“Oh yeah, I spilled the beans on that one.” He quirked his brow and I laughed. “I told them the truth—that we both really, really liked each other.”

“Am I sneaking into your room tonight?”

“Definitely. That’s why I took the only room on the main floor. But watch the second and third stairs—they creak.”

“If I get caught, I’ll tell your mama I couldn’t sleep.”

“Don’t do that. She’ll make you warm milk and sit up with you all night at the kitchen table, talking your ear off. Just tell her you’re sleepwalking and head right into my room.”

We laughed together, and I felt silly and giddy, drunk on him and the fresh air and the Italian landscape laid out like a visual gift.

“You are here until Saturday?”

I nodded, not wanting to think about the end of this. Of us. We had three precious days left and I didn’t want to waste them worrying about the passage of time. “Yes. But right now, it seems like a lifetime away.”

His eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled, and he kissed me slow and sweet and deep. “You’re right. Quel che sarà sarà.”

“What will be will be,” I repeated.

We slowly made our way inside. Later, he quietly entered my room, and I pulled back the covers to invite him into my bed. His hands tugged off my clothes; his lips burned every inch of my skin; his mouth covered mine when I shook and cried out his name during the long hours of the night. I gave myself to him, body and soul, and finally fell without a safety net, not caring about the future or how he fit into my life or what would happen when I left on Saturday. All I knew was I was happy, and he was with me tonight, and for now, that was enough.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Allegra

“I can’t believe we’re doing this together.”

I looked up at Ian and my heart did a crazy flip-flop in my chest. From the moment he’d arrived, my body had been acting up. It was like we couldn’t stop sneaking in touches here and there, craving a closeness between us that only intensified after our days apart. He’d regaled me with tales of Assisi, eating nun-cooked lasagna by the monastery and spending his time reflecting and praying. He had an innate calmness that intrigued me—it was as if he carried a glow wherever he went, because it came from the inside. The spillover seemed to bring a light to anyone who was in his presence.

Including me.