Chapter 23
Matteo
Her hair was piled on top of her head in a messy bun, and she had an apron tied around her waist. She turned when she heard me, and my eyes dropped to what was printed on the front of the apron—a naked Michelangelo.
Allegra laughed. “I found it in a cabinet. I didn’t want to get grease on my clothes. I considered stealing it as a souvenir, but then I remembered I’m already leaving with a sister.”
I raked a hand through my hair and smiled. “I didn’t think you’d be up this early, considering how much wine you drank.”
“I woke up to use the bathroom and decided to make breakfast to thank you for the last two days.”
“You didn’t have to do that.”
“I wanted to.” She motioned toward the table. “Sit. Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes. I made quiche and bacon. You were originally going to get crepes with Nutella, but the only store open this early didn’t carry Nutella. I thought that was against the law in Italy.”
I chuckled, lowering into a chair. “Grazie.”
“I finally mastered the espresso machine. You want cappuccino or espresso?”
“Espresso would be good.”
She pushed a few buttons. “You know, I guessed that you took your coffee black the first time I met you.”
“Oh yeah? How’s that?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess you seem too manly for milk.”
I shook my head with a smile, happy to see her mood had improved.
Allegra plated breakfast and brought two cups with her to sit across from me.
“It looks delizioso.”
“Dig in.”
I started chowing down, but Allegra only nibbled her lip.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
“Yes… But I want to talk to you about last night.”
I waited, unsure where this was going.
“I owe you an apology,” she said. “Not for…being attracted to you. I’m not sorry about that.” Her cheeks flushed, but she met my eyes anyway. “I’m sorry for coming on to you drunk. That wasn’t fair of me.”
“There’s no need to apologize.”
“If you had gotten drunk and come on to me, wouldn’t you feel the need to apologize?”
“Yes, but that’s different.”
“How so?”
I smirked. “I enjoyed your ass on my lap.”
Allegra smiled. “Well, that comment leads nicely to the next thing I want to talk to you about.”
“Okay…”
She drew in a shaky breath. “I have a proposal.”
“What kind of proposal?”
“Well, while I’m here, I was thinking we could…have a fling.”
My brows shot up. “A fling?”
“Yes. Something simple. No strings attached. No expectations. Just fun.”
The image of what she was offering flashed through my head. Her underneath me, on top, up on all fours… I was about to jump at the opportunity, but then I looked at her—really looked—and the answer was clear.
I leaned forward and spoke softly. “I want you, Allegra. I’ve wanted you since I saw you that first day on the side of the road. But I don’t want just a hookup. Not from you.”
Allegra’s face fell. “Oh.”
“I want more. I want something real.”
She shook her head. “I have too many issues, Matteo.”
“Who doesn’t have issues?”
“Not to mention, I live four thousand miles away.”
“You said yesterday that you’re happy in Italy, yes?”
“I know, but…my life is in New York.”
I shrugged. “So I’ll move to New York, if it works out and that’s what you need.”
Allegra’s eyes bulged. “Your entire life is here.”
I didn’t want to scare her by saying she already felt like the biggest part of my life. Instead, I told her a different truth. “We can figure it out.”
She shook her head. “It’s not a good idea.”
The room went quiet, except for the ticking of the old kitchen clock hanging on the wall.
Not exactly the way I’d imagined my morning.
I’d thought Allegra would be hungover and sleep in.
I’d grab some pastries at a local shop, along with some aspirin for her headache, before we drove home.
Instead, I was questioning whether I’d lost my sanity—pushing for more with a woman I’d fantasized about in the shower more times than I could count over the last few weeks.
Allegra ate a few bites, then scattered her food around her plate with her fork before getting up and tossing the rest of her breakfast in the garbage. “I’ll be ready to leave in forty-five minutes. I’m going to take a quick shower.”
She started past me, and I reached for her arm. “Allegra, wait.”
“It’s fine, Matteo. I understand. I’m just a little…embarrassed, that’s all.”
“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”
“Okay.” She slipped her arm from my hand. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to pretend this conversation never happened.”
***
“Do you have the shop’s address?” I tossed our bags into the trunk and shut it.
“What shop?”
“The antique shop you have something to pick up from?”
“Oh.” Allegra shook her head. “I completely forgot.”
“You said it was in Minori, yes?”
She nodded.
“It’s a beautiful village. After we get your antique, I will take you to a delizioso caffé that makes the best cannoli.”
Allegra smiled sadly. “I appreciate the offer, but I think I’d rather go home. We could even skip picking up the teacup. It’s not really important.”
I got the feeling it was less about the cup and more about getting away from me. Though I hoped I was wrong. “We’ll pick up your teacup and head home.”
The drive to the small fishing village of Minori was only forty minutes, but it felt longer in total silence.
When we arrived, the shop was down a cobblestone street that didn’t allow cars, and there was nowhere to park.
Allegra told me she’d run down to the store and be right back.
While I waited, I thought about how to handle this situation between us.
Had I been wrong to turn down her offer?
What man in his right mind declined such a thing?
But I would be lying to her by agreeing to a fling when I already had feelings for her.
And a couple of months of a physical relationship would only make it harder when she up and left.
I’d been through that once, a woman deciding she was done and walking away.
I wasn’t eager to live in that particular hell again.
Allegra rounded the corner, and I watched her walk toward the car. The sunlight caught her golden-brown hair, bringing out streaks of honey. Her sundress clung to all the right places, the hem swaying around her thighs as she moved.
My gut tightened. Christ, she was gorgeous—the kind of beauty that could make a sane man do reckless things, just for the chance to touch her. To taste her. To trace every curve of her body.
I raked a hand through my hair, second-guessing everything. Maybe I should’ve taken whatever she was willing to give because whether I had her or not, it was going to be painful when she left.
Allegra slid into the passenger seat and tucked the paper bag in her hands at her feet.
“Get what you came for?”
She nodded, not adding more, so I started the car and let the low rumble of the engine fill the silence between us.
When we got on the highway, Allegra leaned forward and turned on the radio.
Two days ago, on our way down, we hadn’t needed it.
We’d talked and laughed, told stories the entire drive.
Now the music felt like a buffer, a way to keep the silence from becoming even more uncomfortable than it already was.
We drove like that for hours. A few short words here and there—me telling her I needed to stop for petrol, her asking if the music was okay after she changed the station because it had grown staticky.
But no real conversation. I stole more than a few glances at her side of the car, but she was always looking out the window.
By the time we pulled up at her house, my neck was achy and shoulders tight. Allegra unbuckled her seat belt and turned to me with a faint smile. “Thank you again…for everything.”
She leaned in, kissed my cheek, and opened the car door before I could get a word in. Walking up the path, she never looked back as I sat there gripping the steering wheel, wondering if I’d just let the best thing I’d found in a long time slip right through my fingers.