kissed fully and completely, and it was . . . meh.
When we broke apart, he leaned back and his face was quizzical, as if he were trying to detect the subtler notes in a glass of wine but couldn’t quite place them. His expression of puzzlement was exactly how I felt, so much so that I laughed. To my delight, he did, too.
“That was—” I stopped, stumped for words.
“Noioso,” he said.
“Boring?” I cried. Then I laughed harder, because it really was. Despite the fact that my potential romantic relationship with Marcellino had just gone poof, there was something so ridiculous about the moment that I couldn’t help but be amused. What thrilled me the most was the realization that this, right here, was exactly how the old Chelsea would have reacted. Not with anxiety or upset but with genuine belly laughs at the ridiculousness of it all.
Marcellino thought it was funny, too, which made me laugh even harder. It became a contagious fit of the giggles that was unstoppable. Every time we looked at each other, we cracked up again.
“Allora, dolcezza, I think perhaps we are meant to just be friends,” he said between chuckles.
“The best of friends,” I agreed. Still grinning, I hugged him tight, and he picked me up off my feet, squeezing me hard in return.
“Hey, Martin, let’s get this party started!” Jason called as he turned the corner.
He stopped short when he saw us, and Marcellino gently put me down. He adjusted my hat and said quietly, “But that one, I don’t think it is friendship he feels.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but Marcellino had already turned away to greet Jason. “Buongiorno, Jason. Have you ever been to a flower festival?”
“No, this is my first,” he said. His gaze darted between me and Marcellino as if he was trying to read the room.
“I think you will enjoy it. The artists make intricate portraits and landscapes all from the petals of flowers,” Marcellino explained. “And, of course, there is music and food and dancing with pretty girls.”
“And wine,” I said. I smiled at Marcellino. “Don’t forget the wine.”
He put a hand on his forehead in mock alarm. “How could I?”
As Marcellino walked down the path, leading the way, we fell in beside him. I glanced at Jason out of the corner of my eye and noted that he was dressed like an Italian gentleman, in beige slacks and a white dress shirt with brown woven loafers, no Converse high-tops. To complete the look, he was wearing a straw trilby with a dark-brown band around the crown. He was handsome in a suave, cosmopolitan way, like Cary Grant, and my inner Audrey Hepburn was crushing hard. As if sensing my interest, he turned and smiled at me, and I literally got dizzy.
My awareness of him as a man was as visceral as a punch in the gut, and I wondered if Marcellino was right. Was Jason still interested in being more than coworkers? He seemed to be—at least, he was very flirty and charming—but he had respected my boundaries and hadn’t said anything specific since Paris, keeping it strictly business between us.
In all fairness, how could he do anything else? I had shut that shizzle down. But even if he was interested, there were issues. We worked together, after all. What would that look like? Even without Michelle in HR, the no-dating policy remained. Would one of us have to leave the ACC? Was I willing to do that for a relationship?
It was one thing to leave the ACC because I was going to take up residence in a vineyard in Tuscany. It was quite another to walk away from a career in the city to which I planned to return. I had worked so hard to get where I was, and now that it appeared my quest to find my old self was a bust, my career was the only thing I had. My brain shorted out at the mere thought of leaving it for a relationship that might or might not work out.
When we approached the festival, Marcellino was greeted by everyone we encountered, with Jason and me introduced as his guests. It was clear he was well liked, and I wasn’t at all surprised. He was a good man. I did notice that some of the residents of the village were uncertain as to my relationship with Marcellino and how Jason factored into the equation. I knew exactly how they felt. I didn’t know