Page 45 of A Very Italian Wedding
If Ben was surprised, he didn’t show it. He didn’t fight her off and he didn’t pull away. No, he simply ran with it, putting all of those kissing miles he had on the clock to excellent use. He was an amazing kisser, and his mouth knew exactly what it was doing. In a world where you could be anything, why wouldn’t you want to be king of the kiss?
Rose started to have second thoughts, began to wonder if this was a good idea, but then Ben adjusted the stroke of his clever tongue, somehow sliding her closer as he angled her chin.
Dear God, he was so good at this. How much practice had he had, exactly? Could you get a degree in kissing – and if you could, should she get one too? Make up for all the time she’d wasted.
Rose’s insides were fluttering and she briefly wondered if someone had slipped a kaleidoscope of butterflies into her stomach. The sensation was…well, she liked it. But it was so far out of her comfort zone that she felt pressure to fight it. Ben stroked a gentle hand down her side and across her waist and Rose shifted, forcing herself to find the strength to pull away. When she did, he stared at her with the oddest expression. One Rose wasn’t sure she wanted to allow herself to understand.
‘Are you okay?’ Ben asked, watching her intently.
Rose scrambled off his lap, somehow making it over the gear stick and into the passenger seat again. She pushed the skirt of her dress down and brushed a hand through her hair trying to tidy herself up. ‘I’m fine,’ she said, although she didn’t sound it. ‘That was just adrenaline and the effects of the fertility statue, right?’
Ben stared at her. Then he nodded, smiling, but not before she saw his jaw flex. ‘Sure, and I was trying to distract you. I’m guessing it worked.’ He studied her as if he were trying to take every millimetre of her in. ‘You look…in control. More like your usual self.’
Was it her imagination or did he look disappointed? He broke eye contact and glanced around. They’d stopped about a metre from the shrubbery. There were cars flying past on the motorway clearly oblivious to what had just happened, and Rose realised their engines were roaring. She just hadn’t noticed.
She jerked her chin. ‘You look calm too.’
He shrugged. ‘Physical contact is…’ He didn’t finish. Instead, he opened the door and got out of the car, then wandered round it, taking his time to check the bodywork and tyres. After a minute, Rose got out too.
‘Does everything look okay?’ she asked, following him. She had the oddest desire to wrap her arms around him, to lean in and smell coconuts again.
‘There’s a slight dent in the back, but the car’s okay.’ He nodded, giving her a look she couldn’t read. She sensed an edge to him now, had a feeling she’d disappointed him again. ‘What about the statue? Do you think we should check it?’
‘I think we’ll leave that for Marco,’ Ben said brusquely. ‘We’ve had enough danger for one day.’
He turned and walked back to the car, opened the door and got inside. Rose paused for a moment before joining him, trying to work out what had just happened and why pulling away from their kiss suddenly felt like it had been a mistake.
16
ROSE
Ben parked the Citroën outside of Villa Paradise and Rose hopped out and was immediately greeted by Luna, who was waiting by the front door holding a glass of bubbles.
‘Are you okay after the accident?’ Luna asked, handing Rose the glass, looking between her and Ben, a deep groove marring her forehead. ‘Is the car fixed?’
‘The car rescue service came and I’m fine,’ Rose lied, finishing the drink in one, trying not to look at Ben.
‘Really?’ Luna raised an eyebrow as Rose handed her back the empty glass.
‘Shall I get changed and meet you somewhere?’ Rose asked, skipping up the steps, aware she needed time alone to digest what had happened and to work out what it meant, or at least how she felt about it.
‘We’re in the garden,’ Luna shouted after her, sounding worried. ‘Don’t you want to talk to me and Marco about the wedding first?’
Rose winced and shook her head, aware of how odd this probably seemed. ‘I don’t think we have time.’ In truth, her mind was too jumbled. How could she talk about rules, or give adviceabout love after what had just happened? She’d just kissed Ben Pearson, broken all her rules, wrapped herself around him when they barely knew each other. Now she had feelings she couldn’t explain, an ache in her chest that wouldn’t go away. How was she supposed to counsel anyone on restraint now?
Suddenly, all the things she believed and trusted were crumbling away – and she wasn’t sure how to find solid ground again. She shouldn’t be attracted to a man like Ben, but she was. She shouldn’t like him either, but did. It had been easy to blame adrenaline or the effects of a fertility statue – but Rose knew she was kidding herself.
‘We could make time,’ Luna said tentatively, looking anxious. ‘I thought you were concerned we were rushing into things?’
‘Later,’ Rose promised. Although she wasn’t convinced that she’d be feeling differently then.
Luna frowned. ‘Your mum and dad both called me while you were gone,’ she confided, looking even more concerned. ‘They were asking if you’d made a decision about their weddings.’ She pulled a face. ‘Apparently, you need to choose between them which you haven’t mentioned to me. What’s going on, Rose?’ She sounded hurt.
‘Nothing…’ Rose sighed. At least nothing she was going to get into now. She had to make plenty of decisions, but for the first time in years, she had no idea which way to turn.
It was wrong – delaying and avoiding would only end up creating more problems – but for some reason, she couldn’t focus. The clarity she’d spent a lifetime relying on was gone. ‘I’ll see you in a minute,’ she mumbled, before charging into the villa and up the stairs.
Rose could hear the buzz of women’s voices over the low hum of music when she wandered down the steps and into the gardentwenty minutes later. She’d showered, changed and done her makeup so felt less frazzled. Her parents had both called while she’d been getting ready in her room, but she’d let them go to voicemail, still too conflicted to speak to either of them. Usually, she hit her problems head on – it was another of her rules – but she still couldn’t seem to make a decision about anything.
