*****
“You look even more stunning than I imagined. How can that be?” Rafe asked as she approached. Seeing her face glow at his praise made his heart race. She was so easily pleased — another shocking attribute. Though he was proud to have such a beauty on his arm, her company was what captivated him. He greeted her with outstretched arms that gracefully moved up to her face where his large hands tenderly cradled the sides of her neck and his thumbs caressed her soft cheeks. He tilted her head back and kissed her with a passion that nearly made her breathless and she felt all the way to her toes.
“Thank you, Rafe. I have to admit that you’re incredibly dashing in your black suit. That red tie is my absolute favorite.”
Warmed by her honest compliment, he placed her delicate arm through his and led her out the front doors to their waiting limo.
“The day has been adventurous already. I can’t imagine what else you have in store,” she said as they settled down in the back seat and he pulled out a bottle of chilled champagne and a small bowl of strawberries.
“Ah, the night is young,” he said as he handed over the glass. He wanted to keep pleasing her, see excitement shining in her eyes. To give to someone who asked for nothing was a real gift.
“If I don’t get a chance to say it later, thank you, Rafe. Thank you for giving me such a perfect day.”
Rafe didn’t know what to say as he looked into her eyes, so he chose to say nothing, but instead bent forward and gently connected their lips. The soft feel of her kiss tugged at his emotions, but he suppressed them as he took her glass and set it aside so he could pull her onto his lap.
Their kiss deepened as the limo made its way through traffic toward the intimate rooftop restaurant. Just when he was getting ready to cancel their evening plans and take her back to the room, the car stopped.
With reluctance, Rafe gently eased Ari off his lap and took a moment to adjust his pants. Even after months of sinking deep within her flesh, he still couldn’t get enough. He was beginning to think he never would. What if no other woman would be able to replace her?
He refused to think those thoughts right now.
Rafe made his way out of the car first and held out his hand. She took his fingers and emerged, and then, with his palm resting on the small of her back, he led her inside the hotel and up into the restaurant on the strategically covered rooftop. The maître d’ greeted them as if they were familiar guests and escorted them to a private area.
“Oh, Rafe, this is stunning,” she whispered as she walked to the railing, drinking in the picturesque landscape of the distant mountains. Below them was a man-made waterfall, its sound swallowing up the noise of the bustling city on the other side of their small paradise.
The soft light of the setting sun falling over Ari seemed to uncover a window to her soul and the exquisite beauty within. In that moment Rafe made up his mind to take her to Italy — he had to show her his home, to explore the countryside with her next to him. Viewing it through her appreciative eyes would surely renew his jaded soul. She had such a love of new experiences that it humbled him, stirring emotions inside him of how truly lucky he’d been in his youth.
“Back home, we’d take a lot of picnics. My mother’s country is beautiful with water everywhere, and the land filled with green. I look out at the desert here and I can appreciate its peculiar beauty, the deathly traps it holds, the amount of survival it takes to live in such a barren area, but I need more where I choose to live. I need the fresh blooms of spring and the feel of soft grass in a park. I need seasons.”
“I’d never been outside of California before meeting you,” Ari said, “so it’s all beautiful to me. I love the way the land changes as you move across it. It fascinates me how on one side of a mountain there can be thick, lush greenery and streams of flowing water, and then on the other side, dry, crackling ground and minimal plant life. Yet each area, no matter what it is, serves its purpose, and different people find beauty all around them wherever they choose to live.”
“Do you ever have a negative way of looking at something?” he asked with a laugh.
“Well, I had quite a few negative thoughts of you when we first met,” she replied teasingly.
“Do you still?” he asked, all laughter suddenly vanishing from his features.
The smile dropped from her face, too, as she tilted her head and looked at him as if really thinking about her answer. Rafe was unsure whether he wanted to hear what she had to say.
“You’re not the monster I thought you were, Rafe. I can see the amazing man beneath your tough shell — but I also know our time will come to an end. I just hope we both walk away feeling as if we’ve gained something — as if our time spent together wasn’t a waste.”
The tightening in Rafe’s chest became almost unbearable as he watched a bit of the light wane in her expressive eyes. Could he ever forgive himself if he permanently snuffed out her inner light of joy?
Rafe shook off the unwelcome thought. He’d promised himself he would let it all go for one night.
“Tell me about your home,” Ari asked, as Rafe took her hand and led her back to the table, where dishes Rafe had ordered earlier were laid out for them. While she waited for his reply, she bit into a piece of roast duck, closing her eyes for a moment to savor the myriad flavors. “This sauce is amazing.”
Rafe was silent as he enjoyed Ari’s pleasure — her eloquent face fascinating to watch. When she looked up with raised brows, he smiled before he began to speak.
“We all led such a double life — no, not in that sense. We had two homes, two countries, and it’s reflected in a split in each of our personalities, I think. Life was different in Italy. In my younger years I didn’t like the time spent in the States — it seemed too driven, too focused, too…lonely, perhaps. When we were back in Italy, my father was home more, would take time to go on hikes with us, and take us on boat rides. When here, he worked long hours and we didn’t see him as much. As I got older I realized he was only trying to make a comfortable life for his family, but I felt a lot of resentment during my teenage years.”
“When did you meet Shane?”
“Here, in then States. He was unlike anyone I’d met before. My truest friend has a natural ability to draw others to him. I learned early on that most people wanted something out of me, whether it was my money, connections or the status of being friends with such a wealthy kid. I started to become bitter, I think — it goes with the territory. None of those things mattered to Shane. Even though he doesn’t act like someone with an impressive balance sheet, the man is probably wealthier than I am. We got on immediately, and I know he needed someone. He hated his family with a passion — they were enemies, not allies, infected with intense hostility — and he refused to follow in his father’s footsteps.”