Page 146 of The English Bookstore in Bologna

“I was trying to say,” Sandy started. “I didn’t let him leave.”

Bianca pointed at her dad, then Sandy, then back. “Wait? You two?”

“She was pretty convincing,” George said.

“What about your flight?”

“There’ll be more planes. Sandy’s asked me to hang around a few days. Figure us out.”

Bianca turned to Sandy again. “Well, this is awkward. Can I take back everything I said? Actually, not everything. As a textbook wall builder—and it takes one to know one—you better get to work deconstructing.”

“Fair enough. May I say that I very much appreciate a gal who looks out for her dad?”

“Yeah, well, he’s a good one.”

Sandy reached out to him, and George joined her. “Yes, he is,” she said.

Epilogue

Snapshots of Afterward

Five days later

The elevator door cracked open, and Bianca looked left and right. There was no one in the hallway, no one stirring, not even a mouse. Without second-guessing herself, she tore off her top and dropped her skirt, then removed her undergarments, leaving it all in a pile at her feet.

He was home, as he’d just buzzed her in.

She wore nothing but heels and a pair of earrings as she approached his door. A small voice told her that she better stop these shenanigans, but a bigger voice told her that this was who she was and that’s who she was going to be.

Bianca knocked on the door, then hid out of sight so he couldn’t get a sneak peek through the peephole.

Thank God no one else on his floor appeared.

This was her, all of her. Bianca Briggs. Fully living in this moment. Not waiting till she weighed less or until she had it all mapped out.

Was she leaving burn marks? Yeah, perhaps. What was wrong with that? Maybe her book did have a few good pieces.

The door finally cracked open. She took a breath, closed her eyes, then stepped forward and held open her arms. “I am officially giving you all of me.”

With her eyes still closed, she waited for him to seize her. Because she definitely didn’t look that bad, and let’s be honest, he’d never shown anything other than a mad desire for her. The only thing in their way had been her mind.

Corrado did not seize her as she’d hoped.

Instead, she heard a harrumph that sounded distinctly female, then a few Italian words spoken so quickly that Bianca couldn’t catch the meaning.

She opened her eyes to find a woman twice her age staring at her.

It was Corrado’s mother.

“Oh, my God!” Bianca said. She’d only met her a few times ten years ago. She raced for her clothes.

Once she’d covered herself, she turned to find Corrado walking out the door to join her in the hallway.

“This is a surprise,” he said.

“I am beyond mortified. Oh, my God. I’m leaving.” Her shoes in her hand, she frantically pressed the down button on the elevator.

He came up behind her and tugged her to him. “Where do you think you’re going?”