Oceans Between Us (A Cinderella Romance) (8 page)

He trailed his fingers across the silk of Maria's skin, brushing the edge of her lips. He wanted to kiss her more than he had ever wanted to kiss a woman before. He wanted this time with her to last forever. But it was unreal, a fantasy that would slip through his fingers when he returned to his normal life. He had commitments, huge commitments, to the fans who had paid good money for tickets to his upcoming shows. He could not let them down. However much he wished to remain in this fantasy world he shared with Maria—where he had no worries, no responsibilities, no one making demands on him—he could not simply walk away from his life, from everything he had worked so hard to achieve.

He longed to take Maria with him, but his career meant he must travel from city to city, always on the move, living out of a suitcase, no home or family life. Maria would hate such an existence. It was the antithesis of her dreams. She had broken up with her boyfriend of three years because he wanted to travel. Was it fair to take this thing between them to the next level when he must leave her? Good sense said no, but his heart and his body yearned for her. In his dreams he had made love to her many times. One kiss couldn't hurt, surely?'

He cupped her cheek in his palm, touched his nose to her hair. She smelled of freshly baked bread mingled with something sweet and floral. "Oh, Maria," he whispered beside her ear. "How you tempt me to do what I should not."

"Why shouldn't you?" Her fingertips grazed his jaw, slid behind his neck. She pulled his head down. "It's not wrong if I want it too."

"Not wrong, but not wise." His eyelids fell as his lips rubbed across her sleek hair and found the skin of her cheek. He was not usually this restrained, but Maria was different, special. He could not treat her like other women. But Lord help him, he wanted to kiss her.

"Dino, please." The husky need in her voice wiped out his last resistance.

He kissed his way down her cheek to the corner of her mouth and she met him eagerly. Her soft lips parted to welcome his and he brushed his mouth over hers, teasing, tasting, firing his blood as he deepened the kiss and lost himself in the sensation.

He had no idea how long the kiss lasted, but when he lifted his head the rain had stopped and sun glinted off the wet cars. He stared down at the dreamy look in her eyes and realized one kiss was not going to be enough.

***

Now the decorating was finished, Maria and Dino relaxed and enjoyed each other's company. In the mornings, Dino would drive out to get a newspaper then sit at the kitchen table and read while Maria cooked.

Each time she walked past him, he grabbed her hand and kissed her knuckles, making her laugh. Once she finished preparing food, he switched on the music and they danced around the kitchen like teenagers, living for the moment, no regrets about the past or worries about the future. After lunch they played Scrabble, which Maria always won as she didn't let Dino use Italian words, or if the weather was nice, they walked along the coast to the next village and had a Cornish cream tea.

In the evening they ate dinner together, then sat in the conservatory and stared up at the stars while they talked, or curled up together on the sofa to watch television.

On the Thursday evening of Dino's fourth week, Maria was cuddled up against him, his arm around her as they watched a romantic comedy. When the movie finished, Dino pulled her onto his lap and she giggled as he tickled her. When his tickling turned to caresses, she melted against him, breathed in the spicy fragrance of his skin, and found his lips. They kissed often, but Dino never let it go further. Although part of Maria was pleased he cared enough to look after her, she still found it frustrating.

She needed his touch, needed to feel his naked skin pressed against hers. Her fingers explored his chest through his shirt, fingertips snatching tantalizing touches of bare skin between the buttons. When her exploration reached his belt, he stayed her hand with his. "No, Maria."

"You don't want to make love to me?"

"More than you can imagine."

"So what's wrong?"

Dino picked up the TV remote, flipped through the channels, and found a music station playing ballads.

"Dance with me." He stood, bringing her with him. He drew her closer, and gathered her gently against his chest. Maria leaned her cheek on his shoulder and closed her eyes as they moved as one, the music flowing over her like a soothing balm. But there was nothing soothing about being in Dino's arms. Her skin tingled and her heart raced at the feel of his body against hers.

His hand stroked her hair, and he pressed a kiss to her temple. "After the hop tomorrow night, I must leave."

Maria's heart lurched painfully and her fingers clutched at his sweater as if she could hang on to him, make him stay. She had known they were living on borrowed time, but had chosen to put it out of her mind. She had carefully avoided talking about when he would leave or what he did. And he had not volunteered any more details. But she couldn't let him go without knowing what type of life he was returning to.

She raised her head and met his anxious gaze. "What are you going back to, Dino? What do you do?"

A shadow passed through his eyes, and tiny creases formed between his eyebrows. "I'm a singer, an operatic tenor."

"Operatic...you mean you sing opera?" She couldn't imagine him doing that. He was too young and vital. Weren't opera singers old and fat? And why was it such a big deal that he hadn't told her before now?

He nodded and gave a tight smile. "You do not approve?"

"I don't know much about it, that's all. Where do you have to go to sing?"

He threaded his fingers through the hair at her temple, smoothed the strands back behind her ear. "When I leave here I must go to New York. I am performing
La Bohème
at the Metropolitan Opera House in two weeks' time. I need to rehearse."

"America!" Maria bit her lip. She had feared that whatever he did would take him far away, but she hadn't expected it to be that far. "Will you come back to England afterwards?"

Dino's gaze slid into the distance and he sighed. "After New York, I have concert dates throughout North America before I return to Europe. Then I will spend a week with my family for my mamma's fiftieth birthday. I have not seen them for many months. I miss them."

A cold fist of disappointment gripped Maria's heart. She'd hoped he might visit her the next time he had a vacation, but she understood him wanting to be with his family. Maybe he would never come back to Cornwall. "After that?" she prompted.

"Ah, Maria, Maria. I have a busy schedule. I have to go to Roma, Paris, Madrid, London, and many more cities." He gestured in frustration. "I do not remember all the places or the order in which I visit them."

Maria leaned her cheek against his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart and blinked away the tears threatening to fall. Dino didn't have time for her in his life. If he ever settled in one place, it was unlikely to be in the rural depths of Cornwall. Dino leaned down and whispered in her ear: "Would you like to visit America, Maria?"

Memories of her time in Austria cascaded through her mind and ended with the awful final night she'd spent there. One of the drunken men who'd forced his way into her bedroom had been American. "No. I couldn't." Just the thought of leaving the safety of home again made her heart race in panic. "I'm going to run the Crow's Nest when Mum and Dad retire. It's all arranged." She hoped to have a husband at her side to help. But that husband obviously wouldn't be Dino. She'd known all along he was not the right sort of man for her, yet in her heart of hearts, she'd still hoped.

Unbearable pressure filled her chest. She had to distract herself, shake off this awful feeling of loss. He hadn't gone yet. She pulled away from him, grabbed the remote control, and changed the TV to a dance-music channel. "Let's practice the salsa for tomorrow night."

Dino blinked at her, looking bewildered, then seemed to compose himself and smiled. "Of course,
tesoro
, of course. We will make sure tomorrow night at the hop is a night to remember."

Chapter Five

Maria carried trays of finger food she had prepared for the hop out to her car and laid them on the back seat. Dino brought a bag with four cans of lager and a bottle of wine. He held it up questioningly.

"We have to take our own booze as the village hall doesn't have a license to sell alcohol," Maria explained.

He wore stylish black trousers, a blue shirt, and his leather jacket as he didn't have sixties clothes. Maria had donned the yellow cotton dress with a full skirt and tight bodice she had picked up for the occasion. Her hair was in a high ponytail secured with the spotty ponytail holder she had bought in Mevagissey.

As she locked the front door, Dino pulled a corsage from behind his back. "Oh, Dino, thank you." She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him, her heart racing, ticking off the dwindling seconds they had left together. She wanted to ask him if he would come back to see her, but she couldn't summon the courage. If he said no, she might just fall apart. And she couldn't do that right before the fundraiser. She pulled herself together and stepped back, holding out her arm for him to attach the flowers around her wrist. "This is lovely, but a bit fancy for the village hall."

"You look beautiful, Maria." Dino's dark gaze glided over her appreciatively.

"Thank you." Did he really mean that? Effusive compliments fell from Dino's lips all the time. Traveling as much as he did, he must meet lots of beautiful women. In a few months, he might barely remember their time together. The thought cut through her like a knife. She turned away and tripped over her own feet.

Dino caught her arm. "Are you all right,
tesoro
?"

"Yes, fine." She tried to smile and thought she managed convincingly. "I'm just clumsy." They climbed in her car. Dino sat beside her, his long legs crammed in the tight space. It was lucky they only had a few hundred yards to drive to the village hall. Together they unloaded the food and drink, and Dino followed her inside.

Philip was busy organizing people to set up tables and chairs around the walls. Maria left the food in the small kitchen and introduced Dino as a friend. Philip shook his hand and slapped him on the back. "You've arrived just in time, Dino, mate. Help me set up the tables, will you?"

Maria and Philip's wife, Millie, spread tablecloths on the trestle tables as they were erected, and laid out the buffet along one wall while other helpers fetched chairs from the store. Richard, the errant committee member who had been responsible for the music, turned up armed with a sixties compilation CD after all and checked that the hall's sound system worked.

Maria fished out the
Dirty Dancing
CD from her bag and clasped it to her chest, reluctant to hand it over. This was the music she and Dino had danced to, a little piece of her private time with him that would live on in her memory and her heart forever. She wasn't sure she wanted to share the songs with anyone else. With a sharp breath of irritation at herself, she passed the disc over. "Something else to add to the playlist."

Richard turned it over and scanned the list of tracks. "Okay, Maria. Looks good. I'll put this on first. There are some lively ones on here to get everyone warmed up."

Maria watched Dino chatting with people, his hands dancing elegantly through the air as he communicated with his body as much as with his words. The terrible feeling of loss crowded in on her, the darkness waiting to engulf her little pool of happiness. She had only hours left with him...hours. Her throat tightened and she swallowed. There was no point being miserable. She must enjoy this final evening.

Chris bustled in, late as usual, and dumped a plate of sandwiches and four mammoth bags of potato chips on a table. "Sorry I didn't get around to cooking." She indicated Maria's plates of finger food. "I knew you'd do us proud, though."

Chris's friend, Tina, who had loaned Maria the
Dirty Dancing
CD, came in behind her with a bottle of wine in each hand. "Where's this boyfriend of yours I've been hearing so much about, Mari?"

"Over there." Chris pointed across the room. Maria's cheeks flamed as the people nearby all turned to look.

"Golly! He's a bit of all right." Tina eyed Maria with new respect. "If he turned up on my doorstep, I'd probably let him in, as well."

Maria took Chris's arm and pulled her aside. "Who have you told about Dino? I'm introducing him as a friend. I'd rather people didn't know he's staying at the Nest."

"Only Eric and Tina."

"Well don't tell anyone else, especially not Mum and Dad. I'm going to pretend I had an old college friend to stay so I don't have to charge Dino for his room."

Chris's eyebrows shot up. "What about the grocery bill you must have run up?"

"He's more than paid his way by helping me with the decorating," Maria retorted. And she couldn't imagine asking Dino for money now they were friends.

"Hmm." Chris looked skeptical. "I hope he appreciates you, Mari. That's all I can say."

Maria was saved from having to answer when the speakers crackled and burst into life with the strains of "Be My Baby," the first track on the
Dirty Dancing
CD. Maria glanced at the clock amazed to find it was eight already. The doors had opened.