Page 90 of Casanova LLC

He pulled back and looked at me curiously. “You’ve already had coffee?”

Dammit. Wished I’d brushed my teeth. “Mm-hmm. Jacopo had brought the sailboat out to the dock. He made me one.”

“Oh. Nice. Would you like another for the bath?”

“No, I’m good. Thank you.”

He stepped away and offered me his palm, as if handing me into a carriage. I settled myself into the tub.

Heaven.

He sat down opposite me, lifting my legs over his and resting his hands on my knees.

“So how is my uncle this morning?”

“Excited about stepping the mast. Which is a new word I learned.”

“Talk about anything interesting?”

“He’s always interesting.”

He was rubbing his thumb over my knee as if agitated. I wasn’t sure why. But before I could ask why, or decide whether I wanted to ask, he fairly blurted, “I need to apologize.”

Okay, so at least it wasn’t something I had done. “For what?”

“Last night. How it ended. That was…I was…I have never been more surprised at myself than—I’m sorry.”

“Alessandro.” I leaned forward and lifted his chin, like he’d done to me so many times. “I loved every second of last night. It was exactly what I wanted.”

“But then I fell asleep. I don’t know how that happened, I’m so sorry?—”

“If you don’t stop apologizing, I’ll do it again.”

“Well,” he chuckled, “I’m going to make it up to you.” He lifted a loofah andbody wash from the rim. The smell of magnolia enveloped us.

He started at my shoulders and began passing it over every part of me. His movements weren’t meant to excite so much as calm. I melted more with each swirl. I closed my eyes. “What is the name of the song you sing?”

“Forever.”

“Ironic.”

His movements paused. “What do you mean?”

“Because you play it at the end. When your forever expires.”

He started moving again, moved the sponge downward, gliding along my stomach, along my inner thighs. My eyes were still closed when I said, “Tell me the words.”

“Just tell them to you?”

“Yes.”

“If you want.”

“I want.”

“Okay. I translated them from the Italian, but… A lost and lonely man comes to the gate.

She has to watch and wait.

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