‘Yes, well…’ Isabella looked awkward. ‘He did tell me that you’d lost your home. I hope you don’t mind. We weren’t gossiping or anything—Stefano never gossips. Clearly you’ve done each other a favour.’
‘Yes.’ Somehow Liv managed to form the words. ‘We have.’
‘You’re shivering.’ Isabella frowned. ‘Should we go inside?’
‘No. In fact I might go for a walk,’ Liv said quickly, buttoning up her coat. ‘It’s so pretty and I haven’t had a chance to take a proper look yet.’
Was it true?
Had he really invited her to spend Christmas with his family just to keep Donatella at a distance?
Isabella seemed about to say something else but there was another snowball fight starting between the children and she hurried across to sort them out.
Taking advantage of the opportunity to escape, Liv walked as quickly as she could up the snow-covered road, suddenly feeling terribly, terribly cold. Although the air was freezing she knew that the chill inside her had more to do with Stefano than the weather.
Why hadn’t he told her the truth?
Why had he let her believe that he’d actually wanted her to join him for Christmas?
Why had he let her hope and dream?
She remembered the way Donatella had looked at him and the way that he’d suddenly stilled when she’d mentioned the fact that Donatella clearly liked him.
Oh dear God—she’d been a fool. She’d done it again, taken her dreams and somehow managed to entangle them with reality. She’d turned the world into what she wanted it to be, rather than what it really was.
She’d seen what she’d wanted to see.
Stefano was a man, wasn’t he? They’d shared amazing sex and for him their relationship was nothing more than that. And it wasn’t really his fault. She was the one who had turned amazing sex into something warmer and deeper. She’d been stupid and careless and—
Blinded by tears, she stumbled into the deep snow at the side of the road and suddenly she just wanted to sink into the cold, white powder and sob. She felt as though she was dying inside and realised that the loss of her dream was much, much more devastating than anything else that had ever happened to her.
‘Liv!’ Stefano’s strong voice carried through the frozen air and Liv stood still, wanting to run but knowing that there was nowhere to run to.
He was wearing sturdy boots, his strong legs were encased in soft fleece trousers and a thick jumper brushed against his darkened jaw. Liv’s heart bumped frantically as she watched him approach because he was impossibly, shockingly good-looking and one glance at his face turned her limbs to liquid.
But she shouldn’t feel that way, should she?
Not any more.
She felt a flash of desperation. If he came any closer he might see how she felt because she was hopeless at hiding her feelings. She couldn’t face him.
But where was she going to go?
With no choice but to wait for him to catch up with her, she took a few deep breaths and told herself that she’d coped with rejection before and she would do it again.
‘What are you doing?’ His tone was forceful. ‘Where are you going?’
Liv co
ncentrated on the snow at her feet. ‘For a walk. I needed to be on my own for a while.’
‘Why?’ His hand closed over hers like a vice. ‘Accidenti, you are as white as a sheet. What has happened?’
‘Nothing.’
‘Nothing doesn’t send you stumbling into a snowdrift,’ he said grimly, pulling her towards him with firm hands. ‘You’re upset and I want to know why.’
She felt like too much of a fool to admit the truth. He’d laugh, wouldn’t he? He’d laugh if she admitted that she’d thought they shared something more than hot sex. He’d tell her that she was foolish and old-fashioned and that the world just wasn’t like that any more.