She blinked. ‘Gio, may I point out that we’ve already, um, done it?’
‘Uh-huh.’ He smiled. ‘That was before you were engaged to me.’
‘I’m not engaged to you. You haven’t asked me to marry you.’
He waved a dismissive hand. ‘That’s a minor detail. I’m going to. Which makes you as good as engaged. And Italian men are ultra-traditional. No sex before marriage. Not even phone sex.’
‘Phone sex?’
‘Where I tell you exactly what I want to do with you. What I want you to do.’ He nuzzled the sensitive spot just below her ear. ‘And I’ll hear the change in your breathing. Know the very second that you come—and that you’re thinking of me when you do it.’
‘Oh-h-h.’
He could see from her expression that the idea intrigued her. And he could feel her heat beating just that little bit faster. He licked her earlobe. ‘I might just do that, some time,’ he told her, his voice husky with promise. ‘But not until we’re married. Which leads me to number two.’
She stroked his face. ‘I’m not sure I’m ready to hear this.’
‘Trust me, you will be.’
‘All right. The second thing?’
‘Our engagement’s going to be short.’ He moved back slightly so he could look into her eyes, and moistened his lower lip with the tip of his tongue. ‘Really, really short.’
‘Define “short”.’
He stole a kiss. ‘Given that organising is your forte—how quickly can you organise a wedding?’
She laughed. ‘Is that a challenge?’
‘Nope. Wrong tone. I’m not challenging. I’m begging. And I’d prefer the answer to be something in nanoseconds.’
‘A small wedding we can sort out in however long the notice period is to the register office. Days, probably. A big church wedding—well, you have banns and all sorts of things to sort out. We’re talking weeks. If the church isn’t booked up. And I’m assuming you’re Catholic.’ At his nod, she continued, ‘I’m not. So there’s all that to sort out, too.’
‘How long?’
She shook her head. ‘I really don’t know. Can’t even guess. Definitely weeks.’
He groaned and leaned his forehead against hers. ‘I might have to revise number one.’
‘Uh-uh.’ She wagged a finger at him. ‘You said you were going to do this the traditional way.’
‘In which case, I’d better take you home now. And you need to think about whether you want a big church wedding or a big register office wedding.’
‘You haven’t asked me yet,’ she reminded him. ‘And I haven’t said yes yet.’
‘I will,’ he said. ‘And so will you.’ He kissed her. ‘And now I’m going to take you home. Before my very poor self-control snaps. Because I remember what it feels like to be deep inside you, Francesca, and my body’s screaming out to do it again.’
He gently nudged her to her feet and led her out of the office.
The café was deserted and locked up, although one bank of lights was on over the counter. Fran blinked. ‘I saw your parents and your sisters earlier. I thought they’d still be here.’
Gio smiled. ‘Believe me, the second I switch my phone on you’ll hear beep after beep from all the text messages asking me if everything’s OK and we’re together again.’ His smile broadened. ‘For the first time ever I think they’re trying to be tactful. I think they realised we needed some space.’
Her eyes glittered. ‘I remember you saying once about needing a lock on your office door. Looks as if we don’t need one tonight.’
He dragged in a breath. ‘You’ve just put another of those X-rated pictures in my head.’
She gave him the sexiest smile he’d ever seen. ‘Then let’s make it real, honey.’
Oh-h-h. It was way too tempting. He almost picked her up in a fireman’s lift to carry her back to the office and push the papers off his desk and ease into her body. But he stopped himself in time. ‘Not until we’re married. But we can have dinner together tomorrow night.’ He sighed. ‘And I’ll have to put you in a taxi at the restaurant door. On your own. Tonight as well as tomorrow.’
‘You’re absolutely serious about this traditional bit?’
He nodded. ‘Until I’ve met your family and spoken to your father, I’m not going to ask you to marry me.’
She sucked in a breath. ‘What if my dad says no?’
‘He won’t,’ Gio said confidently. ‘Because I’ll tell him how much I love you. That I want to spend the rest of my life with you. That you’re going to be my equal and I won’t expect you to give up your career to have babies.’ He smiled. ‘Though we most definitely are going to have babies. At least one. I want a little girl who looks just like her mum, with big blue eyes I can’t say no to.’