The Best Of The Year - Modern Romance 2016. Кейт Хьюит

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      Bella suppressed a groan as she instantly responded, her nipples peaking like bullets against the silk lining, her lower belly tightening. Never in her life had she been so aware of her body, especially that area between her legs that was already throbbing with need. The thought of sitting at some dinner table for hours making small talk with someone she didn’t know was horrendous. She would much rather be back in Sergio’s bedroom, letting him show her what she could do to persuade him to visit her in New York.

      Whatever it was, she would do it. She would do anything to have Sergio in her bed on a regular basis. She could not imagine life without him in it. He made her feel things that she’d never felt before. When she was with him, she didn’t feel a failure. Or a bore. She felt deliciously sexy and fabulously free of all those negative emotions that lovemaking had always produced in her. Maybe one day she would find another man who satisfied her as much as Sergio did but she doubted it. He was a fantastic lover, with a magnificent body just made for sex. On top of that, he was a true friend. He didn’t try to con her with lies, or seduce her with flattery. He was honest with her. God, but she liked that. A lot.

      ‘We don’t have to stay too late, do we?’ she asked.

      * * *

      Sergio’s heart turned over at the urgency in her voice. She might not love him, but she wanted him. Wanting someone could be very powerful, as he well knew. But it was not love.

      Making Bella fall in love with him would require more than just giving her sex whenever and wherever she wanted it. Whilst he did not agree with the popular male mantra of treat ’em mean and keep ’em keen, he did understand that the female sex liked a man to be a challenge. In view of that idea, he vowed not to hurry home tonight. He would make her wait. Make her want him very badly. And if his conscience pricked him at this tactic, if there was an element of vengeance in pushing her frustration to the brink, then so be it. Let her suffer a little the way he’d suffered all these years. Let her know what it was like not to have what you wanted.

      Sergio suspected it might be a new experience for Bella.

      ‘I’m sorry, Bella,’ he said, ‘but I couldn’t possibly offend Claudia by leaving early. She was most excited when I told her who I was bringing for dinner. Now don’t pout. You’ll enjoy her company, I assure you. Not to mention her food and wine. The Countess only serves the very best.’

      ‘I am not pouting.’

      ‘Oh, yes, you are. And very prettily too. I’d kiss you into a better mood if Claudia wasn’t watching us from the terrace. So be a good girl and smile.’

      ‘Good Lord!’ Bella exclaimed once the Countess’s home came into better view. ‘That’s not a villa. That’s a palace!’

      ‘Not quite, but it is grand, I admit,’ Sergio said as he steered her up the steep path towards the stone steps that would lead them up onto the imposingly large terrace. ‘Wait till you see the main reception room,’ he added before they were within earshot of their beaming hostess. ‘Acres of marble and the most expensive antique furniture money can buy. Of course, the Count was very rich. And very old. He died shortly after their first wedding anniversary. Rumour has it he died with a smile on his face.’

      ‘I can imagine,’ Bella whispered as they mounted the steps. ‘She’s very beautiful.’

      ‘But not as young as she looks,’ he whispered back, then said, ‘Claudia!’ in a normal voice. ‘How lovely you look tonight.’

      ‘Why, thank you, Sergio,’ she replied in her fake Italian accent. Sergio knew full well that she wasn’t Italian born, his father having confided in him that she’d come from Albania, having been born into a dirt-poor family a few years after the war. Sergio never let on that he knew the truth about her background. Everyone was entitled to at least one secret in their life. He certainly had his, vowing that he would never tell Bella how much he’d always wanted her. Such knowledge would not enhance his attractiveness in her eyes.

      ‘And this is the very beautiful Bella,’ the Countess said, coming forward to take both of Bella’s hands in hers. She was a toucher, was Claudia. And very charming. ‘Alberto was very fond of you, my dear. Proud too. He went to London to see you perform, did you know that?’

      ‘No, I didn’t,’ Bella said, looking discomfited by this information.

      ‘He would be very glad to see you and his son together.’

      Sergio waited for Bella to deny that they had a relationship, but she didn’t. She just smiled, then threw him a look that said please rescue me.

      He wasn’t inclined to do any such thing. He wanted Claudia to think they were an item. But he didn’t want the whole world to know. Not just yet.

      ‘We’re keeping our relationship a secret for now,’ he told their hostess. ‘Don’t want the paparazzi getting wind of it. So as I told you over the phone, Claudia, not a word about her staying at the lake here with me.’

      ‘I will not breathe a word,’ she replied with a conspiratorial smile. ‘But you must promise me that I will be the first to know, if and when you plan to announce your engagement.’

      Bella looked startled whilst Sergio laughed. ‘We’re not quite at the engagement stage yet. But if and when we are, you’ll be the first to know.’

      ‘Wonderful,’ she said, clapping her hands together. ‘I love any excuse for a party, as you well know. Now we should go inside and into the dining room before Angela comes storming out in search of us. You know how she is. Italian cooks are such temperamental creatures,’ she informed Bella.

      After that, the evening went smoothly, which was understandable, given the social skills of their hostess. The Countess had the knack of making her guests feel special, her questions never seeming to pry, even if the end result was that she uncovered all sorts of personal details in the process. Bella finally confessed over dessert that she had been feeling seriously burnt out for some time, and probably needed a longer holiday than a month, at which Sergio jumped in and said it would be no hardship for him if she stayed longer. Claudia smiled a knowing smile at that point whilst Bella astounded him by blushing, which seemed out of character for a woman of her age and experience. But then Sergio recalled what she’d told him earlier today about never having had a one-night stand. He’d found that unusual but rather sweet. He found her blushing sweet, yet sexy at the same time.

      God, but he had it bad!

      The maid appeared just then, the same girl Claudia always hired when she had a dinner party. Angela refused to wait on tables, claiming she was a cook, not a waitress.

      ‘We’ll have coffee in the music room, Gina,’ Claudia informed her. ‘Shall we?’ she added, waving imperiously to Sergio and Bella as she stood up.

      They exchanged glances as they both stood up, Sergio taking Bella’s arm and steering her in Claudia’s wake. To reach the music room they had to walk through the main reception room, which had Bella telling him with her eyes that she was seriously impressed. The music room was just as impressive and almost as large, with several intimate seating arrangements and a grand piano situated very grandly in a semi-circular alcove that had floor-to-ceiling windows and a view of the lake that was truly spectacular during the day and still enchanting at night.

      When they were seated—on a brocade-covered sofa and chairs, which were more comfortable than they looked—Bella complimented Claudia СКАЧАТЬ