Michael arrived right on time. She was ready by the time the front desk called to tell her she had a visitor and when Liz stepped into the lobby of the beautiful hotel, she knew she had just made her surroundings look even classier.
The way he stared at her made her even more certain of that fact. He watched her approach, then, as if realizing that he had legs, he moved from where he stood and made his way over to her in that same casual stroll she was beginning to find endearing.
Liz watched him carefully, clutching her small bag. He didn’t need to know that she had allowed Frederick to take her shopping for something to wear, having not packed enough clothes to fit occasions like these. She had charged it all to Harold’s account as well, figuring it was all for the job anyway. This dinner was going to give her more information on the man who eluded her. It was vital.
At least, she hoped it would help.
Michael extended his long fingers to her and for a second, Liz forgot the reason for this date in the first place. He somehow managed to look even more handsome, the golden light overhead making his hair look like a beautiful halo over his angelic features. He was smiling broadly, eyes alight and Liz felt her own smile tug at her lips.
“What a sight to behold,” he said to her as she slipped her fingers into his. He tucked her hand into the crook of his arm, leading her towards the exit. “And to think I was feeling a bit bad for the way I coerced you into this date.”
Liz picked the hem of her midnight blue dress off the floor. Frederick had nearly broken down in tears when he saw this dress and threatened to break down again when Liz stated she wasn’t going to buy it. She gave in eventually, an easy feat considering she liked it herself. Still, she wondered if she was a bit overdressed.
She cast the tiny doubts aside as she said, “You mean the way you blackmailed me?”
Michael winced, holding the door open for her. The cool Italian air hit her bare shoulders with full force. “Blackmail? Don’t say that word too loudly, Liz. You never know who’s hearing you.”
“Perhaps other people you’ve blackmailed?”
“What a world we live in when perseverance is misconstrued in such a way.” Michael shook his head sadly and Liz had to hide her amused smile. There was no telling how a guy like him would react if he saw that she was already enjoying his company.
Professionalism, she told herself. She had to remain professional. This wasn’t an actual date. It was a meeting to learn more about Alessandro’s whereabouts.
The fact that she had to remind herself of that didn’t sit well with her. Neither was the fact that she might have to inwardly repeat it a few more times before the night was over.
Michael led her to a sleek, black car and opened the passenger side for her. She slid inside then waited while he jogged around to the driver’s seat.
“A famous guy like you driving yourself around in another country?” she commented once the doors were closed and it was just them. “How normal of you.”
“I find that women like you love when a man is independent.” He grinned at her. Outside, when they were surrounded by noise and bustle, that grin was staggering. Alone, with him right by her side, enclosed as if they were the only two people in the world… Liz wondered if he knew what sort of effect he had on women. If he knew the full extent.
She tried not to let herself react too strongly to it. She merely tilted her head to the side. The car rumbled to a start. “And is everything you do meant to impress women?”
“Only women as gorgeous as you.”
She huffed a laugh, rolling her eyes. “It looks like this night is going to be filled with shameless flirtation, huh?”
“It is what I’m best at,” he boasted, his grin growing wider somehow. In that moment, he looked like a child about to ride a rollercoaster, excitement rolling off him in waves. Liz stared at him a moment, at the way he tapped the steering wheel in a silent rhythm, reclining back in the seat. At ease with everything around him, like he had no care in the world.
She looked back to the road. “So, where are we headed?”
“My place.”
“Great,” she said dryly. “If you’ll pull over right here, I’ll just walk back to my hotel.”
Michael glanced at her, eyes lit with humor. “And what about Alessandro?”
“I’m sure I can find him some other way without walking into a stranger’s place.”
Michael chuckled lightly. “Alright, fine. We aren’t going to my place, but we are going somewhere close by. I just wanted to see what you would say to that.”
“Any sane woman would have turned that down the moment you asked.”
“Yeah, but somehow, your response still wasn’t what I expected.”
“What did you expect?”
“I’m not sure,” he said with a shrug. “More.” He shrugged again. “It was a surprise, though. I have a feeling you’ll always manage to surprise me.”
And Liz had a feeling he wasn’t going to be easy to get rid of. He’d probably want to drag this out, holding the information she needed over her head to keep her around. She would have to do whatever she could to keep that from happening.
“How do you know Alessandro?” she asked him.
Michael groaned loudly. “Straight to the point, aren’t you? We aren’t even at the restaurant yet.”
“I find it opens my appetite when I have work off the table.”
“Do you ever have work off the table?”
Liz looked at him, eyes narrowing. “What does that mean?”
Michael must have caught the slight edge in her tone because he looked at her with raised eyebrows. “Nothing,” he said quickly. “Let’s just wait a bit before we get into all that. We’re almost there.”
“Where, exactly?”
“A nice restaurant. You’re going to love it.”
Liz didn’t say anything, and Michael fell silent. Luckily, the restaurant really wasn’t far and they arrived in less than five minutes. It was a tiny place, music wafting in from the small, vintage windows that sported tiny potted plants. A valet attendant took Michael’s car—to where, Liz had no clue—and he took her hand again, his smile back with full force, as he led her inside.
Because of the restaurant’s small size, there weren’t many available seats, made even worse by the influx of people pouring in through the entrance. Even so, the hostess led Michael and Liz up a flight of stairs near the back and up to a floor where there were more seats, fewer people and way less light. They were seated by the window, another pair to join the couples talking softly amongst themselves.
“This is a lovely place, Michael,” Liz said once they were both settled with their menus. “I’m surprised you even know of a place like this. It doesn’t look to be on the radar, though it’s clearly very popular.”
“I used to come to Sorrento a lot,” Michael said. The small candle in the center of their table made his angelic features harder, more rugged. His hair more brown than blond now. “And tiny gems like these… well, finding them is like a hobby of mine. I happened upon this one last year when I was out on one of my walks.”
“You just walk around on the streets with no destination and not knowing where you are?”
“Yup,” he said with a smile. “You should try it next time. Let your hair down and just go. It’s more liberating than you think.”
“I’m fine, thank you. I’m quite fine where I am.”
“I’m sure you are.” She glanced up at him then, but his eyes were on the menu. “Hmm,” he said thoughtfully. “What should I get tonight? I had the steak last time I was here and let me tell you, it was muy muy delicioso,” Liz couldn’t help blinking in surprised amusement. Michael continued, oblivious, “You should try that. It’s great and I can already tell you’re a woman who appreciates good cuisine.”
“I’ll give it a go, then.”
“And I’ll have…” He placed a finger on his chin in thought. Liz sipped her water, regarding him. He was really thinking hard on this, she noticed, watching the way his brows furrowed in concentration. She waited patiently for him to come to his decision.
“Aha!” he said suddenly, louder than she expected and drawing eyes to their table. “Alright, I know what I’m going to get.” Excited, he turned the menu to show her, pointing at his chosen option. “I’m going to have this. The ossobuco. I have no idea what it is but it sounds interesting, don’t you think?”
“It certainly has a ring to it,” Liz said.
“I thought so too.” Seemingly satisfied by her agreement, Michael withdrew the menu and returned it to the table. Liz couldn’t take her eyes off him. Every move he made was that of a child’s, even when he signaled to the waiter.
The man who approached them was portly and pleasant looking. He beamed at Michael, who smiled back just as brightly as he recounted their order to him. The man wrote everything he said down, as well as Michael’s request for their best bottle of champagne, and went off.
“Phew,” Michael said once he was gone. Liz rose her brows at him, wondering what he was going to say or do next. “Now, that that is over with, we can really get down to business.”
“You’re going to tell me where Alessandro is?”
“No. I’m going to get to know you Lizzie Harley.”
And there it was. The smile that threw her off. The excitement was gone and in its place was a coolness that was nothing like her own, a coolness that made her want to lean closer to him. He cocked his head to the side, taking a sip of his water, watching her as she watched him.
She couldn’t figure him out.
Finally, she said, “You don’t get to call me that.”
“Why not? You allowed me to call you Liz.”
She hadn’t even noticed that, but he was right. He had been calling her Liz all this time, something she reserved for those close to her. Liz shrugged, determined not to let him see how taken aback by that she was, though by the way his smile widened a bit, she wondered if he suspected. “I’m fine with Liz. Not Lizzie.”
“No Lizzie, then. Is there anything else I should know?”
“Nothing you’ll need to concern yourself with.”
“We’ll see.” He didn’t give her a chance to comment on his disbelieving comment when he said, “So, Liz, what brought you to Italy?”
Liz took a moment to decide how she wanted to answer. How much information she was willing to give him to secure what she needed. “I’m here for work.”
“Is Alessandro a part of that work?”
“He is,” she confirmed. It made no sense hiding it. “I’m a curator. Alessandro is a rising talent. I suppose you can see why I’m here.”
“You’re trying to pawn a painting off him, huh? And here I was thinking there was something more exciting afoot.”
“Sorry for the disappointment,” she said dryly.
“I’m here at a restaurant with you, Liz,” Michael said. “Nothing about this is disappointing.”
Liz cocked her head to the side. “What do you think you’re going to gain from this date, Michael?”
“Oh, the way you say my name.” Michael placed his hand against his heart, shaking his head as if in pain. “I think I’m in love.”
She was torn between rolling her eyes and laughing. “It was a serious question.”
Michael dropped his hand, sobering up though mirth still lingered in his eyes. “I want to get to know you, Liz. I’ve been interested in you since the moment I saw you in that art gallery.”
“Is that why you jumped in when I was talking to Hunter?”
“A part of the reason,” he said with a shrug. “The other part being that he was making you uncomfortable.”
“I wasn’t uncomfortable.”
“Well, you certainly didn’t want to be talking to him and he wasn’t very keen on leaving. So I knew there had to be some intervention or things would have gotten ugly.” He sipped his water again. “Another second and you might have had your foot down his throat.”
“If I did put my foot down his throat, it would be because he deserved it.”
“I have no doubt. But I couldn’t very well give up the chance to be your knight in shining armor, could I?”
Liz ran her finger around the rim of her glass. “I suppose you were a blessing in disguise.” His brows shot up at that, pleasantly surprised. “Since you’re the only lead I have into finding Alessandro,” she finished off, satisfied by the way he sagged slightly.
It was a risky choice she knew, revealing her vulnerability. If he knew that she could only rely on him to get what she wanted, he could easily take advantage of that. But she was taking a chance with him, hoping that if he knew she was trusting him on this, he would hold true on their agreement.
To drive it home, she said, “Alessandro is an important man to me, Michael. I need to find him. I need your help.”
“You’ll get my help,” Michael said. He stared into her eyes as she spoke, and Liz wondered if maybe he could see right through her. “But first, we eat!”
As soon as he said that, the waiter appeared with their food in tow. Michael must have seen him come up here without her noticing. The waiter placed their food before them and left their champagne chilling in ice.
The food smelled wonderful. Catherine would have gone crazy over this, and would have probably pestered the waiter to let her around the kitchen so she could speak to the chef. Madison wouldn’t have been able to speak at all with half the food in her mouth already. The thought of it made Liz smile.
“What’s so funny?” Michael’s voice broke through.
She looked up at him and shook her head, picking up her knife and fork. “Nothing.”
Michael made a tsk tsk sound, which had Liz looking up at him with a brow raised. “You’re such a closed book, Liz.”
“I hardly know you, Michael,” she shot back.
“What would you like to know? Normally I tell people to listen to my music if they want to get to know me, but you already have all my songs downloaded to your phone, so...”
“There isn’t anything I particularly want to know about you.” She might have regretted saying such cold words, fearing what that might do to their agreement, but the beautiful taste of the tender steak on her tongue had her forgetting that she’d even spoken.
Michael, fortunately, wasn’t fazed by it. Instead, he grinned. Such a happy man he was. “Alright, no problems with that. You’ll get to know me over time. I’m an open book, but until then, I want to know more about you. Where did you grow up?”
“In the States.”
“Hm, that’s a bit vague.”
“Because anything more specific is something you don’t need to know.”
“How about siblings? Have any?”
“Perhaps.”
“Favorite color?”
“Don’t have one.”
“Favorite food?”
“Don’t have any.”
“Are you going to keep going like this?”
“As long as I need to.”
Michael threw his head back and laughed. The sound shocked her, had her straightening in surprise. The laugh was so loud, it drew eyes to their table again, but Michael clearly didn’t care.
“What’s so funny?” she asked him once he was done.
“You are, Liz. I bet you think I’ll be frustrated, huh? That did nothing but made me want to dig deeper. I’m going to know you, Liz Harley. You just wait.”
“How about you just tell me where Alessandro is and we can get to know each other afterwards.”
Michael chewed slowly on his food. He always seemed to find the humor in everything. “You’re a woman who knows about negotiation, right? Who knows how to get what you want?”
“What’s the point of you asking me that?”
“I’ll tell you all I know about Alessandro if you answer one question for me.”
Liz paused in the process of cutting her meat. She looked at him, saw that he wasn’t eating anymore, only watching her, waiting for her response. Eyes filled with mirth grew intense with something else. “Depends on the question,” she said carefully.
Michael leaned forward, not taking his eyes off her. “What arrangement did you have with Hunter? Was he your ex?”
“I don’t see how that’s any of your—”
“Yes, yes. It’s not any of my business, I know. You don’t have to respond if you don’t feel comfortable.”
Liz pulled her shoulders back. “We were casual sex partners. That was it. Not a relationship but just someone I agreed to have regular sex with.”
Michael leaned back, nodding as if confirming something to himself. “And he wasn’t okay with you ending it.”
“No, he wasn’t. Now that I’ve answered your question, why don’t you answer mine?”
“Alright. I don’t know where Alessandro is right now. His letter was delivered via my manager and he didn’t really give anything away about his whereabouts.”
“Then why the hell—”
“But,” he said, cutting her off before she could start ripping into him. “I do know where he lives. And if he isn’t there, then his servants should know exactly where he is.”
Liz settled back in her seat, letting the sudden anger leave her shoulders. She’d been on the edge of her seat, ready to damn him to hell for wasting her time and energy, but this was one step closer to finding him and she was grateful for that. “Thank you,” she said.
“You’re most welcome, Liz. How are you enjoying your meal?”
“It’s excellent.”
“Good, good. Now, what do you think about me replacing Hunter as your new sex partner?”
Liz nearly choked on her meat. She managed to get it down in time, eyes shooting to him. “Excuse me?”
“How long are you going to be in Sorrento? Another day? A week? A month? I’ll be in Italy for a while and I figured it would be a nice idea to have someone for those cold and lonely nights.”
“I don’t have those nights.”
“Yeah, no doubt. But I’m sure you get what I mean.”
“What do you take me for?”
“A woman who knows exactly what she wants and takes it in the most efficient way possible.”
“Who said I wanted you?”
Michael set his fork down and leaned closer again. Liz hadn’t realized she herself had been leaning over the table until he brought his face within inches of hers. “I know you find me attractive, Liz,” he said.
Nothing like the excited man he’d been picking out his meal, nor the jokester who seemed to find everything she said funny. This Michael was filled with quiet passion, with sex appeal that radiated off his slender frame. She couldn’t deny how handsome he was in that moment, how her stomach coiled at the way he whispered those words. An image of him making love to her flashed across her mind.
She was attracted to him, no doubt. Especially right now, in this moment, she couldn’t think of anything else but the word yes. Yes, as she whispered his name. Yes, as she screamed it.
She hadn’t realized she said it out loud until he grinned, filled with confidence. “The feeling’s mutual. I’m very attracted to you, Liz, and I would prefer if this wasn’t the last time I see you.”
She leaned back, hoping it would quell at least some of the effect he was having on her but it didn’t do much. “I’m here for work. Not for sex.”
“Neither am I, but who’s to say we can’t enjoy ourselves when we aren’t working?” He leaned back as well. “Just think about it, Liz.” He scribbled his number on a napkin and pushed it over to her side of the table. “You’ll be able to reach me at that when you come to decision.”
Liz only looked at it for a moment, then picked it up and tucked it into her clutch. She could pretend she only did it for his sake, but she knew better than that.
The champagne was shared over talk—Michael continually urging her to tell him more about herself and Liz refusing to even give him the time of day. She laughed a few times before they made it back to the car, and by the time they were back at her hotel, Liz had a cramp in her side. She blamed it on the champagne, but she knew it had just as much to do with the beautiful man who held her arm, escorting her back inside.
He watched her go. Liz turned once to see that he was still by the doors, waiting for her to get on the elevator. She resisted the urge to turn a second time and instead waited until she was actually on before she faced him again. Michael waved enthusiastically at her and that made Liz laugh as well.
She was still thinking about him when we made it to her room. While she took off her makeup, while she showered, as she got into bed. Michael Davidson haunted her thoughts and she could have sworn the napkin in her purse beckoned to her throughout the night.