Chapter Thirteen
Constance stood at the water’s edge, letting the sea lap against her toes while she watched the girls play in the surf. She closed her eyes for a second, lifting her face to the sun. This was why she’d fallen in love with Greece. The thought that some ancient woman might have stood in the same spot she was, the same breeze blowing through her hair, the same sea spread out in a glistening turquoise field before her. The beauty and history of the place renewed her, energized her. She could breathe for the first time in over a week.
Spending her days traipsing around town with Luca and nights caring for Elena while trying to convince herself she didn’t want to be in his bed had taken their toll. Even to herself she couldn’t pretend there wasn’t an attraction there. The man was sex on a stick and she was having a hard time resisting him. The moment may have passed but after their near miss a few nights before, her resistance was becoming more and more futile. She’d only been able to hold out since then because opportunity had been scarce. She might be able to think a little more clearly when she wasn’t nearly naked in his arms, but that hardly mattered anymore. The fire had been lit and it was consuming them both.
The reason for the scarce opportunities had resolved itself, which meant her brief reprieve was over. Elena was finally sleeping on her own, without insisting Constance stay with her all night. Whatever had triggered her nightmares seemed to have passed, for the moment, which meant Luca would be expecting Constance back in his room. Maybe even back in his bed. She didn’t even try to lie to herself again about whether or not she wanted to be there. She wanted it with every fiber of her being. It was her sensible mind that was causing the headache.
A shadow joined hers in the waves moments before strong arms slipped around her waist. She tensed for a moment, and then let herself lean back into him with a sigh. There were some advantages to a legally binding job to act like a loving fiancée. A tough job to be sure, but someone had to do it, and it allowed her to relax and act as she wished without the constant barrage of what ifs and should I’s running through her head.
Luca nuzzled at her neck, his lips leaving a trail of fire everywhere they touched.
“You look so beautiful standing here in the sun,” he said, his arms tightening around her waist.
“You don’t have to say things like that, you know. They can’t hear you from wherever they are hiding.”
“Wherever who is hiding?”
“The vultures you invited.”
He pressed another kiss to her neck. “I didn’t invite any photographers today. And those that managed to find us anyway are hopefully being kept at bay by my security. I’m not saying anything for anyone’s benefit. I’m saying it because it’s true.”
Her stomach did a little flip and she fought the urge to sigh like a schoolgirl. The man was smooth, she’d give him that.
“What do you mean, no photographers? I thought that was the whole point.”
“Not anymore. They’ve gotten their story. They’ll get what pictures they can when we’re in public. We don’t need to invite them into private moments.”
“Yes, but…”
“Forget them.” He lightly grasped her chin, turning her face to the side so he could look into her eyes. “I mean it, Stanzia. You’re like my own Aphrodite rising from the sea. You take my breath away.”
He brushed a thumb down her cheek and she shivered against him.
“You’re very good, you know that?”
He smiled. “Yes, I do. And if you weren’t so stubborn, you’d know it too.”
He kept her face turned toward him, his thumb moving up to stroke her bottom lip.
“Luca, the children might be watching.”
“I don’t care.”
He stopped any further protests with his lips, his mouth moving over hers until she forgot where they were. Nothing existed but the man whose arms held her, whose lips were wreaking havoc with her good intentions, whose hand had crept from her waist to move up her rib cage toward the breast that ached for his touch.
Wait…
“Luca,” she said, spinning out of his arms. “Behave yourself.”
She reached up to pat at her hair, her eyes darting from the children who were having lunch on the sand and completely ignoring them to the security team keeping the few tenacious paparazzi who had hunted them down cornered behind a wall of well-muscled men. At least they wouldn’t be able to snap a hundred pictures of Luca trying to cop a feel.
“Sorry. I can’t seem to keep myself under control when I’m around you.”
He didn’t look the least bit sorry. In fact, he looked pleased with himself, in need of a lesson in humility. Constance backed up slowly, going deeper into the sea. Luca followed, as she’d known he would, stalking her like a shark would its prey. She waited until she got about shin deep and then kicked at the water, sending a huge spray raining down on Luca. He shouted, looking at her in shock while water dripped from every chiseled muscle.