Honeymoon For One (18 page)

“What makes you think that?” asked Ava, trying
unsuccessfully to tie the bracelet around the wrist of her left hand.

“Because he would surely want to see your reaction
after purchasing such a beautiful piece of jewellery. Please, madam. Let me
help you.” And at the nod of her head, the clerk gently fixed the clasp into
place, securing the bracelet firmly around Ava’s wrist.

“May I?” he asked, looking up at Ava with great
expectation. Ava nodded.

“How expensive is it?” Ava asked breathlessly,
holding up her wrist to show off the bracelet to the clerk.

“Flamentagostinis are created uniquely. And
nothing less than ten thousand dollars. Though this one might be a great deal
more, as you can see it has a lot of detailing and many stones. We see a lot of
these pieces here, as you can imagine,” he explained, casting his eyes around
the hotel.

At the mention of that amount of money, Ava shot
her hand away as though it had been touched by a blazing hot piece of iron.

“In fact, madam. Isn’t that the gentleman in
question?” said the clerk, looking over Ava’s shoulder towards the double glass
doors.

Ava turned around quickly and saw Nico taking huge
strides towards the centre of the piazza.

She ran out of the hotel, flinging the doors open
and ran across the piazza, tottering on her nude colored sling backs. When she
was no more than a couple of metres away from him, Nico stopped and turned
around.

“I’d recognize the sound of those footsteps
anywhere,” he said in a friendly though detached voice. He regarded Ava with
suspicion, as though he wasn’t sure what mood she would be in today.

“Nico!” said Ava breathlessly. She stopped yards
away from him, clutching her hand to her chest. Her face was flushed and she
was panting, but trying hard to sound normal. She caught his stern expression,
then followed the gaze of his eyes as he saw the shiny bracelet she was now
wearing.

“Do you like it?” he asked, his face softening a
little as he put down his bag and placed his hands in the front pockets of his
trousers.  She wasn’t sure but she thought she caught a glimpse of relief.

“Love it Nico? Of course I love it. It’s
beautiful. But I-I-didn’t expect you to buy it, that day when I saw it in the
shop.”

Nico
took his hands out and flicked them, as if dismissing her reaction.

“I wanted to buy it. It is beautiful. Whenever I
see a Flamentagostini now, I’ll always think of you,” he said, and his voice
sounded sad.

She held her arm out for him to see the bracelet.
“But Nico, I can’t accept this. I can’t. It’s very expensive. It wouldn’t be
right.” She struggled to open the clasp with her free hand.

“No. It’s yours. I want you to have it. I came
here after you because we parted badly in Verona. And the truth is out. Yours
and mine. So we can both go back to our lives now.”

Ava stopped fidgeting with her bracelet. Why was
he sounding as if he wouldn’t be seeing her again?

“Don’t say it like that,” she said softly, “as
though we’ll not meet again.”

“But we won’t will we, Ava?”

“Why not?”

He raised his eyebrows slightly, “Next year? Same
time? Same place?” he asked, and she wasn’t sure whether there was a tinge of
sarcasm in his voice.

“But we were……” her voice trailed away, even she
wasn’t sure what they were.

“Good together?” he asked, finishing the sentence
for her.

She looked up at him, catching the gleam in his
eyes as he took a step towards her.

“And that kiss,” he said, his voice low and husky
all at once.

Ava blushed, “You remember it too?”

“How could I not?” he replied, advancing towards
her slowly.

“That’s good,” she said.

“Why?”

“Because I remember only parts of it,” she said,
holding her arms across her stomach and keeping her barriers up a little.

Nico’s face brightened but she saw his jaw was
still tight as he looked down at her, not daring his eyes to set free the
excitement he felt rising up inside him. “Just parts of it?” he asked with a
glint in his eyes. They stood facing each other.

“Maybe I can help you to remember some more?” he
asked.

Ava dared not answer. She wanted to remember this
moment, in case, for whatever reason, she lost everything she had now. Standing
so close to him that she could smell his cologne, Ava’s heart fluttered and she
felt the butterflies dancing around in the base of her stomach.

She gasped, suddenly remembering that she needed
to return the bracelet, as beautiful as it was. Nico watched her unsuccessfully
trying to take it off before gently grabbing hold of her wrist. “I bought this
for you Ava. I want you to have it.”  The feel of his hand around her
wrist set her skin on fire and sent tingles of excitement shooting through her
veins.

“I can’t Nico. I can’t.”

He pulled her closer until she was against his
chest. Without saying a word, Nico placed his free hand around the back of her
head. Ava looked up into his eyes, so close now that she could see her
reflection in them. She felt giddy and hopeless all at the same time and
willingly let herself go, falling against his chest until she heard his heart
beating as fast as hers.

He tilted her face upwards towards him and the
hairs on the back of her neck stood up as he bought his lips down fully on
hers. She lost herself in his kiss for an eternity, placing her hands on either
side of his face and not wanting him to stop.

There, in the middle of the piazza, under the
softly caressing sun, with people from all over the world strolling past them,
Nico and Ava kissed and found each other again.

When at last she drew back to get some air, Nico
said, “He must have been a very foolish man to have let you go.”

She moved her lips towards his again, hungry for
the taste of him. But before he pressed his lips against hers again, he moved
his mouth closer to her ear and murmured,

“Because I don’t intend to ever let you go, now
that I’ve finally found you.”

I hope you enjoyed this book, and you have time, I would greatly
appreciate it if you left a review of this book at Amazon. 

Thank you so much.

 Lily.

Other
books by Lily Zante:

Love, Inc

Lexi Stanning is a
beautiful and intelligent secretarial temp who loves working in lots of
different places. Not content with working for a boss, Lexi is also working on
her side business where she is selling her own line of sexy lingerie.

Wayne Blunt is an
entrepreneur whose company WB Enterprises makes products for the building and
construction industries. His company is doing very well and he wants to take it
to the next level. When Wayne and Lexi first meet they are worlds apart. Young,
intelligent and beautiful Lexi is used to working at sleek, corporate offices.
When she is offered a stint at WB Enterprises, working for the rather ruggedly
handsome and hard-working boss, she instantly regrets accepting this contract. Wayne takes one look at Lexi and in her Prada high heels and doesn't think she will last
long at his company.

However, the business of
love leads these two people through a roller coaster ride of emotional highs
and depressing lows. Will Wayne and Lexi ever get their business together? Find
out in Love, Inc.

http://www.amazon.com/Love-Inc-ebook/dp/B00AGXZDCQ

The Proposal

Nadine Stefano is a high
flying career woman. She has no time for relationships and having been recently
promoted at work, she wants to make a good impression with her boss. At her
sister's hen party Nadine meets Ethan who is one of the performers. She finds
herself attracted to him and they end up talking that first night.

A few weeks later, the
company Nadine works for are holding their annual convention at a luxury hotel away
from home. Not having a date to take with her, and wanting to present the image
of a settled and happy woman in a relationship, Nadine resorts to calling Ethan
at the escort agency and asking him along.  Theirs is a strong attraction,
although there are various company politics and characters that stand in their
way.

Will their meeting lead
to love, despite seemingly different career choices, or will Nadine dump Ethan
in order to pursue her career goals?

http://www.amazon.com/The-Proposal-ebook/dp/B00ARFOGQ2

An Unexpected Gift

Caitlin Quinn has just
walked out of a miserable relationship with her abusive boyfriend and is
finally starting to get her life back on track again.

Walking home late on a
cold, December night after a Christmas party at work,  Caitlin is suddenly
and brutally  attacked.

Terrorised and frightened
for her life she screams for help when suddenly a handsome stranger comes to
her rescue and saves her. 

Thrown together under the
most horrific of circumstances, Caitlin and her rescuer must learn to deal with
the effects of the attack as well as their existing relationships and the
problems that each of them faces.

The bigger problem,
however, is that they are starting to become attracted to one another too.

http://www.amazon.com/An-Unexpected-Gift-ebook/dp/B00BAK6AU8

Please visit my website
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love to hear from you!

Website:
www.LilyZante.com

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