The Sicilian's Passion by Sharon Kendrick

Author:Sharon Kendrick
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2001-08-25T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

‘I THINK that’s everything.’ Giovanni clicked shut his suitcase, and turned to look at where she stood, silently surveying him, her face impassive, and he wondered what thoughts were going through that beautiful head of hers.

So far, at least, there had been no word or demonstration that Kate was going to miss him, after a fortnight spent almost exclusively together—save when she had made an excuse to go downstairs to see her sister to discuss work.

And Kate watched him with a dull ache in her heart. Intellectually she had known that this moment would come, and emotionally she had prepared herself for the inevitable pain it would bring. But the reality was far worse than even her worst imaginings.

‘What time does your plane leave?’

He flicked a glance at his watch, and then again at her. ‘In two hours.’ If it had been at any other time during the past two weeks then he might have tried to make love to her one more time. But this goodbye was turning into something he hadn’t quite anticipated, and to take her into his arms to lose himself in that mindless pleasure would, he knew, somehow devalue what they had shared together.

‘Would you like some coffee before you go?’

More in an attempt to dissolve the brittle atmosphere than because he really wanted a cup, he nodded in agreement. ‘Please.’

She busied herself in the kitchen. Best cups. Best coffee. Some outrageously expensive chocolate biscuits she had once been given and which there had never been a right time to open. Before now.

She spooned coffee into the cafetiére and stared sightlessly out of the window. Would she ever have agreed to this arrangement if she had known that the inevitable parting would prove so painful?

When she carried the tray back into the sitting room he was half sitting, half lying on the sofa watching her, and her heart leapt as it always did at the sight of him.

‘Smells good,’ he remarked.

‘Mmm.’ She wished he would say something, other than make those bland comments which could have come from a stranger, and not the man who had shared her life for the past fortnight. She handed him a cup and then took her own over to the opposite side of the room and placed it on a small table beside her.

The distance between them seemed to be the size of a tennis court.

‘Kate,’ he said suddenly. ‘Come and sit next to me.’

Her eyes narrowed and she felt the lurch of disappointment. Physical closeness meant only one thing where they were concerned. ‘There isn’t time, Giovanni,’ she told him dully, unprepared for the tightening of his mouth in response.

‘You think that the only reason I want you beside me is so that I can make love to you one more time before I go!’ he accused hotly. ‘Is that it?’

‘There’s no need to sound so outraged! That’s what it always does mean where you’re concerned!’ she told him. ‘And we’ve hardly been behaving like saints for the last couple of weeks, have we?’

‘No.

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