Page 68 of Chasing Caine
“I made my own choice.” Samantha sat up straighter and gave me a mock frown. “Sometimes I can be a little stubborn.”
“Understatement!” Lucy laughed. “So, when are you going to come home? I really want to—”
“Scusami, Lucy…” I pulled Samantha’s hand with the phone closer.
“That’s ok—”
“I couldn’t make that out… You’re breaking… Bad recep… But…” I ended the call.
Samantha grinned at me. “What was that?”
“Today is about you and me. Not Lucy Chapman’s excitement over that horrible ‘us’ word.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty terrifying,” she chuckled. “And what’s with her having lunch with your sister?”
“I’m not surprised those two social butterflies might spend time together.” I tilted her hand with the phone. “When did you crack the screen?”
She sagged against me, face shielded by her cap, but the disappointment was thick in her voice. “During my little dance with Umberto.”
“We can have that fixed tomorrow.”
“I had him, Antonio.” She huffed. “I had a good grip on him, but I couldn’t keep hold. I let him get away. I can’t believe I tripped over the stupid case.”
I pulled back from her and shifted my seat to see under her brim. “You didn’t trip.”
“I did. My foot went right down on it because I was too cocky and didn’t pay attention to my surroundings.”
“No, I mean, he kicked it under you. I saw it while I was busy being too slow to help. Don’t take this all on yourself.”
“But you did everything right.” Her gaze fell away from mine. “Got the photos, came for me, ran after him. And then you were awesome at the gallery. Me? I failed everything today.”
For how short a time we’d known each other, I could recognize this. The doubts she had in herself. She could fly between unsurpassed confidence and crushing self-doubt in the blink of an eye. Surely, she had to understand how amazing she truly was?
I pulled her chin up to look at me, lifting it high enough she couldn’t hide behind the brim of her cap. “Bella, were it not for your insistence we follow up, your determination to find outanything,we wouldn’t know Umberto was the thief. It could have been anyone in Napoli that day. The authorities have gone from a suspect list of millions to just one. That sounds like a success to me.”
“He didn’t really kick the toolbox under me.”
“Sì, he did.” It was my turn to feign the scowl. “Now stop feeling sorry for yourself so we can go back to enjoying the day.”
She turned to face me and threaded her legs over my hips, wrapping her arms around my neck. Her jaw clenched as she moved, the emotions likely unsettling her. “Let’s just sit here a bit longer.”
I pulled her closer, scooping her up onto my lap so I had to look up at her. One of the tourists nearby cleared their throat.
“We probably shouldn’t sit like this in a public place.” She attempted to ease off my lap, but I locked my hands behind the small of her back.
“The first time I kissed these lips…” I pursed my lips in invitation, but she leaned her upper body away.
Sadly, she was uncomfortable with public displays of affection.
No matter. Words would suffice. “You were wearing a ball cap like this one. And a dirty pink work shirt.”
“Yeah, super sexy.”
“You’re the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen. Regardless of what you are or are not wearing.” I stirred underneath her, certainly inappropriate for where we were. “Because your brain is always on. Always at full throttle.”
Unlike other women I’d dated, Samantha had no guile about her. No fakeness, no deceit, no shallow desire for superficial things.
I thought I’d loved before, but the need deep inside me to be with her was different. Touching her, being there with her, sharing her space in the universe—it all made me better.