Counterpoints (Counterpoints #1) Read online

  “Sure. Let me just put a pair of jeans and a jumper on”

  “What are you wearing?” he mumbled, his voice a little lower now.

  “I’m in my pajama shorts” she bit her lip again as he took in a deep breath.

  “Come down as you are…” he said.

  “Okay” she hesitated a little but then put down the receiver and took a blue jumper from her chair. Just in case.

  After a quick look in the mirror, Isabella went to the door in her flip flops and a silly smile on her face.

  The first thing Christopher did when he saw her walk out of the lift door was smile, hands in his pockets.

  He looked so gorgeous. How could someone look so gorgeous at that time of night, after an intense day like he had had? His hair was a mess but so damn hot, so damn cute. His shirt was a little open, his eyes tired but he was there, standing in the lobby of her hotel. What is he thinking? Isabella scanned the empty room, relieved that nobody was around, expect for a member of staff and some cleaning ladies.

  “Why didn’t you call me on my cell?” she was hyperventilating, her heart was about to explode. She smiled helpless, unable to hide her happiness.

  He took her hands and pulled her in for a kiss. His lips brushed hers gently and then the kiss deepened, until he was holding her tight and she could feel his body on hers. Christopher tasted of something sweet and a little of champagne.

  He stepped away a little and took a good look at her, he really looked into her eyes.

  “I was dying to kiss you. Don’t ever do that again”

  “Do what again?” her eyes widened. What did I do now?

  “You pouted in the restaurant when you were upset” he smirked.

  “I don’t pout” she pouted again on purpose and let out a little scream, when unexpectedly he took her shoulders and kissed her passionately again. His tongue made little circles around hers, sending shivers down her back. Isabella was so excited, her mouth felt like numb.

  His hands where quickly on her back and her hands in his hair. The few people in the lobby disappeared in an instant, as Christopher took her hand and walked her out in the warm night breeze.

  “Where are you flying to tomorrow?” he asked moments later, when they had started walking around.

  Isabella had no idea where they were going and she had the feeling Christopher had no idea either. All that mattered was that she was with him.

  “Rome for a few days, then London. I’m taking a plane to China from there. What about you?”

  “I’m off to London tomorrow night, I’m flying with Hillary and Noah” he looked down then up again “What are you going to do in Rome?”

  “Eat, eat, eat. And maybe if my grandmother insists… eat” she grinned and he laughed “It’s my nan’s birthday, she turns eighty so we are going to have a party for her”

  “That’s nice” he said “I’d like to call you” and to the sound of that a flame lit in her chest.

  “I’d like that” she whispered.

  “Why are you whispering?” he whispered back, amused. They turned left at a set of traffic lights and the street became more quite, no people around and only a few cars went by every now and then.

  Isabella walked next to Christopher, her arms over her chest. It was such a beautiful night, the sky was clear but there were no stars in sight. Too many city lights.

  “I don’t know, isn’t that what people do in movies when things get a little dangerous and don’t want others to find out?” she whispered back, leaning forward.

  “You think I am dangerous?” he smiled to the side.

  She nodded immediately and said “Deadly”

  He laughed a little and shook his head.

  “What If you are wrong?”

  Isabella was taken aback. Christopher was looking at her so intensely now, waiting for her reaction to his question. She took a deep breath.

  “All the evidence says I’m right”

  He searched her face before speaking again.

  “But still, here we are. Walking together in the middle of the night. Why is that Miss Bresciani? Why, if I am so dangerous as you say?” they stopped then and looked at each other. Christopher moved a little closer and Isabella backed a little, her shoulders brushed against a gray brick wall. She looked down confused.

  “I can’t think when you are around”

  He touched her cheek and lowered his voice “I think too much when you are around” he said as a matter of fact. Had he ever thought twice about kissing a woman? Taking her out? Taking her to bed with him? Never. He had always taken his chances and had followed his instincts. This time though, with Isabella, it was all a different matter. Christopher didn’t want to rush it, he didn’t want her to say no. It wasn’t like the other times, when if a woman had refused him he had shrugged it off and went on with his life. This time it mattered to him.

  “You are wrong for me, Christopher” she looked up, searching his eyes as soon as she said it. Isabella studied his face, trying to figure out what he was thinking, but it was impossible. He was always so serene, so apparently calm and steady.

  “You are wrong for me, Isabella” he echoed back and tilted his head to the side “But I can’t keep away”

  Isabella lowered her stare, as her cheeks flushed and she felt a warm feeling in her stomach, the way only Christopher’s presence made her feel.

  “Unless you want me to stay away” he kept his eyes on her, studying her reaction. Isabella looked up and shook her head.

  “I don’t want you to stay away” she bit her lip and smiled. “Where is your chick for the night?” she teased jokingly, as they started walking again.

  They went left again, making a loop around the hotel block. Isabella could see the trimmed hedges of her accommodation in the distance.

  “Where is John?” he teased back a little tense.

  “Who?” her head snapped in his direction, incredulous. Had he just asked her where Johns was?

  “Exactly. No chick, no John” he smiled to the side.

  “Why didn’t you call my cell?” she asked him again after a few moments of silence, realizing he hadn’t answered her in the first place. Why the hassle, why did he risk being seen by someone in the hotel?

  “Your cell phone was off”

  “Oh…” she mumbled. Isabella had totally forgot about switching it off.

  They stopped near a very tall tree on the side of the street. Isabella’s back was at a small building that stood right next to the hotel structure. They had completed a quick loop around the premises.

  “These shorts…” he murmured, his fingers brushing Isabella’s thigh.

  She arched her back a little and caught her breath. Isabella slightly closed her eyes, enjoying Christopher’s touch on her skin. Her whole body felt like it was shaking.

  She opened her eyes again and she stared at the man in front of him. His strong arms were bare, his white shirt sleeves’ were pushed all the way up his elbows and she could see his tattoos, circling around his muscles.

  Christopher’s hands were now both on her thighs, but making their way up her hips, resting a few instants around her chest and then up her cheeks.

  I’ll see you in Beijing” he said and kissed her forehead, her small nose and then her lips, briefly, leaving her wanting for more.

  “Yeah…” she hesitated. Why had he stopped? Isabella felt like going mad. Her body was shaking. Like a drug, it craved his hands like nobody’s before.

  “Buonanotte, Isabella” he said with a smile on his face but it didn’t reach his eyes. He had to refrain his nature and just stop doing what he had started there in the alleyway. What if Isabella didn’t want him to take it a step further? She still was talking about being friends and was super cautious about them being seen together. For the first time maybe in his life, Christopher was thinking too much and it was making him crazy.

  Ten days without seeing her. Ten days without secretly touching her, kissing her, without her sassiness. He
backed away slowly but Isabella took a step forward and unexpectedly touched his hand.

  “Wait” she said. Christopher stopped and she moved closer. “I can’t believe I am saying this... but why don’t you come up?”

  “To your room?” he asked surprised.

  “Yes” she said a little embarrassed “We could stay up all night and talk, while I finish packing. I do need a strong man to close my suitcases” she smiled “ But maybe you want to go to bed. Forget it” she started backing away but then he said “Sure” his hands were back in his pockets again, looking hot as ever with his hair ruffled from the wind.

  Her heart was racing. Maybe it had been a bad move, he was probably expecting to sleep with her.

  “Just to clarify…” she began but he interrupted her.

  “Just talk, I know Isabella” and they exchanged a look of understanding.

  “I want you to know that I am attracted to you” Isabella said and did her best not to roll her eyes at herself. Doh, he’s gorgeous and he knows it, too. “The thing is that I don’t want to rush it. We see each other every day…” she paused and smiled seeing Christopher’s cheeky face. What was she going to say next? Isabella totally lost her train of thought.

  “You are enjoying this, aren’t you?”

  “Oh, yeah” he smiled again. “But I get it, really. I tend to rush into things, every time. And I fuck it up”

  Without saying anything else, they walked towards the hotel -refraining from holding hands- with a silly smile on their faces, hoping that inside the reception the coast would be clear.

  Chapter 18

  Isabella giggled and put her white blouse in the big suitcase on the ground. She was sitting on the floor in her white shorts, her bare legs crossed and she couldn’t help but laugh at Christopher’s wicked grin.

  Since they had stepped into the room, they hadn’t done anything else but laugh and joke around.

  Actually, the giggling and the smirking had already begun outside the hotel, when they had cautiously walked side by side, hands in their pockets, in order to avoid curious stares from people.

  Still, it had been very hard to pretend they didn’t know each other: they were very much aware of one another, of each other’s bodies, each other’s movements. They walked into the empty lobby from different doors, laughing at their silliness –especially when Christopher took out his sunglasses and wore them inside the hotel- but as they reached the elevators their eyes met several times. All of which was followed by looks of mischief.

  In front of the elevator, they had managed to keep it together, as they waited for the doors to open with three other hotel guests, who had come out of nowhere. The three women couldn’t stop looking at Christopher. Understandably. Or maybe it was because of his silly sunglasses.

  The elevator seemed to be getting smaller and smaller, as Christopher reached for her hand, while the three guests were standing in front of Isabella. She swallowed hard and looked his way and, just as the hotel guests were stepping out, he pulled her closer and placed a hand around her lower back .

  Isabella smiled for the relief and Christopher touched her lips, just an instant before kissing them. Damn butterflies.

  “Come on, show me some underwear!” he said joking around, pretending to peek in her suitcase.

  “Why? You’d like to wear some? I promise I won’t write about it” she teased and giggled again.

  “Ah, I’ve had worse things written about me” he grinned.

  He was sitting opposite her on the floor, his knees to his chest and his hands rested on them. Christopher watched her pack the bags, unable to look away. She was breathtaking as usual in her simplicity, but the more he spent time with her, the more he figured out how fascinatingly complicated Isabella was as a person. It was easy to be around her and so incredibly difficult to figure out what she was thinking.

  He could tell that Isabella liked him, but her interest in him was different.

  Usually, women were all over him the minute they acknowledged his good looks, who he was, what he did for a living and, he sadly discovered, as soon as they imagined the digits in his bank account.

  Not that he had been naïve about it. He had actually always used these traits of his to his advantage.

  Nevertheless, If Isabella too had been impressed by all that, she had been really good at keeping it hidden. All Christopher could see, was a very attractive young woman who found him interesting.

  What was she feeling though? What did that smile mean when she looked at him? What about her past?

  And Christopher realized that this was what made Isabella irresistible. She wasn’t after money or fame and she wasn’t a sure thing.

  From her small carry on, Isabella took out a pair of purple, silk underwear and briefly showed them to Christopher. She giggled at his stunned face and turned her back at him again, hiding the pair in her hands.

  “Wait, wait. Let me see those again”

  Isabella looked to the side and did as he asked.

  “Very. Nice. I wonder how…”

  With a swift move, Isabella threw them at him, as if they were a sling, and giggled again.

  It hit Christopher’s head and then the carpet.

  He gently touched the fabric as he examined them closely and, seeing Isabella leap in his direction –probably trying to take them back- he quickly put them in his pocket.

  “I’ll hold on to these, darling”

  “Give them back” she wined, jokingly.

  He shook his head. Then he leaned forward and said with a very, sexy, husky voice, so deep Isabella felt a shiver down her spine:

  “You won’t need underwear around me…”

  Isabella bit her lip, tentatively as the burning feeling spread in her stomach again.

  “Who says I am wearing them now?”

  There it was. The proof that Christopher was seriously doing something to her. Where had her good sense gone? How could she have let those words out of her mouth? She couldn’t think straight with him around.

  Obviously, otherwise the Isabella she knew would have never of said something like that, especially to a man she hardly knew.

  For the first time, she was going with the flow and Isabella was dead scared, scared of making a fool out of herself, scared of getting hurt like never before. This is a dangerous game and you know it.

  “What are you doing?” he said, raising an eyebrow. Christopher’s heart pounded in his chest. It took all of his will power not to go over to Isabella and take her in his arms.

  He sat straight and looked very tense, all of a sudden. Just the thought of having Isabella so near him, in the privacy of her room, without underwear beneath those tight, white shorts, was turning him on. His hands were burning, he wanted to feel her.

  “I’m packing” she said in a flirty manner, but turned down the steam in the room a little.

  They had said, moments before entering the hotel, that they wouldn’t rush it. So it was time to behave. A little. For five minutes at least, Isabella promised to herself.

  He looked around the room and saw an mp3 player on her bedside table.

  “What music do you like?” he asked, doing his best to divert his attention.

  “Mostly rock, but it depends on my mood. I am totally addicted to the 80’s…I like songs more than a genre, anyway. What about you?” she stood up and went to get the mp3 player, to put it in her hand luggage.

  That would come in handy tomorrow, on the two plane rides home.

  “I like anything that gives me the right energy to drive. Heavy metal, house music, techno. Anything with a good beat. I need the right vibes” he stood up and walked to the other bedside table. “Don’t forget this” he took the eBook reader and handed it to her.

  “Thanks. I should put this in my hand luggage, too. I never go anywhere without it” she waved the reader at him.

  Before it had been books, thick, heavy books. Now it was books in a single, light, small device. Technology at its best in
terms of practicality, but she did miss good old books and the way the paper smelled, when she was deep into an old classic.

  They talked about books and how Christopher, having so much time while travelling from a place to another, only enjoyed reading biographies of great men and women. He told her that someone had asked him If they could write his father’s biography together, but he still had to give an answer, as he didn’t think he was capable of writing it.

  “You should do it. I think the press will slowly stop talking about it if you talk about it, once and for all” she told him. “The other person, the writer, thinks about the style and the final draft of the book but you could definitely do it together, give your input as his son, from your point of view of what he meant to you”

  He listened without saying a word and then said ‘I’ll think about it’ and changed the subject. Isabella knew by now that his father’s death was a delicate matter, one that Christopher liked to avoid as much as possible.

  The night went by and without even noticing it was almost sunrise. They had talked so much about themselves, their past, how it had been for Isabella to grow up in a small town, how she hated the mentality of her town but missed her family, how she missed waking up every morning and smell the sea breeze.

  Christopher told her things he had never told anyone else about his private life.

  Despite his better judgment, despite what had happened to him almost a year ago, he opened up to Isabella, trusting her with his secrets.

  He told Isabella that he hated being alone, he was so used to having people around all the time. He told her what it was like to grow up travelling around the world, how it felt to be raised by his mother alone and confessed to her that he always called his mother before a race, just in case, just to be sure that he wouldn’t regret it if...

  Isabella felt shivers on her back. The thought was so awful, her mind rejected it instantly. But later, thinking it through, she realized that was probably the hardest thing to come to terms with, regarding Christopher’s fathers’ death: he had left without talking to them one last time.