Sweet Italian Christmas: Three Christmas Romances Read online

  Gina poured out tea for both of them, her slender hand on the teapot handle drawing his gaze. Everything about this woman was sexy—even her long red fingernails, which would normally turn him off.

  "Toast?" he asked.

  "No, thank you."

  "You need to eat to keep your strength up."

  "I'm strong enough, Seth. Please don't worry about me." She bent an arm as if to show off her biceps. "I use the gym at home and eat plenty. Cooking is my passion and eating is my greatest pleasure."

  The husky way she pronounced his name, followed quickly by the words passion and pleasure, sent a volley of unwanted thoughts through his mind. "I need to go grocery shopping." He picked up his shopping list and added the coffee, eager to focus on more mundane things.

  "May I come with you?"

  "Of course. We'll head off as soon as you finish your cup of tea."

  Gina emptied her mug, then stood and stretched, all slim and slinky like a cat.

  Seth rubbed a hand over his face and drew in a calming breath as his pulse raced. This was going to be a long couple of weeks.

  • • •

  Grocery shopping with Gina was a strange experience. Seth pushed the cart down the supermarket aisle while Gina sashayed along at his side like a model on a catwalk in her high-heeled boots and skintight jeans, wearing a military-style blue jacket with gold buttons and an upright collar.

  Everywhere they went, people paused to gaze at her as she passed. With her glorious hair, stunning looks, sultry voice, and sexy accent, she was exotic and out of place among the dreary English shoppers.

  Seth stopped beside a refrigerator to grab a frozen pizza, and Gina shook her head.

  "No, Seth, no. We can't eat that. It's…" She didn't finish her sentence, but her wrinkled nose said it all.

  "Yeah, well, I'm no cook, I'm afraid." Seth lived on TV dinners. If pushed, he could throw together spaghetti bolognaise if the sauce came out of a jar and all he had to do was add some hamburger.

  "You'll poison yourself with these ready-made meals. They're full of additives and preservatives. You should eat good-quality, natural ingredients."

  Gina swept back her hair and glanced around. "There is a good selection of produce here. I'll find the ingredients to cook you some healthy meals."

  Seth stared at her, taken aback. He'd had the impression that Gina was a lady of leisure, her days filled with shopping, lunching, and not much else. He knew for a fact she didn't have a job.

  "Are you sure?"

  "Of course. I told you, I love to cook. It'll keep me busy and take my mind off my worries." She paced off with purpose in her step. When he didn't follow immediately, she beckoned him imperiously like a queen summoning a servant. "Come on, Seth. Follow me."

  "Yes, ma'am." He trailed after her as she tossed items in the cart, adding the odd essential himself like the sliced white bread he used for his breakfast toast.

  Gina paused frequently to read the labels on packaging, muttering to herself in Italian when she obviously disapproved of something. Some of the things she dropped in the cart Seth had never even heard of.

  "Fish?" she asked. Seth pushed the cart to the fresh fish counter.

  Gina examined the catch arranged among ice crystals and asked the fishmonger some questions before she made her selections. Seth was not a great fish lover, even though he'd been raised in a coastal village. He'd rather have a nice juicy steak any day. Since Gina was on a roll, he kept that thought to himself.

  Next Gina strode to the fruit and vegetables. She stopped with her hands on her hips, arms akimbo. "You English, why do you wrap everything in plastic? How can you check if the produce is fresh and ripe when it's all sealed up?"

  With a sigh of exasperation, Gina proceeded to pull open the bags of vegetables. She squeezed and prodded and sniffed, rejecting more than she tossed in the cart.

  "Hey, you can't unwrap everything before you buy it." Seth glanced around, half expecting a store employee to be heading their way.

  "I only use the best-quality vegetables. They must have the right texture and smell fresh."

  While Gina selected lemons and garlic, Seth dropped a bag of his favorite apples and some bananas in the cart. Then they trundled on to the spices and herbs, where Gina selected lots of tiny pots of leafy plants and some packets and jars.

  Finally she grinned widely as they entered the aisle with tea and coffee. "Ah, at last. We can buy some good coffee. Do you have a coffee grinder for the beans?"

  Seth shook his head.

  "Never mind. This will do." Gina sorted through the packets of ground coffee until she found one she approved of and dropped it in the cart.

  "I think we have everything," she said.

  "Actually…" Seth rubbed the back of his neck, slightly embarrassed. "I don't have a coffeemaker either."

  "Oh, Seth. You are a…I don't know how you say it in English."

  "A philistine."

  "What does that mean?"

  "Someone lacking in culture and class."

  Gina smiled and took him by surprise when she rose on her toes and kissed his cheek. "No. That is not the right word. You have a lot of class, my friend. What you lack is good taste in coffee."

  With a melodic laugh, she paced off in front of him. "Show me the coffeemakers. I will make a coffee connoisseur of you yet, Signore Trevathan."

  • • •

  Later, Seth sat in his office, e-mailing promo packs to schools and sports clubs that might be interested in booking a session at Robin's Cove Outdoor Pursuits Center for the following year. Yet however hard he tried to focus on work, he couldn't.

  The sound of Gina singing and banging pans attracted his attention. She'd spent hours cleaning everything in the kitchen before she started cooking. He barely recognized the tidy, sparkling room now. It wasn't that he didn't clean, but he never polished things like Gina had. The ceramic tiles gleamed, the chrome shone, and all the junk he had piled on the end of the kitchen counter had mysteriously disappeared. He hoped it was in a cupboard and not the trash. Although he couldn’t remember what had been in the heap of papers, so they weren't very important.

  The delicious smell of something foreign with cream and herbs made his stomach rumble. Every time he stayed in Italy with Emily, the food was fantastic. The Italians knew how to cook, and he couldn't wait to taste what Gina had prepared.

  "Seth. It's ready." When Gina called, Seth stood up so fast his chair nearly fell over.

  Despite his rumbling stomach, all thought of food left his mind when he reached the kitchen door. Gina was clad in the apron Emily had given him for Christmas, the one with a picture of a bikini-clad female body on the front. He had to consciously suppress the arousing images of Gina clad like that and concentrate on the smell of food.

  On the table, Gina placed a bowl of linguini pasta in a creamy mushroom sauce and a delicious-looking sticky pastry shaped like a pinwheel covered in nuts and dried fruit.

  "Sit down."

  "Yes, ma'am." Seth felt like a visitor in his own house as Gina set a plate bearing little parcels of fish in the middle of the table. She sat opposite him as he served himself a few spoonfuls of pasta.

  At the first taste, he closed his eyes in appreciation. "Mmm. This is delicious."

  "Mamma started teaching me to cook when I was this high." Gina held her hand a few feet off the ground. "The kitchen is my favorite place."

  Seth stared at his beautiful guest as she sipped her white wine. Her dark gaze rose to meet his and his chest tightened, leaving him breathless. She was like no woman he'd ever met before. He'd thought he had her worked out, but she'd surprised him. Now he didn't know what to think of her.

  Chapter Four

  The way to a man's heart was definitely through his stomach. Gina set a plate of saccottino al cioccolato, the chocolate-filled breakfast pastries that were Seth's favorites, on the kitchen table in front of him, and his sexy blue eyes lit up. He took a mouthful and gave a little groan of pl
easure that zinged along her nerves.

  "Gina, love, you're wasted here. You should be running a restaurant in London. You'd be booked solid. I'll have to introduce you to my cousin Marc. He's a chef and he's got his own TV show."

  The thought of running a restaurant sent Gina's heart racing with anxiety. She forced a laugh and brushed Seth's praise aside. "I wouldn't know how to do that." Watching Seth enjoy his food was enough of a reward for her hard work.

  During the last week, she'd toiled in the kitchen to replace all the awful processed TV dinners in Seth's freezer. She'd thrown those in the trash and substituted homemade dishes, so he would eat properly for at least a few weeks after she left.

  A sigh whispered between her lips at the thought of leaving. She'd spoken with her family a couple of times on Skype, but that didn't quell the ache of missing them. She desperately wanted to be home in time for Christmas, but she would miss Seth so much when she left.

  There was something about this man that got to her. He was different from the guys she normally dated, the businessmen and professionals with their expensive suits, manicured fingernails, and gym-honed physiques.

  With muscles forged through hard physical work, and his large, calloused hands, Seth seemed to be more of a man. He wasn't obsessed with his appearance like some of her dates. The lawyer she'd recently been out with couldn't pass a mirror without checking his hair.

  She'd fallen for Seth a year ago when his cousin married her brother. Most men found her attractive, yet although she'd tried every trick she had to entice Seth, he'd remained politely distant. This last week was the first time she'd caught him looking at her with a hint of longing in his gaze.

  If she threw herself at him now, she was sure he'd respond. The problem was, she had the feeling that if she started something with Seth, it would be of heart-breaking intensity.

  Gina sipped her cup of coffee while Seth finished his pastries. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and Gina smiled indulgently. She'd tried putting napkins on the table, but he said they only made more laundry. They were from two different worlds, and she had to accept that a relationship between them was bound to end in tears.

  "I need to go to the center this morning. We've a large school group coming, and there are too many kids for Scott and O'Reilly to handle on their own."

  Gina had met the two guys who worked for Seth. They were both ex-military, like him. One night, she'd cooked dinner for the three men. They'd bolted down their food as though the meal was a race to find out who could eat the fastest.

  "That's okay. I'll be all right on my own. I have Tiff to keep me company."

  At the sound of her name, the sweet black dog got out of her bed and trotted to Gina's side to have her ears rubbed. Tiff had claimed her heart. She'd love to take her back to Italy if she could.

  "The weather's pretty good today. Come with me," Seth said. "You haven't seen the outdoor pursuits center yet."

  "Okay. Why not?" Tiff would enjoy the trip.

  "Great. Put on your old clothes."

  Seth had loaned her a coat and pair of boots that had belonged to Emily so she could take Tiff for walks up the drive. She found walking helped relieve the anxiety that threatened to overwhelm her every time she was ambushed by thoughts of Nico.

  Thirty minutes later, Gina climbed into the front of the pickup, and Tiff jumped up at her side. She fastened her seatbelt, then put her arm around the dog as Seth drove along the dirt road between the fields to the quarry where the outdoor center was.

  "If you need to go shopping, you can borrow the pickup later." Seth shifted gear and the vehicle bumped along.

  Fear shot along her nerves. She didn't want to go without Seth. There was only a slight chance that Nico had sent anyone after her, but if he had… "I'd better not. I can't drive a big vehicle like this."

  "It won't take long to get the hang of it. Why don't you drive home?"

  Gina hugged Tiff and kissed the top of her head, drawing strength from the calm, friendly animal while she tried to think of an excuse. "I didn't bring my driver's license with me."

  Seth pulled up next to a school bus at the head of the quarry. "You don't need one to drive on my private roads."

  "I don't want to," she blurted. But Seth was already half out of the pickup and talking to Scott.

  Gina climbed out and put Tiff on her leash. The cliff's edge was fenced so people couldn't fall, but the gap under the bottom rail looked large enough for a small dog to squeeze through.

  Aero was already there, tied to the back of Scott's pickup. She took Tiff over to sniff with him and say hello.

  A group of teens, who looked to be about thirteen or fourteen, gathered beside a metal pylon where the zip wire started. The girls giggled and chattered while the boys dared each other to do crazy things.

  "Listen up, guys." Seth's authoritative tone brought immediate silence. "Read the safety sheet Scott gave you. Listen to our instructions, and don't do anything stupid. Okay?"

  Gina leaned back against the pickup and watched Seth, tall and broad shouldered, his blond hair shining in the wintry sun. He and his dark-haired friend Scott lined up the teens, then helped them put on harnesses and sent them down the zip wire over a lake to the ground on the far side of the quarry. Seth's friend O'Reilly was waiting for them there.

  When all twenty-five kids and their teachers had taken the zip ride, Seth headed back to the pickup, and they followed the dirt road through thick woodland around the quarry and down the incline to enter through the low road on the other side.

  Seth parked and gathered the teens together on a grassy area for another activity. Gina wandered to the wooden chalet that housed a café and changing rooms, and sat on the veranda outside with a hot cup of almost undrinkable coffee. Tiff rested her chin on Gina's knee. She stroked the dog while she watched Seth and his employees split the school group into teams and supervise while they tackled an obstacle course.

  With the shouted instructions and laughter of the kids in the background, Gina turned her face up to the weak British sun and relaxed. This was the last place she'd imagine feeling at ease, in the middle of an old quarry, surrounded by teens, but there was no pressure on her here.

  In Naples, everyone knew she was the girl who'd caused Nico to shoot a taxi driver. She hated living with that stain on her character. She'd been so naive; she hadn't a clue what Nico was like until she turned down his marriage proposal. Then he'd shown his true colors.

  Choking anxiety clutched Gina's chest. She breathed slowly through the panic and focused on the feel of Tiff's fur under her fingers. If she ever came face-to-face with Nico again, she wasn't sure she'd cope. The last time she'd seen him, he'd been running after the taxi she was in, shouting threats. She'd never dreamed in a million years he'd take revenge on the taxi driver who'd picked her up that terrible night.

  "Okay, Gina?" Seth's deep, even tone pulled her back to the moment, and she longed to lean against his chest and feel his arms around her.

  Instead she summoned a smile. "Fine. Are you done here?"

  "We're going to rappel down the cliff now. Then the school group will go home. You want to take Tiff back to Home Farm and get some lunch?"

  "No. I'll watch. It's nice in the sun." After her recent thoughts, she didn't want to be alone.

  Seth and Scott loaded the group of teens in an old army truck and drove off. The vehicle disappeared in the trees, then came out by the metal pylon at the top of the cliff. One by one, the kids rappelled down to the canyon floor, shouting to each other, obviously enjoying themselves.

  Gina walked around the lake and threw a ball for Tiff. She'd never realized a dog could be such good company.

  When the teens finally climbed in their school bus and left, Seth spoke to Scott and O'Reilly, then wandered back to Gina, rubbing his hands together.

  "They were a bit rowdy, but they're good kids. They all come from inner city areas, and they don't get out into the countryside much. The activities here en
courage the kids to push their boundaries and try something new to give them a sense of achievement."

  Seth closed up the café and locked the doors. "Hope you weren't too bored on your own."

  "I wasn't on my own." Gina patted Tiff's head.

  Seth crouched and petted the dog. "You've fallen for our friend, Gina, haven't you, Tiff girl?"

  Gina was ridiculously pleased that Seth thought his dog liked her.

  Seth turned his compelling blue gaze on her. "Your turn now. Do you want to try your hand at rappelling, or do you fancy the zip wire?"

  "Me?" Gina laughed. "That's not my type of fun, I'm afraid."

  Seth dropped into a chair on the other side of the table outside the café and pulled a can of soda from his pocket. "What is your type of fun, Gina?"

  She shrugged, suddenly uncomfortable under his curious gaze. "Cooking, shopping. The usual things."

  Seth swept his arm in an arc, indicating the surroundings. "Out here, the usual things are rappelling, raft building, rock climbing, and lots of other activities. You might as well have a go at something while you're here."

  Gina bit her lip. As a teen she'd been fit and sporty. That had all stopped after Nico hurt her. He'd made her feel vulnerable and helpless.

  Seth pulled a chocolate bar from his pocket, broke it, and handed half to her before stuffing the rest in his mouth. "A quick snack," he said, chewing.

  He rose and held out a hand. "Come on, love. I'll rappel down with you if you like. Then you can try the zip wire on your own. Even Tiff rides the zip wire."

  "Tiff?" Gina thought he must be joking, but his expression was serious.

  "That little dog has done things you wouldn't believe. She's parachuted out of a helicopter many times. The military dogs wear harnesses that attach to their handlers. She used to love it. You're the incredible flying dog, aren't you, Tiff girl?"

  Seth tossed the ball and Tiff shot off, legs pumping until she snatched up the ball. Then she trotted back with it in her mouth, tail wagging.

  "Well, if Tiff can do it, I guess I can too."

  "Good girl." Seth put his arm around Gina's shoulder as they walked towards the pickup and satisfaction filled her. It felt good when he was pleased with her. In fact, just being around Seth gave her a buzz.