‘So what are you thinking?’ she asked. Angelo Beresford struck her as the kind of person who didn’t bring up subjects without thinking about them deeply first.
‘I’ll hire a van and drive all the boxes back to London.’
‘From Florence? But... Surely that’ll take a couple of days?’
‘I looked it up. The online travel guides say seventeen hours.’
‘You can’t drive for seventeen hours in a row!’
‘Technically, I can,’ he said. ‘The legal time limits only apply to commercial vehicles.’
‘In real terms, you’d be crazy. You’d be tired and you’d be a danger to other road users,’ she pointed out.
‘There might be an alternative,’ he said, looking thoughtful. ‘Do you have a driving licence?’
‘Yes, but I’ve never driven abroad,’ she said.
‘Or driven a big van, I’m guessing?’
‘No,’ she confirmed.
‘Then I won’t ask you to drive. And you’re right about tiredness. So we’ll need to split the journey.’ He took out his phone and flicked into the Internet. ‘The halfway point is Dijon. If we leave on Friday morning, we’ll be back in London on Saturday afternoon.’
‘Angelo...’
‘I know. It’s longer than I asked you to be here. But I think you’re going to be the key to Nonno agreeing to let me take his papers. He knows you love art.’
‘He knows you would take great care of his possessions.’
‘But I don’t feel the same way that he does about those paintings, and you do. That matters more to him. Please, Mariana. I need your help.’
Eric would have demanded.
Angelo had asked.
Politely.
He valued her knowledge. And he’d listened to her about the risk of driving from Florence to London in one go and changed his plan, rather than being pig-headed and sticking to his original intentions. She appreciated that.
‘All right,’ she said.
‘Thank you.’
When they reached her hotel, Mariana paused in the lobby. ‘Thank you for walking me back. I would invite you to have a drink with me, but I guess you need to get back to your grandfather.’
That gave them both a convenient excuse. Even though she’d seen his professional accreditations and his protectiveness towards Leo showed that Angelo Moretti was one of the good guys, her experience with Eric had still left her wary. Eric had seemed so perfect at first; and her judgement couldn’t have been more wrong. How could she be sure she’d get it right next time? Plus this was business. The attraction she felt towards Angelo had to be ignored. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow. What time would be best for Leo?’
‘Half past eight?’ he suggested.
‘I’ll be there. And thank you for translating today.’
‘Any time.’ He paused. ‘If those journals are in his paperwork, then they’ll be in Italian. I could translate them for you, which will help with speed, and then help you work your way through the rest of the papers.’
‘Don’t you have to be at the office?’
‘I can delegate some work and do as much of the rest as possible from home. Right now Nonno is my priority.’ He paused. ‘While you’re doing the photographs, I need to go up to Rome for the afternoon and see my sister. Is it OK to leave you with Nonno?’
‘If he doesn’t mind, it’s fine.’
‘Thank you.’ He patted her shoulder. ‘You’re a kind woman. And my family appreciates what you’re doing for us.’
Even though the touch of his hand was light and momentary, it sent a spark of desire through her and she found herself staring at his mouth. Wondering how it would feel against her skin. How it would feel if he wrapped his arms around her. Then she shook herself. No. This wasn’t being professional. She needed to get a grip.
‘See you tomorrow,’ she said, cross at feeling so flustered. He was the first man to make her feel this way in a long time, and she really didn’t know how to deal with it.
‘Tomorrow,’ he said.
* * *
Angelo was thoughtful all the way back to the palazzo.
Putting a hand momentarily on her shoulder had been a mistake. He was more aware of her then he had been of any woman since Stephanie, which was utterly ridiculous. His relationship with her should be strictly professional, simply to make his grandfather’s dreams come true. Even though he knew she wasn’t Stephanie, he also knew she’d been badly hurt in the past. And he was barely in the right place to deal with his own feelings, let alone anyone else’s. He needed to back off.