“Why don’t you pour some wine and get comfortable back on deck,” Luca suggested as eventually heavy beads of sweat began to form on Colette’s nose. She wasn’t sure if it was from the stove or the heat in her body. “I am almost finished here.”
She reluctantly did so, carrying up the cutlery and wineglasses he handed her.
Back outside on deck, the air was completely still and she had no idea where they actually were, though she could still make out the glittering lights of the coast in the distance.
Once again, she was struck by the romance of it all, and she pinched herself, unable to believe she was sitting in the middle of the Mediterranean on a boat with a gorgeous Italian man who seemed impossibly keen to impress her.
Up above, the sky was blanketed with stars; constellations she had never seen before lay painted like a canvas above her. It was all so beautiful, truly like something out of a fairy tale.
Minutes later, Luca joined her on deck, placing a mouthwatering plate of food before her.
“If you were to leave your father’s business, would you want to become a chef?” she asked as they ate. “You really could, you know.”
He smiled a little as he sat across from her. “I don’t think that’ll happen any time soon.”
“But if it did. Would you?” Colette sipped her wine.
“Probably,” he replied. “But I doubt I could.”
She sensed his wistfulness. He truly did want to do something else with his life, but commitments were holding him back.
The chicken was tender and juicy, the vegetables crisp and perfectly seasoned, and the pasta was perfectly al dente.
“Another masterpiece,” she sighed and sat back, unable to eat another morsel. She shivered a little, beginning to feel the late-evening chill off the water on her bare skin beneath her off-the-shoulder top.
“Your approval is always appreciated.” He smiled as he cleared the table.
A minute later, a warm blanket slid over her shoulders. “Come,” Luca said as he gently took her hand and led her to the front of the boat. Once there, he took another blanket from where it was draped around his own shoulders, and arranged it on the bow of the boat. “After you.”
Colette lowered herself onto the softness of the blanket, and looked up in wonderment as she lay down beneath the sky.
“It is beautiful, isn’t it?” he commented as he joined her.
“It’s incredible.”
“You’re incredible.”
“Oh, stop it,” she replied automatically, as a fresh blush painted her cheeks.
“Why do you have such trouble with me saying these things to you?” Luca questioned as he raised his head and propped it up on one arm to look at her.
“I’m just...not used to it, I suppose.”
“You should be. You should have people telling you every day how wonderful you are.” He put a finger beneath her chin and turned her face back toward his.
“But I’m no one special,” she insisted.
“Yes, you are, and I think you could be even more with the right person.”
Colette swallowed hard. “And who would that be?”
“Me.” He leaned closer, and this time Colette didn’t turn away. She kept still, caught between nerves and excitement, as his face hovered over hers and then finally their lips met.
His kisses were sweet, tender yet passionate, and it wasn’t long before her hands were touching his face, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. Their kisses quickly grew deeper and more urgent, and Colette’s body screamed for his, unable to believe she could want anyone—or anything—as much as she did in that moment.
As she lowered her hand to the belt of his trousers, a little amazed at her own boldness, he stilled and moved to look into her eyes. “Are you sure?”
She nodded, surer of anything she’d been in her entire life.
Afterward, Luca moved onto his back and pulled her closer to him, nestling her into the crook of his arm, while Colette’s body still trembled from the intensity of their lovemaking.
She had never felt so incredible, so alive, as she did just then. As she rested her head against his chest, she felt the ripple of his muscles beneath the fabric and incredibly a fresh wave of arousal stirred.
She smiled to herself in the darkness. This was obviously what people were talking about when they joked about Italian men...
She’d had no idea what she’d been missing.
“What are you thinking about?” Luca asked.
“Oh, nothing,” she lied with a grin, snuggling up against him. She wanted to stay here and listen to him forever.
The way he’d made her feel just now, how her insides turned to mush whenever he looked at her, how he spoke to her, and what he said just made her want to lose herself in him and never awaken from that dream.
Despite herself, she was falling for him and she didn’t know what to do about it. This could be nothing more than a holiday romance, the ultimate cliché.
But sometimes clichés were a very good thing.
“I never want this night to end,” Colette admitted with a sigh. “Is that silly?”
“No,” Luca replied. “I am wishing for the very same thing.”
She smiled in the darkness, deciding there and then to just go along with it, whatever it was and wherever it might lead.
She and Luca remained there, lying in silence in each other’s arms, the picture-perfect sky above them, when the sound of his phone buzzing broke the silence.
Groaning, Luca extricated himself to fish out his phone. He shook his head in frustration, but when he looked at the display she noticed a flash of something, besides annoyance at being interrupted, dart across his face.
“Scusi,” he stated, quickly moving away from her and continuing to speak hurriedly in Italian.
He was too far away for her to make out what he was saying, but the secretive way he’d moved to the other end of the boat instinctively made her stomach roil.
“Everything all right?” she asked when he returned.
“All is fine,” he replied distractedly.
“Are you sure?” Colette questioned as she studied his face. “I know you hate phones but I hope that wasn’t bad news or anything.”
But he seemed irritated by her questions, and just like that, the mood changed.
“Nothing to worry about,” he insisted, heading over to the wheel of the boat. “Let’s get you back.”