Chapter Five
CHAPTER FIVE
Once they had dealt with Katerina’s nappy, Addie left Katerina with Vic while she had a shower and got changed.
As much as she loved having a cosy pyjama day at home, there was no way she was going to spend any more time wandering around in her piglet PJs and duckling slippers in front of Vic Jacobetti. Sheesh. Talk about embarrassing.
She found Vic and Katerina out in one of the garden sections closest to the villa.
The lush green lawn was framed on three sides by a waist-high hedge, providing a safe and relatively enclosed space for Katerina to run around in the bright sunshine.
A trickling fountain nearby and the chorus of the birds in the shrubbery and the delighted squeals of the toddler filled the summer air and made her wonder why Vic was so intent on turning the villa into a hotel when it was such a wonderful place for a family.
Large, of course, but what kid didn’t want plenty of space to run around and explore?
Vic must have sensed her presence as he turned from watching Katerina and the moment his eyes met hers, she tingled from head to foot. ‘Feel better?’ he asked.
‘Much.’
His gaze lightly scanned her casual attire—beige linen trousers and a white linen shirt and she wondered if he was comparing her to all the sophisticated and colourful and dazzling women he had dated.
‘Do you have a swimsuit with you?’ he asked.
Addie looked at him blankly. ‘A…a swimsuit ?’
She said the word like it was something completely alien to her…which it was. She had spent the last twenty or so years avoiding swimsuits. She hadn’t worn once since she was a child.
‘I should have told you to pack one. No problem. We can pick one up at the shops later.’
She swallowed. ‘I—I don’t need a swimsuit.’
Vic studied her for a brief moment. She worked hard to keep her features neutral, but it took an enormous effort. She could feel herself break into a sweat, fine beads of it forming on her upper lip and between her shoulder blades.
‘There’s a pool on the level below this. I thought we could have a splash with Katerina.’
She folded her arms across her middle, her eyes assiduously avoiding his probing ones. ‘I’m happy to watch. I’m not much of a swimmer.’
Katerina toddled over and tugged on her linen trousers. ‘Simming! Want to go simming!’
Addie looked down at her chocolate-brown eyes sparkling with anticipation.
She knew her brother and sister-in-law had regularly taken her to parent-child swimming lessons; she had even gone to watch once and marvelled at Katerina’s ability, not to mention her lack of fear. How was she going to get out of this?
‘We’ll go swimming after lunch and your nap, mia piccola ,’ Vic said to Katerina.
‘Want to go now!’ Katerina wailed.
Addie crouched down in front of her and took her chubby hands in hers. ‘Sweetie, I know you’re frustrated because you want to go right now, but we need to have lunch, and you’ll enjoy it so much more after you’ve had a sleep.’
‘No fleep. No fleep.’ Katerina’s chin protruded in an obstinate manner, her eyes bright with defiance.
Scooping the toddler up in her arms, Addie began to straighten, but just then, Vic’s hand took her by the arm and helped her the rest of the way.
His touch was light and yet she could sense the strength in his fingers, the power and potency of his touch sending her senses reeling.
Katerina was not too happy about being carried indoors and Addie could sense a full-blown tantrum coming on.
The toddler was tired and hungry, and Addie didn’t want to get her so worked up that she began to ask for her parents.
What could they tell her? They still had no idea of when Katerina’s parents would be able to get to her and relieve them of their responsibility.
Fortunately, Lucia had food ready for them set up on the shady terrace.
Addie strapped Katerina into her highchair, and she was soon busy sampling the array of tasty dishes set before her.
She watched her enjoy her food and tried not to think of all the times her mother tried to control what she ate.
Vic pulled out a chair for her and she sat, glad of the leafy shade over them. She picked up a glass of ice-cold mineral water and took a refreshing sip. ‘I could get used to this,’ she said, sighing as she looked at the stunning view from the terrace. ‘Work seems a long way away right now.’
Vic leaned forward to hand Katerina her sippy cup.
She took it from him with both hands, her enthusiastic guzzling sounds making him smile.
‘Yes, it’s certainly a long way from what I normally do.
’ He sat back in his chair and looked at Addie.
‘We can leave Katerina with Lucia for a couple of hours while she naps and get you a swimsuit.’
Shifting her gaze from his, she put her glass down with an unsteady hand.
‘I hope you’re up to date on first aid because I can’t remember the last time I went into the water.
I’m strictly a stay-in-the-shallows girl.
Anything over my ankles is out of my depth.
’ But wasn’t she already out of her depth sitting here in the dappled shade having lunch with a notorious playboy?
She had stepped in over her head the minute she agreed to come with Vic Jacobetti to Lake Como.
‘Don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe.’
Half an hour later they were walking along Via Vittoria Emanuele II, one of the main shopping areas in medieval Como.
At the north end, the main street linked with Piazza de Duomo, the pedestrian-only area running for about four hundred metres until tapering out at Saint Vitale Tower and the end of the historic centre.
Addie was immediately aware of some of the shoppers and tourists doing double takes at Vic as they walked through the area.
A couple of people even stopped and took photos of them with their phones.
As she walked past a couple of women, she heard one woman speculate on whether she was Vic’s latest lover.
Her companion shook her head and insisted she wasn’t pretty enough.
Addie turned her face away, heat storming her cheeks, but Vic seemed oblivious to the attention they were drawing and if he’d heard what the two women had said, he gave no indication of it.
‘Let’s try here,’ Vic said, gently guiding her by the elbow into a boutique.
The cool temperature of the air conditioning was a welcome relief from the warmth outside, but it wasn’t the type of shop she frequented.
Unlike her mother, she didn’t have a taste for designer gear.
Vic spoke in Italian to the female attendant, and she was soon ushered into a change room with an array of swimsuits to choose from.
She stood there staring at the collection of bikinis and maillots and spaghetti-strapped one-pieces, the colours as vibrant and bright as spring flowers.
She stripped off her clothes and tried on a sleek black maillot and studied her reflection, trying to silence the critical voice that had taken up residence in her head since she was a kid.
You’re fat. You’re plain. You’re ugly. You’re boring .
‘How are you going in there?’ Vic’s deep voice made her jump out of her self-critical assessment.
‘Erm… I need a little longer…’
‘Take your time.’
She let out an uneven breath and peeled off the maillot and then reached for a hot pink string bikini.
She couldn’t explain why she was trying on such a notice-me colour other than she was tempted.
Tempted to step out of her beige stage and live on the bright side for a while.
She tied the strings of the bikini and looked at herself in the mirror.
She had never worn anything so daring, so minimal…
so sexy. A frisson passed over her flesh.
By trying on the bikini, she was allowing herself to embrace a side of herself she hadn’t known existed.
A side who didn’t hide in the shadows but stepped into the spotlight.
A side who didn’t walk in the shallows but dived in the deep end.
Addie took off the bikini and got dressed again.
She couldn’t help cringing at her beige outfit.
After the vibrancy of the hot-pink bikini, her bland outfit did nothing for her colouring.
It washed out her features and hid her slight curves like a sack.
The attendant approached, asking if she needed help with anything.
She found herself asking her for some separates, some casual outfits that would enhance her figure and colouring.
It was like the old her stepped into that change room but a new her stepped out. She put her beige clothes in one of the shopping bags and dressed in one of her new outfits—a fire-engine red top teamed with slim-fitting white capri pants.
She came out to join Vic and his gaze swept over her appreciatively. ‘Wow. Red suits you.’
‘I don’t usually wear it. I think the only red thing I had in my wardrobe until now is a hair tie.’
He smiled a lazy smile. ‘Go you.’
She went towards the attendant to pay but Vic stalled her by touching her on the arm. ‘I’ve already paid.’
Addie’s eyes widened. ‘But I bought much more than a swimsuit.’
‘No matter. Consider it a gift for coming all this way to help me with Katerina.’
‘But I can pay for my own clothes. I don’t expect you to—’
‘Indulge me, Addie.’
‘By allowing you to indulge me?’
He flicked her cheek with a feather-light touch of his finger. ‘Don’t you deserve to be spoilt now and again? Hmm?’
She moistened her suddenly dry lips. ‘I’m not sure why you’d want to spoil me.’
There was a long moment of silence.
A frown began to form on his forehead. ‘Don’t read too much into it, cara. ’
‘What could I read into it?’ She gave a mock laugh. ‘No one would ever think you and I were…were…anything other than casual acquaintances.’
His frown deepened and he guided her out of the store. ‘So, you heard that woman earlier.’