Vico had barely glanced at her before nodding his agreement.
She was growing fat. Pregnancy and gorging did that to a girl.
Perhaps this was why he didn’t touch her other than impersonally. Perhaps this was why she never saw a glimpse of lust in those hazel eyes, the lust she’d always seen before. Perhaps he didn’t like fat or pregnant.
At first, she hadn’t noticed. She’d been sleeping and recovering. Yet the realization had slowly crept over her. His passive, bland looks when she caught his eye. His lack of attention to her body. His studied indifference to her changing figure.
Her husband didn’t lust after her anymore.
The painful thought clogged her throat, although she kept trying to tell herself it was for the best.
The doctor had been clear at her last appointment. He’d exclaimed about her improved condition and then proceeded to give the okay for many more activities than he’d listed on her first visit. She was to be allowed much more time on her feet. She could resume light workouts and there certainly was no problem with having sex.
No problem having sex.
Her husband had met the news with complete silence. A silence which had continued on the ride back to the villa. A silence which continued on the subject of sex to this day.
Her body demanded his; it griped and groaned day after day as she watched him move and laugh and talk. Her newly healthy body was in the stern grip of a very fierce lust for Vico. How ironic then, that her always lusty husband no longer wanted anything to do with her body. Not anymore. Over the misgivings of her heart during the last few days, she’d promised herself and her aching body—if he gave her just one solid opening, just one win or smile or jest—she’d take him up on the sex.
If that’s all she could get from him, then she’d take it.
But he hadn’t given her even a sliver of an opening.
Trying to distract herself from her pity party, she grabbed for her ever-present Hasselblad and started clicking. Another pastime that now filled her days with an ever increasing urge to create and to grow. Full days of snapping pictures of the lake, dreamy at dusk. The late-blooming asters, their purple faces lifted to the sun. The dark-green ivy gilding the stone walls of the villa. Endless, endless photos of his family.
His mother, her silver hair tucked behind her ears, smiling her gentle smile as she held her newest grand-baby.
His sister, Chiara, almost due, round tummy lovingly patted by her adoring husband.
His brothers out on the lake, laughing as they Jet Skied across the rolling waves.
And her favorite subject. Her secret subject.
Vico.
He’d organized another game in the pool and was refereeing, tossing a ball between three of his eager nephews. Sunlight graced the water glistening on his shoulders and back, the muscles stretching and glowing in masculine enchantment. His dark hair lay wet, the curls clinging to his olive skin. Once upon a time, she’d thought his hair silly and conceited. She’d thought it was a call for attention, showing his basic immaturity. Now she saw it as his glory, a sign of the passionate rebel lying beneath the successful businessman.
If he ever cut his hair, she’d kill him.
What would his reaction be if she said such a thing? What would he do if she dove into his arms and demanded he take her to bed? What if she revealed the dreams she’d been dreaming about him and his body and her and hers?
Lise managed a shaky grin. He’d probably faint with disbelief.
Or else he’d make a moue of distaste and reject her.
The thought wiped the smile off her face. Her hands shook a little, yet she still took another shot of him.
Thank goodness Vico never went near her laptop. The one with about ten thousand images of him loaded into it. Pictures of him laughing at their dinner table. Photos of his body as he wiped himself off after his nightly swim. Snapshots of him frowning in concentration as he fixed the boat’s motor.
“You take picture after picture, Lise,” Chi remarked with a lazy smile. “How do you keep track of them?”
“It’s easy with the laptop.” Putting the camera down, she turned and smiled back. She’d grown amazingly close to his family in this short amount of time. Her husband might not touch her, but his relatives enveloped her in endless hugs, pats, and kisses. They’d accepted her into the bosom of the family with complete love. Especially Chi. She’d begun to think she’d found as firm of a friend as she had with Tracy and Suz.
The knowledge often brought her to tears in the privacy of her own bedroom. She finally had the large, loving family she’d dreamed of as a girl.
The splash of a big body rising out of the water caught her awareness. Turning her attention back to the pool, she watched as her husband approached. Rivulets of water rolled down his broad chest, catching in the swirl of hair between his pectorals. The muscles of his legs bunched and relaxed as he walked toward her. A grin lit his face. His tawny eyes danced.