A Christmas miracle.
With Alessio?
Her heart sped up because it felt almost entirely insurmountable. To think of a time when she could actually say those words to him, tell him that she loved him and that he might say it back?My heart no longer exists, cara.
Her smile dropped as she remembered snippets of their conversations. His warning, laced through so many of his statements, about past relationships, his desire for impermanence, his aversion to commitment. The way he’d spoken about his most recent breakup, about his lack of sympathy for the woman who’d come to want more from him. He’d been honest with Lucinda, and therefore expected she’d never do anything so stupid as fall for him. Well, Charlotte had new sympathy for the other woman: being with Alessio and not loving him might just be an impossible task.
He would never want more from her than this casual, sexual relationship.
So why upset the apple cart and risk jeopardising her custody arrangement with Dash?
Alessio wasn’t going to commit to her.
He’d defined the parameters for their relationship—and she’d agreed to them. Nothing had changed for Alessio.
But what if it had? A little voice niggled at her. What if he felt differently now? What if those clear-cut barriers they’d erected at the start were too flimsy to constrain them? Was there a chance he might want more from Charlotte, too?
And how could that even work? Another, more realistic voice broke into her dreamy thoughts. He lives in Italy; you live in England. You have Dash to look after. A relationship was one thing, but how could she bring a man into her life, into Dash’s life, unless it was for keeps? And would Alessio ever want to take on that kind of responsibility?
Her heart dropped to the pit of her stomach because she knew the answer to that.
With a face that was rather less full of joy than it had been a moment ago, Charlotte sat very still, watching, but refusing to allow herself to dream now, not allowing the Christmas magic that was heavy in the air to weave any more silly, childish spells.
Alessio would leave after Christmas. Charlotte would be alone. That was the way it had to be, and she was a fool to think otherwise.
Charlotte wokeon Christmas morning to a light dusting of snow beyond her window and a warm, sexy body in her bed.
She smiled, but it was a ghostly smile, because it was impossible not to be aware of the passage of time, of the inevitability of his leaving. Alessio was right beside her, flesh and blood, so she reached out and touched him, trying not to think of the fact that within days, this would all be in the past.
“Good morning,” she murmured, leaning down and pressing a kiss to the flesh beneath his earlobe. His eyes were closed, she presumed he was still sleeping, but then he moved quickly, wrapping an arm around her so she squawked as she toppled onto him, then laughed, their eyes meeting, his charged with awareness, her’s amusement, until she felt the strength of his desire for her and shivered, sensual heat overtaking everything else.
“Buongiorno,”he responded. “E buon natale.”
She smiled. “Merry Christmas.”
He pushed up, kissing her then, and she felt in her heart that it was the happiest Christmas morning she’d ever known. This would end, and she knew it would break a part of her forever, but for now, he was here, and she was happy. She simply had to enjoy it while she could.
“I have something for you.”Alessio strode across the living room and lifted a small box from beneath her tree.
Charlotte’s expression showed bemusement. “When did you put that there?”
“A couple of days ago.”
“I didn’t notice.”
“I asked Dash to hide it for me.”
“You did?” Her heart picked up a beat. “What did you say to him?”
“Only that I’d bought you a little something to thank you for getting me the piano gig,” he winked, and Charlotte’s heart turned over. “He took it at face value,cara,do not look so worried.”
He slid the box across the kitchen counter and Charlotte ran her fingers over it distractedly.
“I didn’t realise you’d really spoken to him.”
“We had some time together at the choir practice,” Alessio shrugged, but there was a small frown on his lips too. “He seems like a great kid.” His voice was different. A little heavier, hoarse. He cleared his throat then smiled, so Charlotte wondered if she’d imagined it. Wishful thinking, perhaps. Dashwasa great kid, but it wasn’t as though a few idle conversations were going to change Alessio’s mind on a lifetime commitment to being a bachelor.
“He hid it very well,” Charlotte murmured. “I had no idea it was there. Then again, I wasn’t looking for a present for myself.”