Chapter 7
Mia froze, her eyebrows knitted in confusion. “I don’t understand, Amber. What are you saying?”
Amber grabbed some tissue and wiped her eyes. She took a deep breath and met her friend’s eye. “Mia, I’m so sorry. I never meant for this to happen.” Her eyes filled with tears again as she continued. “I met Nico through work….and a couple of weeks ago, we, er…” She couldn’t go on.
When she glanced at Mia, the other girl nodded in understanding. “It was just the once, and I felt terrible for breaching my client relationship so I stopped working on his project.” Mia made small understanding noises to encourage her to keep going.
“I didn’t think we’d see each other again, but last week he turned up at my flat as asked me to accompany him here for the weekend. He said he was coming under a lot of pressure from your mum to settle down and I don’t know why, but he asked me to be his pretend girlfriend.” She twisted her hands in her lap. “I’m so sorry, Mia, for lying to you and your parents. You have been nothing but kind to me and I feel so terrible.” She glanced at Mia for her reaction and was surprised at what she saw. “Mia? I don’t understand? I thought you’d be hating me right now – why are you grinning like that?”
“Oh, Amber. Don’t you see? You haven’t been lying to us – I really do think Nico is in love with you. I know my brother.” She looked away, the corner of her mouth curved up in a knowing grin. “No wonder he has been so short-tempered the past couple of weeks. It all makes sense now.”
“But, I don’t understand. Why would Nico be in love with me, Mia? His reputation as a playboy precedes him, I’m afraid…he has so many women willing to fall at his feet.”
Mia sighed in acknowledgement. “I know that’s what the world sees, Amber. And I’m not defending his behaviour, but it all means nothing to him. He has been so driven all his life and so far, he has never wanted to settle down. Or maybe it’s because he hadn’t met the right woman. Now you’ve come along and knocked the wind out of his sails.” She smiled at Amber and began rubbing mascara from her face.
Amber couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Could it really be true? Could Nico Moretti really be in love with her?
“Besides,” Mia continued. “I’ve heard him speaking to Mamma about you – he really is besotted.” She stood up. “Now come on, dry your eyes and let’s get you dressed. We have a party to go to.”
Amber squeezed Mia’s hand. “Thank you, Mia. Please don’t say anything to Nico, I’m sure he’d be angry if he knew I exposed our secret.”
Mia made a zipping motion across her lips. “My lips are sealed.”
She finished pinning Mia’s hair and then set to work on her make-up. Their conversation resumed its light and easy-going nature and thankfully, there wasn’t any awkward feelings between them. After her make-up was applied, with Mia’s help, Amber stepped into her red dress and slipped on her heels.
Mia clapped her hands and let out a loud whistle. “Mio Dio, Amber, if interior designing doesn’t work out, I’m sure you would get snapped up by a modelling agency. You look incredible.”
Amber stepped in front of the full-length mirror and immediately her hands flew to her mouth. For the first time in her life, she felt and looked incredibly glamorous. And beautiful. The dress hung perfectly on her body, almost as if it was exclusively made for her. Spinning around, she looked over her shoulder at the back. Yes, it was a bit daring, but the black chains across her tanned back were very flattering. Her black high heels made her long legs look endless.
Then she looked at her face again and gasped. Mia had indeed turned her into a goddess. Her piercing blue eyes were sparkling and stood out against her smoky eye make-up. She liked the light sweeping of blush across her cheeks and her lips, which were finished off with a cherry red gloss. Normally, she would never have worn such bold make-up or a red lip, but she had to agree, it really suited her. Mia was an expert with make-up and Amber made a mental note to ask her over to her flat to give her and Beth some lessons.
“Wow, Mia.” She shook her head lightly, the few tendrils framing her face bouncing with the movement. “I’ve never in my life felt like this.” Her voice started to break, but Mia quickly shot her a mock-horror look, which made Amber laugh. “Don’t worry. I promise I won’t cry again and ruin my beautiful make-up.”
Mia disappeared into the bathroom and after a short while, she re-emerged. This time, it was Amber’s turn to whistle out loud.
“Wow, look at you, Mia. You look stunning. I love the soft waves in your hair.”
The girls spritzed their favourite perfume and after final adjustments, they linked arms and set off to join the party, which had already started. Nico had earlier sent a text message to Amber, informing her that he was held up in town and that he would meet her at the party. He knew she was in good hands with Mia. She had told him to take his time as they were having lots of fun together.
Now, walking up the path to the main house, Amber felt a tingle of anticipation building in her stomach. Would he be here yet? Would he like what she was wearing? Could there really be a chance that Nico was attracted to her? That maybe there was some truth in what Mia told her? Her heart began beating at the prospect of her and Nico together. Then she pictured him with all the other women he had been with and she clamped down her feelings. She sternly told herself not to be foolish because men like Nico never settled. They loved their women too much to commit to just one. She was determined to protect her heart.
Walking through the main house, they smiled at the flurry of activity coming from the kitchen. The smartly dressed staff were making their way out with trays of drinks whilst the others were loading up theirs with canapés. Amber gushed in delight as they walked out onto the patio. The entire garden was lit up with twinkling lights, which were discretely hidden in the trees and foliage. It was a sight to behold.
“Wow, this is so beautiful, Mia.” Amber took in her surroundings. The party was already in full swing as guests mingled in groups, laughing with each other and clinking champagne flutes. There was a canopy set up with a makeshift-dancing floor and at the corner, a live band was playing some familiar tunes.
“Come on, let’s go find my parents.” Mia pulled Amber along by the hand as they made their way through the crowd. It took a while to find Annalisa as Mia was stopped over a dozen times to greet and welcome some of their guests. Finally, they spotted her holding court, with Gianmarco looking lovingly at his wife as she finished telling her story. Amber marvelled at her beauty and elegance; Mia had earlier explained that she had designed her dress exclusively.
“Mamma! You look beautiful.” Mia stopped in front of her mother as they embraced and kissed.
“Ah, here come the girls. Look at the two of you.” Annalisa glowed with pride as she looked back and forth at them. “You both look stunning. Bellissima!” Annalisa hugged Amber warmly.
“Thank you, Annalisa. Your daughter is extremely talented. You look beautiful.”
“Thank you, bella.” She gave her daughter a loving glance. “Yes, we do agree she is very talented.”
Mia grinned in pleasure at the compliments. She threw her arms around her dad’s neck and he hugged her back just as hard. Momentarily, Amber felt as if she was intruding on a family moment, but Gianmarco looked at her and scooped her up into a bear hug too. Surprised, Amber giggled at his open affection.
“My two beautiful girls. Enjoy the evening.”
Amber blushed at his compliment. Both Mia and Gianmarco fell into conversation and as Annalisa was busy with another friend, Amber excused herself and went off in the direction of the waiters to get herself and Mia a drink. It was suddenly getting busy and somehow the waiter decided to go in the opposite direction so Amber also turned around to go the other way.
Feeling her shoe strap loosening, Amber bent down to re-buckle it and then stood back up. She walked another few feet, looking at her shoe just to make sure it was okay, when she bumped into something hard. She threw her hands out to regain her balance as her cheeks coloured. Before she could stumble, a pair of large, muscled arms encircled her, bringing her close to him. Without looking up, she knew it was Nico. As if in slow motion, she looked up into his smouldering green eyes. Amber felt her heart pounding in her ears. Time seemed to stop as they locked eyes with each other and the people surrounding them seemed to fade into the background. His gaze was riveted on her face, and then slowly raked over her body in appreciation. For a long moment, Amber felt as if she was floating; he was so handsome in his custom-tailored suit, a trim cut, which showed off all the right muscles. And set off by his handmade Italian loafers. She couldn’t tear her gaze away from him as her pulse pounded away. Heat flooded her body and Amber was at a loss, cast in his spell.
Finally he spoke in a low, husky whisper. “Amber. Wow. You look absolutely beautiful this evening.”
She breathed in, shallow and quick gasps as her insides jangled with excitement. The very air around them seemed electrified.
“Thank you, Nico.” Her voice was barely a whisper as she tried to regain some control. “You don’t look so bad, yourself.” She lowered her lashed. Her skin was on fire as he was still holding her. She felt his fingers lightly brush against her back and she sucked in a breath.
Reluctantly, she moved to step out of his arms. He was still watching her intently and Amber felt shivers of desire shooting through her. No one had ever had such a profound effect on her.
“Shall we get some drinks?” He enquired, holding out his elbow.
“Yes, sure. I was just on my way actually, for both me and Mia…” She trailed off, aware that she was rambling and coloured fiercely. She held onto his arm, smiling and noting how well they fit together whilst drawing admiring glances from the people nearby. Nico merely smiled and walked them over to the waiter he had signalled. Taking a few drinks from the tray, they made their way back to Mia.
The remainder of the evening was truly magical. Both Mia and Nico introduced her to various members of their extended family and friends; they made sure to keep her included in all conversations. Amber was really happy to be there and to have the pleasure of sharing a weekend with the utterly charming Moretti family.
She was laughing with Mia and bantering with Nico and his friends and by the end of the evening, she had even picked up a few Italian phrases much to Nico’s delight. Annalisa had cut a huge three-tier cake to a rapturous applause and at midnight they had put on a very impressive display of fireworks. It was the best party she had ever attended.
Shortly after midnight, the guests slowly began to depart and Amber sat with the family for a while as they enthused over the success of the evening. Soon after, both girls decided to retire to bed. After thanking everyone for their hospitality and a wonderful evening she glanced at Nico with a genuine smile on her face. She had witnessed a completely different side to him this evening and her emotions were battling all over the place. She could no longer deny that she was truly falling for him, but still, she tried to fight her heart for self-preservation.
“Amber, let me walk you back to your room.” He held out his hand.
She simply nodded, joined their hands together and followed him out of the house.