Читать книгу Firefighter's Doorstep Baby / The Soldier's Untamed Heart онлайн | страница 62

The next morning, Mariella put Dante in the stroller, retrieved the sauce Isabella Casali had sent from the refrigerator and headed back up the road to deliver to Cristiano. Her nerves thrummed with anticipation.

On impulse, she stopped at the open-air market and bought a bouquet of mums. The fall flowers were vibrant bronze yellow and purple and she knew they would brighten the kitchen. She hoped he’d appreciate the gesture with the flowers. She wanted to brighten his day as he brightened hers.

Cristiano was sitting on the terrace when she arrived. She smiled when she saw him, already anticipating their time together. There was something about Cristiano that drew her like a lodestone. She watched his expression as it changed from surprise, to pleasure, to cautiousness. He rose and came to meet her.

“Buongiorno. We have brought you gifts,” she said as she reached the terrace.

“I need no gifts.” He watched her from wary eyes. He was several inches taller than she was and she had to crane her neck he was so close.

“Well, the flowers are from Dante, so speak to him about those. And this sack is from your sister, Isabella. She hopes you are well and you should call her.”

“My sister?”

“Yes. She says you are becoming a hermit. I told her you weren’t. Look how often we visit.”

The amusement in his eyes lit a spark in her own.

Her spirits rose. She held out the flowers.

He stared at them and slowly took them. “Dante picked them out?” he asked.

“Well, that was the bunch he made a grab for. I figured they were the ones he wanted to give you.”

“Or eat.”

She laughed.

Cristiano stole another look at her. She was beautiful when she laughed. It was as if the sun shone from inside, lighting her eyes and making them look like polished silver. That pesky urge to wrap his hands in her hair and pull her closer sprang up again. He looked away before he did something stupid—like give into that impulse.

“And your sister sent you some more sauce.” Mariella pulled a brown bag from the back of the stroller and held it out. Cristiano took it. Now both hands were full.