She wasn’t trying nearly as much as she was listening to how melodious that accent could make anything sound, and the way he spoke about food with such passion.
She could only begin to imagine what it would be like to feel those hands moving across her bare skin, and realised with a start that she badly wanted to.
Colette swallowed hard.
Chapter 31
‘Why don’t you pour some wine and get comfortable back on deck,’ Luca suggested as eventually heavy beads of sweat began to form on Colette’s nose. She wasn’t sure if it was from the stove or the heat in her body. ‘I am almost finished here.’
She reluctantly did so, carrying up the cutlery and wine glasses he handed her.
Back outside on deck, the air was completely still and she had no idea where they actually were, though she could still make out the glittering lights of the coast in the distance.
Once again, she was struck by the romance of it all, and she pinched herself, unable to believe she was sitting in the middle of the Mediterranean on a boat with a gorgeous Italian man who seemed impossibly keen to impressher.
Up above, the sky was blanketed with stars; constellations she had never seen before lay painted like a canvas above her. It was all so beautiful, truly like something out of a fairy tale.
Minutes later, Luca joined her on deck, placing a mouth-watering plate of food before her.
‘If you were to leave your father’s business, would you want to become a chef?’ she asked as they ate. ‘You really could, you know.’
He smiled a little as he sat across from her. ‘I don’t think that’ll happen any time soon.’
‘But if it did. Would you?’ Colette sipped her wine.
‘Probably,’ he replied. ‘But I doubt I could.’
She sensed his wistfulness. He truly did want to do something else with his life, but commitments were holding him back.
The chicken was tender and juicy, the vegetables crisp and perfectly seasoned, and the pasta was perfectlyal dente.
‘Another masterpiece,’ she sighed and sat back, unable to eat another morsel. She shivered a little, beginning to feel the late-evening chill off the water on her bare skin beneath her off-the-shoulder top.
‘Your approval is always appreciated.’ He smiled as he cleared the table.
A minute later, a warm blanket slid over her shoulders. ‘Come,’ Luca said as he gently took her hand and led her to the front of the boat. Once there, he took another blanket from where it was draped around his own shoulders, and arranged it on the bow of the boat. ‘After you.’
Colette lowered herself onto the softness of the blanket, and looked up in wonderment as she lay down beneath the sky.
‘It is beautiful, isn’t it?’ he commented as he joined her.
‘It’s incredible.’
‘You’re incredible.’
‘Oh, stop it,’ she replied automatically, as a fresh blush painted her cheeks.
‘Why do you have such trouble with me saying these things to you?’ Luca questioned as he raised his head and propped it up on one arm to look at her.
‘I’m just … not used to it, I suppose.’
‘You should be. You should have people telling you every day how wonderful you are.’ He put a finger beneath her chin and turned her face back towards his.
‘But I’m no one special,’ she insisted.
‘Yes, you are, and I think you could be even more with the right person.’
Colette swallowed hard. ‘And who would that be?’
