‘Please,’ she sobbed, because she never wanted it to end, yet they were both building rapidly to a frantic peak.
The glass she had slammed down spilled and her bottom was cold and wet, but it barely registered. There was only him, crashing against her senses again and again, a mass exodus of hurt as he touched her deep inside and somehow soothed the pain.
‘Gian!’ It was Ariana who offered a warning now, for she was trembling on the inside, her thighs so tight it felt like cramp. A sudden rush of electricity shot down her spine and she clenched around him, dizzied by her own pulses, and she was rewarded with his breathless shout.
They were both silent and stunned as their breathing gradually calmed. Ariana was grateful for the empty space between her thoughts. It was the first time she had felt even a semblance of quiet since her phone had shot her awake that morning. Gian too was silent, somewhat reeling at his own lack of control, for he had come here to speak, to talk, to offer Ariana comfort...
Now, though, he lowered her down from the bench and tidied himself. Ariana twisted the waistband on her skirt so the damp patch was at the side, and she even smoothed her hand over her hair, as if order could somehow be resorted.
Except it was chaos, Ariana knew, for she had made love to him again.
She had convinced herself, once again, that Gian might one day change and want her the way she wanted him.
‘Ariana.’ He cleared his throat. ‘I didn’t come here—’
‘What did you come here for then?’ she interrupted. ‘A chat?’
‘Yes,’ Gian said, as the blood crept back to his head. ‘A proposal.’
She looked at him with wide, nervous eyes, for this was new territory to Ariana. How one moment they could be locked in an intimate embrace, and the next attempting to speak as if his seed wasn’t trickling down between her thighs. ‘A proposal?’
He nodded. ‘I thought a lot about what you said yesterday, and you’re right, Ariana, I do avoid emotion...’ He smiled a pale smile. ‘Which is impossible around you.’
She swallowed, unsure where this was leading, but hoping...
Hoping!
‘What you said about moving...’ Gian ventured.
‘I meant,’ Ariana said, ‘I’m not going to live in an apartment my mother feels entitled to use as a second lounge.’ Her decision was crystal clear now. ‘I want to take the Romano name off for a while. I want to work on myself.’ She gave a hollow laugh. ‘I want to actuallywork...’
‘I get that,’ Gian agreed. ‘And, as I said, I have a proposal for you. Fiordelise Florence hotel opens at the end of May. What if you do your training here, and then work as Guest Services Manager there?’
‘Sorry?’ Ariana frowned, though clearly not for the reason he was thinking.
‘I know I said you would start as an assistant, but I agree, you have an exceptional skill set and would be an asset.’
‘Yourproposalis a job.’
‘More than a job,’ Gian said.
‘A career then?’
‘No!’ She was missing the point, Gian thought. Though he could understand why, given his usually direct style of communication. He was not good at this relationship game. ‘We could see each other...moreof each other,’ he said. ‘Away from your family.’
‘Without them knowing?’ Ariana frowned.
‘Of course,’ he agreed. ‘We both know that would cause more problems than it would solve so we would have to be discreet. I’ll have an executive manager there, so I would not be so hands-on in running the place. There would be no impropriety at the hotel and far less chance of being seen out. I would, of course, get to Florence as often as I was able.’
Oh, she understood then. ‘I’d be your mistress, you mean?’
‘I never said that.’
‘Perhaps not in so many words, but...’ Her lips were white but still turned up into the kind of practised smile she flashed for the cameras all the time, all the brighter to disguise how she was breaking down on the inside. ‘Tucked away, my family in the dark, no one finding out...that sounds an awful lot like a mistress to me. Well, I won’t be your Fiordelise.’
‘You’re complicating matters.’
‘Then I’ll make it simple. Where would this lead, Gian?’