Page 130 of Ricardo

"So do I," he says, not moving.

"We're not going to get anything done like this."

"It seems we've gotten quite a lot done exactly like this."

I have to smile at that. "We can't spend the whole day in bed."

"We could with one phone call," he says.

The thought of it, lounging around in bed with Ricardo is so tempting, it makes me ache.

But for some reason, I can’t do it. The idea of hiding away with him, in this little bubble of pleasure and intimacy, is tempting, yes.

It's also a bad idea.

The real world is waiting for us out there. A world where he is Ricardo Conti, and I am Julia O’Brien, and we are not supposed to be here together.

I push myself up, the sheet pooling around my waist.

"I have to meet with Mario today," I say, forcing myself to be practical. "To go over the guest list for the anniversary gala."

Ricardo's arm drops from his face, and he turns to look at me. "Very well." He heaves a sigh. "But I am going to feed you first."

A laugh slips out of me at the casual way he says it. “Feed me first?”

“Yes.”

“Do I get any say?”

“Yes.” His mouth brushes mine. “You may decide how you take your coffee.”

I laugh again, and this time his arms close around me.

The sound fades, and then there's just tenderness.

I have never laughed in bed before. Not with a man. It is a new and strange and wonderful thing to realize.

Ricardo seems to realize it too, because he pulls back to look at me. His eyes are dark and serious, and there is something in them that makes my heart ache.

"What?" I ask.

His thumb traces my lower lip.

"I like it when you laugh," he says. "You should do it more often."

My throat gets tight. I want to look away from the naked honesty in his face, but I don't.

I hold his gaze. "Okay."

Ricardo kisses me soft and slow. His hand moves up my back, into my hair, and I let myself sink into it for a few seconds. The kiss does not try to become more than it is. He doesn't try to heat it up or pull me back down to the mattress for another round. He kisses me just for the sake of kissing me.

When he pulls back, his eyes search my face again.

“What?” I ask.

“I like you here.”

My heart gives a strange, hard beat.