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“So,” he says “Bella, what do you want to do tomorrow?”

That’s when I realize he was really serious about spending soh, but I can’t work up the energy to protest againstto say, I can’t deny myself what I want And what I want is to spend more time with Marco

“I don’t know,” I say hesitantly “What do you suggest?”

“You haven’t seen the big tourist sites yet, no?” Marco asks, reaching for the bottle of sparkling water on the table to pour lass I had barely even noticed I had drained hts”

“That sounds nice,” I nod, s that I brought withthat will impress Marco? But at the same time, a voice in the back of hter – that he won’t be looking at me like that anyway

I suppose I can still try

“I’ll co,” he says “You don’t have to worry about a thing, I will organize it all I knohere to go and what to do here”

I flash hi this,” I say “And for dinner, too”

Marco lifts his glass in salute His is filled with red wine, not sparkling water I suppose I could legally drink here if I wanted to, but it still feels too strange “The pleasure is etting the better deal, I promise”

A flush fills ain at the sentiment I wonder if Marco talks to everyone like this – it would certainly explain his success as a businessman – or if he really means it

On second thought, I’m not sure that I want to find out Much better to stay with the possibility that he could mean it than to have my dreams shattered

After a dessert that is so exquisite I want it to last forever, Marco waves over one of the waiters and pays the bill without a word, laying his card across the top of a card reader with a practiced gesture and not a hint of a wince on his face at the total, which he doesn’t allow uess I know that the meal wasn’t cheap

I wonder just how rich Marco is, that he can si an eye Not that it has anything to do with how attractive I find him – the money is just an extra like a cherry on top

“Well,” I say, with so he will contradict o back to my hotel”

“A good plan,” Marco says with a nod, throwing his cloth napkin onto the table “You need your rest for tomorrow Come I will take you there” He stands and extends an arh I’ up from a chair on my own

He doesn’t let go of my hand even when I have moved away from the table, instead he threads it over his arm so that he can escort me properly out of the restaurant The servers are all s us ciao from all sides as we leave, but I can only really focus on the feel ofunder ine what he must look like under his neatly tailored suit This mental fascination takesin the back of a cab again, and Marco is asking for the name of my hotel

I flush at the realization that I almost didn’t even hear the question and say it clearly for the cab driver to hear, before settling back into my seat This is it, now – only the last few o inside on ht I don’t want hier, so I fight down the urge, keeping e lights against the darkness

All too soon, h the windshield “This is it,” I say,

“Well, I hope you had a good night,” Marco says, fixing reen eyes to life