“Okay fine, whatever. It will hurt her pride. Her trust in me. That’s breaking something between us, crossing a line. How do you think she would react if she found out that her troublesome client whom she sent down here to write ended up sleeping with her husband? With her child around!”
“Grace, you are worried about the wrong things.”
“Then tell me the right things to worry about. Look, you know her better than anyone. Tell me she won’t lash out at this. Tell me that I wouldn’t be the one to suffer. She won’t want to represent me anymore. She’ll drop me. I’ll be left on my own.”
“Hey, hey,” he says softly, putting his arms on my shoulders and pulling me against his chest. “Don’t let that mind of yours run away on you. I understand your concerns but…”
“But nothing. Those concerns are everything.”
I have to say, he actually looks hurt. Something pinches in my chest.
“Okay,” he says. “Then we don’t say anything to Jana. But you can still stay here, for as long as you want. Tell her you want to finish your book here and that will be the end of it. Is there any reason you need to go back to Edinburgh? Your apartment? Any plants that need to be watered?”
I sigh. “All my plants die within the first week of bringing them home. No, I don’t need to be back.”
The corner of his mouth lifts. “Then you will stay?”
I swallow. “For how long?”
“As long as you need. At least the summer.”
The entire summer. Another month or two of being with Claudio, sleeping with Claudio. It was almost better when I knew the end of our affair was coming sooner, because that meant there was less time for my feelings to build and run away on me. A lot can change over two months. How can I protect my heart for that long?
“Per favore,” he says gravely, holding my hand up to his mouth and placing a kiss on my knuckles, his eyes pinning me in place. “Please stay with me.”
My whole body aches with his words.
I can’t say no to this, I can’t say no to him.
Despite the heartache I know will come down the line, the thought of passing this up seems unconscionable.
“I will stay,” I tell him.
He smiles against my hand then pulls me in for a quick kiss.
“Okay, okay,” he says excitedly, breaking away and turning his body to the room, his hands on his hips, surveying it. “I am not done. I have to get back to work.”
“Don’t rush on account of me.”
He looks at me over his shoulder. “You must write, Grace. Besides, I want to get this done before I head to Carrara today.”
With me as his muse, Claudio is almost done working on the clay mold for his sculpture. I’ve been sitting for him a few times this week while he sculpts, armed with roses. Now, with him nearing completion, he has to head to Carrara, which is an area north of here where they mine marble from the mountains. According to Claudio, Carrara marble is the best you can use, and the quarries have been used since Ancient Roman times.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come?” he asks.
I shake my head. As much as a trip to the mountains up north sounds fun, I know I have to write. I figure with him gone, it will probably be easier too. The only problem is that he’s planning on staying overnight at a friend’s house, one of the guys who works at the quarry, which means I’ll be alone with Vanni. He was invited but he passed it up, saying it was boring.
“I’m looking forward to getting some work done,” I tell him. “Less distractions.”
“Yes, well let’s hope that Vanni stays out of your hair.”
“He’s a good kid. He knows when I have to work.”
In fact, later, right after Claudio gets in his Range Rover and takes off for Carrara, Vanni turns to me and says, “Time for you to get to work. Go, go!”
I laugh and collect my laptop from my room. I have a few hours of writing left before I have to make dinner. Luckily, Vanni has volunteered to help, which should be a fun thing to do together. No doubt it won’t be as good as Claudio’s but if we make it ourselves, at least it means something.