Page 165 of The One
Besides the lack of rings, I have no dress.
And we have no witnesses.
Maybe we could ask a couple of villagers? The idea of strangers witnessing something so deeply personal seems strange, yet oddly fitting. Nothing about us has been conventional.
A small smile tugs at my lips. I think I’d prefer that. Because if we got married in Sicily, it would be a grand affair. A proper wedding. My father walking me down the aisle…
My father.
I shudder. Undoubtedly, he’ll exploit my relationship with Mateo, seeing an opportunity to milk it for everything it’s worth.
How do I stop that?
Argh!
The thought of my father sours my mood and leaves me deflated. He has no place here. I won’t let him.
I take a deep breath, willing myself to let go of his looming shadow and focus on this moment instead.
The chirping of crickets fills the air, mingling with the distant hoot of an owl coming from the olive trees.
I close my eyes and let the sounds of the night wrap around me. It’s soothing, a balm to the turmoil swirling in my chest.
What is taking Teo so long? What is he doing?
The distant toll of a church bell has me sit up straighter, and I count each chime to distract myself.
Eleven.
Is it really that late? When I went to the kitchen to fetch our dessert, it was barely eight.
I hear Teo’s footsteps draw closer again and quickly snap my eyes shut. A grin threatens to break free, but I suppress it.
I sense the air shift as he nears, his familiar scent pleasing my senses.
“Can I open my eyes now?” I ask, burning to see him, to know what he’s doing.
He chuckles. “Always so impatient.”
“So can I?”
“Not yet. I’m enjoying you squirming.”
“I’m not squirming.”
It’s a lie, of course. The longer I sit here, eyes shut tight, the more I can feel his gaze on me. It’s intense.
“It’s cute how you crinkle your nose,” he murmurs, his voice so close that it startles me.
The warmth of his breath brushes against my cheek, and before I can react, his lips are on me, featherlight, like the evening breeze that rustles the leaves around us.
After caressing my lips, he gently kisses the tip of my nose, the soft pressure sending a flutter through me.
His lips trail down the line of my jaw, each kiss sending another wave of warmth through me, making it impossible to think of anything but him. When he finally circles back to my lips, it’s like the air around us has come alive, charged and pulsing in perfect sync with the rhythm of our hearts.
Unable to resist, I open my eyes. His warm brown ones are right there, gazing at me with so much love that it nearly knocks the breath out of me.
It’s so raw, so real, that it makes my heart stutter.
