“I have a good reason to not get familiar with you.”
He turned so fast that Sam stumbled into him. In the dim light, every other sense amplified. His hand on her arm, his powerful thighs pressed against hers, the thud of his heart under her fingers. The dark clove scent of him. The warmth of his exhales dancing across her lips. It felt as if she was being swallowed up by him, and the worst part was that she didn’t dislike the sensation. Quite the opposite, in fact.
His gaze searched hers. “Enlighten me.”
It was a miracle she hadn’t the lost the thread of their conversation with so much stimulus. “I won’t make the mistake of considering you a friend.”
She thought that shapely mouth flinched, but at this point, she didn’t trust her senses. The man would hardly care about her opinion of him. Especially when he murmured silkily, “No, you prefer men who lie to you.”
“See, that’s what I’m saying. Matteo messed up, big-time. And even I did, I think. But you don’t have to rub it in our faces.”
He didn’t move. “Youmessed up? How?”
“No way am I giving you ammunition against me.”
“You don’t think you’re taking this enemies thing too far?” A thin thread of anger pulsed in his words. “After all, I was the one who rescued you. Did you not notice that my dear brother used the little time challenging me instead of worrying about you? It seems I am the one with your best interests at heart here.”
Her exhaustion and the roller coaster of emotions she’d been through made her tongue loose. “Matteo two-timed me, yes. He broke my trust, in more than just him.” She swallowed the ache. “But our relationship stagnated long ago. I clung to him instead of making a clean break like I should have long ago. Not a surprise that Matteo took the path of least resistance and went straight into Angelina’s waiting arms.”
She couldn’t simply erase him from her life. No matter what he did, she would always consider him a friend. He’d been there for her at a time in her life when nobody else had, after all. “If there’s a chance to fix our bond,” she said, knowing she was playing a very dangerous game, “I’ll take it. My summer is open anyway.”
A flash of pure rage glowed in his eyes, burning away to nothing in a second. The faint shape of a door emerged a few feet ahead of them when he said, “My first impression of you was utterly wrong, then.”
Don’t ask, Sam.Don’t be interested in his opinion.
All the warnings her rational mind blared were useless. “What was your first impression?” she asked in a small voice that echoed in the closed space.
“I thought you were someone who faced the truth however painful it was. Someone who dwelled in reality, instead of false dreams.”
He had no idea how close he’d come to the reality of her life.
Shewasa fighter. She’d never had the luxury to live in false dreams.
But this summer was a promise she’d made to herself that she would choose living, however hard and scary that felt. That she’d choose fun and adventure and normalcy. That she’d stretch her wings and fly.
So instead of running away from a broken relationship or from a man who made her feel so much that it terrified her, instead of running back to the safety and security of her parents’ love, she was staying.
She was standing on her own.
Chapter Four
CHOOSING HIS OWNbedroom to keep Ms. Fischer for the night had to be the most insane decision Alessandro had ever made.
Clearly, the stubborn waif wasn’t going to change her mind about spending the summer in Milan. Which meant her past with Matteo had more chances of coming out. Which meant his ruse that she washis mistresswas going to bite him in the ass soon.
Even the prospect of being harassed by his aunt, and the very real risk of Vittorio Bianchi’s wrath, couldn’t dilute the excitement that filled him at the idea of a few weeks with Ms. Fischer. He felt like a corpse that had been revived for a few days.
When he returned an hour later carrying food, it was to find Ms. Fischer sitting on the upholstered bench at the foot of his bed, clad in pajamas buttoned up all the way to her throat. An overwhelmingly protective urge rose up within him as her head lolled to the side, mouth falling open in a soft snore.
With her hair braided, she looked achingly young. Too young for him to feel that tight heat curling through his muscles.
He pushed a hand through his hair, wondering if years of working ninety-hour weeks, of living his life within rigorously strict boundaries, had finally been broken.
He went to his haunches and gently shook her. “Ms. Fischer? Dinner is here.” Cupping her shoulder, he shook her again. “Sameera…wake up.” He tapped her jaw with his fingers. “Your stomach sounds like it’s eating itself.”
Her brown eyes flicked open, warm and soft. The most beautiful smile he’d ever seen curved her mouth. And instantly, he could imagine how she would look waking up next to him after a long night of—Cristo, but he was in trouble!
“Only my grandpa called me that,” she whispered.
