LITMIR.BIZ

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of her life in Tuscany, and Louisa’s clothes behind her now.

      When she came downstairs, Louisa had also dressed. She’d promised to take her to the airport and she’d gotten ready.

      But there was an odd gleam in her eye when she said, “Shall we go?”

      Dani sighed, knowing she’d miss this house but also realizing she’d found a friend who could be like a sister. The trip wasn’t an entire waste after all.

      She smiled at Louisa. “Yeah. Let’s go.”

      They got into the ugly green car and rather than let Dani drive, Louisa got behind the wheel.

      “I thought you refused to drive until you understood Italy’s rules of the road better.”

      Stepping on the gas, Louisa shrugged. “I’ve gotta learn some time.”

      She drove them out of the vineyard and out of the village. Then the slow drive to Florence began. But even before they went a mile, Louisa turned down an old road.

      “What are you doing?”

      “I promised someone a favor.”

      Dani frowned. “Do we have time?”

      “Plenty of time. You’re fine.”

      “I know I’m fine. It’s my flight I’m worried about.”

      “I promise you. I will pull into the driveway and be pulling out two minutes later.”

      Dani opened her mouth to answer but she snapped it closed when she realized they were at the old farmhouse Maria the real estate agent had shown her and Rafe. She faced Louisa. “Do you know the person who bought this?”

      “Yes.” She popped open her door. “Come in with me.”

      Dani pushed on her door. “I thought you said this would only take a minute.”

      “I said two minutes. What I actually said was I promise I will be pulling out of this driveway two minutes after I pull in.”

      Dani walked up the familiar path to the familiar door and sighed when it groaned as Louisa opened it. “Whoever bought this is in for about three years of renovations.”

      Louisa laughed before she called out, “Hello. We’re here.”

      Rafe stepped out from behind a crumbling wall. Dani skittered back. “Louisa! This is your friend?”

      “I didn’t say he was my friend. I said I knew him.” Louisa gave Dani’s back a little shove. “He has some important things to say to you.”

      “I bought this house for you,” Rafe said, not giving Dani a chance to reply to Louisa.

      “I don’t want a house.”

      He sighed. “Too bad. Because you now have a house.” He motioned her forward. “I see a big kitchen here. Something that smells like heaven.”

      She stopped.

      He motioned toward the huge room in the front. “And big, fat chairs that you can sink into in here.”

      “Very funny.”

      “I am not being funny. You,” he said, pointing at her, “want a home. I want you. Therefore, I give you a home.”

      “What? Since a marriage proposal didn’t keep me, you offer me a house?”

      “I didn’t say I was giving you a house. I said I was giving you a home.” He walked toward the kitchen. “And you’re going to marry me.”

      She scrambled after him. “Exactly how do you expect to make that happen?”

      She rounded the turn and walked right into him. He caught her arms and hauled her to him, kissing her. She made a token protest, but, honestly, this was the man she couldn’t resist.

      He broke the kiss slowly, as if he didn’t ever want to have to stop kissing her. “That’s how I expect to make that happen.”

      “You’re going to kiss me until I agree?”

      “It’s an idea with merit. But it won’t be all kissing. We have a restaurant. You have a job. And there’s a bedroom back here.” He headed toward it.

      Once again, she found herself running after him. Cold air leeched in from the window and she stopped dead in her tracks. “The window leaks.”

      “Then you’re going to have to hire a general contractor.”

      “Me?”

      He straightened to his full six-foot-three height. “I am a master. I cook.”

      “Oh, and I clean and make babies?”

      He laughed. “We will hire someone to clean. Though I like the part about you making babies.”

      Her heart about pounded its way out of her chest. “You want kids?”

      He walked toward her slowly. “We want kids. We want all that stuff you said about fat chairs and good-smelling kitchens and turning the thermostat down so that we can snuggle.”

      Her heart melted. “You don’t look like a snuggler.”

      “I’ll talk you into doing more than snuggling.”

      She laughed. Pieces of the ice around her heart began to melt. Her eyes clung to his. “You’re serious?”

      “I wouldn’t have told Louisa to bring you here if I weren’t. I don’t do stupid things. I do impulsive things.” He grinned. “You might have to get used to that.”

      She smiled. He motioned for her to come closer and when she did, he wrapped his arms around her.

      “I could not bear to see you go.”

      “You said Paul only asked me to marry him as a stopgap measure.”

      “Yes, but Paul is an idiot. I am not.”

      She laughed again and it felt so good that she paused to revel in it. To memorize the feeling of his arms around her. To glance around at their house.

      “Oh, my God, this is a mess.”

      “We’ll be fine.”

      She laid her head on his chest and breathed in his scent. She counted to ten, waited for him to say something that would drive her away, then realized what she was really waiting for.

      She glanced up at him. “I’m so afraid you’re going to hurt me.”

      “I know. And I’m going to spend our entire lives proving to you that you have no need to worry.”

      She laughed and sank against him again. “I love you.”

      “After only four weeks?”

      She peeked up again. “Yes.”

      “So this time you’ll believe me when I say it.”

      She swallowed. Years of fear faded away. “Yes.”

      “Good.” He shifted back, just slightly, so he could pull a small jewelry box from the pocket of his jeans. He opened it and revealed a two-carat diamond. “I love you. So you will marry me?”

      She gaped at the ring, then brought her gaze to his hopeful face. When he smiled, she hugged him fiercely. “Yes!”

      He slipped the ring onto her finger. “Now, weren’t we on our way back to the bedroom?”

      “For what? There’s no bed back there.”

      He said, “Oh, you of no imagination. I have a hundred ways around that.”

      “A hundred, isn’t that a bit ambitious?”

      “Get used to it. I am a master, remember?”

      “Yeah, you are,” she said,

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