Page 178 of Modern Romance January 2025 5-8

Passing the ice-cream shop, she thought of Dante waiting outside the restaurant with a cone.

She didn’t quite get how a simple thing like an ice cream could mean so much.

Was it that he’d thought of her when she wasn’t there? Queued up to get the treat because he knew it was something she liked? That he’d known she secretly wanted that flavour...that he’d noticed.

He made her feel noticed. And even if this was very temporary, it was thrilling, and an adventure, and under his delicious attention she was discovering herself.

She ventured into one of the shops, but she had no real idea what she was looking for.

‘For lunch where?’

The assistant who had offered to help nodded when she said she was going to a winery in the Tuscan hills.

‘Perhaps these?’

She held up some gorgeous black jeans, but then pulled them back when Susie explained that it was Casadio.

‘The cellar door, or the restaurant?’

‘I think...’ She had no idea. ‘I don’t know...possibly the restaurant?’

‘Hmm...’ The assistant clearly considered this a conundrum. ‘Okay,’ she said, heading over to a small rack that sadly wasn’t a discount one. ‘You can dress these up, or...’

She held up a grey woollen dress, but Susie’s eyes had lit on another.

It was the palest blue and the softest wool, and if she was going to splurge for the first time, then... She took a breath. She might as well adore her purchase.

The wool was thin and soft, yet snug, and the neckline was a little scooped, but not too low. There was a thick belt in the same wool, but that dressed it down too much.

‘Look.’ The assistant showed her a gold belt and looped it round her hips. ‘With stilettoes, you could even go to a party.’

‘Yes.’ She laughed. ‘But I don’t really go to many parties.’ Sometimes she was a waitress at them...

But yes, absolutely this could work for a glamorous party.

And for lunch with Dante.

‘I love it.’ Susie nodded.

And she loved the pretty underwear she bought too.

Arriving back at his place, she found the key in his lockbox and stepped into his gorgeous home, hiding the bags because she didn’t want him to know the effort she had gone to.

She looked around the kitchen at the gorgeous copper pots, the huge ovens that could cater for a small party, the wooden bench... There was even a little herb garden in the window, and yet from all he’d told her he was rarely here.

She walked through the hall and into a lounge. The walls were a silky navy and there were beams that ran across the high ceilings. Every room was a masterpiece. It was like viewing a stately home, Susie thought, as she peered into a beautiful dining room.

Yet there was nothing ofhim.

No photos, no mementoes.

She went back to the kitchen. He didn’t even have one fridge magnet.

Susie collected them wherever she went. Possibly it was one of her many weaknesses.

It unnerved her a little that his house, while stunning, was so impersonal, and it reminded her that Dante got attached to no one. It would be wise to keep an emotional distance.

Yes, the sex was incredible, and he was too, but to get too close to Dante could seriously hurt.