“Isn’t that overkill?”
“I would like to reach you when I want to, Sameera.”
“You say my name like that when you’re railroading me into something.”
He rubbed his brow with his fingertip, a sure tell that he was employing about hundred filters between his real feelings and what he said. “Is it such a pain to accommodate me?”
Was she imagining the flash of vulnerability in his eyes?
Sam sighed. It wasn’t as if she wasn’t eating his food, staying at his house, sleeping in his damned bed already. “Okay.”
His jaw relaxed. “What did they say?”
“Just a routine checkup.”
He ran the pad of his thumb under her eyes. Sam wanted to lean into the touch so badly that she swayed. “You look tired,bella.”
“Is that all you see when you see me, Alessandro? Someone you have to check up on?”
He flinched at her sharp tone. And that made her feel like gum stuck on her shoe.
Hands tucked into his trousers, he watched her. “I can’t seem to stop upsetting you.” Hardness crawled into his words, etched into his features. “As long as you’re mine, I’ll worry over you, Sameera. I will not apologize for being the way I am.”
Her mouth fell open. “Is that how you see me? As…yours?”
He frowned as if she was being dense on purpose.“Sì.”
She should address the deeper issue here, but all she felt was this fizzy feeling, as if she were filled with bubbles of joy. Was this about seeing her as someone who was incapable, or about his needing to be in control?
“I haven’t been sleeping well because I’ve been painting. What I had in mind, it’s taking shape on the canvas.”Hewas taking shape on her canvas, and she couldn’t stop obsessing over it. “I’m at that stage where I just want to keep going, night or day. I don’t care about sleep or food—”
Her stomach interrupted them with an embarrassingly loud growl. She’d slept in late and had to rush to the appointment. Which meant she’d missed breakfast. In the scheme of things, it wasn’t a big thing. Until her body decided to turn it into a big thing.
Her own stubbornness kept her from admitting she was wrong. “Why aren’t you at work?”
“Day off.”
“Oh.” In the weeks she’d been at the villa, she’d heard Maria complain that Alessandro worked ninety-hour weeks without a break. Even Antonio had asked his son to take it easy. “What were you planning to do?”
“Go to bed and stay there all day. With you.”
All the doubts died an instant death, and Sam threw herself at him.
Wrapping her fingers around his neck, she pressed her mouth to his. Despite everything, all she wanted was to kiss him.
She tasted his surprise in his stillness. His mouth was soft and tasted of coffee, and he was hard and warm against her body. When she moaned in complaint, he laughed and opened for her. She licked into his mouth eagerly.
But he didn’t deepen the kiss.
Instead, his mouth was soft, exploring, almost…reverent. His emotions buffeted her, carrying her along. This kiss wasn’t like the one in his study. Or the one in the kitchen. This wasn’t a prelude to sex. No rushing toward a destination. This kiss said he wanted nothing more than to be here with her in this moment.
She buried her face in his chest, loving the thunder of his heart against her cheek. Part of her didn’t want to keep acknowledging what he was becoming to her. But part of her knew this moment would be over soon.
Some of the tension she’d felt in his frame dissipated. That he liked her telling him how he made her feel was obvious. Why didn’t he reciprocate?
No, she wasn’t going to analyze this. He’d taken the day off to spend it with her. That said more than words ever could. “By the way, I’m very competitive when it comes to these things.”
He tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, and she buried a smile that wanted to bloom. “What things?”
