Read Online The Italian's One-Night Love-Child by Cathy Williams - Free Book Online Page A

women, he wondered now whether his eager little virgin hadn’t used him as an unsuspecting trial run for someone else. A rampant flare of jealousy forced aside the nonsensical idiocy of the supposition, leaving him with a series of graphic images of her offering her body for another man’s pleasure.
    ‘Now, I wonder what your local sweetheart would say about a woman who spends two weeks in another man’s company and at another man’s bidding…before hightailing it back home to him…? Hmm…? Not many men would be forgiving on that score. In fact, I would say roughly none . So have you told him about your overseas romp? Or were you using me so that you could take your newly found sexual experience into his bed?’
    ‘Don’t be ridiculous!’ Bethany spluttered, her face scarlet as much from his far-fetched accusations as from the evocative pictures he was unwittingly creating in her head. Pictures of them together on their overseas romp. She had gone to him a virgin, but at the end of two weeks she had become a recklessly wanton woman who had had every inch of her body slowly and meticulously explored and had tasted the delight of exploring every inch of his body. In fact, there had not beena night since when she hadn’t recreated those memories in her head.
    ‘Am I being ridiculous? Why else would you have come back here? Left London and your university degree? If not for a man?’
    The silence that greeted this question stretched between them like a piece of elastic being pulled to its absolute limit. ‘Not everything a woman does is because of a man.’ Bethany struggled to sound as normal and natural as she could, which was not very as her voice was a weak croak.
    ‘But most of the time it is. At least, that’s always been my experience.’
    She resisted looking at the clock. Again. Although it was difficult.
    ‘Okay, if you must know, I promised I’d cook something for my parents. They’ve gone to the village hall…some sort of do to raise money for an orphanage in Africa. They’ll be back soon. I’m sure you don’t want to be here when they arrive…’
    He didn’t leap from his seat. She didn’t even know if he believed a word of what she had said. In any case, it didn’t matter because the sound of the front door opening impacted like a bullet through her panicky thoughts and she heard her mother’s familiar voice calling, ‘Honey? Bethany? We’re home!’

Chapter Four
    F OR the space of a few desperate seconds Bethany wondered if she could reasonably hide Cristiano, who had risen to his feet and was adding to her feeling of suffocation. Stuff him away in a cupboard somewhere or else shove him into the back garden and lock the door on his harsh, beautiful face, now alive with curiosity.
    The only upside was that at least she had proved him wrong on his fanciful idea that she was inviting some man back to the house.
    She raced out to intercept her parents and found them in the act of removing their coats and making noises about the weather, which had apparently taken a turn for the worse. Snow predicted.
    ‘But the fund-raiser was an enormous success.’ Eileen Maguire smiled at her daughter. ‘Raised well over five hundred euro. Doesn’t sound like a lot, but every little helps. There was a very interesting chap there, Bethany. Gave a talk about where the money would be going. Wasn’t he interesting, John? I was tempted to ask him back here for supper; poor man is having to make do with sandwiches at the B&B because Maura’s gone to visit her daught…’
    Her mother stopped in mid-sentence, which was a phenomenonthat seldom occurred, and Bethany didn’t have to look around to know why. She could feel Cristiano’s presence in the hall behind her. Why on earth couldn’t he have stayed in the kitchen just a tiny bit longer? Given her time to warn her parents of the unexpected arrival?
    ‘Mum…Dad…’ She turned round reluctantly as Cristiano moved smoothly towards her. So she