She's On Top. Susan Lyons

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СКАЧАТЬ a witch.

      Did Giancarlo actually find this picture appealing?

      Well, there was nothing much she could do to improve on it. No point trying to get a comb through those tangled curls. She splashed cold water on her cheeks, brushed her teeth, put on some lip gloss and made her way back to the table.

      Giancarlo rose to his feet and held her chair.

      Once she’d sat down, she slid her Sambuca across the table to him. She wanted to know what might come next, and this was a subtle way of asking his intentions. “I can’t drink this. I’m driving.”

      “Ah yes, you drove here. From North Vancouver, you said in your e-mail.” He slid the glass back. “I think you’ve had too much wine already to be driving.”

      “It’s a very long taxi ride to where I live.” And he’d been drinking too, so he could hardly suggest he’d drive her.

      “I think—” He broke off as Francesco again appeared at the table.

      This time, though, rather than speaking to them, the man broke into song. Opera. Rina recognized it immediately. “Nessun Dorma” from Turandot. Where the prince sings to Turandot, hoping to win her love.

      Giancarlo captured her left hand in both of his and winked, making her realize this was his doing.

      Rina didn’t know where to look—at the one Italian who was serenading her or the other who was gazing passionately across the table at her. She glanced around the restaurant, realizing all conversation had died and everyone else was watching Francesco. And her and Giancarlo, the favored couple.

      She shoved embarrassment away and gave herself up to the moment, absorbing the powerful voice and beautiful words, the warm clasp of Giancarlo’s hands. Savoring each sensation and filing it away so she’d never forget. A gift, from Giancarlo to her.

      When the song was finished, there was a moment of hush, then Francesco bowed and everyone in the restaurant burst into applause.

      “Thank you,” Rina told him, her words swallowed up in the clapping. Then, as the applause died down, she dug into her tiny stock of Italian. “Grazie.”

      “Prego, bella,” Francesco responded. “It’s my pleasure.” He strutted away, shoulders back and chest out, to be complimented by other diners as he crossed the restaurant.

      Rina said to Giancarlo, “How did you arrange that?”

      He shrugged. “They told me at the hotel, when they recommended this restaurant, that Francesco had studied opera and still sang on occasion. I thought you—we—might enjoy it. Something special, to mark our first night together.”

      She had to laugh. “As if champagne wasn’t enough?” And his company, and the way he looked at her with wholly masculine appreciation?

      “A man should treat his woman well.”

      His woman. Maybe she was, at least for tonight. Already her relationship with Al felt as if it had happened long ago.

      Rina raised the glass of Sambuca to her lips and tasted, savoring the licorice flavor. “If I can’t drive home anyhow, I might as well enjoy this.” She took another sip and said, feeling bold, “I seem to have a problem. I’m marooned downtown with no easy means of transportation.”

      “My hotel is less than a mile away.” He raised her hand to his mouth and kissed the back of it, his lips soft and tantalizing, raising goose bumps. “It has a very large bed, an extra bathrobe and everything you could possibly want in the way of toiletries.”

      “You had me back at large bed,” she admitted softly, finally acknowledging to both of them that this was what she wanted. One night with this man who was both the old and the new Giancarlo. She’d take this one night, then see what happened next.

      “I’m afraid I’m not very good at this,” she said. “It’s new to me. Agreeing to, uh, spend the night after a first date.”

      “I’m glad. But we’re hardly strangers, Rina. Remember what we said? Picking up where we left off? Don’t be nervous, it’s just me, the scrawny homesick kid who speaks broken English.”

      She laughed. “That is so not the case. And yet, it is. It seems natural to relax with you. To let down my guard and be myself.”

      “Why should you need to keep up a guard?”

      “I guess I don’t trust my judgment. It takes me a while to get to know people, to decide if I can trust them.” Moving around all the time as she’d done as a child, one option had been to leap into instant friendships, with all the risks that entailed. She’d done that a couple of times and learned she’d rather have no friends than choose unwisely.

      He nodded, eyes narrowing thoughtfully. “Yes. To know whether they like you for who you are or only want something from you.”

      She studied him. “I suppose in your work you get a lot of that.”

      “Oh yes. Some see me as a star-maker. At the very least, I can make them look attractive. Or ugly.”

      If only he could make her look beautiful. On the other hand, the gleam in his eyes said that was how he saw her. How very strange. Teasingly she said, “And you’re so sure I don’t want to be on your next video?”

      He laughed. “I’m positive.”

      Because she was too heavy, not pretty enough? Hurt, she said, “Oh, and why’s that?” Yes, make him say it, admit he’d just been flattering her to get her into bed.

      He gripped her hand firmly. “Because you’re the genuine thing, Rina. There’s no artifice in you. I may not have seen you in nine years, but that much I know.”

      “Oh,” she said weakly. It seemed Giancarlo, too, was being sincere.

      “Drink up,” he said. “I’m afraid my pazienza is wearing extremely thin. I can’t wait to have you in my arms.”

      She wanted that too. So much. But she was nervous as well. When he held her, he’d discover how very much of her there was. But once she got Giancarlo into that big bed with the lights off, she’d make him forget her extra pounds.

      One thing she was confident about was that she was a good lover. She’d learned a lot, all those years ago with Giancarlo, and she knew she’d pleased the few men she’d been with since. Her insecurity about her attractiveness made her try harder, and she knew many ways to make a man happy in bed.

      The thought of pleasuring Giancarlo—and being pleasured in return—almost made her whimper with need. “My patience is wearing thin, too.” Lifting her Sambuca glass, she drained the last few drops.

      Giancarlo beckoned their waiter and said, “The bill, please. And can you call us a cab?”

      “There are taxis across the street at the Sutton Place Hotel. If you wave, one will come over.”

      When they were ready to leave, Rina draped her scarf around her shoulders again and bent down to find her purse. Before she could rise, Giancarlo hurried to assist her. He stood behind her for a moment, not touching, but she could tell he was СКАЧАТЬ