Cornwall and the family I was with in Florence never had them. At least, not the truffly kind: only the chocolate sort.’ She let a trace of innocent flirtation creep into her voice. ‘That means I’d have been handicapped from the start. I’d never be able to master something I’ve not even tasted. I wouldn’t know what I was aiming for.’
He caught his breath in mock horror and raised his hand.
‘ We need to fix that, and fast, just in case I ever decide to give in and replace art with cookery. We’ll look at the activities you’ve planned for the coming week, and pick a day when the class will be so worn out by the evening that they won’t notice if you sneak off and play hooky. Then you and I can go to a place I know in Bevagna that serves the best Umbrian food.’
Success! She’d done it.
But s he must watch what she said, she thought quickly. Sounding too eager could be counterproductive with a man who was probably bored rigid by women throwing themselves at him, and she wouldn’t want him to think her interest in him was anything more than simple friendship.
‘ That’s very kind of you, Max, but you don’t have to, you know. I could order it when we go to Assisi. We’re there for the whole of Wednesday.’ Smiling, she glanced up at him, and caught him staring intently down at her. Their eyes met.
‘ No, I prefer my plan,’ he said with a slight smile, and he turned back to the garden. ‘ Tagliatelle al tartufo is something to be tasted for the first time when you’re with a connoisseur. And apart from that, after the amount of time I’ve spent with Stephen recently, I’d quite enjoy a change of company.’
His final words were almost drowned out by the sound of Clare screaming with laughter. They turned at the same moment to see what was happening.
Stephen had opened a new bottle of Prosecco and the sparkling wine had gone all over his hands. To Clare’s amusement, he was licking the wine off his skin.
‘ I rest my case,’ Max said with a grin.
L aughter lines crinkled the corners of his eyes whenever he smiled, she noticed. And that was often. And he had the deepest brown eyes she’d ever seen.
Dragging her eyes away from Max, she caught sight of Nick, who was standing just behind Clare, watching Stephen with a supercilious air. She felt a momentary chill, and her eyes moved to Stephen. She smiled vaguely in his direction. ‘Stephen seems nice,’ she said, watching him pour the remaining Prosecco into Clare’s glass.
Max glanced at his nephew. ‘Yes, he’s a really great kid and I’m very fond of him, but there are limits to how much one wants to hear about the million and one forms of social networking that he enjoys, and about his music and so on. Nope, I’m ready for a more adult sort of conversation. Having dinner with the group tonight will be a good start – at least, I hope it will be – and we can get to know each other even better if you’ll have dinner with me one evening this week.’
A warm glow crept through her. She couldn’t have asked for a more successful outcome to their conversation. For a moment, she imagined them sitting opposite each other at a small table, a candle flickering between them …
She kicked herself back into the present.
‘I hope you do enjoy this evening,’ she said quickly. ‘They’re a mixed bunch, and some are more adult than others. I’m sure there are also some bores you wouldn’t want to sit next to.’ She smiled at him. ‘For your sake, I hope the conversation this evening will be on the more adult side, rather than less.’
‘ Adult or not, I’m grateful to you for letting me barge into what is, after all, your show.’
‘ I prefer to think of it as our show.’
He raised his hands in surrender. ‘OK. I’ll go along with it being a joint thing. And now, in the interests of adult conversation, I think I’d better try to inject some maturity into Stephen before we sit down for dinner. Excuse me, would
He caught his breath in mock horror and raised his hand.
‘ We need to fix that, and fast, just in case I ever decide to give in and replace art with cookery. We’ll look at the activities you’ve planned for the coming week, and pick a day when the class will be so worn out by the evening that they won’t notice if you sneak off and play hooky. Then you and I can go to a place I know in Bevagna that serves the best Umbrian food.’
Success! She’d done it.
But s he must watch what she said, she thought quickly. Sounding too eager could be counterproductive with a man who was probably bored rigid by women throwing themselves at him, and she wouldn’t want him to think her interest in him was anything more than simple friendship.
‘ That’s very kind of you, Max, but you don’t have to, you know. I could order it when we go to Assisi. We’re there for the whole of Wednesday.’ Smiling, she glanced up at him, and caught him staring intently down at her. Their eyes met.
‘ No, I prefer my plan,’ he said with a slight smile, and he turned back to the garden. ‘ Tagliatelle al tartufo is something to be tasted for the first time when you’re with a connoisseur. And apart from that, after the amount of time I’ve spent with Stephen recently, I’d quite enjoy a change of company.’
His final words were almost drowned out by the sound of Clare screaming with laughter. They turned at the same moment to see what was happening.
Stephen had opened a new bottle of Prosecco and the sparkling wine had gone all over his hands. To Clare’s amusement, he was licking the wine off his skin.
‘ I rest my case,’ Max said with a grin.
L aughter lines crinkled the corners of his eyes whenever he smiled, she noticed. And that was often. And he had the deepest brown eyes she’d ever seen.
Dragging her eyes away from Max, she caught sight of Nick, who was standing just behind Clare, watching Stephen with a supercilious air. She felt a momentary chill, and her eyes moved to Stephen. She smiled vaguely in his direction. ‘Stephen seems nice,’ she said, watching him pour the remaining Prosecco into Clare’s glass.
Max glanced at his nephew. ‘Yes, he’s a really great kid and I’m very fond of him, but there are limits to how much one wants to hear about the million and one forms of social networking that he enjoys, and about his music and so on. Nope, I’m ready for a more adult sort of conversation. Having dinner with the group tonight will be a good start – at least, I hope it will be – and we can get to know each other even better if you’ll have dinner with me one evening this week.’
A warm glow crept through her. She couldn’t have asked for a more successful outcome to their conversation. For a moment, she imagined them sitting opposite each other at a small table, a candle flickering between them …
She kicked herself back into the present.
‘I hope you do enjoy this evening,’ she said quickly. ‘They’re a mixed bunch, and some are more adult than others. I’m sure there are also some bores you wouldn’t want to sit next to.’ She smiled at him. ‘For your sake, I hope the conversation this evening will be on the more adult side, rather than less.’
‘ Adult or not, I’m grateful to you for letting me barge into what is, after all, your show.’
‘ I prefer to think of it as our show.’
He raised his hands in surrender. ‘OK. I’ll go along with it being a joint thing. And now, in the interests of adult conversation, I think I’d better try to inject some maturity into Stephen before we sit down for dinner. Excuse me, would
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