Keira felt the heat rise into her cheeks. She’d been guarded this whole time, resisting Cristiano, ignoring what he was trying to tell her: there was no other woman. No wife. No girlfriend.

But she’d been almost hell bent on inventing this phantom other woman. Had she subconsciously wanted things to fail with Cristiano? To protect her heart? Because she didn’t want to let herself fall in love again? Just like with her article, she’d been holding back, avoiding the truth.

Her heart started to hammer as it dawned on her what was happening. Cristiano wanted her. The real question was, was Keira brave enough to let herself want him back?

“I didn’t mean to scare you,” she said, quietly. “Maria turning up like that just made things clear for me.”

“What things?” Cristiano challenged.

Keira tried to shrug off her discomfort at being put on the spot like that. “That I’m too easily bruised by crushes. By romance. I can’t let my heart be messed with so often.”

Cristiano reached forward then, grabbing her hands, and spoke in an imploring tone. “I am not messing with you.”

Keira tried to tug her hands away. “Maybe not you, but I have a history filled with heartache. I have a past I haven’t had the chance to deal with.”

“Keira,” Cristiano said in the same firm but caring tone. “Are you going to spend your life thinking of the past? Or are you going to take the opportunities that life has presented you with? I am here, baring my soul to you, on the Golden Bridge of Florence, of all places, under a sunset.”

His speech reminded her of what her mom had said on the phone, that she should embrace the experiences fate was giving her.

“But it might all go wrong,” Keira replied, sounding like a lost, hurt little girl.

Cristiano shrugged. “It might. There are no guarantees in life. The sun might not rise tomorrow. The moon might one day float away into space. We cannot know. So why not experience what we have got while we can?”

Keira looked into his dark eyes, the thick black lashes that framed them, his model’s face with defined cheekbones and designer stubble. Bryn would never turn down a chance to be with a gorgeous man like Cristiano.

“Please,” he added, giving her hands a little shake. “Keira, let me kiss you. I have been waiting to for so long.”

“I fell off the gondola,” she whispered, her last desperate attempt to remind him of how unworthy she was of his affection.

“My clumsy Keira,” he said. “My beautiful Keira.”

She realized suddenly how foolish her behavior had been. Resisting Cristiano was ridiculous. Guarding herself from love was impossible. She had to take the plunge, to accept the experiences fate wanted her to have, to listen to the lessons of the Universe.

So, as he leaned forward and placed his lips tenderly onto hers, Keira didn’t pull back, didn’t fight it. In fact, her body gave in willingly to the sensation. It felt like it had been a long time coming, completely natural, completely right. She’d been unconsciously sabotaging this moment from happening ever since she’d first set eyes on Cristiano, but finally it was here. And it was magical.