It Takes Two (Italian Summer Book 1) by Lily Zante Read Free Book Online Page A

need? I can help.”
    She paused. He couldn’t help and she didn’t want to distract him from his own work. “I don’t think I can fly to the US until a few months after the baby is born.”
    “Of course not.”
    “And even though I have two helpers now it’s snowballing out of control.”
    “It’s not the only thing getting out of control,” he murmured, with a look that sent her pulse soaring.
    She giggled as he kissed her belly.
    “It’s a good problem to have, but not for someone who is almost halfway through her pregnancy; it will get harder, and I would rather you take it easy. Have you considered giving up work completely?” She was horrified by his suggestion and it showed for he said quickly. “Just until the baby is born. You could wind things down perhaps?”
    This wasn’t what she’d expected. Usually, his advice was what got her through her difficult times. “But Nico, this is what I've been working for. This is what I put my heart and soul into.” Besides, she wouldn’t know how to slow things down. They’d taken off on their own it seemed like. She didn’t know how to slow it down, even if that was an option for her.
    “I know you’ve worked hard and I'm not asking you to give it up forever but looking at you I can see you're exhausted. And look at your feet, they look a little swollen.”
    “That's just being pregnant,” she said. “The heat and sitting at my desk all day.” He moved down to the other side of the bed and took her feet into his hands.
    “Don’t,” she cried out, embarrassed that after a whole day her feet would be sweaty and smelly. She’d much rather he fixated his efforts at the other end of her body where he’d been just now. But he ignored her and, oh goodness, his fingers and thumbs gently massaging the soles of her feet made her mewl in ecstasy. The man had a magic touch when it came to using his fingers.
    “I want you to take care of yourself.”
    “I do. I have naps during the day. This was a nap.” Though she was happy to be wide awake again and looked forward to him showing her exactly how much he’d missed her. She hoped it would be soon.
    “Andrea told me you nearly fell asleep at the desk in her warehouse the other day.”
    “I’m fine, Nico. Really I am. This baby means the world to me.”
    “I'll support you but you can't put the baby at risk.”
    “I don't intend to but you’re one to talk,” she said sullenly. “The only difference between you and me is I'm the one carrying the baby. You’re working harder than ever.”
    “That's because I want to get the hotel up running and operational by November.”
    “You killing yourself to get that done isn’t going to help us,” she countered. “I can't have the baby born any other time believe me if I could I would.” She stopped talking and instead enjoyed the pressure of his thumbs into the ball of her foot. “November’s already a busy time as it is and you have enough going on what with the new hotel.”
    “You don’t have to worry about the new hotel. That’s my problem, not yours.”
    “Is it a problem?” She asked. He didn’t burden her too much with what was going on with him but sometimes she caught a snippet of his conversation while he was on the phone to the architects and the builders, or the bank manager, and she knew things weren’t easy.
    “The building works are taking longer than I thought.” Sometimes he stayed in Ravenna for a day or two during the week, in order to oversee the building work. He didn’t like being away at all from her, but sometimes he had no choice in the matter.
    “Do you think it might be better to postpone the opening to sometime next year?”
    She already saw the defenses in his eyes come down; it was like a barricade he had erected, almost as if he was tuning her words out. He had no intention of considering a postponement of dates. She knew why he was so adamant. He felt he owed it to Edmondo; it had been the thing his father had