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

on his face. He set the bottle back down again and took another deep breath. ‘That book isn’t me.’

‘I thought you said you’d written it?’

‘Oh, I wrote it all right, but it doesn’t reflect the way I really think.’ He took a mouthful of champagne before continuing. ‘I told you I was a journalist, and I was. I first hatched the idea when I saw the amazing success of Fifty Shades. It occurred to me that millions of people around the world are prepared to pay good money to read about sex and not much else, so I set out to give them just that. It took me a surprisingly short time to write it: less than three months. I was pretty pleased with myself, particularly when the first literary agent I showed it to signed me up there and then.’

She saw him take another sip of champagne. ‘It was only after publication that I finally began to realise the enormity of what I’d done. Little old ladies were posting online and saying things about me that would make your hair curl. The social media accounts I set up for M. T. Landseer were soon submerged beneath a tsunami of hatred. The book was plastered all over the tabloids and, although miraculously nobody ever managed to find out my real name, I was genuinely in fear for my life for a while. That’s why I freaked out last night – I thought they’d finally got onto me. As the vitriol in the British tabloids increased, I decided to cut and run. I swore off social media, stopped watching TV, came over here, bought myself a fortress and a Labrador, and became a farmer. I escaped to Tuscany.’

‘So you’re saying you don’t share your hero, Justin’s, attitude towards women?’

He shook his head vigorously. ‘Not at all. It was a con, a hoax, a way of hopefully getting rich quick without a thought for the deeper ramifications and consequences of what I’d created. I was unbelievably naïve. Looking back on it now, I can’t understand how I couldn’t have thought it through. I suppose I didn’t really believe for a moment it would actually catch on and, even in my wildest dreams, I certainly didn’t imagine it selling millions all round the world.’ He had been staring down, as if addressing his comments to the Labrador, but now he raised his eyes and looked up, directly at her. ‘Please believe me, Alice. You, of all people, need to believe me.’

‘Why me in particular?’

‘That’s easy.’ Although he needed another sip of wine before he said it. ‘I think I’ve fallen in love with you.’

‘You’ve what?’ She also sought refuge in alcohol before continuing. ‘You know you’re crazy, don’t you? We only met a couple of weeks ago. You hardly know anything about me.’ Her head was spinning with thoughts at odds with her words. Crazy he might be, but there was no disguising the fact that she had also been entertaining similarly crazy strong feelings about this man she had only just met. Shaking her head to clear it, she let her conscience prick her. ‘In fact, if it makes you feel better, I haven’t told you the whole truth either.’

‘You haven’t…?’

He looked so bamboozled that she found herself beginning to feel sorry for him. She told him about Pals Across the Pond and her alter ego, Polly. She told him why she had been staying at the villa and how close she had come to signing up for the new series. As she revealed her true identity, she read amazement in his eyes – coupled with realisation.

‘I knew I’d seen you before. How could I be so stupid?’ He caught her eye. ‘Mind you, from what I’ve just told you, I’m sure you can understand that I really am that stupid. All this time I’ve been thinking of you and picturing you in my head, but without making the connection.’ He picked up the bottle. ‘More champagne?’

‘Absolutely.’ As the wine hissed and fizzed into her glass, she decided to take the bull by the horns and ask the next big question. ‘So how come you know Felicity Winter?’ He swung round in surprise and she explained. ‘I just spotted a photo of the two of you together in the paper at the bar. It looked as though you were having fun.’

He gave a snort of annoyance. ‘I saw the same photo. Bloody paparazzi! At least they were far more interested in her and they didn’t manage to identify me. But anyway, she’s part of the reason I’m celebrating.’

For a second, Alice’s heart sank. Surely he wasn’t about to announce his engagement to Fliss or anything so drastic. Seeing the confusion on her face, he was quick to clarify.

‘I’ve just heard from my agent that they’ve finally signed the contract to turn the book into a movie. I signed on the dotted line over a month ago and I’ve been on tenterhooks ever since, but now it’s set in stone. And, even better, this week when I was in Rome, I met the big stars who are going to be in it. In fact, I went out for dinner with Felicity and the director. She’s a very nice lady.’

It took Alice a few moments to digest the fact that there was, after all, a logical and innocent explanation for his appearance alongside Fliss, and she felt a wave of relief. ‘She is indeed. Did she tell you that she and I were drinking coffee together only a few mornings ago? She was staying at the villa very recently. That’s who the paparazzi have been hoping to catch a glimpse of.’

‘You know her too?’ The expression on his face was a picture – probably not dissimilar to the expression on her face when he had revealed he was the author of the book.

‘Yup, and I might even be acting alongside her in a movie next year.’

The dinner he prepared was perfect. He apologised