‘It’s a lie! Nothing on earth would persuade me to kiss that man.’
‘Will you quit talking about me as though I wasn’t here? And don’t tell me I don’t know when a woman’s kissing me.’
‘That will be your experience talking, I suppose?’ she asked, her eyes kindling. ‘Your vast experience?
He took a nervous step behind a chair. ‘Fair to middling,’ he said self-consciously.
‘Hah!’
He rallied his forces, such as they were. ‘May I ask what you mean by “Hah!” in that voice?’
‘Never you mind.’
‘You don’t know what you mean by it, do you? When a woman knows she’s talking nonsense she says “Hah!”’
‘Oh, really? Well, consider this. Everyone in the street saw us kissing, and that makes it a very public thing. I can’t tell them I didn’t know your name because that would bring shame and disgrace on my parents, my brothers, my sisters, my nephews and nieces, my aunts and uncles, their aunts and uncles, their ancestors, their cousins and the whole shooting match going right back to Sicily. What’s more, my mother is dying to tell Aunt Lucia in Maryland, who will certainly pass it on to Aunt Zita in Idaho, who will telegraph it to Los Angeles. This is a Sicilian family. Today Manhattan. Tomorrow the world. Do you realise,’ she demanded, incensed, ‘that now they’ll expect me to marry you?’
‘No problem. I can take care of that.’
‘How?’
‘I swear I’ll never propose. My solemn word, so you’re quite safe. And to make doubly sure, I’ll talk to your parents and tell them I’ve decided I don’t like you very much.’
‘After what they saw in the street?’
‘I’ll tell them you’re a lousy kisser—don’t throw that!’
He ducked as a book came flying past his head and struck the wall with a loud crack.
‘Out,’ she told him.
‘Shouldn’t we fix our next date? They’ll expect it—’
‘Out!’
He got as far as the door before saying, ‘Are you spending the night here?’
‘No, I’m going back to my apartment.’
‘Then shouldn’t we be leaving together?’
Helen breathed hard. ‘Signor Martelli, if you’d been listening to a word I said, you’d know that I would prefer not to share the same planet with you, never mind the same cab.’
‘I know,’ he said gravely. ‘I’m not keen on you either, but we have to make these sacrifices.’
‘Who’ll know if we leave together or not?’
‘Anyone who’s standing at their window.’
The appalling truth of this hit her like a sledge-hammer. ‘Which means the whole street,’ she groaned. ‘I’ll call us a cab.’
When she’d finished making the call he was holding up her coat, and Helen put her arms in the sleeves, accepting the inevitable. They had to leave together, or there would be talk, and there’d already been too much of that.
Luckily the cab appeared quickly and they both behaved with perfect propriety. Lorenzo gave her his arm down the steps of the building, which were slippery from frost. She allowed him to show her to the vehicle and open the door for her. She never looked up but she was burningly conscious of many pairs of eyes watching from above.
As the car’s tail lights disappeared around the corner Mamma Angolini dropped the curtain of her bedroom window, and heaved a sentimental sigh. ‘Did you see the way he handed her in?’
Poppa, standing beside her, frowned, ‘But what were those noises earlier?’
‘Oh, that’s nothing,’ she told him cheerfully. ‘They were just having a lovers’ tiff.’
In the back of the cab Lorenzo said placatingly, ‘Why don’t we stop for a drink somewhere, and straighten this out?’
‘There’s nothing to straighten out,’ she said coolly. ‘I’ll drop you off at the Elroy and go on alone.’
‘I see,’ he said glumly. ‘The frozen mitt treatment.’
‘You’re lucky it’s not the frozen sock-on-the-jaw treatment.’
She should have known better. He stuck out his chin, pointing to it hopefully.
‘Oh, stop it,’ she said, trying not to smile. He was wicked and irresistible.
‘No, go on, thump me if it’ll make you feel better.’
She abandoned the struggle not to laugh, clenched her fist and punched his chin very, very gently. Another mistake. He seized her hand and kissed it.
The swift action took her by surprise, invading her senses before she could suppress the memory of that other kiss, full on the lips, by a young man who kissed subtly and with intent. It all came back to her now, so that although his lips were moving across her hand she seemed to feel them on her mouth. She must tell him now, coolly and primly, that this must stop at once.
But she felt neither cool nor prim. She felt as though waves of warmth were laving her, and thoughts of wine and roses were going through her head.
Just when she was starting to panic, he stopped, releasing her hand suddenly and abandoning her to a sense of loss that sent warnings jolting through her. Basta! Enough!
‘There’s Elroys,’ she said, with relief. ‘Don’t worry about my parents. I’ll call them tomorrow and explain that you and I won’t be seeing each other in future.’
‘But what about our wedding?’ he asked, sounding hurt.
‘I shall tell Momma that we decided against it.’
‘After what she saw?’
‘We got carried away. On reflection we realised we were mistaken.’
In the semi darkness of the cab she could see his teeth gleam. ‘About what?’
‘About—about being carried away.’
‘I don’t mind if you want to carry me away. We could—’
‘Now you cut it out,’ she flashed. ‘That innocent little boy charm may floor my mother but it leaves me cold.’
‘I was afraid it did,’ he said mournfully.
The cab drew to a halt. ‘Goodnight, Mr Martelli. It was a pleasure meeting you and I wish you every success.’
‘No, you don’t. You wish you could boil me in oil.’
‘I was giving you the polite version.’
‘In that case, thank you, Miss Angolini, for a lovely evening. I hope our paths cross again one day.’
She returned his smile with deadly intent. ‘Not if I can prevent it,’ she said. ‘Goodnight. Sleep well.’
She watched him go into the hotel and vanish from sight. That was that. Somehow she would contrive not to see him again.
She gave the driver the address of the apartment on East 77th Street that she shared with Dilys.
Her friend was home ahead of her, dressed for bed. ‘So how was your evening?’ she asked. ‘I saw you talking to the life-guard. Any good?’
‘’Fraid not,’ Helen said, yawning. ‘Handsome on the outside, but nothing to him. Boring really.’
Next morning Helen found a message to report