“You really don’t have to keep coming here,” Colette argued for the thousandth time. “I’m fine now.” She sat rigidly on the tatty old sofa in the living room, while Luca brought her food.
She appreciated his efforts but she was sure the man had better things to do.
When Luca smiled it was like the clouds opening on an overcast day, and suddenly the sun came through in full force, making everything brighter.
Colette couldn’t help but study him as he moved. He was so cool and authoritative in everything he did. The way he walked with long calm strides. The controlled way he moved to unpack the tray of food he’d brought with him.
However, what really got her was the way he looked at her. His dark eyes seemed to peel back all of her defenses and cut straight through to what was beneath.
“I told you, I will be here until you are fully recovered,” Luca insisted as he set a glass of water on a side table and took a seat on the sofa next to her. “Besides, I promised my aunt I would look after you. I would be in big trouble if I didn’t.”
Colette smiled. Yes, Mama Elene was sweet but fierce, she’d seen that much for herself. “I’m guessing she can be a bit of a drill sergeant,” she joked.
“I always thought her more of a general,” Luca said as he set the tray on her lap and carefully arranged everything out in front of her. Colette had never been so well looked after in her entire life. Not even her mother had been this attentive when she was a child.
“There is another reason I come,” he said then.
“What’s that?”
His dark eyes brightened a little as she met his gaze. “You.”
Colette felt as if her head was about to explode. She must have misunderstood. “What do you mean?”
He smiled again and took her hand in his. “I mean that I want to get to know you better, my English rose.”
“I don’t understand,” she said, slowly removing her hand from his. “Why?”
Her question seemed to amuse him as Luca began to chuckle. “You really don’t see yourself, do you?”
Her brow furrowed at his odd response. What did he mean she didn’t see herself?
“Why wouldn’t I want to get to know you?” he asked. He folded his arms over his chest and adjusted where he sat to make himself more comfortable. “Tell me. I’d love to hear it.”
Colette could feel the heat rising up through her body and she could only imagine what hue her cheeks had taken on as she fumbled for the right response to his question.
“I’m just...not the kind of person someone like you notices,” she began with a shrug of her shoulders.
“And what kind of person do you think you are?”
That was a loaded question. Colette had to think for a moment. “Well, I’m not particularly outgoing, or gregarious like, say, Annie,” she began. “And I’m not worldly or beautiful like Kim,” she added softly. “I’m just...simple, I suppose.”
Luca smiled. “Usually the simplest things are the best things.”
Colette couldn’t help the reaction his response had on her. A large smile spread across her face.
“And you’re wrong,” he added a moment later.
“About what?”
“You are beautiful,” he replied as he curled a strand of her hair around his finger and forced her chin up with another so that their eyes met. “Don’t ever say or think that you aren’t.”
There were wings inside her chest and knots inside her stomach as Colette sat there in amazement. The most gorgeous man she’d ever laid eyes on was telling her that she was beautiful. Maybe she’d hit her head harder than the doctor thought.
“You don’t believe me?”
She shook her head. “Not particularly, sorry.”
“It’s because you don’t see what I see,” he replied as he leaned closer, one finger still entangled in her hair.
“And what’s that?” she asked as she swallowed the lump in her throat.
“I see a brave woman with a caring heart. I see someone who has been through a lot and hasn’t let the hardship destroy her. I see someone who doesn’t know her own beauty because she thinks trappings like clothing, money, and color from a bottle is what makes a woman beautiful. I don’t see any of that. I like my women in their natural state.”
Colette almost choked on her food. His women? Was he implying that he wanted her to be his woman?
Don’t get ahead of yourself. He’s just telling you what he likes.
Luca leaned in and, in a low voice, said, “Did you know that you blush a lot?”
“Only around you, it seems.”
“Why is that?”
Colette’s eyes tried to stay on his but the gaze he returned was just too intense for her. She shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“I think you do,” Luca replied. “I think you know a lot more than you pretend. You aren’t like your friends.”
“What does that mean?” she asked defensively. She hadn’t known Kim and Annie long, but in the short time that they’d been here she’d come to care a lot about them. Each was unique and wonderful in her own way.
“I mean that your friends are who they are because of what they know and see. They aren’t their true selves,” he replied.
“How can you know that?”
“I’ve learned to pay attention to people,” Luca answered with a smile. “Plus, I have five sisters.”
“Five?” Colette repeated as her eyes grew large. How had he survived? She’d barely got through with one sister, far less five. She didn’t want to imagine what bathroom visits were like in his house when he was growing up. All that estrogen, too.
“Yes. I was the only boy and firstborn child. I had a great deal of responsibility on my shoulders.”
“How did you manage?”
“Very carefully,” he chuckled. “I helped my father with his import business and my mother with my sisters until I graduated. Then I went on to get my business degree and follow in my father’s footsteps.”
“Do you enjoy it? Business, I mean.”
“Business is good. We do well with it.”
“But you don’t love it, do you?” Colette realized. She could hear it in his words. “What do you love to do? What is your passion, Luca?”
He smiled again as he took a forkful of food and raised it to her lips. “This,” he said, and Colette opened her mouth to taste it. She hummed her approval. “You like it?”
“I love it,” she replied between chews, covering her mouth with her hands. “Mama Elene is such a great cook.”
“My aunt didn’t make this for you,” he replied simply. “I did.”
“What?” Colette raised an eyebrow. There was no hiding her surprise this time. “You made this? But I thought...”
“I’ve always loved to cook. Elene taught me everything I know.”
“Then why didn’t you become a chef like her?” Luca’s expression faltered then, and she knew she’d strayed into a sensitive area. “You don’t have to answer that if you don’t want to.”
“It’s fine. I’ve spent the last few days getting to know you better. It’s only fair that you get to know me as well, no?”
Colette didn’t reply. If she said yes she might seem too eager, but if she said no it would be a lie. She wanted to know more about Luca. She wanted to know everything.
“My father had plans for me. I had a mother and five sisters at home depending on me. I had to do what was right for them,” he replied. “That’s how I know when a person isn’t being their true selves. Because I’m not.”
Colette refused the second forkful of food he offered. She leaned in closer as she studied his face. “Why? That must have been years ago surely. Why don’t you be who you want to be now?”
“I still have my family to think of. My youngest sister is at school. It will be a few years until she’s ready and able to take care of herself.”
“So until then, you do what you have to, just not what you love?” Colette said sadly.
“I will be responsible,” Luca replied. Another forkful of food was directed to her mouth then and Colette duly accepted it. It was so delicious, perhaps even more so now that she knew he’d made it just for her.
“Why do you feed me like that?” she asked. “I can do it myself.”
“Because I like to watch your eyes when you eat,” Luca replied. “I like to watch your expressions when you taste what I’ve made. Especially now you know that I’ve made it.”
“How many of my meals have you made?”
A mischievous glint reflected in Luca’s eyes but he didn’t respond. Instead he fed her another bite.
“All of them?” she exclaimed.
“Hush, do you want your friends to hear? They’ll think I’m doing something inappropriate in here.”
Heat flooded her chest and neck once more. “You really did all this for me?”
“I told you: I like you. I take care of what I like.”
If he didn’t stop soon Colette wasn’t sure her heart would be able to take it. No one had ever said such things to her before. She wasn’t sure if she should believe it or how she should respond. All she knew was that she liked it. She liked him.
“What do you do in your father’s business?” she asked as she tried to find something that would keep him talking.
“I’m vice president of Sales,” he informed her.
“That’s very accomplished. How old are you?” she inquired, realizing she wasn’t quite sure of his age.
“I turned thirty-three on my last birthday. What’s the matter? Did that surprise you?” Luca questioned as the next forkful of food hovered in the air between them.
“No,” she lied, as Luca’s phone began to chime. She’d actually thought he was much older.
“You’re a terrible liar,” he replied. “It did. Why?” He pulled the phone from his back pocket and promptly turned it off. “I hate these things. I would throw them all in the sea if I could.”
Colette smiled. She felt the very same way about electronics and was especially glad he’d silenced it in favor of her. “I just can’t figure out why you’re being so nice to me.”
His expression became gentle but his voice was serious. “I can see you aren’t a woman who is so easily swayed by words,” he replied. “So I think I will just have to show you.”
“Show me?” she repeated as he got to his feet, faintly disappointed. “Where are you going?” Usually, he stayed while she ate, and sat and talked with her a while longer before heading back. But today he was leaving early, it seemed.
“I promised my sister I would take care of her children tonight,” he informed her.
“You’re babysitting?”
Was there no end to this man’s mysteries?
“My sister and her husband have a new baby and busy lives. It isn’t easy for them to get some time alone. I help when I can.”
“That’s really sweet.”
“I’m a sweet guy,” he replied as he leaned over and kissed her forehead. “Enjoy the rest of your meal, Colette. I will see you tomorrow. And we will plan what comes next for us when you are well.”
What comes next?
Colette watched him go, all thoughts of food completely banished from her mind as she tried to figure out what a man like Luca could see in a girl like her.