Page 32 of His Lost-and-Found Bride

It was twelve years on. It was time. Even if Lucia still felt that it wasn’t.

There was no way he was getting on that plane back to Tuscany without tackling the subject. No way at all.

But how?

She had barriers erected so tightly around her she might as well have been wearing a spacesuit. The kiss had been one thing. She’d probably already written it off as a blip.

But Logan couldn’t do that. He wanted more. Much more.

No wonder every other relationship he’d had had fizzled out. No wonder he’d never wanted to commit to someone else.

This was nothing to do with losing his daughter. This wasn’t about the fear of another pregnancy or another child.

It was much more primal than that. It was about the fear of never finding someone he had the same chemistry with, the same connection with, as he had with Lucia.

Life was hard. Life was tough. But twelve years of drifting had given him new determination.

Seeing Lucia for the first time again had been like a lightning bolt. Kissing her again...well, that had been so much more.

It was time to face things head-on.

He turned from the view of Venice to face her. She was sitting behind her desk, twiddling her long dark hair around one finger.

He reached forward and grabbed her other hand, pulling her to her feet. ‘Let’s go.’

She looked shocked. ‘Let’s go where?’

He held out his other hand. ‘Out there. Let’s see Venice.’ He pointed to the screen. ‘You already said the computer program would take a few hours. Let’s spend them wisely.’ He grinned at her. ‘Today I am a tourist. Today I want you to show me Venice.’

A hint of a smile appeared on her face. She waved towards the window. ‘But it will be crazy out there. There’s another concert tonight. We’ll have all of last night’s gig-goers and all of tonight’s too.’

He raised his eyebrows. ‘What, we can’t handle a few tourists?’

She shook her head and let out a little laugh. ‘Now I know you’re definitely crazy.’ She picked up her handbag and swung it over her shoulder. ‘You’re right, the program will take another few hours, and as long as we start with ice cream I’m in.’

He held out his hand towards her.

She hesitated. She wavered. He could see it in every inch of her body. She finally let out the breath she’d been holding and put her hand in his.

‘Let’s go.’

* * *

It was hotter than hot. Her jacket was hanging over the top of her shoulder bag to try and deter any pickpockets and her shirt was in danger of sticking to her back.

The queue for ice cream was snaking its way out the door of her favourite gelateria. She tugged Logan towards the end of the queue. His hand was still in hers. It felt odd, but she hadn’t quite managed to pull her hand free of his.

The walk through the twisting cobbled streets had been like a step back in time. She’d noticed the women’s admiring glances. Logan was every woman’s Italian dream—dark-haired, broad shouldered, well dressed and devilishly handsome. His unexpected bright green eyes added a little twist.

And he was free with his natural charm. He nodded and smiled at the numerous pairs of acknowledging eyes. A tiny swell of pride surged in her chest. Memories flickered in her brain. People thought they were a couple. People thought that Logan was hers.

He turned to face her as the queue slowly moved forward. ‘What kind of ice cream do you want? I take it you’ve sampled them all?’

She gave a little smile. ‘All in the name of research. Dark chocolate and limon are my two favourites from here.’

He nodded at her choices. ‘In that case we’ll get one of each. Why not try everything you like?’ He was smiling as he said the words, and the woman in front turned around with a gleam in her eyes.

Lucia shifted on her feet. She didn’t want to allow the tiny seeds in her brain to flower and grow.

Logan reached the front of the queue, ordering their ice creams and only releasing her hand when he reached to pay for them. They walked out into the building heat and he held both hands out towards her. ‘What’ll it be? The dark, tantalising chocolate or the sweet, zesty lemon?’

He was teasing her. But the surprising thing was, she kind of liked it.

She held her hand out for the chocolate. ‘I’ll start with dark and delicious.’ Her fingers brushed against his. ‘But don’t count on getting to finish the lemon yourself,’ she said smartly as she walked past.

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