‘Yes, of course we can go.’ Lorenzo looked at the tight set of Scarlett’s shoulders. She had on a simple light tan sheath that looked cool and comfortable, and brought out the beauty of her bone structure and the golden glow of her skin.
That glow had been in her face, too, until he stupidly brought up her earlier unease in her sister’s company.
Yet he couldn’t really regret it, because Scarlett had given him a gift just now. The gift of her trust for just a few moments before her openness made her uneasy and she wished she could have taken it all back.
He had wanted to comfort her but he’d drawn back from that, too. How could he do that when the guilt of his past plagued him? The guilt of his past and…the complications of his present.
‘I’ll see you home.’ He’d walk her over and walk away. That was all he could do with Scarlett. What else did he have to offer her? Nothing. Lorenzo was not free to offer Scarlett anything.
And of course, after all this time, he didn’t still want to. It had to be their past that made it difficult for him to maintain equilibrium in his thoughts where she was concerned.
‘No, thanks.’ She walked ahead of him through the restaurant, glanced back over her shoulder. ‘By the time you finish locking up and get on your motorcycle I’ll be there. I’ll be fine, Lorenzo. I don’t need you to go with me.’
She left him there, and he did watch to make sure she got home safely while her words rang in his head.
They didn’t need each other.
That had to be the truth of it.
Didn’t it?
‘You’ll understand if I ask you to explain your reasoning for whatever choices you make today?’ Scarlett asked the question quietly as Lorenzo drew Rosa’s small van to a stop outside a set of shops in a nearby larger township.
‘Of course.’ Lorenzo wasn’t concerned to know that Scarlett would spend this morning scrutinising his work practices. He had nothing to hide.
They were on a buying expedition, and both of them were in a mellow mood.
A cooling breeze had driven the worst of the heat away. The day was clear and fresh. It was nice to be away from the restaurant for a little while. Isabella had taken charge to free Lorenzo for his expedition. He’d climbed into the van and Scarlett had joined him so she could see what one of his buying trips consisted of. When he’d turned the key in the ignition, old rock music had blared out of the van’s speakers.
Scarlett had thrown her head back and laughed and he’d…laughed with her. He’d turned the volume down a little and they’d made the trip with the windows down, the wind whipping through their hair and against their faces. It had been…fun.
Lorenzo glanced at Scarlett’s flushed face, and couldn’t help the soft smile that came to his lips. ‘You can cross-question me all you like. I want Rosa to succeed as much as you do.’
Lorenzo got out of the van to stride around the front and open Scarlett’s door with a bow and a flourish. ‘Shall we go?’
For a moment she froze, but then a smile came over her face and she held out her hand and lifted her nose into the air at such a haughty angle it was a wonder it didn’t catch on the top of the doorframe. ‘By all means let us go, but you should know, I’m not carrying the basket for you.’
‘Actually, I have string bags, and I’ll be doing the carrying myself.’ He gripped her hand and helped her out, and their hands slid away from each other with a slow glide of fingers.
They went shopping. Lorenzo made his choices as carefully as he always did. These were ingredients and items he couldn’t get for the kitchen locally in Monta Correnti.
Scarlett observed, questioned his brand choices, and nodded her approval as he carefully explained how each item would be used.
When they’d finished the shopping for Rosa, he gestured towards another small shop. ‘If you don’t mind me taking the time, I’d like a few things from in there for my home stores. They can wait if you’d prefer.’
‘No, that’s fine.’ Her eyes had lit up as she realised what they were looking at. It was a chocolate wholesaler. She turned to glance at him with her brows raised. ‘I know you make fabulous desserts. You were working on some the first day I started at Rosa, but I wouldn’t have pictured you with a sweet tooth for it.’
‘Then picture again.’ He smiled and shrugged his shoulders. ‘I occasionally make them at home. Partly to keep my hand in and my capabilities sharp, but mostly—’ he smiled ‘—so I can eat the results. Maybe one day I could cook a dessert for you.’
‘Maybe.’
A little silence fell. It wasn’t awkward, exactly, just both of them realising that they’d let their conversation drift into something it perhaps hadn’t started out to be.
That perhaps wasn’t particularly appropriate, and Lorenzo tried to remind himself of this as he gathered up his purchases and the items were tallied.
He managed, sort of. Well, except for his imagination taking him to making chocolate desserts for Scarlett and feeding portions to her somewhere quiet and romantic.
You’ve managed not to feel romantic about anyone else for five years.
Lorenzo hadn’t been celibate, but those encounters had been occasional, and emotionally meaningless.
‘Lunch.’ He needed to shift his thoughts away from the concepts of Scarlett and romance. ‘We, ah, we agreed that we’d eat at the most popular restaurant, check out the competition.’
‘My guess would be that one.’ Scarlett gestured to a small, cosy restaurant tucked into the corner of the square. It wasn’t the largest, but it was clearly busy. ‘Shall we go there?’
Lorenzo tucked their purchases into coolers in the back of the van, and they made their way on foot to the restaurant.
‘The demographic they’re getting is different here from Rosa.’ Scarlett leaned forward to say the words quietly, so they wouldn’t be overheard by other diners. So no one would know they were being studied and picked apart. ‘We get some tourists, but not as many as we have locals.’
To be fair, she and Lorenzo were picking apart the food, table service, ambiance and everything else as well. That was why they were here. To examine all of it.
She took a small sip of her wine. ‘It’s a decent red. Nothing outstanding, but I don’t think you’d do better for a table-wine price.’
‘Yes. The wine is good value.’ Lorenzo’s lids drooped and his gaze stilled on her lips.
Scarlett was trying hard not to be too aware of him, too conscious. And yet with each moment that passed, her awareness seemed to increase.
They’d laughed together this morning as they drove here. Played silly old music in the van and let themselves relax. Scarlett had let her guards down. She couldn’t seem to get them back up again.
‘They’re catering to at least a fifty-per-cent tourist clientele here.’ Lorenzo leaned in a little closer. ‘These are people who won’t be back again and again. They just want to eat and leave.’
‘It can be a tricky one, the tourist versus locals issue.’ Scarlett tried to give the issue the most careful thought she could manage.
That wasn’t a full hundred per cent, she had to admit. How could she fully concentrate on business when all she could hear was his voice? When all she could feel was the fact he was so close she could raise her hand and touch his face?
And he was looking at her as though, regardless of their purpose here, he saw only her.
Scarlett