she knew how to crack the whip, even thousands of miles away. “You are jeopardizing your job.”
“Face it, girlfriend, my job is history. The man is moving to New York.”
“True. Maybe this is a good thing. I mean, maybe then you can move on and try something else.”
“I know.” She had worked in department stores for years, all the while sketching her own designs for curvilicious women like herself. Sadly, she didn’t have enough contacts in the fashion world to get her creations to the right person. After losing her father in a car accident a few years ago, her responsibilities doubled overnight, and her focus had shifted. A reliable salary and health insurance for Rachel was more important than chasing dreams. Wasn’t it?
Georgia breathed into the phone. “I still can’t believe you slept with him. Isn’t that going to worsen your Justin Bieber–grade crush on him?”
“No,” Alice rushed to say. “If anything, it will free me from it. I need to get him out of my system, and move on with life.”
Georgia giggled. “Sounds like you’re getting him into your system. Again and again.”
A chuckle floated up her throat. “Trust me, if you had seen him naked, you would not blame me,” she said, and glanced around—shit!—and found him walking to her. “Actually, I’m seeing him right now. Fully clothed. Gotta go.” She slid the cell into her bag.
“Not bad, huh?” Lorenzo gestured with open arms.
She took a deep breath and shook her head, walking to his side as the blooming geraniums and dahlias surrounded them on the Gardens of Augustus, the botanical gardens that Viola had suggested they visit during breakfast. She was fascinated with the sight located on the top of Mount Solaro.
In the afternoon, there would be a soccer game at the villa, but they had the morning free.
“No. Although the man in front of me is quite a distraction,” she blurted, then chanced a smile to conceal the truth in her words. Let him think this was just harmless flirting instead of the joy of having bedded her crush.
He frowned, then shrugged. Shit. The compliment caught him off guard, too. The first time they were alone outside the bedroom after having sex, and what to do?
She retrieved the small digital camera from her jeans and started to take snapshots of the one hundred eighty-degree panoramic view of the ocean. The sun dappled the mirror-smooth turquoise waters. To her left, a couple kissed, then contemplated the view and kissed again. Her heart shrank, and she realized she didn’t have to speak Italian to know they were in love.
“Get a good shot?” Lorenzo asked behind her.
“Good enough.” She turned to him and clenched her camera in her palm.
A wicked smile spread across his face, and he took her hand in his. She half expected him to stroll down the gardens with her, like pathetic infatuated teenagers. Instead, he turned her palm up and ran his fingers over her skin. The otherwise chaste touch sent a thrill of excitement through her, and her heart thumped. She lifted her gaze to meet his, and her sex clenched. His dark, forest-green eyes flickered and gave her all the reassurance she could ask for. He still wanted her.
She pulled her hand from him and jammed her warm palm in her jeans. The exchange didn’t compare to the happy couple’s kisses nearby, but it burned her cheeks as if they had just done the deed right then and there. “Have you talked to Cara?”
“I phoned her earlier. She asked about you.”
“I miss her.” She stared at the endless ocean, the beauty sketched on the bright blue sky, and cotton-candy clouds. She hadn’t yet allowed herself to wonder what her life would be like after the little girl moved away. Tears threatened, but she drew in a sharp breath and let the air out slowly. If she fell apart now, in a foreign country with no support system at her side…she wouldn’t get pieced back together anytime soon. And that was not an option. Not when she had to be the happy pretend fiancée to a man who had been clueless about her crush on him—though she guessed he knew it now. She had been right under his aristocratic nose all along, and he hadn’t even known it.
“That’s what she said about you.” He looked down and shuffled his feet. “Is your sister okay?”
“Yes, I’ve been checking in on them.” A couple brief emails, because she knew if she called, her mother would