Page 42 of Love Lessons
“Wow! This is the life,” Heidi Jo says, slipping into the water between me and her husband. “I knew this place would be amazing, but I really had no idea.”
“Isn’t it nuts?” Charli asks cheerfully. “This hot tub seats ten people, and we’re not even crowded. The Drakes don’t do anything like normal people.”
“Oh, we do afewthings like normal people,” Neil says with a sexy wink. “We just do them better.”
“The ego on you,” Charli complains. But she’s scooting closer to him anyway.
I sink down into the water and try not to notice that everyone in this tub is snuggling up to a partner. Except for me and the hottie whose gray-blue eyes are watching my every move. Right this moment I’m pretty sure his gaze is stapled to my cleavage, and I applaud my choice of bathing suits.
If anyone in this hot tub were paying the least bit of attention to me right now, they could easily read my thoughts off my face. I’msoattracted to Ian. He’s not the first man I’ve admired since Danforth. But he’s the first one who makes me feel so flustered. Like there’s a butterfly war raging behind the polka-dot tummy of this overpriced bathing suit.
I don’t really understand it. Ian has a dangerous vibe that doesn’t usually call to me. And we don’t even like any of the same things. He doesn’t respect what I do for a living, and I don’t really understand his job, either.
A big sweaty athlete who solves problems with his fists? That’s so not my type.
But whenever I accidentally look into his eyes, none of that matters. I justwanthim. I want to sit in his lap and trace his throat with my tongue. I want to run my hands over those tattoos. And I want him to kiss me until I’m breathless.
Also, I’m staring at his hunky body again.
When I drag my eyes off Ian’s chest, I find his cool blue gaze watching me. And then he gives me a slow, cat-like smile that says he knows exactly what I’ve been thinking.
All of a sudden, this tub is too hot. I take a deep breath of chlorinated air and wonder if it would look weird for me to leap out and run away.
Just as I’m planning my exit strategy, the caterer rolls a beverage cart out of the French doors and onto the terrace. There’s iced tea and lemonade in shatter-proof glasses and a tray of sandwiches, too. “Lunch is here,” he says.
And I am saved.
* * *
At seven p.m.,in the golden light of evening, I gather with my friends on the villa’s private dock.
My eye is drawn to Ian, of course. I notice he’s wearing the shirt I gave him again. I don’t know if it’s meant as a compliment, or if he didn’t bring any other shirts. With him, it could really go either way.
A crisp white boat pulls up to the dock, and we climb aboard one by one. I take a seat in front on a padded bench, and the steward hands me a chilled glass of white wine before the boat rumbles away from the dock.
“The ride is just ten minutes,” Neil tells us as we cut through the shimmering water. “If we took a car, it would be forty minutes.”
“I like the way you travel,” I say, feeling giddy. As much as it scares me to take time away from my business, this really is a trip of a lifetime. “And I promise all of you that boats don’t scare me as much as planes. So there will be no need to carry me off.”
Everybody laughs except Ian, who gives me a sexy wink instead.
My tummy flutters.
A few minutes later, I get my first view of the town of Bellagio, with its red roofs and cute buildings crowding the waterfront. We arrive on the dock of the Villa du Lac, and I follow my crew off the boat and up a set of stairs to the restaurant, where Drake checks in with the maître d’.
“Posso prendere la sua giacca, signore?” a young woman asks Anton.
“Um,” he says, looking flummoxed. “Sorry?”
“She’s offered to check your jacket,” I offer.
“Oh!” He brightens. “No thanks, I’m good.”
“Molte grazie,” I say, as she smiles and turns to help another customer.
“You speak Italian?” Ian says, and the incredulity in his voice makes me smile.
“I do,” I say with forced modesty. “Although this is the first time I’ve ever tried it out on an Italian. My nonna doesn’t count—she spoke a messy blend of Italian and English. But my high school offered Italian as part of the language requirement, and I chose it because of her.”
