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‘Leonard!’ Sophie protested. ‘Believe it or not, I can have any amount of mutual understandings that I want! I’m a big girl!’
Was she, though?
Uttering those words had brought a wave of confusion. If she really was a big girl, up for ‘mutual understandings’, then why was she becoming so conflicted about what she and Alessio had started in good faith?
Why had she suddenly found herself wantingmore?
She was terrified of clinging to him. She knew, and had known from the start, all the limitations that came with this relationship.
If it could even be called a relationship!
Certainly, Leonard would beg to differ!
But common sense was no longer functioning, so how, exactly, did that non-functioning common sense back up what she had said about being a big girl?
‘I’d planned on talking to you tomorrow about this,’ Alessio was saying softly to his father, at which Leonard seemed to perk up a little.
Sophie frowned at him. ‘You had?’
‘You’ve probably forgotten. Yesterday was a busy day. Walking into town...having lunch by the lake...taking my father out on a boat despite his protests...’
‘It was a very busy day,’ Sophie said vaguely, trying hard to work out when she and Alessio were supposed to have had this conversation about him having a conversation with his father.
She guessed that it might be possible. Sometimes when she was with him everything seemed to leave her head in a whoosh...every single thought.
Factor in the fact that she was in just about one of the most picturesque places on the planet, and she could surely be forgiven for overlooking the occasional discussion. Who wouldn’t forget the odd chat when they were out on a glittering turquoise lake, staring back at colourful houses, an orderly jumble of pastel Lego, as picture-perfect as anything she had ever seen?
Except...
The way he was staring at her now, with his dark eyes warm and...complicit...
‘Remember I told you that I would be telling my father about us?’
Sophie opened her mouth, because if Alessio had come close to saying anything like that, then there was no question that the conversation would have been lodged at the very top of her mind, picture-perfect scenery or no picture-perfect scenery.
‘Telling him that what we have...’ Alessio’s voice was husky and he reached out and took her fingers in his ‘...is serious stuff...’
‘What are you saying, my boy?’ Leonard piped up, temporarily drowning out the clamour of stunned confusion in Sophie’s head.
‘I’m saying, Dad, that this isn’t what you think it is.’
Alessio held up his hand, briefly giving Sophie time to recover from the slow burn his entwined fingers had been arousing in her. He gestured with a mixture of ruefulness and sincerity.
‘Hmph...’
‘You think I’ve been turning Sophie’s head...’
‘Can you blame me?’
‘I don’t suppose I can. You’ve probably seen all the media coverage. Paparazzi always seem to lurk round every corner when I have a woman on my arm...’
‘You’ve never made it a priority to keep a low profile, Alessio,’ Leonard said testily, but his mood had changed. His colour was back and there was a brightness in his eyes that hadn’t been there before.
Sophie was listening to this exchange in growing bewilderment. Where was Alessio going with this? Her brain was struggling to join the dots, even though somewhere inside she knew that the dots were easy enough to join.
Leonard had caught themin flagrante delicto...
He had become stressed...
