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  “Okay, got to go now” Isabella said with an overly enthused voice, as if she would run out and go have sex immediately with Christopher. It was never going to happen.

  She had tried that years ago with a friend after breaking up with one of her exes. She couldn’t go through with it. Maybe it worked well for others, it surely was a pleasant way of forgetting ones’ sorrows, but it didn’t make her feel any better.

  “Love you. I’m so glad you called.”

  “Me to” Isabella said. In that moment she realized how much she missed her friend.

  So far, It had been a given that she could have seen her or called her anytime she wanted. Things were changing and even though things were looking up for both, they couldn’t help but be sad of the distance between them.

  Since they had met during their first year at University, they had always been there for one another. She couldn’t say the same about Angela.

  “How’s life?” Isabella asked, hearing Cristina’s children in the background again.

  “Madness, as usual. The kids are always sick, damn schools and their bacteria. There’s this incredible divorce case I am working on, you wouldn’t believe the crazy things these two have been doing to each other over the years”

  “That’s why I don’t want to get married” Isabella sighed on the other side.

  “You don’t want to get married because you don’t have a man!” Cristina teased on the other side.

  “True” Isabella grinned.

  “Although after tonight…” Cristina laughed at her friend.

  “How’s Carlo?”

  “He’s good. But we hardly see each other lately. He’s always away for work. I think they might transfer him to the company headquarters in Milan” Isabella heard her friend’s voice change suddenly. She sounded, worried and a little upset.

  “You think?” Isabella knew it had been a possibility for a while, but it had never been a certainty. This time Cristina sounded sure.

  “I don’t know how that’s going to work. My law firm is here, it’s mine I can’t transfer now, now that I have a reputation and my clients…” Cristina paused and then added “Nothing’s been put on paper yet, but Carlo’s manager has been hinting it”

  “He’s been hinting it for two years now. Don’t worry about it, you’ll work it out if he actually gets transferred. You can always travel in the weekends”

  “Yeah, I guess…” but Cristina didn’t sound so sure. “Call me anytime” she murmured.

  “Will do. Give those two angels a kiss from their aunty” Isabella said, hearing Cristina’s twins claiming their mother’s attention.

  “What angels?” she laughed and heard her kiss them before they said their goodbyes.

  Once they hung up, Isabella looked at herself in the mirror: she was wearing black leggings, a black and white strapless top with an open back and a black leather neckline, and a long but thin cardigan. She stepped into a pair of black ankle boots and grabbed her red coat. She checked her brown hair, which were still a little blond after all the sunbathing of last summer. She had worn them up in a casual, messy bun, her bangs to the side. Her make-up looked simple, sophisticated and not over the top, with just a hint of eyeliner and gray eye shadow.

  It was time to go meet Christopher down in the lobby, like she had agreed to. Isabella took a deep breath again and made her way down the empty corridor of the hotel and then into the elevator, alone and in silence, even though there was a loud confusion in her mind. She stared at the lights on the floor numbers, as they switched on and off, and listened to her heart beat faster and faster, as the elevator reached the lobby. Was it all just a big, huge mistake?

  When the doors opened, Isabella felt the sudden urge to go back up to her room again, to just leave things the way they were. It was like she was deliberately walking into a mess, on her own two feet, knowing it would never work.

  She looked up and saw him, standing near one of the columns, staring at her like she was a vision. His eyes had found hers already. Too late to step back now.

  Isabella walked over to him and he smiled to the side, gorgeous as ever with his wild hair slightly brushed back.

  “Hi” he said, looking into her amber eyes.

  “Hi” she said back and pursed her lips, feeling a little nervous under his intense stare. She wished she could stop her cheeks from flushing.

  “Ready?” he asked, smiling to the side. Christopher couldn’t stop looking at her, she was too beautiful to not look at.

  Despite her wonderful amber eyes, despite her great smile and sensuous body, it was Isabella’s modesty that made her the most gorgeous thing he had ever set eyes on.

  She looked into his eyes before answering. Was she ready? Was she walking into a big mistake? Was it so wrong to date someone she was supposed to work with?

  She nodded.

  “Where are we going?”

  Christopher looked ahead, as they made their way out of the hotel, Isabella hoping that nobody had spotted them leaving together.

  “Surprise”

  Chapter 8

  The food tasted like heaven. The tapas were one of the best food creation she had ever had in her life. They reminded her of the Italian antipasto, but instead of Prosecco or Spritz, the waiters kept bringing them jugs and jugs of Sangria, delicious sweet and tangy Sangria.

  After an incredible night tour of Valencia- Christopher had worked its magic, by taking her to a night exhibition in the Modern Arts Museum, to see the monuments and the food markets that she had missed during her first visit – they had walked through the young, busy nightlife of the city, talking about almost everything, laughing like kids.

  Until they had reached the restaurant.

  Christopher looked at her amused, as she took another bite of what looked like hot potatoes and cheese.

  Isabella straightened her posture and smiled awkwardly at him.

  “I’m sorry, I’m a little hungry” she smiled and put down her fork after tasting the softness of the cheese on the potatoes. Lunch had been a joke, she had had time for a fruit salad with some yogurt and an email to Cristina. Then, tests had started again so she had to rush back downstairs to the boxes.

  “In that case, you should taste this” and he handed her a small plate with salami and chili peppers. “Do you like this place?”

  To Isabella it sounded like a rhetorical question. Of course she liked the place, she loved it. How could she not? They had walked into a rustic yet very elegant restaurant just off a busy street in the city, but were immediately directed in a back garden, where only ten tables or so were set.

  The garden was gorgeous, flowers and trees surrounded them, as well as a cobbled pathway. Their table had been set under a white gazebo and all around them were lanterns and candles and tall heaters. It felt lovely to be outside, it felt like summer in the middle of winter.

  “It’s incredible” she said looking around. “How did you find it?”

  “I like little restaurants like this one. It’s ran by a sweet, old Spanish couple” Christopher sipped his Sangria “I come here every time I am in town.”

  The garden tables were all taken and inside it was pretty full as well. Surely, they had reserved him the table, Isabella thought. The waiters seemed to know him pretty well and how to please him.

  It was when one of the waiters brought him his favorite bottle of wine –actually no, the word he used was ‘the usual’ bottle of wine- that reality had stricken Isabella: Christopher had probably taken several women to this very restaurant. Probably a different one each year, knowing how brief his relationships were. This is going in one direction and in one direction only. LOVER TOWN.

  “Why were you smirking at me just then?” she asked suddenly. While I was stuffing myself with potatoes and cheese.

  “When?” he tried his best to hold back a smile.

  “Are you playing with me?” she asked pouting a little.

  “Do you want me to?” he smiled then, his stare was
burning her like fire. Isabella had noticed he had this way of speaking to her, his eyes never leaving hers for one second, that really made her stomach turn inside out. He probably uses this with every woman he meets.

  She cleared her voice.

  “Is this how you normally get the girls?” it came out a little too crude, a little cynical.

  “Do you think I have a routine?” he asked cocking his head to the side, without a trace of resentment in his voice, but rather curiosity.

  Isabella raised her shoulders and took her napkin to make sure her mouth was clean, before speaking again.

  “What are we doing?” she said in a low voice, so low she thought he hadn’t heard her. She looked up and saw his face had changed. He was smiling, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

  “I think it’s called cena in Italian, dinner in English” he said, pretending to whisper.

  “I meant this. This whole flirting …Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy being around you…” she started to fidget. She hated that, such an Italian thing to do when she was nervous. She forced her hands down on the table.

  “And I enjoy being around you” his voice was calm and relaxed as always. If he had looked worried before, now he looked amused again.

  “Stop smirking” she pointed at him and made a funny face, causing him to laugh. God, he is just so hot.

  “Sorry” he held out a hand. “Please continue, you were saying?” he raised his hands up, like someone that had just been caught misbehaving.

  What was she going to say again? Why had she even brought it up? You are such a screw up, Isabella.

  “Look… I know exactly what kind of man you are and your… concept of dating. And I am not judging. I just don’t want things to get complicated or awkward at work, okay? I want us to be friends” she managed to say after the waiter had approached them to fill up their glasses with Sangria again.

  “Isabella” he said and reached for her hair, moving her bangs away from her honey brown eyes. He stopped to curl the tip of her strand a little and then touched her cheek.

  He waited before saying more, like he was sizing up the words.

  “I think you read too many gossip magazines” he smirked again.

  “I think you have quite a reputation” she smirked right back at him.

  Christopher laughed a little, impressed by her boldness. Honesty was definitely her best trait.

  “Let’s see… What kind of man am I? What is my reputation like?” he asked, nudging her to make her point, with the same crooked smile and amused attitude.

  Isabella bit her lip and shifted in her chair, feeling very uncomfortable. You are such a screw up, how are you going to get out of this one?

  “Well…” she cleared her throat “for starters you are a very successful man, that has a certain…well…high profile lifestyle” Isabella felt her stomach twist. For someone who wrote for a living, she felt powerless and out of words.

  “I like to party”

  “Yes and you…like to surround yourself with good looking women”

  “I do appreciate a beautiful woman” he nodded, intrigued with where this conversation was going.

  “Several beautiful women” Isabella corrected him “at the same time. All of which, may I add, are part of the show business”

  Christopher took a sip of his drink and looked back at Isabella. It would have been terribly lame of him to tell her that no beautiful, skinny, model he had ever dated could look sexier than her in that moment, in that precise moment. Her soft cheeks were blushing and she pursed her full, red lips nervously, while her voice was a little shaky, but Isabella kept smiling ever the same. She looked so embarrassed but so smart and real. Christopher had never realized before then, how desperate he had been to find someone real.

  “A thing you must know about me is that I don’t like to define things” he began to say and Isabella’s heart began to pound in her chest.

  That’s exactly the problem Christopher, she wanted to tell him. Isabella was all about defining her life. She liked to call things with their exact name and friendship to her meant friendship. Not a person you occasionally have sex with.

  “And I don’t take advantage of people” he said, locking eyes with Isabella.

  “That’s not what…I wasn’t implying that you did…” Screw up, screw up, screw up!

  “I know. All I want to say is If you don’t want to see me again after tonight, we’ll have a laugh about it tomorrow at work. Okay?” he added, his eyes never leaving hers. “I just want to get to know you better”

  Isabella stared at him and then nodded but bit her lip, still not sure.

  Christopher smiled, even though that’s not what he had wanted to say to her.

  What he had really wanted to say was ‘I want us to be more than friends. I like you so much that I’m doing my best not to mess it up by rushing it, even though it is bloody hard for me not to strip you in front of everyone right there and then and make love to you on this very table.’ And to that thought, Christopher reached for his glass of Sangria and tried to wash down the fire spreading in his gut.

  “But just so you know, I am not a womanizer” he added seconds later, wanting her to know the truth about him and his so called ‘reputation’.

  “Just so you know, I am not a one nightstand”

  Isabella felt her cheeks blush as she finished her sentence, but ignored it and kept a confident stare.

  “I know, Isabella” he nodded. “I am just not sure that you believe me” he paused “So, now that we are clear, I want to know more about this young woman from Italia.”

  He said the last word in a funny ‘I’m desperately trying to sound Italian but I’m British’ kind of way.

  “Ah, the questions again. I don’t know if we’ve met properly but I’m the blogger, you are the driver. I actually get paid to ask you questions” she teased him and took another sip of her Sangria.

  The conversation was lightening up and Isabella did her best to relax, the closest thing to relax anyway, with those deep green eyes on her all the time.

  Whatever it was that they were doing, Christopher had given her his word that things wouldn’t change at work and that somehow had eased the weight on Isabella’s chest.

  She drank her third glass of Sangria and felt a burning sensation in her stomach.

  “You be the driver tonight” he made a face and had some more chorizo.

  I can’t, I am tipsy. Isabella giggled, feeling relaxed all of a sudden. It could have been the wine, probably it was also because Christopher had told her what he thought about them going out.

  They could be just friends after tonight, if that’s how she felt about them. Friends… The word sounded ridiculous in her head, as she eyed the gorgeous man in front of her again.

  “Well, I have had one too many glasses of Sangria tonight, so I wouldn’t be able to drive a tricycle. But when I drive Mr. Taylor, the speed limits are my best friends” she cocked her head at him and her bangs covered her eye a little.

  Isabella quickly moved her hair to the side, afraid he would reach out to touch her again and make her newly restored confidence falter again, and held his stare.

  “Same here. Never had a speeding ticket in my life” he put his hand on his heart and raised the other one.

  Isabella laughed.

  “Yeah, sure.”

  “I am serious” he smiled to the side. “Want to go for a ride with me sometime?”

  “Not going to happen. I already told you, I am not getting in car with you driving” she smiled back.

  “Trust me, I am not that bad” he winked at her.

  “I’ve seen you drive a car all week, remember? Not. Going. To. Happen” she said the words slowly, making sure the message got through, keeping a sly smile on her face.

  “I’ll change your mind” he said, as a matter of fact, without giving away the slightest emotion. Isabella gave him a funny look.

  “I won’t change my mind”

  “You will”
he looked determined.

  Just then, he raised his glass and they cheered.

  “To change” he said “Change is good” he added, looking amused again.

  “To safety” she almost laughed while saying the words. Isabella held out a hand in front of her lips, to stop herself from giggling, and then added “Safety is good, too”

  Christopher looked at her, a fire shining in his eyes just then, intrigued by Isabella’s stubbornness.

  “So is risking”

  “And you would know” she smiled just before sipping her drink once more.

  It felt so great, the flirting. It was better than foreplay.

  Well, maybe not better than foreplay, those hands…she stopped her thoughts immediately.

  After ten minutes of flirting and teasing each other, he got serious.

  “What I want to know is why this beautiful, smart, sassy woman decided to leave her job, her life and run away to join this mad circus”

  “I always wanted to be the cannon lady” she said immediately, sighing dramatically, as if it had been her dream all along. Christopher smiled to that.

  Isabela looked around the garden and then back at him again. His hair was messy and sexy, he was wearing a white shirt and casual brown pants, that wrapped around his bottom.

  Her eyes had lingered there when they had walked through the food markets earlier. Even now that they were sitting at the restaurant, she still kept thinking about it. Her cheeks went up in flames.

  “How many women did you take here?” she blurted out, when she caught a waiter staring at her.

  “Is that important?” he replied, without looking surprised. Actually his face didn’t give away any emotion.

  Isabella raised her eyebrows a little and shook her head slowly.

  “No, I guess not. But you answered with a question so that means a lot.”

  He smiled at her and looked amused again.

  “You are looking at me like that again” Isabella told him and then ate another slice of chorizo.

  “I’m sorry, it’s just this is the first time I take someone here that actually eats something. And makes me laugh”