met. Again, he wasn’t sure whether that scared him or fascinated him most.
Afterwards, Rico took her to the best
gelateria
in Rome.
‘Wow. How do you expect me to choose from all these flavours?’ she asked. ‘They all look so gorgeous.’
Eventually she picked ginger and cinnamon, and they walked back through the streets, holding hands and eating
gelati
. She sighed with pleasure as they reached the Colosseum. ‘I love this building. It’s everything I thought it would be.’
‘Yeah.’ He couldn’t resist kissing her. And when he saw her back to her room, he couldn’t resist kissing her some more. Kissing turned to touching, and touching ended with him making love to her in the shower.
Afterwards, he tucked her into bed.
‘Thank you for today,’ she said softly. ‘It’s been really special.’
She was right. It
had
been special. Which set all his alarm bells ringing; this was meant to be just fun. She was vulnerable; she’d been hurt badly by her ex and had lost her closest family. And he could only be her Mr Right Now. What did he know of families, of love and protection? For both their sakes, he needed to rein back a bit.
It was just as well that tomorrow would be their last full day together. He was dangerously close to actually wanting to get involved with her. Which would be a seriously bad idea.
‘My pleasure,
bellezza
,’ he said lightly. ‘See you in the morning. Sweet dreams.’
CHAPTER FOUR
T HE following morning, Rico took Ella to the Vatican on the Metro. As they walked through the museum, Ella was amazed to learn that they were actually walking on original Roman mosaic floors, ones which might once have lain in an emperor’s villa; and then on marble floors that had once graced the Colosseum itself. The tapestries and sculptures were beautiful too, but what really stunned her was the Sistine Chapel.
‘I didn’t think it would be this huge,’ she said to Rico. One corner had been left dark, so you could see how much work had gone into the restoration of the chapel and cleaning the paintwork. Ella just stood and gazed at the paintings, loving the depth to the blue sky. And the famous view of God reaching out to Adam with his finger, something she’d seen on postcards and in magazines, was much more awe-inspiring in real life.
‘That was really incredible,’ she said to Rico as they left the chapel to go to St Peter’s. ‘I honestly wasn’t expecting it to be that special. Thank you so much for bringing me here.’
Outside, there were the two Swiss guards with their saffron-and-purple striped uniforms, and the guide pointed out the building that contained the Pope’s apartment and the window where he gave the blessing every Sunday.
The church itself was gorgeous, and Ella lingered by Michelangelo’s
Pietà
. ‘It’s amazing to think that he was only twenty-four when he carved it. Four years younger than I am now.’
‘Doing what he loved. Making the most of his gift,’ Rico said. ‘Which is what you’re about to do, too.’
‘I hope so. Though sometimes I wake up and wonder just how crazy I am, setting up a new business in the middle of a recession.’
‘You already have a customer base, and word of mouth will bring you more. And when you have transferable skills that you can use to keep your cash flow ticking over, if you really need to. No, you’re not crazy at all,’ Rico said. ‘You’re doing the right thing. And when you’re old, you can look back without regrets or wondering what would’ve happened if you’d given your dreams a chance.’
‘I guess so.’
They wandered back outside into the sunshine, and Rico showed Ella the disappearing columns.
‘That’s clever.’
‘And you’re thinking about how you can use that on a cake, aren’t you?’ he asked, smiling.
‘Something like that,’ she admitted. She looked at the obelisk in the centre of the square. ‘I take it that that’s another of the Egyptian obelisks that seem to be
Afterwards, Rico took her to the best
gelateria
in Rome.
‘Wow. How do you expect me to choose from all these flavours?’ she asked. ‘They all look so gorgeous.’
Eventually she picked ginger and cinnamon, and they walked back through the streets, holding hands and eating
gelati
. She sighed with pleasure as they reached the Colosseum. ‘I love this building. It’s everything I thought it would be.’
‘Yeah.’ He couldn’t resist kissing her. And when he saw her back to her room, he couldn’t resist kissing her some more. Kissing turned to touching, and touching ended with him making love to her in the shower.
Afterwards, he tucked her into bed.
‘Thank you for today,’ she said softly. ‘It’s been really special.’
She was right. It
had
been special. Which set all his alarm bells ringing; this was meant to be just fun. She was vulnerable; she’d been hurt badly by her ex and had lost her closest family. And he could only be her Mr Right Now. What did he know of families, of love and protection? For both their sakes, he needed to rein back a bit.
It was just as well that tomorrow would be their last full day together. He was dangerously close to actually wanting to get involved with her. Which would be a seriously bad idea.
‘My pleasure,
bellezza
,’ he said lightly. ‘See you in the morning. Sweet dreams.’
CHAPTER FOUR
T HE following morning, Rico took Ella to the Vatican on the Metro. As they walked through the museum, Ella was amazed to learn that they were actually walking on original Roman mosaic floors, ones which might once have lain in an emperor’s villa; and then on marble floors that had once graced the Colosseum itself. The tapestries and sculptures were beautiful too, but what really stunned her was the Sistine Chapel.
‘I didn’t think it would be this huge,’ she said to Rico. One corner had been left dark, so you could see how much work had gone into the restoration of the chapel and cleaning the paintwork. Ella just stood and gazed at the paintings, loving the depth to the blue sky. And the famous view of God reaching out to Adam with his finger, something she’d seen on postcards and in magazines, was much more awe-inspiring in real life.
‘That was really incredible,’ she said to Rico as they left the chapel to go to St Peter’s. ‘I honestly wasn’t expecting it to be that special. Thank you so much for bringing me here.’
Outside, there were the two Swiss guards with their saffron-and-purple striped uniforms, and the guide pointed out the building that contained the Pope’s apartment and the window where he gave the blessing every Sunday.
The church itself was gorgeous, and Ella lingered by Michelangelo’s
Pietà
. ‘It’s amazing to think that he was only twenty-four when he carved it. Four years younger than I am now.’
‘Doing what he loved. Making the most of his gift,’ Rico said. ‘Which is what you’re about to do, too.’
‘I hope so. Though sometimes I wake up and wonder just how crazy I am, setting up a new business in the middle of a recession.’
‘You already have a customer base, and word of mouth will bring you more. And when you have transferable skills that you can use to keep your cash flow ticking over, if you really need to. No, you’re not crazy at all,’ Rico said. ‘You’re doing the right thing. And when you’re old, you can look back without regrets or wondering what would’ve happened if you’d given your dreams a chance.’
‘I guess so.’
They wandered back outside into the sunshine, and Rico showed Ella the disappearing columns.
‘That’s clever.’
‘And you’re thinking about how you can use that on a cake, aren’t you?’ he asked, smiling.
‘Something like that,’ she admitted. She looked at the obelisk in the centre of the square. ‘I take it that that’s another of the Egyptian obelisks that seem to be
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