In a heartbeat (Heartbeat #1) Read online

  “Sorry. I just get a bit over-defensive when someone suggests I’m not ‘a proper fan’, because I’m female.”

  “He never said that.”

  “It was in his eyes.”

  Max smiled and inclined his head to the side, the intensity of his stare melting any thought and reason in Stella’s brain. She would have given anything to find out what he was thinking.

  *

  Max’s head was filled with images of Stella, and in all of them he was much closer to her than he was now.

  He’d spent just a few hours with her, but it was enough to draw some conclusions about her – she was smart, fun, with a great sense of humour; she knew who she was and was comfortable in her own skin; she respected other people, but held her own when it came to expressing her opinion; she liked football. Could she get any more perfect?

  I doubt it.

  “You read people well, don’t you?” he said in response to her previous statement. He’d caught her assessing everyone at the table with those greyish-green eyes of hers. She hadn’t been obvious about it, but Max couldn't miss it because he was looking at her the whole time.

  “Sometimes.”

  “Can you tell what I’m thinking now?” He knew he was teasing her terribly and prayed she’d take the bait.

  “Pretty much.”

  “You wanna share notes?”

  “I’d rather not.” It wasn’t the response he was hoping for, so he raised an eyebrow in question.

  “Why not? You might be right.” He was pushing his luck and he knew it, but she drove him crazy. He wanted to jump off that damn chair, pull her to her feet and kiss her until they both didn’t have any breath left.

  “That’s what I’m afraid of.” Stella stood up, gathering some napkins in an empty plate. “I’d better go help Lisa ...”

  He was on his feet and next to her in a second.

  “Stella ...” he began, liking the way her name rolled off his tongue.

  “Max, don’t. Stop flirting with me; you know there’s no use.” She looked up at him and her expression grew serious and determined.

  “Why?”

  “Because of Lisa.”

  She didn’t have to elaborate. Max wasn’t stupid; he knew what she meant and yet he couldn’t stop himself. He had tried to play it cool over dinner, but when they were alone he couldn’t help it. Max couldn’t remember when the last time was that he’d been so attracted to someone.

  “Look, I’m here for two months and all I want is to relax and have a good time. You and I ...” she circled her hand between them, touching his midriff and making his abs flex involuntarily, “it has too many complications. Why don’t you show me the real you, not the cheeky Casanova? I’d like to get to know you and find out why Lisa counts you as one of her closest friends. Let’s just drop the act and be friends.”

  He wouldn’t mind being friends with her. With benefits.

  But, yeah, she was right.

  *

  Niki came home just as everyone was leaving. She looked exhausted – running her own business had its benefits, but it also meant she had to work almost round the clock. They talked for a bit while she had some dinner in the kitchen and then excused herself to go to bed.

  “Want some camomile tea?” Lisa asked as she put the kettle on.

  “Yeah, thanks.” Stella texted her mum, because she knew that Helen would love to hear from her, but would like to give her some space and wouldn’t call to check on her every single day. As she put her phone on the table, Stella realised the only sound that could be heard in the whole house was the boiling water.

  Lisa had her back to her, staring at the kettle.

  “Hey. You OK?” All she got was a nod. “Are you worried about me and Max?”

  Lisa’s shoulders slumped and Stella knew she’d hit the bull’s eye. Her cousin was too considerate to say anything, but she was uneasy. Stella stood up and went to her.

  “Lis,” she touched her shoulder to make her turn and face her. “Don’t worry. It’s fine. I didn’t know who he was and neither did he know me. But now that we do – we’re going to be friends. He seems like a really great guy and I’d love to get to know him and see what you see in him.”

  “But ... what you said before, about how much you were attracted to him ...” Lisa’s green eyes sparkled with worry and uncertainty.

  “I think every woman with eyes would be attracted to him. Look at him! I have no idea how you’ve never felt anything for him ...”

  “You’re not making this any better,” Lisa said, but she relaxed a little and even smiled.

  “It’s cool, Lis. I can look beyond that. I can be friends with him, with all of them.” Lisa nodded and her whole face lit up in a smile as if a thick fog had been lifted. “Besides, my guess is there are plenty of other guys to lust after here, right?”

  “You have no idea.”

  They giggled as they stirred some honey into their tea.

  Chapter Five

  The next day Lisa was determined to make up for the last few days and spend the whole day with Stella. She had moved her shifts around and would have to work the whole day tomorrow, but today the girls had all day to themselves.

  Lisa took Stella for a walk in Genoa’s old city. It was the biggest historical city centre in Europe, as Lisa pointed out. An incredible number of small streets and alleys, called caruggi, tangled together like a bowl of spaghetti and weaved through the whole place. Stella felt as if they were transported right back to medieval times and couldn’t believe such a beautiful, peaceful place turned into a bubbling pot of criminal activity at night. Lisa explained that the old city was alive with tourists, shops and restaurants during the day, but once the sun set it turned into a top spot for prostitution and the drug trade.

  Everywhere she looked, Stella saw incredible buildings such as churches, palaces and museums, lavishly built to attract attention. Among them, the brightly coloured houses stood out, but strangely complemented the extravagance of the other buildings. The place was truly magical – it had energy buzzing through it, some kind of overbearing, overwhelming atmosphere that Stella had never experienced before.

  After they spent a couple of hours wandering around and exploring the old city, the girls got a taxi and headed for the Centro Commerciale Fiumara – the biggest shopping centre in Genoa. It was located in the district of Sampierdarena, which used to be a huge industrial zone, but had been remodelled and rebuilt into this enormous, modern mall. It even had its own amusement park, as well as a cinema, a ton of shops and restaurants. The summer sales had already started and the girls took full advantage of that, killing a few more hours.

  The weather was gorgeous outside and after a quick pit stop at home for a light lunch, bags drop-off and change of clothes, they headed for the beach. Lisa had taken Stella’s determination to get a nice tan to heart and had convinced her to buy a bikini that was so skimpy it ought to have been banned. It was black with gold embellishments that sparkled in the sunlight and seemed as if it moved – almost as though it were alive. The bottom was cut off at the hips and tied with tiny strings; the top consisted of two triangles held together by a couple of black ribbons. Stella was naturally slim, but after her diagnosis she had put extra care into her diet and exercised every day, so her body could definitely pull off the bikini. She did feel kind of exposed at first, but decided to roll with it.

  I hope Max likes it. Or rather, me in it.

  The thought came so out of the blue that it made Stella stop in her tracks and shake her head.

  FRIENDS! Remember? He’s a great guy; get to know him. You can drool after a thousand other guys on the beach.

  Determined to follow her own advice, Stella pulled her sunglasses over her eyes as they headed for the beach.

  *

  Max saw her immediately. Her bikini moved in sync with her body as if it was liquid. She had four ties – two on the hips, one on her back and one behind her neck. He imagined pulling them free with two s
wift movements and the bikini melting away. Just then he noticed that Stella had a tattoo – three Japanese symbols lined right under her left shoulder blade. Max wondered what they meant and, in his mind, traced the delicate lines with his fingers, making her shiver with desire and anticipation.

  This was so not the time to think about that – first, he was at work and second, the orange lifeguard shorts were not as forgiving in disguising a boner as the black ones had been.

  If Lisa was so uncomfortable with him and Stella hooking up, then why did she bring her here? Twenty metres away from his station? The beach was so big, they could have gone anywhere and he wouldn’t even know.

  But man, she looked hot …

  On second thoughts, he wasn’t so sorry they came here. Lisa was a very attractive girl as well, and yet he’d managed to be friends with her for years, never even entertaining the idea of taking things further. Maybe he could do it this time too.

  Max realised he was staring when Lisa waved at him. He’d better go and say ‘hi’.

  “Ciao, bellissimi ragazze,” he said, as he kissed them on both cheeks. Giving Lisa a peck was fine; he’d done it a thousand times. But the moment he touched his lips to Stella’s cheek, he silently cursed the Italian tradition. He was supposed to kiss her every time he saw her and not feel anything? His body felt as if live current was buzzing through it. The moment he touched the small of Stella’s back, she melted instinctively into him, putting a hand on his abs. It was as if her body acted of its own accord.

  Yeah, I know how that feels.

  “How’s it going?” he asked, as the greeting kiss torture was over.

  “Nothing much., We decided to work on Stella’s tan today.”

  “Yeah, you need that. You do look pale,” he teased – and met her eyes for the first time.

  Pale and flawless.

  “Hey!” Stella protested and mockingly hit him on the upper arm. He’d do anything to have those hands everywhere on his body. “I live in London, remember?”

  A group of guys passed by and, of course, almost broke their necks to look at his girls.

  This was going to be much harder than he had anticipated. They’d be coming here all the time, wearing next to nothing. He was a strong person, but he wasn’t made of stone. Sooner or later he was going to crack.

  He needed a distraction. Of the female kind. And fast.

  *

  Max was just standing there, throwing daggers at every guy that passed by and effectively chasing them away. How was Stella supposed to get a date?

  Don’t pretend you don’t enjoy that.

  With him being so close, his body towering over her and his hazel eyes burning, Stella couldn’t think straight. And on top of that, when he spoke in Italian with that sexy voice of his, she felt fireworks explode in her chest.

  “Do you have plans for tonight? I’m going out with Beppe and Gia to grab some food and maybe go to a club later. You wanna come?”

  Lisa glanced at Stella in an unspoken question – she wanted to go, but had obviously seen her cousin’s reaction to Max and now wasn’t so sure it was such a good idea. Stella hated that she made her feel this way. She didn’t want to separate Lisa from her friends – it was bad enough that she had two jobs for the summer and couldn’t spend enough time with them as it was.

  “Sure. We don’t have plans. We’d love to come.” Stella tried to pull off her most friendly smile, even though she felt anything but friendly towards Max. Did he need to stand so close to her?

  “Are you sure you’re OK with this?” Lisa asked, as Max walked back to his station.

  “Yeah, absolutely; I’d love to go out and have some fun. Maybe I can meet a cute guy and get myself a date.” She winked at her cousin and saw her smile in relief.

  The rest of the afternoon flew by. When they got home, Stella noticed her skin was flushed from the sun. Her cheeks were pleasantly rosy and if she looked really closely, she might just see tan lines on her hips and back.

  Stella took a shower, taking extra care to wash all the salty water from her hair. When she got out of the bathroom, she still had about an hour before they had to go out. Make-up had never been her forte – less was more as far as she was concerned. But having in mind that she was going out, Stella decided to make a little extra effort. She moisturised her whole body and used tinted moisturiser on her face to complement her tan. Then she experimented with eyeliner and two coats of mascara, until she was satisfied with the result. With smoky eyes like that, her lips had to stay bare, so she put a bit of clear lip gloss and smiled at her reflection.

  Now for problem number two – what to wear? Over the top was out of the question. Stella needed something sexy but casual, elegant but not too formal. After emptying half the contents of the wardrobe onto the bed, she chose a black, sequinned halter-neck top which fell loose around the body and black chino shorts which hugged her hips and reached just above her knees. Her honey-coloured hair stood out on all that black and Stella didn’t do much in terms of styling it. She just blow-dried it and let it fall over her shoulders in unruly waves. It looked as if she had styled it but had had amazing sex afterwards and messed it up.

  I wish.

  Taking her high-heeled sandals in her hand, she opened her bedroom door just as Lisa was about to knock. Her cousin looked amazing – in a simple yet perfectly cut empire-waist dress in blue and red. She had straightened her blonde locks and put them up in a ponytail, accentuating her slim shoulders.

  “You look amazing!” they both said at the same time and laughed.

  “No, seriously, Stella, I’ve never seen you like this. You don’t usually wear a lot of make-up and I didn’t even know you knew how to use eyeliner.”

  “It’s not rocket science, is it? You look hot, Lis! I can’t believe you haven’t bagged yourself a sexy Italian man yet.”

  She meant it as a joke, but something flickered in Lisa’s expression. Something like sadness and maybe regret. It was just for a second and then it was gone, a smile replacing it and erasing all evidence.

  “Let’s go out and correct that mistake then,” she said and tugged on Stella’s hand.

  “You’ve got it.”

  *

  They had arranged to meet at Piazza de Ferrari, next to the fountain. Since it was the biggest and most popular square in the city, it was bubbling with people by the time Stella and Lisa arrived.

  The moment Max saw her, he knew this was going to be the hardest night of his life. In many respects.

  Stella looked hot. No, that wasn’t a word good enough to describe her allure. She looked hotter than the deepest fire pit in hell.

  Her legs went on forever in those shorts and high heels. The top she had on sparkled and mimicked her every move. Her wolfish eyes were on fire and perfectly accented by the dark make-up.

  Max couldn’t take his eyes off her. He wanted to weave his fingers through her wild hair, bring her lips to his and not stop until he’d explored every inch of her body. With his tongue. Twice.

  Beppe was the first to greet them, with a hug and a kiss. He was practically glowing with delight. He mumbled something when he kissed each of them and they giggled. Next was Gia, who was out on one of her rare nights off and was genuinely pleased to see the girls. And then it was Max’s turn. He gave Lisa a hug and a kiss and complimented her on how she looked. Thankfully, by the time Stella got to him, Beppe, Gia and Lisa were involved in an animated conversation and were heading towards the restaurant along the crowded street.

  Stella stood in front of him, watching him with as much appreciation as he had for her. True, he had made a special effort tonight and ditched his faded jeans and T-shirt for a classier set of Diesel jeans and a short-sleeved, fitted Calvin Klein shirt.

  “Ciao, Max,” she said and, putting a hand on his shoulder, leaned in to kiss him on the cheek. She smelled so good – sweet and clean and fresh, like a spring morning.

  “You look gorgeous, tesoro,” he whispered in her ear, just b
efore she pulled away. Her lips parted as if she wanted to say something, but nothing came out. Stella looked at him, right at him, and he’d never felt more vulnerable, as if she could read his every thought.

  “You don’t look so bad yourself,” she said finally, with a lopsided grin. She nodded towards their friends in a silent ‘Shall we?’ and, pressing his hand on the small of her back, Max led her along via XX Settembre and towards the restaurant.

  This evening was going to be even harder than he had initially thought.

  *

  The music in the club was so loud that Stella could barely hear her own thoughts. They were seated at a private table with a huge, plush sofa shaped in a semi-circle. The hostess was a friend of Beppe’s and they didn’t have to wait to get in. It was a nice bonus that they also got a VIP table, after Beppe purred something in her ear that made her blush.

  Everyone was in a great mood. Dinner had been fun – the food had been amazing and the conversation had flowed. Stella had found out that Beppe was studying Law at the University of Genoa and her mouth had been hanging open in surprise for a few long moments.

  “You’re going to be a lawyer?” she’d asked, eyeing him incredulously.

  “Yeah. Why? I don’t look like a lawyer to you?” he’d said and winked at her.

  “No, not really. Not with all the tattoos, piercings and five-day stubble.”

  “I hide the tattoos under the suit,” he’d said and laughed as if it had been obvious. “And I remove all my piercings, including this one.” He’d clicked his tongue piercing at the back of his teeth and gave Stella one of his most seductive looks. She’d blushed and looked away – Beppe could be so shamelessly flirtatious when he wanted to. No wonder most women fell for his charm in two seconds flat.

  She had also found out that Gia loved her job working at the restaurant. Her boss was a famous chef and entrepreneur, and even though he put a lot of pressure on his staff, she was honoured to work for him. At that point Beppe had mumbled something that sounded like ‘a prick with a giant ego’, but nobody paid any attention to him, because Gia continued to chat excitedly about how great her boss and her job were.