Saved by the CEO(21)

And partly because the man next to her was scheduled to be there, as  well. Her personal protector at the ready, his presence made being brave  a lot easier.

After much back and forth, it was decided the vineyard would have to  give up on trying to win any awards and instead design as simple a float  as possible. Something that could be assembled with minimal manpower in  as short a time as possible. Nico was the one who came up with the  idea. Some of the parts of last year's float, namely the fountain, were  in storage. All they needed was fresh foliage. While it was too late in  the day for the fountain to spout water again, they could easily recycle  it into a different design. And so it was decided they would recreate  the royal wedding. Two of his employees would play Prince Antonio and  Princess Christina while others played wedding guests. The couples would  waltz around the fountain, pretending to dance beneath the stars. It  might not be an entirely accurate representation, but it would do the  winery proud.

As she watched Nico and Mario retrieve the fountain later that  afternoon, she couldn't help wondering if the idea reminded Nico of the  kiss they'd shared. The one she'd told him to forget had ever happened.  Which he apparently was having much better luck doing than she was.

Marianna's party attracted a crowd. In addition to Dani and Rafe, who  came on their day off, there were several other couples Louisa had met  at Marianna's baby shower and other events. There was Isabella Benson,  one of the local schoolteachers, and her new husband, Connor, along with  wedding planner Lindsay and her husband, Zach Reeves, who'd just  returned from their honeymoon. Louisa chuckled to herself, remembering  the jokes she and Nico had made at the royal wedding about Lindsay and  Zach's obvious adoration for each other. Even Lucia Moretti-Cascini, the  art expert who'd worked on the chapel restoration and who was in town  visiting her in-laws, was there. Having appointed herself the unofficial  design supervisor, she sat on a stack of crates with a sketch pad while  swatting away suggestions from her husband, Logan. In fact, the only  person missing was the organizer herself.                       
       
           



       

Not a single person mentioned the tabloid stories or Louisa's history in  Boston. The women all greeted her with smiles and hugs, as if nothing  had changed. After years of phony smiles and affection, their genuine  embraces had her near tears. Only the reassuring solidity of Nico's  hand, pressed against the small of her back, kept her from actually  crying. "Told you so, bella mia," he whispered as he handed her a glass  of wine.

In spite of Marianna's absence, the work went smoothly. In no time at  all, the old pieces were in place and covered with a plastic skin, ready  to be decorated.

Louisa and the other women were put in charge of attaching the foliage  while the men assembled the foam cutouts that would make the frame for  the palazzo walls.

"This is a first," Dani said as she pressed a grape into place.

"Hot gluing fruit to a chicken-wire nymph. Are we sure this is going to look like marble?"

"Lucia says it will, and she's the art expert," Louisa replied.

"Art expert. There aren't too many museums who deal with produce."

"They used grapes last year," Isabella reassured them, "and it looked wonderful."

"She's right. I saw pictures," Louisa said, remembering the photograph  of Nico that Marianna had shown her. "Hopefully we'll do as good a job.  I'd hate to embarrass the vineyard."

"I'm sure we won't, and if it does turn out a disaster, Nico can always keep it locked in the garage."

"True." Louisa reached for a grape to glue into place only to pick up  her wineglass instead. Something had been nagging her since the party  began and she needed Dani's perspective. "Did you know that as palazzo  owner, I'm supposed to play the part of festival queen?" she asked as  she took a drink.

"Really?"

"Nico told me it's a tradition."

Dani's eyes flashed with enthusiasm. "How exciting. Do you get to ride  on the back of a convertible and wave to a crowd like a beauty queen and  everything?"

"I have no idea." Although Dani had painted an image she'd rather not contemplate. "I wasn't planning to do it at all."

"Why not, if it's tradition? Sounds like fun." Dani asked. "I always  wanted to be the homecoming queen, but the title always went to some  tall cheerleader type."

"I was a cheerleader."

Her friend took a sip of wine. "I rest my case."

"Hey, less drinking, more gluing," Isabella said, her dark head poking  over the nymph's outstretched arm. "Do not make me come over there and  take your wineglasses away."

Chastised, the pair ducked their heads, though Dani managed to sneak one  more sip. "Seriously though," she said, reaching for the glue gun. "You  should totally do it. You'd make a gorgeous festival queen."

"I'd rather be part of the crowd," Louisa replied. "I've had enough of the spotlight for one lifetime."

"That I can understand." Dani said, putting another grape in place. "I  didn't want to bring up a sore subject, but how are you doing? You sound  a lot better than you did when I spoke to you on the phone."

"I feel better," Louisa answered.

"You have no idea how worried I was when I saw those headlines. Rafe  told me how brutal the paparazzi can be, and I was afraid one of them  might try something scary."

"One did try," Louisa said, "but Nico scared him off."

"So I read in the papers. Thank goodness he showed up."

"Thank goodness is right." Not giving it a second thought, Louisa looked  to the other side of the truck bed where he was arguing with Rafe over  the foam placement. Sensing he was being watched, he looked over his  shoulder and grinned.

She dipped her head before he could see how red her cheeks were. "I'm  only sorry his help dragged him into the gossip pages, too," she said to  Dani, hoping her friend didn't notice the blush either. "He's a good  man."

"Rafe wouldn't be his friend if he wasn't," Dani replied. "I don't know  if you've noticed, but my husband can be a little hard to please."

"A little?" Rafe Mancini's demanding reputation was legendary. He'd been  known to toss vendors into the street for selling him what he  considered subpar products.

And yet, the same chef and his wife had accepted Louisa without  question. Louisa felt the swell of emotion in her throat again.  Swallowing hard, she did her best to make her voice sound lighthearted  "Have I told you I'm really glad we met on the bus from Florence?"                       
       
           



       

"Is this your not so subtle way of thanking me for being your friend?" Dani asked.

"Maybe."

Her fellow American gathered her in a hug. "I'm glad we're friends,  too," she said. "Although if you get hot glue in my hair, I will kill  you."

"And Lindsay and I will kill you both if you do not get to work,"  Isabella scolded. "We are not gluing all these grapes by ourselves."

"Jeez, I'm glad I'm not one of her students," Dani whispered.

"I heard that."

Louisa snorted, almost dropping the grape she was putting into place.  The teasing reminded her of old times, when she and her college friends  would get together and giggle over cocktails. Steven had hated that.

"You too, Louisa," Lindsay admonished. "Just because you're dating the boss doesn't mean you get to slack off."

Dating-? The newspaper photographs. Just when she thought she'd actually  put them behind her. The only saving grace, if there could be one, was  that at least these women didn't consider her some kind of financial  predator. Like Marianna the other day, they saw it as a potential  romance. "Nico and I aren't dating," she told them.

"Are you sure?" Isabella asked. "Those pictures-"

"Were pictures, that's all," she said, cutting her off. "The two of us are just friends."

"Sure, just like Zach and I are friends," Lindsay replied. She and Isabella exchanged smirks.

"Something tells me the lady protests too much," the teacher replied.

Louisa stared at the grape-covered plastic in front of her and reminded  herself the women were only teasing. Nevertheless, that didn't stop her  skin from feeling as if it was on fire. Not because she was embarrassed  or ashamed, at least not in the way she expected to be. She was  embarrassed because they were right.

She was protesting too much.

* * *

"I didn't realize you found the gluing of grapes so fascinating, my friend."