Navy Seal's Innocent Italian (5 page)

Jake escorted her into the small coffee shop, and after they both received their orders, he escorted her to one of the tables outside. “So, what lure does Colorado have for you?” he asked, stirring creamer into his coffee along with several packets of sugar. He’d learned to drink the brew while in the military, but only with lots of cream and sugar!

“Well,” she began to tell him about the offers she had from several universities, but the ones in Colorado had seemed the most attractive since they worked closely with several hospitals and private foundations.

“It sounds like you have it all figured out. So, how long have you been in the states?” Jake asked, wondering if she would tell him the truth. He was pleasantly surprised when she was completely honest.

“We got here yesterday.”
Alex chuckled as she heard the words come from her mouth.
Yesterday.

“We?” Jake inquired.

“Yes, my father was unable to escort me over here so he asked a business associate he’s known for many years to bring me over. Mr. Bresi has been very helpful.”

Jake nodded his head, “So, this Mr. Bresi brought you over to the states, and then what?”

Alex looked at Jake for a moment, and then lowered her eyes.
She couldn’t tell him her father had secretly asked Mr. Bresi to find her a husband. She didn’t want to appear desperate and run him off!
“Well, my papa is a little old-fashioned and wanted to make sure someone was looking out for me while I got settled. I’m twenty-five but he still treats me as if I were ten.”

Jake was taking mental note of everything she told him. “So how come you’re not already happily married and settled down at the age of twenty-five?”

Alex looked at him and asked her own question, “How old are you?”

Jake smiled at her and answered, “Twenty-eight. Answer my question.”

“You first. How come you’ve never married?”

Jake grinned, “That’s easy enough to explain. I’ve been in the military for the last ten years, the last seven of them spent in the special forces and carrying out missions on foreign soils. That wasn’t any kind of life I wanted my spouse to deal with.”

Alex was amazed at the depth to this man. “And now?”

“Now, I’m ready to settle down. I’m through traipsing across the continent, searching for bad guys. I’m ready to come home each night to the same woman and to the same kids.” Jake heard the words leave his mouth, amazed at how true they were. The last two months in the service had totally changed his perspective on life.

Alex was prevented from answering when her cell phone rang. Giving him an apologetic smile, she answered it, “Yes?”

“Alex? I was just calling to check on you. The driver said you were going to walk around the city. I don’t know if that is such a good idea. Why don’t you let my driver come pick you up and he can take you wherever you wish to go?”

Alex looked over the table at her companion and switched to Italian. “Mr. Bresi, I appreciate the offer, I really do, but I want the freedom to explore on my own. Believe me, New York City is about the same as London or Paris. Confusing and full of confused people.

“Don’t worry. I know how to take care of myself. Besides, I met a new friend outside the hospital and we’re having coffee as you and I speak.”

“Friend? Does this friend happen to be male?” Marco asked, wondering if he needed to leave now and go pick her up.

“Yes. And before you ask – no, I don’t need you to come rescue me.” Alex chuckled as Marco’s frustration came through the phone line. “Mr. Bresi, I’m a big girl, remember?”

“Yes. I know that, but I promised your father…”

“And we already discussed that,” Alex replied, “besides, how are you to ever make good on the
promise my father extracted from you if this very thing does not occur?”

Marco rolled his eyes and then his shoulders. This morning had been a very hectic and he really didn’t have time to babysit her. “Fine. But if you intend to see this gentleman again, you will do me the favor of inviting him to dinner this evening. 6 p.m. in front of the office. My driver will take us to dinner and then return us afterwards.”

Alex smiled at the command in his voice.
He’s so much like Papa. Very demanding and trying so hard to be a stern authoritarian.
“That is acceptable.” Picking up on the tension in his voice, she quieted her own and asked, “Mr. Bresi, is everything all right? You sound very stressed.”

Marco chuckled at her perception, “No, everything is not all right, but it will be. Nothing for you to worry about. I will see you this evening, with or without your present company.” He disconnected the call, immediately turning to the pressing matters at hand.

Alex smiled at Jake as she pocketed her phone, “You’ve been invited to dinner this evening, if you are interested.”

Jake hadn’t liked the fact that
she carried on her conversation with Marco in Italian, but he couldn’t very well demand she speak English so he could eavesdrop! “Was that your benefactor?”

Alex nodded, “Yes. He would love a chance to meet you.”

Jake looked at her and then asked, “And you?” He watched the emotions move across her face, wishing she would remove her sunglasses so he could see her eyes.

“I would like a chance to get to know you better as well.” Alex knew she was being awfully forward, but she had heard from friends that in America, women didn’t always wait for the man to make the first move. She was twenty-five, independent, and knew what she liked and didn’t in a man.
Why shouldn’t she be a little more aggressive and go after that which interested her? She’d tried her father’s idea of a relationship and that hadn’t ended so well. Why not try her own hand at finding her “happily ever after?”

Alex tried to shut her mind off, but wasn’t entirely successful. She still found herself comparing the man sitting across from her with her former fiancé – Ricardo. Ricardo Palmisano was the son of a neighboring vineyard owner in Verona, and had been selected as her future husband when they were still young toddlers. Their parents had signed the contractual agreements binding them together in marriage upon her eighteenth birthday, and she had grown up knowing her future was already set.

As was custom, the arranged marriage wasn’t questioned by anyone, but simply accepted as a part of life. She had been given opportunity to meet Ricardo through the years, and had become friends with him of a sort. He had always seemed disinterested in her music, and several times had required her to change her plans to accommodate his own.

As his future wife, she had done so willingly and swallowed down her disappointment each and every time. Things had finally come to a head one weekend when he had arranged for them to travel to the shore with some of his friends. Alex had already been scheduled to attend a two-day workshop with a master cellist in Rome, something she had been planning to attend for six-months.
On top of that, Ricardo had made no secret of the fact that he was not content to abstain from physical relations with her any longer.

When she had refused to go to the shore, Ricardo had become very ugly, demanding she stop playing music all together and even going so far as to threaten to have her instruments destroyed. He had gone on to tell her that once their marriage was finalized, she would have to forget all about music as she would be far too busy having and raising his children for such nonsense.
He had informed her that her only priority, once they were married, was to keep him sexually satisfied and provide him with an heir.

Fortunately, her father had been in the next room, listening to the entire conversation. He had burst into the room and had Ricardo thrown from the house, the contract following in his wake, torn to pieces. A simple phone call to Ricardo’s father had ended the agreement and for the first time, Alex had found herself single and able to determine her own future.

She had been seventeen, and only three months from her eighteenth birthday. She remembered feeling as if a huge burden had been lifted from her shoulders. She’d thought her father had seen the error of his ways, but then he had asked Marco to help find her a husband.
Guess her old-world Papa was too set in his ways to learn from his mistakes!

Jake watched the woman sitting across from her, intrigued as the emotions played across her face. Something she was remembering had been troubling to her, but then had resolved itself. He wished he had the ability to read minds, but alas, he did not. “Penny for them?” he offered.

Alex was pulled from her reminiscing and she blushed as she wondered how long she had sat there silently remembering the past.  “Sorry! What did you say?” she asked, watching the handsome man across from her and trying to figure out how to get him to spend the rest of the day with her. Exploring New York City sounded much more fun with a friend.

Jake reached over and lifted her sunglasses up, setting them on top of her head, “I asked what you were thinking so hard about?”

Deciding to take a chance and practice her new bold persona, she took a quick breath and then asked, quickly, “Would you like to spend the day with me?”

Jake raised his eyebrows at her forwardness.
That was unexpected!
But it played nicely into his plans. He still wasn’t entirely sure of her connection to Marco, and if getting to know her, brought him into Marco’s circle, then he’d play along. The more information he could obtain on Marco’s plans, the easier it would be to shut down those plans if they included Trent or his family.

“I would love to, but I have one request.”

“Yes,” Alex asked, her heart racing as it realized he’d be spending the day with her.

“You have to let me show you New York City. I grew up here, so I know all the best spots in town.”

“Really? I thought you were just visiting?” Alex asked, hiding her excitement.

Jake nodded, “No, I was simply arranging for my things to be taken from storage and sent to Colorado.
So, are you going to let me show you around?”

“I’d like that,” Alex told him, trying to not sound like an eager school girl. She watched as Jake stood up, tossing both of their empty cups into a nearby receptacle before holding out his hand to her.

“Come on.”

Alex put her hand in his and let him lead her from the small coffee shop.  When he directed her across the street, coming to stop in front of a huge black motorcycle, her heart skipped a beat and she looked at the bike in awe. She
’d secretly always wanted to ride a motorcycle, but Ricardo would have never been so daring, and her father would have died from a heart attack had she asked for her own.

“You ever ride before?” Jake asked, seeing the excitement on her face. She had forgotten to lower her sunglasses, so her dark green eyes were telling him everything he needed to know. They darkened in pleasure as she lovingly ran a hand over the seat of the bike.

Alex shook her head, walking around the bike, taking in every detail so that in the future she could remember this adventure. “I’ve always wanted to, but…”

“It wasn’t allowed?” Jake added, hoping that over the course of the afternoon she might open up and share with him what often brought sadness to her eyes.

“Never. Is this yours?” she asked, coming to stand in front of him once again and meeting his gaze.

Jake looked down upon her and let his eyes trail to her lips. He wanted nothing more than to pull her against him and taste her lips. Tamping down on those urges, he nodded and then pulled two helmets from the back storage compartment. Handing one to her, he then reached up and plucked her sunglasses off her head, folding them and dropping them into his shirt pocket.

“Put this on,” he commanded her, hiding his amusement as she silently complied. She seemed to be very independent, yet she also did everything he asked her to, without question. He’d have to explore both sides of her personality during the course of the afternoon. She was a confusing mixture of woman and awkward young adult, and both thoughts had his mind wondering in directions sure to end them both in the closest bed.

He straddled the bike, and then held it steady while she climbed up behind him. When the heat of her core seeped through his jeans, and she wrapped her arms around his middle, bringing her breasts into full contact with his back, he closed his eyes and prayed for self-control.
What was I thinking? Being this close to her all day is going to drive me absolutely insane!

Taking a deep breath, he engaged the intercom and asked, “Everything good?”

Alex was startled to hear Jake’s voice in her ear and she smiled, “Yes! So, where are you taking me first?”

Jake smiled wickedly, holding back his first answer. “How
about we take a ride over to look at the Statue of Liberty?” Feeling her nod behind him, he kicked the bike into action and pulled away from the curve, loving the feel of her small hands grasping at his chest to ensure she didn’t fall off the bike. As she scooted even closer to his back, he groaned and shook his head.
This most definitely was going to be an afternoon which tested his limits. I wonder what she’d do if I told her our second stop was the closest hotel room?