Page 38 of Saved by the CEO

When she opened her eyes, she found Nico watching her with an unreadable expression. His jaw twitched with tension as if he was holding back a response. “Tha...” He cleared his throat. Nevertheless his voice remained rough. “Thank you.”

“I hope I helped.”

“Trust me, you helped me a great deal.”

“Good.” Their gazes stayed locked while they talked. Louisa never knew there could be so many different shades of brown. The entire color wheel could be seen in Nico’s irises.

“Would you like some more?” she heard him ask.

Wine. He meant more wine. Louisa blinked, sending everything back into perspective. “Better not,” she said. “I’m not as practiced a wine taster as you are. Or are you purposely trying to send me home like Mario?”

Nico slapped a hand against his chest, mimicking horror. “Absolutely not. We’re shorthanded tonight as it is.”

The float-decorating party. It was Marianna’s idea. With so many of the employees working long hours, she didn’t think it fair to ask them to help decorate the winery float, as well, so she’d convinced a group of friends to do it instead. Louisa had been the first person she’d recruited.

It would be Louisa’s first public appearance since the headlines broke.

“Maybe I will have another glass,” she said reaching for the beaker.

Nico’s hand immediately closed around her wrist, stopping her. “There is no need to be nervous,” he said. “These are your friends.”

“I know.” What amazed her was how much she meant it. A week ago she’d have been a crumbling basket of nerves, but not so much now. Partly because the story was winding down.

And partly because the man next to her was scheduled to be there, as well. Her personal protector at the ready, his presence made being brave a lot easier.

After much back and forth, it was decided the vineyard would have to give up on trying to win any awards and instead design as simple a float as possible. Something that could be assembled with minimal manpower in as short a time as possible. Nico was the one who came up with the idea. Some of the parts of last year’s float, namely the fountain, were in storage. All they needed was fresh foliage. While it was too late in the day for the fountain to spout water again, they could easily recycle it into a different design. And so it was decided they would recreate the royal wedding. Two of his employees would play Prince Antonio and Princess Christina while others played wedding guests. The couples would waltz around the fountain, pretending to dance beneath the stars. It might not be an entirely accurate representation, but it would do the winery proud.

As she watched Nico and Mario retrieve the fountain later that afternoon, she couldn’t help wondering if the idea reminded Nico of the kiss they’d shared. The one she’d told him to forget had ever happened. Which he apparently was having much better luck doing than she was.

Marianna’s party attracted a crowd. In addition to Dani and Rafe, who came on their day off, there were several other couples Louisa had met at Marianna’s baby shower and other events. There was Isabella Benson, one of the local schoolteachers, and her new husband, Connor, along with wedding planner Lindsay and her husband, Zach Reeves, who’d just returned from their honeymoon. Louisa chuckled to herself, remembering the jokes she and Nico had made at the royal wedding about Lindsay and Zach’s obvious adoration for each other. Even Lucia Moretti-Cascini, the art expert who’d worked on the chapel restoration and who was in town visiting her in-laws, was there. Having appointed herself the unofficial design supervisor, she sat on a stack of crates with a sketch pad while swatting away suggestions from her husband, Logan. In fact, the only person missing was the organizer herself.

Not a single person mentioned the tabloid stories or Louisa’s history in Boston. The women all greeted her with smiles and hugs, as if nothing had changed. After years of phony smiles and affection, their genuine embraces had her near tears. Only the reassuring solidity of Nico’s hand, pressed against the small of her back, kept her from actually crying. “Told you so, bella mia,” he whispered as he handed her a glass of wine.

In spite of Marianna’s absence, the work went smoothly. In no time at all, the old pieces were in place and covered with a plastic skin, ready to be decorated.

Louisa and the other women were put in charge of attaching the foliage while the men assembled the foam cutouts that would make the frame for the palazzo walls.

“This is a first,” Dani said as she pressed a grape into place.

“Hot gluing fruit to a chicken-wire nymph. Are we sure this is going to look like marble?”

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