Second Chances in Chianti (Escape to Tuscany Book 2) by T.A. Williams (online e reader .TXT) 📕

a fine porcelain dish laden with profiteroles covered with warm melted chocolate, while the waitress – whose name was Rosanna – added scoops of smooth vanilla ice cream for those who could find space. David had by this time consumed a considerable number of glasses of red wine, as he sought to come to terms with the luxurious surroundings and being in the company of so many celebrities. After what she had already eaten, Alice felt full, but the profiteroles and what tasted like home-made ice cream were so good, she couldn’t resist. As she finally set down her spoon, she sat back with a contented sigh.

‘That was wonderful, but tomorrow morning I’m going for a run.’

She was surprised to hear Harry respond, ‘I’ll come with you. I need the exercise.’

Alice had been studying him surreptitiously during the meal and it looked as though he, too, had been working out. He was still undeniably an extremely handsome man, but his predatory eyes were as scary as ever. From time to time throughout the evening she felt his gaze on her and struggled not to shiver. Still, it was unlikely he would try anything during an early-morning run, so she gave him a little smile and they arranged to meet up at eight.

Layla’s voice came from the other end of the table. ‘David, do you run?’

He shook his head. ‘No, I’m more of a lounge lizard. Alice is always trying to get me to come out with her, but I’m happy as I am.’

‘And you look just fine.’ At receiving a compliment from the actress once voted one of the five most beautiful women in the world, David’s already ruddy cheeks started positively glowing and Alice found herself fighting back the giggles once again.

It had been a pleasant evening and a very good dinner. Nobody at her end of the table talked about work, but she knew that would all change the following day. For now, at least, the atmosphere was remarkably relaxed and, as she sat back with a little cup of coffee at the end of the meal, she reflected that there were worse places to be than in a gorgeous old villa in Tuscany.

Chapter 6

The following day, she woke up early and lay there for a while, enjoying the relative cool of the morning. They had gone to bed with the window open – but with the mosquito screen closed – and she had slept pretty well, in spite of the snores from her inebriated boyfriend beside her. She didn’t blame him for overdoing it last night. Suddenly finding himself effectively catapulted onto the set of a world-famous romcom must have been a real shock to the system.

Just about the last thing she had found herself thinking about before drifting off to sleep had been a handsome big black Labrador with a scruffy leather collar. Clearly, he had made a considerable impression on her.

As it happened, she was soon to be reunited with her four-legged friend.

She got up just before eight and, leaving David still dead to the world, she changed into her running clothes and let herself out as quietly as she could. She was mildly surprised to find Harry already in the hall, waiting for her. Together, they went out through the gardens and jogged up past the vineyard until they came to the line of the fence. As they ran up the hill alongside the wire, there was suddenly a joyful woof from the woods, as the big black Labrador reappeared and came running along with them on the other side of the wire, barking excitedly. But this morning, the Labrador wasn’t alone. As they reached the top of the ridge near where she had sat and sketched the previous evening, she spotted two figures ahead.

An elderly man leaning on a walking stick was chatting to another man who was on his knees, hard at work. The older one had a friendly, weather-beaten face, while his companion was a lot younger, with broad shoulders and fair hair. This man looked a few years older than Alice – maybe in his mid-thirties – and was wearing shorts and trainers, but no top. He had been sweating and the early morning sunshine glistened on his well-honed body. Once she and Harry reached him, Alice slowed, got a closer look and was mildly surprised to find she liked what she saw.

Surprised because – with the exception of that little frisson of attraction she had felt for Richie last night, before discovering he was with Carrie – she couldn’t remember the last time she had felt any particular interest in any man apart, she reminded herself, from David. This realisation was immediately followed by a stab of guilt at the thought of her boyfriend of two years lying in her bed while she was eyeing up some random man, and she did her best to nip any feeling of attraction in the bud. But it wasn’t easy. The man on his knees looked fit and he was undeniably good-looking – not in an airbrushed front-page-of-Cosmo way, like Harry, but in a rugged outdoorsy sort of way.

As she approached the two men, she realised what they were doing. Something big had ripped a piece of the fence out of the ground and the wire mesh had been torn wildly out of shape, creating an opening. As the Labrador reached the gap in the wire, he didn’t hesitate. Seeing his new friend so close by on the other side, he dived through and came charging up to Alice, tail wagging. She slowed to a halt and looked down at him affectionately, confident his intentions were not belligerent.

‘Ciao, cane.’

He reared up on his hind legs and stretched his front paws up to her waist, poking her with his nose and making contented little whining noises as he did so. Alice was vaguely aware that Harry had suddenly accelerated away and disappeared down into the vineyard, and she remembered he had always been