I reached out my own hand until our fingers touched. The slight contact made my skin burn. “Maybe I don’t want you to take it back. Maybe I need to know if I’m being silly or I’m alone in this.”

It was the most I could give him. Vulnerability cut through me. I’d never been the beautiful, most popular woman in the room, and I’d accepted my fate with grace. I was smart and capable and sometimes funny. My partners had been picked by my head rather than my heart, until I was driven to have Allegra on my own and stopped looking for a magical romance that didn’t exist. At least, not for me.

Yet, tonight, with my pinky brushing his, I experienced more electricity than I ever had. I wanted more of him. His words, his gaze, his touch. I wasn’t comfortable with this version of myself, but if I didn’t try, I’d never know what I was missing.

His voice rumbled deep and rough like sandpaper. “Then I’ll tell you. It’s against the rules to get involved with the tourists. I could lose my job for pursuing anything with you. I’ve been hit on numerous times before and not once did I have to battle even a passing temptation. Until you.”

I trembled but didn’t back off. “I tempt you?”

He shuddered. “Yes, Francesca, can’t you see it? I’m always trying to get close to you or find excuses to talk, but I keep my distance because I’m afraid it’ll be obvious to the group. I don’t want to put anyone in a bad position, especially you or your family.” A touch of frustration surged, but then his fingers slipped through mine and he was holding my hand, and my entire soul sighed with pleasure. “That morning in Capri, I was crazed to kiss you. I barely managed to hold back in time.”

“I wanted you to kiss me,” I said simply, past flirting or trying to play games.

A groan escaped him. “I wasn’t sure. This is new territory for me. I don’t want to disrespect you or the rules of my job. Do you understand?”

“I do. And I don’t want to put you in that position either. But—”

“But?”

His eyes practically pleaded for me to finish. “But I can’t stop thinking about you either,” I whispered. “And I want more, even if it’s messy or wrong or crazy.”

He muttered in Italian—which sounded like sexy curse words—and gripped my hand hard. “Francesca, I—”

“Hey, guys, is this where the party is?”