Page 76 of How Not to Mess with a Millionaire

“Like what?”

“I believe you Americans call it a do-over.”

Her chin quivered, and the already pounding pulse at her throat quickened. “A do-over?”

He turned her chair to face his and reached for her hands, turning them over to trace slow circles on her palms with his thumbs. “Come back to Rome with me. Give me another chance.”

The empty space in her heart started to fill. But there were still so many unanswered questions. She figured she’d start with a pretty basic one.

“Another chance to do what?”

He brought one hand up to his lips and kissed it. “To love you,carina. The way you deserve to be loved. Fully. Unconditionally. Openly.”

She felt lightheaded, unable to catch her breath. “You love me?”

“Si.” He chuckled. “I think I fell in love with you when I found you doing yoga with a pig at the crack of dawn.”

“For me it was that day in Capri,” she admitted. “When you threw away my guidebook and took me to the Grotta Verde.”

“I’m glad the feeling is mutual.” His eyes clouded with uncertainty. “At least, I hope it still is.”

She nodded. “Believe me, I tried to get over you. It wasn’t that easy.”

He released her hands and lifted his to frame her face. “You’re the air I breathe,carina. I promise to do everything in my power not to hurt you again.”

The tears that threatened earlier spilled out now, but this time they were tears of joy. Dante leaned in to wipe one away and touched his lips to hers.

What started as a soft, sweet kiss, infused with apologies on his part and forgiveness on hers, quickly turned into something more sensual. His fingers threaded through her hair as he tilted her head, seeking the perfect angle to deepen the kiss. She strained closer, as close as the restrictive office chairs would allow, and opened up to him. Not just her lips, but her heart, her soul.

“So, does this mean my pitch was successful and you’ll come with me to Rome?” he asked when they finally came up for air. “Not permanently. You have your job here, and I’ll be spending a lot more time in San Francisco once we start working on the restaurant.”

“We?” Zoe asked, surprised that her lips, tingling from the intensity of their kiss, were still functional. “You haven’t even seen my designs yet.”

“There’s no one else I would trust with this project.” He kissed her again, this one hard and fast, punctuating his faith in her with something else. Love. “But before we begin, I think it’s important for us to go back to the scene of the crime—so to speak—and replace bad memories with good ones.”

“I’d like that, but I don’t know if my boss will be thrilled with me taking time off so soon after coming back to work.”

“We’ll tell him you need to visit our locations in Italy in order to get a feel for the business.”

“I’ve already seen your restaurant in Rome.”

“True, but he doesn’t know that,” Dante said. “And you haven’t seen our in restaurants in Florence or Naples yet.”

He stood, tugging her to her feet with him. “Let’s go.”

“To Italy? Now?”

“To tell your employer the good news about the firm’s newest client. And then to your apartment, where I plan to keep you occupied for at least the next twenty-four hours. We have a lot of time to make up for. And I haven’t finished apologizing.”

“As good as that sounds, aren’t you forgetting something? Like maybe a four-legged something?”

Houdini picked that moment to wake up with a start and a loud squeal, almost as if he knew she was talking about him. Dante crouched down and snapped his fingers.

“Vieni, maiale.”

Without hesitation, the pig scampered to Dante, who scooped him up and tucked him under his arm.

Zoe gaped at them. “How did you do that? You got him to come on command. And you didn’t have to bribe him with food.”