His eyes glinted black fire. “I have to admit you’ve been a real sport to put up with me for the last twelve months. It’s proof of your great acting talent that every time I blundered, you covered for me without missing a heartbeat.”
That was where Alex was wrong. Around him her heart had stopped beating more times than he would ever know. It was the reason she was leaving the show now instead of putting off her studies for another year.
School seemed to be her only salvation. Being forced to immerse herself in her studies wouldn’t cure her broken heart, but if she wanted to obtain decent grades she wouldn’t have the time or luxury to wallow in pain. At least that was what she was telling herself right now.
He reached for her left hand.
“What are you doing?”
“Wardrobe handed me this gold band to put on your finger. Let’s make sure it slides on easily, otherwise I’ll have to put it on your baby finger.”
Baby finger… She loved his little language mistakes.
“You did say you wanted our last scene to go without a hitch.”
Biting her lip, Reese clutched the basket in her right hand while he checked the fit. She willed her body not to shake.
“Perfect sizing.” He slipped it back off. “But your hand feels like ice,” came the unexpected comment before he chafed it with his to warm her up.
“I have poor circulation.” She snatched her hand away.
“That’s news to me. I never noticed the problem while you were putting sunscreen on my back during our beach scenes.”
Before she could find a logical response, the pre-wedding march music started to play in the background.
“Places, everyone! Action!”
With those words, the two of them became Carly and Fabio.
Reese immediately slipped into the role and peered at Fabio from beneath the rim of her hat. “Is it true you’re going back to Italy after the wedding?”
His black eyes narrowed. “Why do you ask?”
Reese’s whole body throbbed with pain. “Just answer me, dammit!” she cried in a hushed tone, her eyes filling with tears.
He put out a finger to catch a drop, then rubbed the moisture around with this thumb. “Tears. From you?” he mocked. “I didn’t think it was possible.”
“There’s a lot you don’t know about me.”
“Did you ever give me the chance, bellissima?”
“I’m giving it to you now.”
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t listen to her!” Melissa broke in on them with a maniacal look in her eyes. “I heard her tell Miranda she was in love with you, but she was lying! All this time she’s been sleeping with Carlo.”
Carly gasped. “That’s not true and you know it,” she whispered, enraged.
“Give me a break-” Melissa fired back. “Think about it, Fabio. That’s why you’ve never been able to get Carly in your bed.”
“You’re wrong, Melissa. The only reason I haven’t slept with Fabio is because I knew you were in love with him. I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“Ooh. You really know how to play hardball, don’t you?” Melissa’s furious gaze switched to Fabio. “The only reason she’s hitting on you now is so she can get her hands on your portion of the Andretti fortune.”
“There is no fortune, Melissa,” Fabio declared with quiet menace. “I gave it to the church when I entered the priesthood.”
“I wouldn’t want it anyway!” Carly cried. “Money means nothing without love. How can you stand there and accuse me of such lies? Carlo’s old enough to be my father. He’s always been in love with your mother. They’ve been like parents to me. Don’t listen to her, Fabio.”
“Don’t listen to her, Fabio,” Melissa mimicked brutally. “Get ready to die, Carly!”
Melissa pulled a gun from the thigh holster beneath her dress. But before she could shoot it, Fabio wrenched it from her hand.
“I might have known you’d try to ruin your mother’s wedding day,” he said with cold fury. “My uncle told me how their first wedding ended in disaster because of you, but you’re not going to get away with it a second time. Get out of here, Melissa!”
Two ushers seating people rushed into the vestibule. “What’s going on? The guests are waiting.”
“Escort this woman from the church and call the police to pick her up for threatening Carly with a deadly weapon.”
While one of the ushers dragged Melissa, who went kicking and screaming, the other one relieved Fabio of the gun.
After he disappeared, Fabio turned to crush Carly in his arms. “Are you all right?”
“Yes.” She struggled for breath. “Fabio-you didn’t believe her, did you?”
“What do you think? According to Carlo, she’s been unstable for years. Maybe she’ll finally get the psychiatric help she needs.”
“She was actually going to kill me.”
“Don’t think about that now.”
“How can I not?” she cried. “Oh, no-the wedding march has started up!”
CHAPTER THREE
“LET it!” Fabio fired back. “You were about to say something important before she tried to kill you.”
“There’s no time to go into that now.”
“Carly-Melissa just said that you told Miranda you loved me. Is it true? Tell me.” He shook her gently.
She swallowed hard. “Yes!” she cried at long last. “Even though you’re too old for me and I’m too young for you, it’s true. The difference in our ages no longer matters to me. I don’t care that Melissa loved you first. I can’t live without you, Fabio. W-what would you say if we got married today? We could make it a double wedding with Carlo and Miranda. She knows how I feel about you.”
A stillness ensued. “You’re asking me to marry you?”
“Yes.” Her voice trembled.
“You’re not joking.”
“No.”
“I didn’t know women in America did things like this.”
“They do when it’s a leap year. Today is February twenty-ninth, the day when a woman can ask a man to marry her.”
“That’s right…it really is the twenty-ninth. You do love me!” he cried.
“Yes, darling. In fact I took out a wedding license and signed it. All you have to do is sign it in front of the pastor after the ceremony, and our marriage will be legal.”
“Let me see it.”
She plucked it from the basket. He unrolled it and examined it, then lifted his head as if dazed.
“This is the real thing… All those times you told me you hated me and begged me to leave you alone, you were lying?”
“Yes!”
He folded the certificate and put it in his pocket. “I want to hear you say those words to me. Look at me, Carly, and tell me you love me.”
Don’t call him Alex, Reese. Whatever you do, don’t call him by his real name!
She finally lifted her eyes to his. “I’m in love with you, Fabio. I always have been, from the moment Miranda first introduced us. But I knew Melissa was in love with you, too.
“Out of respect for both of them, I didn’t dare let you know how I really felt. Also, I didn’t think you could be interested in someone like me who’s lived such a sheltered life. But the thought of living without you is unthinkable at this point.” Reese’s heart was on fire for him. “Will you marry me today? Right now?”
He flashed her the heart stopping smile for which he was famous. “That all depends. How long do you intend our marriage to last?”
Reese had been waiting for him to slip in a line that wasn’t in the script. With that last question, he hadn’t disappointed her. It was his way of having some fun with her for the last time.