Take Me

Lily thanked Nonna with the only Italian words she knew so far, but her ” Tante grazie,” was cut off by the woman’s spontaneous hug.

Travis pulled Nonna into a hug next and made a mental note to send a generous gift to the wonderful woman. Then he picked up the picnic basket with one hand and Lily’s hand with the other. He was still smarting from her attack in Nonna’s kitchen, but at the same time, he wasn’t clueless enough to think he hadn’t brought it on himself. He couldn’t think of a single time in the past twenty years that he had done anything that would have captured Lily’s trust.

So then why was he suddenly so desperate to have it?

“Got anywhere special in mind for the picnic?” she asked, as they drove back down the hill from Nonna’s farmhouse. “Or should I be keeping my eyes open for a rock wall in a patch of shade?”

Travis took his eyes off the narrow road to grin at Lily. He was glad her good mood was back. “I think you’ll like the place I have in mind.” He took a sharp left at a crumbling shed.

As the road became bumpier and less maintained, Lily said, “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were trying to kidnap me.”

“No one will ever find you out here, my pretty.” Travis faked a maniacal laugh.

Lily giggled as they crested the final hill. Travis stopped the car in front of a wide, tall cypress bush next to several other beat-up cars. He grabbed the basket and motioned for Lily to follow him down a narrow footpath. “It’s through here.” Although Lily looked doubtful, she followed him.

Moments later, they were standing on the banks of a small, stunning lake. Several couples and families were spread out along the grass while their babies threw sand up into the air with miniature shovels. “It’s so beautiful,” Lily said softly.

She caught sight of the large wooden swing on an ancient oak tree and ran over to it. She slid onto the wooden seat and swung herself off the ground.

Travis gave her a firm push. She gasped, “Not so high, Travis!” as she flew up into the air, but when she came back down he pushed her hard again and again, until her hair was flying free behind her and her skirts were up over her knees and she was laughing.

Travis couldn’t resist her laughter, so he let her come back down to earth and, when she landed, he caught her in his arms and kissed her.

Travis’s stomach grumbled loudly. “Guess it’s time to eat,” Lily said, her breath warm against his ear before she pulled away and reached for the woolen blanket that Nonna had given them to sit on. Lily spread it out on the soft grass and unloaded the food.

“My God,” she said as more and more wrapped packages emerged at the bottom of the basket. “I guess I wasn’t paying attention to what Nonna put in here. There’s enough food to feed an army.”

“Nonna knows I’ve got a big appetite,” Travis said with a wink, trying to step carefully around the food minefield by turning the focus to himself.

“Well,” Lily said with a laugh, “I’ve certainly noticed that you have a big appetite for something.”

Travis made a show as if to pounce on her, but she just laughed and stuffed a piece of bread in his mouth. “Eat,” she said, so he relaxed back into the blanket and watched the sunshine play off the calm lake as he munched on the crust.

They ate companionably in the dappled shade beneath the huge shelter of the oak tree, and Travis couldn’t remember ever feeling quite so content. Sated, he stood up and drew Lily into his arms.

“Dance with me, Lily.”

“Travis,” she said, her laughter coming out in warm puffs against his neck, “everyone will think we’re crazy.”

He pulled her close, then dipped her until her red locks nearly brushed the ground. Gently curving her back toward him, he said, “They’re too busy thinking I’m the luckiest guy in the world.”

Lily stiffened in his arms. Travis wondered why his compliments had such an adverse effect with her.

Most women lapped them up like cream. How could she doubt that what he said was true when he had been fighting men away from her left and right?

Travis surveyed the flowing layers of red-and-lavender silk that caressed her curves. Her dress dipped low to expose the creamy flesh of her br**sts. The hem twirled sexily around her slim ankles, which were encased in strappy sandals, and her brightly painted toes peeked out with every step.

“Have I told you how beautiful you look today?”

Lily kissed his cheek softly. “Thank you,” she whispered into his ear, sending chills through him, straight to the rapidly growing bulge between his legs.

He ran his hand down her back. “I can’t keep my eyes, or hands,” he said, with a mischievous smile, “off you today.”

Lily shook her head and tried to pull away. “It’s not me that’s beautiful,” she protested. “It’s Janica’s dress. She’s so talented, she could even make a hippo look good.”

Travis scanned the park. “Funny, I don’t see any hippos anywhere.” He lowered his voice to an intimate hush. “I see you, Lily, and you are incredibly beautiful to me.”

This time, Lily let herself be held by him. A soft wind blew over them as time stood still.

Lily didn’t get it. The Travis she had been with all day was straight from her fantasies. Even when she’d had her little hissy fit at Nonna’s, which she was still awfully embarrassed about, Travis had been gallant, charming, and, amazingly enough, impressed with her creative ideas for his client’s house.

He had been, simply, the perfect man to share Tuscany with.

Which meant, of course, that all day Lily was waiting for the other shoe to drop. She couldn’t help but wonder at his abrupt transformation. After so many years of being treated like a second-class citizen—

none of which had stopped her lustful dreams about him, sadly enough—the new-and-improved Travis was almost too much to take in.

Lily needed some time alone to process things. It was all happening so fast. She felt perilously close to overload. They parked their rental car at the hotel and walked into the square.

When Travis got engrossed in a conversation with a master woodcarver, Lily took it as her chance to escape for a little while.

“Travis, I’m going to go down to the corner cafe to jot down some notes.” He made a move to wrap up his conversation, but she insisted, “Please don’t rush on my account. Take all the time you need.”