Page 169 of Modern Romance January 2025 5-8

‘Signor?’

‘We’ll be getting our coats...’

‘Of course.’

‘Unless...’ he looked to Gio ‘...you want dessert? Some ice cream, maybe?’

‘Please,’ Gio dismissed, ‘since when did you want dessert?’ He looked up to Susie. ‘He doesn’t even like ice cream.’

‘People have been known to change their minds,’ Susie said, and smiled at Gio, though again her words were for Dante.

Oh, she hoped he understood what she was trying to convey. But perhaps he didn’t get it at all, because he stood glancing at his phone as Pedro helped Gio into his coat.

Then he glanced up and his eyes found hers again.

Oh, gosh.

There was a rush of excitement such as she’d never known. And the searing heat of the kitchen was nothing compared to the heat of his look. She ignited inside.

He was dangerous. He made her feel reckless. How, with one look, did he tell her that she knew so little about her own body?

She’d had just one boyfriend and things had been okay.

Sort of...

Okay... What a pale word. What a pale experience her sex life had been. And now she stood, feeling her body tighten, her breasts full beneath her dress. And low, low in her stomach she felt as if she wore some kind of internal corset that had tightened so much that even the tops of her thighs tensed.

Passion.

He promised passion and she had never known it, Susie realised.

At the end of her shift she stepped out, wondering if he’d understood.

And there he was, holding an ice cream.

‘Here,’ he said. ‘Luckily it is a very cold night.’

‘Sour cherry?’

‘Of course.’

It was sharp and sweet and utterly her new favourite.

‘Did you even try it last night?’ she asked.

‘No.’

‘Try it now.’

But he declined, and they walked down from the walls into the street...where the music from the bars blended with the street performers...and she ought to feel shy, but she was too happy for that.

There were gorgeous sounds coming from the music school as they passed, and she listened to the plucking of a cello.

‘My flatmates attend here.’

‘Really?’

She nodded, popping the last of her cone into her mouth. ‘Their practising drives me mad, but it’s so lovely hearing it out here. It makes me want to dance.’