Prosecco & Paparazzi (The Passport Series Book 1) (16 page)

I was led to a gorgeous sunroom on the west side of the house decorated in dark mahogany furniture with bright fabrics. Glorious tropical plants filled the room. I found a chaise and tucked up in a corner beneath the canopy of a huge banana plant after Jeff left. It was 4:30 in New York, so it would be 10:30 in Italy. Who knew if Tiziana would be home on a Saturday night?

The phone rang twice before a male answered the phone. At first, I was startled, but then I realized I had heard the voice before. It was Ted.

“Hello, this is Charlotte Young. May I speak with Tiziana, please?” I didn’t want to slight Ted. I just didn’t know him well enough to start chatting with him.

“Sure! Just a minute,” he answered happily.

The phone clattered as it was set down and then there was chatting in a distant room, and footsteps approached the phone. “Charlotte?” Tiziana asked with concern in her voice.

“Hi, Tiziana,” I said with guilt.

“Charlotte, how are you? Are you all right?” she asked, rushing.

“I’m fine, Tiziana. How are you?”

“Bella, I’m fine, but not. Life with Ted is perfetto, but everything… no.”

Not really knowing where to start, I took the coward’s way out and asked, “How are the wedding plans coming along?”

She regaled me with stories about planning hell. And we had a few good laughs at her mother’s expense. I gasped when she alluded to how much things cost.

“Well, if you weren’t inviting most of Europe, it wouldn’t be quite so expensive,” I teased when she told me how many people she planned to invite. It seemed that anyone and everyone were being invited to this wedding.

Finally, I said, “Tiziana, I’m sorry. I’ve spent so much time and energy being angry at Des that it has only just occurred to me that all this has to be hard on you. I’ve missed out on so much. I’ll try, I really will, to let it go. So, please! Tell me how you and Ted came to be in the first place.” I thought it would help us both if we got entirely caught up, and there was so much I didn’t know.

“Well, darling, it happened so fast. After we met at the casino, I gave Ted my phone number. I felt guilty because of Gianni, but I was so compelled by Ted. He called me several times while we were in Chamonix. When things with Des became so complicated, it seemed better to keep my phone calls with Ted to myself. It wasn’t until I returned to Italy and found him waiting on my doorstep that I realized how serious he was. He spent the next few weeks in Rome. We had so many romantic dinners, spent hours walking all over the city. When he went home, I felt dead inside. Fortunately, when he went back to England, he felt the same. He asked me to come visit him. I told him I couldn’t do that until I had confessed everything to Gianni.”

“Wow. How did Gianni take it?”

“Yes, of course, Gianni was destroyed. I felt terrible. No, I still do. Anyway, I got on the next possible plane to London and spent three days there. They were the most passionate three days of my life.” She laughed at the pleasant memories.

“When did he propose?”

“When we were in Chamonix, only I didn’t know he was serious. He had just helped us ski out of the clouds while Des was helping you. I thought he was teasing me! It wasn’t until I was in England and he proposed again that he confessed that he had been serious the first time,” she explained. Finally the subject returned to me. “How about you, bella? How are you? Will you come to Saint-Tropez?”

“Well, things are pretty much the same in that department. I’ll have to let you know at the last minute, I’m afraid. Is that okay?”

“Of course, you can just show up at the last minute, you know that.”

Then I launched into telling her about my literal run-in with Des. “It was so weird, Tiziana. He said, ‘Clearly, I was wrong.’ I have no idea what he meant. I was just relieved the police didn’t show up and arrest me.”

“I have to admit that I haven’t talk to Ted about this lately. Des made it clear that he didn’t want the issue to come between them. I can only assume that if Ted hasn’t said anything, he doesn’t know anything,” she replied, sadly.

“I wonder what Ted thinks of me,” I dared to say.

“Oh, bella, he thinks very highly of you. He knows that you’re a smart and capable woman. Obviously, I’ve already told him about the situation from my perspective,” she said, soothing me and my ego. Trying to get the conversation to a lighter plane, she continued with a giggle, “For the future, I suggest you begin by talking to your manicurist about how she’s styling your nails.”

“That’s for sure!” I laughed. Not quite able to let it go, I returned to the previous topic. “I literally hate the thought that, with Des in your life, I can’t just show up. That everything has to be carefully planned. I’ve read and reread the documents, and I don’t see any way that he and I can be in the same place.”

Tiziana reverted to her soothing tone with her familiar purr. “Bella, please don’t worry. Ted will talk to Des. It will all be resolved, and this won’t be a problem. I’m sure, by the wedding, we’ll be laughing about this. Remember that I love you, too, and I’m not going to let someone, even Ted’s best friend, cause us problems.”

Restored by her confidence, I declared, “Okay! Enough about him. I want to tell you about someone I’ve met!”

“How gorgeous. Tell me all about him,” Her voice was full of happiness. For the next twenty minutes, I rambled on about Liam, told her everything from how gorgeous he was, to how concerned I was about falling for someone who lived far away and about my possibly having blown it this afternoon. “It sounds like a very familiar story to me. I understand why you’re worried. You know what helped me? Do you remember that movie you dragged me to,
The Bridges of Madison County
? In it there is a line, something like, ‘This kind of certainty comes but once a lifetime.’ You need to let your heart lead once in a while.” She wore her passionate Italian heart on her sleeve.

“You’re right!” Suddenly I heard talking and heels clicking at the front entry. “Listen, Tiziana, I need to go. I’m at a friend’s home for Easter, and her family has just arrived. I really am glad you were home. Thanks for being such a great friend. I love you. Say hello to Ted, and I’ll call sometime this week, okay?”

“Okay, bella. Ciao for now. Listen, if Ted talks to Des, I’ll give you a call.”

I sat for a minute, quietly taking in the conversation with Tiziana. My body and soul were in less turmoil. There would never be enough words to describe how grateful I was for my friends, and I was enormously relieved that I had called her. Whether things with Des Bannerman ever got resolved or not, I couldn’t let him affect our friendship. He would have to learn to deal with me.

Leaving the quiet sanctuary of the sunroom, I found Taylor, Marcus, and the rest of her family sprawled on the veranda. A drink in everyone’s hand, the party was in full swing. “Oh, hello, Charlotte. Taylor mentioned you would be here,” Faith Clarkson said with all the warmth of the Atlantic Ocean crashing on the sand a few hundred yards away.

“Hello, Ms. Clarkson, Mr. Clarkson. I hope your drive was pleasant,” I greeted them as I looked around for Liam.

Taylor and Marcus finally bailed me out. “Let’s go down to the beach and find Liam. I’m sure he’d like to join us for a drink.”

“Oh, I’ll go! Your parents have just arrived. I’d be happy to!” I offered, leaping out of my chair.

“My, aren’t we eager,” Ms. Clarkson commented coolly.

Certain that this was some kind of leading statement, I decided to go in search of Liam before she could sense my present vulnerability or all hell would break loose.

I heard Taylor in the retreating distance remind her mother of her manners as I walked down the worn wooden boardwalk to the beach.

Where the water gently rolled up to the white sand, I looked for sand dollars and shells while searching the horizon for Liam. After walking for twenty minutes, I turned around, thinking to search the other direction. I raised my hand when I saw that he was no more than one hundred feet away, then walked quickly in his direction.

“Hey,” I said when we had just a few feet between us.

“Hey,” he answered.

“The Clarksons have arrived, and the party is in full swing. There’s just enough time to get back to the house to change before dinner.”

“Back we go, then.” We slowly wandered back. The breaking waves kept us company as we took turns picking up pebbles, shells, and sea glass. While he didn’t hold my hand, steal a kiss, or declare undying love, his body language slowly became more relaxed. By the time we were approaching the boardwalk, he’d warmed up enough to give me a smile that reached his eyes.

“Here we are!” I announced unnecessarily. He nodded and followed me down the path.

The veranda was empty except for Taylor’s brother, Thomas. I made the necessary introductions. “Hi, Thomas, this is Liam Molloy. Liam, this is Thomas Clarkson.” Upon finding out that everyone had already started getting ready for dinner, I excused myself. “I need a bath. I’ll see you two later.”

Deeply immersed in foamy water, I observed steam billowing in the air and beads of water running down the white tiled walls. I drowsily opened an eye when the bathroom door opened.

“Hi,” I said. Liam looked quite surprised, but his expression quickly changed to something far more sensual.

“Hi!” he said back.

“Sorry, I’m not finished. My bags somehow ended up elsewhere, and I had to have Jeff find them for me.”

“Did you? Well, I, for one, am disappointed you won’t be having dinner in the bath!” He tugged off the layers of clothes that hid his well-muscled body and climbed into the tub without hesitation. After moving my feet so they could rest on his thighs, he reached for the body wash.

His slippery fingers began to massage the arch of one foot and then the other, leaving me utterly relaxed. As his strong hands slid up and down the length of my legs, I briefly wondered if we’d be late for dinner. That thought fled as a great wave of water rushed over my shoulders; Liam had repositioned us in the tub. He easily maneuvered himself behind me so that his chest pressed against my back.

With half-shut eyes, I watched him pour more glistening drops of soap into his hands. I closed my eyes as his hands came to rest on my shoulders, spending a short time caressing them before slipping downwards to cup my breasts, which had been playing peek-a-boo with the bubbles. He gently tugged at my nipples while I slid one hand behind his neck, drawing his lips to mine. My other hand ran down his hip and thigh, longing to find more.

The heat of his erection burned against my hip. I gently pressed back against it, causing Liam to moan. Deftly, he moved to readjust himself. Heat scorched my back and radiated through me. I was aflame.

“I hope to sweet Jaysus you plan on being merciful!” he whispered into my ear.

“Very merciful!” I responded in a seductive growl I’d never heard myself express before.

While he painted swirly shapes on my belly, his teeth sharply nipped my shoulder. What had been nerves fluttering in my stomach became a deep, burning need. His fingers moved further along, finding my most intimate spot. While he was gently stroking me, a low keening echoed off the walls. The primal sound emanated from me, telling him that I wanted him desperately.

Liam leaned forward and pushed down the lever that allowed the bath water to drain out. Lifting me up gently, I found myself swaying on my feet as he switched the shower on then lowered his mouth to mine.

His kiss took me to places unknown. There was nothing but us and nothing left between us. The kiss alternated between exploring and demanding. A kiss that left me so dizzy I felt faint. Letting us breathe, he ran his lips down my neck while his hands at my ribcage held me tightly against the tile, my body completely at his beck and call.

He was all that: graceful, fluid, sensual. He made me feel utterly womanly. Pressed tightly against me, I felt the length of him, which proved to be too much. His arms slackened their grip when I began to climb him, desperate to wrap my legs around his waist.

I didn’t ask, and he didn’t hesitate. His hands supported me, squeezing my flesh as I slid into place and enjoyed the slight burning sensation in the tight fit of him inside me. He moaned into my ear, then his lips and tongue explored me as we found our rhythm. I squeezed my legs tighter and tighter, and he pushed deeper and deeper.

I teetered on the edge, biting my lip, drawing blood, hoping to survive until he rushed over the edge into oblivion. When the pace was frantic, I let go and called his name. While I quivered, I felt hot pulses from him flow into me. I called his name again and again.

***

When we joined the others, nothing was said. I could only assume from the twinkle in Taylor’s eye that she had her guesses as to why we were late and was happy all was well again.

At one point during dinner, I found myself staring at our hands entwined on the white tablecloth. I thought how odd they could look, if viewed clinically. If looked at with the heart, entwined hands could tell the story of a relationship. Stiff and unmoving hands could be the result of boredom; smooth, young skin could represent a certain naiveté, a fledgling romance. My hand wasn’t young, wasn’t lined, was well-manicured and without jewelry, my hand was warm. Liam’s hand was identical to mine. This odd little observation filled me with delight, and I squeezed his hand, wanting to convey my pleasure at his existence.

I was torn out of my romantic reverie when Thomas said, “Did anyone catch Des Bannerman on
The Tonight Show
the other night? He’s one funny man. He has these three enormous scratches on his face. I think they’re real. He was telling the most hilarious story…” He continued as my panic set in. I could feel my heart rocketing in my chest. I kept my eyes glued to the remains on my plate, though the sight of bits of fish and vegetables made my stomach heave.

With the realization that the conversation had come to a halt, I carefully looked up. Ms. Clarkson was looking at Thomas. Thomas was looking confused. Taylor had stood up. I had missed something important.

“Well, of course, Mother, I would be happy to help Taylor pick out another bottle of wine.”