AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Suppressing the desire to kiss her until her body melted like the ice cream in her hand, he reminded himself that it was too soon for her.
He was going to take it slowly. Take his time. Coax her out of her shell.
‘Now lick again and tell me what you taste. Tell me what it makes you feel. What it reminds you of.’
Her lick was most definitely reluctant. ‘Ice cream?’ Receiving no response to her sarcasm, she licked again and he waited. And waited. But she said nothing.
‘Don’t you go straight back to your childhood?’ He decided that he was going to have to prompt her. Clearly she’d never played this game before. ‘Seaside holidays, relaxation? All the fun of being young?’
There was a long silence and then her eyes opened and for a brief moment he saw the real Alice. And what he saw shocked and silenced him. He saw pain and anguish. He saw hurt and disillusionment. But most of all he saw a child who was lost and vulnerable. Alone.
And then she blanked it.
‘No, Dr Moretti.’ Her voice had a strange, rasping quality, as if talking was suddenly difficult. ‘I don’t see that. And I’m not that keen on ice cream.’ Without giving him time to reply, she tossed it in the nearest bin and made for the beach, virtually breaking into a run in her attempt to put distance between them.
CHAPTER SEVEN
AT THE bottom of the path, Alice slowed her pace and took several gulps of air. Her stomach churned and she felt light-headed and sick but most of all she felt angry with herself for losing control.
Oh, damn, damn damn.
How could she have let that happen? How could she have revealed so much? And because she had, because she’d been so stupid, he was going to come after her and demand an explanation. He was that sort of man. The sort of man who always looked beneath the surface. The sort of man who delved and dug until he had access to all parts of a person.
And she didn’t want him delving. She didn’t want him digging.
She bent down, removed her shoes and stepped onto the sand, intending to walk as far as possible, as fast as possible. Even though she knew that even if she were to run, it wouldn’t make any difference. The problems were inside her and always would be, and she knew from experience that running couldn’t change the past. Couldn’t change the feelings that were part of her.
But she’d learned ways to handle them, she reminded herself firmly as she breathed in deeply and unclenched her hands. Ways that worked for her. It was just a question of getting control back. Of being the person she’d become.
She stared at the sea, watching the yachts streak across the bay, the wind filling their brightly coloured sails. Breathing in the same strong sea breeze, she struggled to find the familiar feeling of calm, but it eluded her.
She was concentrating so hard on breathing that the feel of Gio’s hand on her shoulder made her jump, even though she’d been expecting it.
Her instinct was to push him away, but that would draw attention that she didn’t want. She could have run but that, she told herself, would just make it even harder later. It would just delay the inevitable conversation. So she decided to stay put and give him enough facts to satisfy him. Just enough and no more.
She turned to face him and dislodged his hand in the process. Immediately she wished she’d thought to wear sunglasses. Or a wide-brimmed hat. Anything to give her some protection from that searching, masculine gaze.
She felt exposed. Naked.
Wishing she’d decided to run, she hugged herself with her arms and looked away, gesturing towards the beach with a quick jerk of her head. ‘You can walk along here for about an hour before the tide turns.’ The words spilled out like girlish chatter. ‘Then you have to climb up to the coast path if you don’t want to get cut off.’
‘Alice—’
‘It’s a nice walk and you always lose the crowds about ten minutes out of the harbour.’ The wind picked up a strand of her hair and threw it across her face, but she ignored it. ‘It will take you about an hour and a half to reach the headland.’
He stepped closer and his hands closed over her arms. ‘Alice, don’t!’ He gave her a little shake. ‘Don’t shut me out like this. I said something to upset you and for that I’m sorry.’
‘You don’t need to be sorry. You haven’t done anything wrong.’ She tilted her head back and risked another glance at his face. And saw kindness. Kindness and sympathy. The combination untwisted something that had been knotted inside her for years and she very nearly let everything spill out. Very nearly told him exactly how she was feeling. But she stopped herself. Reminded herself of how she’d chosen to live her life. ‘I just don’t happen to like ice cream that much.’
‘Alice…’ He tried to hold her but she shrugged him off, swamped by feelings that she didn’t want to feel.
‘I’m sorry, but I need to walk.’
He muttered something in Italian and then switched to English. ‘Alice, wait!’ With his long stride, he caught up with her easily. ‘We need to talk.’ His Italian accent was stronger than ever, as if he was struggling with the language.
‘We don’t need to talk.’ She walked briskly along the sand, her shoes in one hand, the other holding her hair out of her eyes. This far up the beach the sand was soft and warm, cushioning the steady rhythm of her feet and causing her to stumble occasionally. ‘I don’t want to talk! Not everyone wants to talk about everything, Gio.’
‘Because you’re afraid of your own emotions. Of being hurt. That’s why you prefer facts.’ He strode next to her, keeping pace. ‘You’ve turned yourself into a machine, Alice, but emotions are the oil that makes the machine work. Human beings can’t function without emotions.’
