupted.
“Is there a good time to go?”
“Dawn.”
Anna scrunched up her nose. “Not my first choice of time. But I’ll try.”
“I hope you enjoy it.” He glanced at his watch. “I have to get back to my hotel. Duty calls.” An excuse, but a tried-and-true one. He nodded to Kess and then to Anna. “It was good to see you. I assume I’ll see you at Alejandro’s wedding in a couple of weeks.”
She stared at him for a long moment, those eyes gleaming with something he couldn’t quite decipher.
