LITMIR.BIZ

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about Bryn’s frequent and numerous conquests made her feel more than a little icky.

      “That’s very kind of you,” Cristiano said, clearly oblivious to undertone.

      “Sorting out an apartment is at the top of my priority list,” Keira added. “I promise we’ll be out of your hair asap.”

      In the seat beside her, Cristiano became suddenly straight backed. He sipped his wine, his gaze averted. Was he tensing? And if so, what in her comment had made him do so?

      A sudden terror struck Keira then. Did Cristiano think she was suggesting they get an apartment together?

      Awkwardness swelled inside of her. Keira hunkered down in her seat. That had not been what she was implying at all! It would be absurdly presumptuous of her to expect Cristiano to want to move in with her immediately, especially since they had not discussed anything. Especially since she herself had no idea how long she wanted him around for. There was a whole spectrum between the present day and forever!

      Suddenly, their throwing caution to the wind in a giddy haze of romance felt a little rash. It had felt amazing on the airplane but now they were on her home turf it felt different. It felt real. At some point she would need to summon the courage to have an actual conversation with him about all the practicalities of how to negotiate their long distance relationship, but the last thing she wanted to do was scare him away.

      Keira fell silent, lost in her thoughts, taking small sips of wine. She became a spectator rather than a participant to the conversation, watching on as Bryn giggled at Cristiano and commented on his lovely accent, gazing at him with adoring eyes. When she reached across the kitchen island and lightly touched his arm, Keira snapped back to attention. It was time for an exit strategy. She let out a loud yawn.

      Bryn flinched with surprise, as though she had completely forgotten Keira was even there.

      “Are you tired?” she asked. “Don’t feel like you need to stay up on my account. You’ve only got one day before you have to go back to work and you don’t want to be exhausted for it.”

      Usually, Keira found Bryn’s mother-hen impersonation irritating, but this time she welcomed the invitation of getting an early night. And getting away from her sister.

      She stood. “Sorry, I’m just so exhausted from all the traveling. Let’s catch up properly tomorrow. I have a gift for you.”

      Bryn grinned. “Awesome. I can’t wait.”

      She stood too, and the sisters hugged. Then Keira looked at Cristiano, who was still seated.

      “Are you coming?” she asked.

      He looked surprised, as though it hadn’t crossed his mind that Keira expected him to come to bed with her.

      “Ah, yeah, sure,” he replied, sounding anything but certain.

      “You don’t have to,” Bryn said hurriedly. “If you’re not tired, feel free to stay up with me and chat. I have more New Zealand Shiraz.”

      Keira narrowed her eyes at Bryn. Cristiano looked from one sister to the other as though caught between something he didn’t fully understand. Finally, he stood, clearly deciding to follow Keira. She nodded decisively in acknowledgement of her win.

      “Tomorrow,” Cristiano said to Bryn. “Thank you for the wine.”

      Keira noticed he hadn’t finished his glass. She felt bad for spiriting him away, but she knew Bryn better than he did. Leaving her alone with him would be potentially dangerous!

      “Good night,” Keira called back to Bryn, as she dragged her suitcase into the bedroom.

      Cristiano entered after her. As soon as he was inside, Keira shut the door behind him. She leaned against it and took a deep breath.

      “I’m so sorry about her,” she said.

      Cristiano looked bemused. “I don’t understand. She seemed very nice.”

      “She was flirting with you!” Keira replied, shaking her head.

      Cristiano didn’t seem concerned at all. “I don’t mind.”

      “Well, I do,” Keira told him. “She’s my sister. It’s rude.”

      Cristiano just shrugged. He came over and wrapped his arms around Keira. “You know I only have eyes for you,” he told her, squeezing her body closely to his.

      “It’s not you I’m worried about,” Keira replied, relaxing into him. “It’s every other hot blooded woman in the world.”

      She was hit by a sudden realization then. In Italy, Cristiano, though undoubtedly handsome, was one among many. Here, in New York City, he was an exotic creature, a real Italian man, a model come to life from the pages of a fashion catalogue. Her home city posed a whole new set of challenges to their relationship that she had not yet even considered.

      There was only one solution. She would have to keep Cristiano completely occupied from dawn ‘til dusk, supervized morning, noon and night!

      “We should get an early start tomorrow,” she said, moving from his embrace. She began undressing for bed. “Only one day of the weekend to enjoy before I’m back at work. We have a lot of sightseeing to do.”

      Cristiano grinned. “I can’t wait. But we’re not going straight to sleep are we?” He gave her one of his suggestive looks. “I’ve been cooped up on an airplane for hours. There’s a lot of pent up energy inside of me.”

      Keira’s smile quirked up. She reached for the lightswitch. “Whatever you desire,” she murmured, then she flicked it off, plunging them into darkness.

      Chapter Three

      Keira woke to the shrill sound of her alarm clock. It read seven a.m, but thanks to the jetlag and the relatively small proportion of time she and Cristiano had used the bed for sleeping, her body felt like it was still the middle of the night. She felt groggy, like she’d had a very badly timed nap in the middle of the day.

      But despite the physical discomfort, mentally she was incredibly excited for the day ahead. She leaped straight out of bed, powered by excitement and exhaustion-induced adrenaline.

      She looked back at Cristiano. He was still sleeping soundly.

      “Wake up,” she said, leaning over him and kissing his forehead.

      His eyes fluttered open. “Do I have to?” he said, yawning. “That long flight exhausted me.”

      “It was the flight that exhausted you, huh?” Keira said suggestively, with a wink.

      But she realized Cristiano had fallen straight back to sleep!

      She decided to leave him to rest and went to freshen up for the day.

      She crept into the living area. It was dark and Bryn was snoring loudly. Careful to be as quiet as possible and not waking the sleeping beast, she tiptoed past her sister and took a quick shower, cleaning away the airplane residue and last remnants of Italy from her skin.

      When she made it back to the bedroom, she saw that Cristiano was still in a deep, peaceful sleep. She sighed and decided she may as well take her dirty clothes down to the laundrette on the corner. No point wasting this time, since she was back in the office tomorrow.

      She quickly emptied her case and collected last night’s strewn clothes, adding them to the bundle before hurrying out of the apartment, along the corridor, down the steps, and onto the streets.

      It was an exceptionally chilly morning, and she felt a wonderful sense of nostalgia. She had spent next to no time in New York over the last two months and it felt really great to be home; the familiar sound of traffic, the familiar smell of fumes. It made her think of Thanksgiving, and she smiled to herself knowing she didn’t have too long to wait until her favorite holiday. This year would be extra special with Cristiano there to enjoy it with them. If he stayed that long, anyway.

      It was empty inside the laundrette, and Keira loaded several weeks worth of dirty clothes into the machine, filled the drawer with detergent, and

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