Tame his Beast - Claire C. Riley Page 0,40

smell wonderful, what is that you are wearing? I’ll need to buy some for my wife.”

“You’re too sweet,” I said with a shy smile, knowing full well that he didn’t have a wife.

When we started heading through the busy kitchens, I looked back at him in confusion. He stopped for a moment to say something in Italian to one of the chefs. They talked rapidly with lots of arm-waving and shouting and then Aldo turned back to me with a smile again.

“Come, come, he’s waiting upstairs for you.”

“Is everything okay here? If he’s needed in the restaurant I can just tell him we need to rearrange.” I really didn’t want to rearrange, but I was sympathetic to the fact the he was one of the head chefs and might be needed.

Aldo laughed. “Absolutely not, he would how you say, have my guts for garters.” I stared at him in puzzlement and he laughed. “I have been studying history at night school. It is an English saying from”—he looked thoughtful for a moment—“Tudor times. It means he would not be very happy if you were to leave, Belle. Come, come.”

I laughed and nodded, and when we reached the bottom of a staircase he opened the door and directed me up it as he said goodbye.

At the top of the stairs I tapped on another door and Lorenzo swore in Italian behind it before the sound of his footsteps came quickly toward me and he opened the door. He was dressed in a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a pair of light blue jeans. He looked handsome and he smiled widely as he took in my outfit. He wiped his hands on a dishtowel and threw it over his shoulder before dragging a hand through his hair and smiling at me.

“Belle,” he said, looking me up and down appreciatively, “you look ravishing. Please, please, come in, dinner is almost done.”

His living room was bigger than my entire trailer, and I looked around at the beautiful artwork on the walls and the contemporary furniture that filled his home, feeling out of my depth and a little overwhelmed by it all.

“It’s not much, but it’s home,” he said, oblivious to the fact that I was in a state of awe. “Shit, the food.” He darted off, telling me to make myself at home, and then I was alone.

I tentatively went further into the room, feeling out of place and awkward, but that was more to do with me than it was with Lorenzo or his home. The place was beautiful, tastefully decorated. It wasn’t flamboyant or trashy, it was warm and welcoming, but all I could think about was what he would think when he saw where I lived. My trailer was falling apart—literally. There were holes in places, windows glued in place, the furniture wasn’t second hand—it was third, maybe even fourth.

Soft music was playing in the background from some hidden speakers in the walls. I walked around the room gazing appreciatively at the art and photos everywhere. Family was clearly very important to him, and I liked that. I didn’t have much in the way of family, but what I did have was everything to me.

Lorenzo came back in with two glasses of red wine. “Sorry about that, you came at a crucial point in the process of cooking.” He handed me a glass and clinked his against it. “To new possibilities.”

“To new possibilities,” I mimicked with a smile. I was feeling completely out of my depth and all the confidence I’d felt after shouting at Beast seemed to have vanished completely. His words echoed in my head about what men think about when on a date. But when I looked at Lorenzo I just couldn’t see it. He seemed too genuine for that. Surely he wouldn’t have gone to all this trouble if he just wanted sex.

“Everything okay?” he asked, sensing my awkwardness.

“Yes! Just nervous, I guess.” I took a sip of the wine and tried to pull myself out of the dark space that Beast had sent me. “Oh wow, this is gorgeous.”

He smiled, looking more than happy with the comment. “So, I hope you don’t mind but I didn’t do anything fancy tonight. I made lasagna and some arancini balls and a salad. We serve a lot of the fancy stuff downstairs, but I prefer my mama’s secret recipe lasagna over almost anything.” He took a sip of his wine and I realized that he was