Free Murder Under the Italian Moon by Maria Grazia Swan

minute and then shifted gears. "What's the matter, Mom? Are you still concerned about the Ferrari? Don't worry. I'll get everything straightened out, I promise. In the meantime, are you hungry? Want to go grab something to eat down at the marina? Maybe Audrey will join us. Hey, stop with the eyes already. Don't look so upset."
    The phone rang.
    "I'll get it." He rushed over to the house phone. "York residence. Carolyn, it's me. What do you mean where in the hell am I? At my mother's house. You called here. Oh, I forgot to charge it. That's why it goes to voice mail. Sorry. Okay, don't get so ticked off. No, I didn't forget. I was on my way out the door. Yes, I'll be there soon." He hung up. "Shit, I'd forgotten all about meeting Carolyn. I've got to get out of here." He ran upstairs.
    Carolyn, his agent. He'd probably forgotten some social event. In their world, social commitments were as important as business meetings. In fact, there wasn't one without the other. Kyle came back, his overnighter under his arm, clothes spilling out.
    "Sorry about the mess I left, Mom. I'll make it up to you." He walked by the kitchen and grabbed a banana. "Can you tell Audrey—never mind. I'll call her. Got to run. Ciao ." He slammed the door shut.
    I ran after him and caught him by the car. "Kyle, we need to resolve the car situation. It's important. Where are you heading?"
    "LA. I'll be back tomorrow. I'll stop by on my way back. Smile, Mom. It's going to be okay." He smiled, and I shook my head, smiling back. I watched the white Ferrari Testarossa drive up the road to the gate and decided to check my mail before going back into the house for the evening. The beauty of the sun setting over the Pacific soothed me a little. I realized I hadn't thought about Nick until just then. I wasn't sure if that was good or bad. The complex looked deserted. Not surprising, since it was dinner time. Dinner for one would be what came next in my empty house . Stop feeling sorry for yourself, Lella. The lights came on, intensifying the hues of the setting sun against the white walls of the villas.
    I rounded the corner and stopped. There stood the man I had been thinking about more than I should have, Larry Devin.

 
CHAPTER TEN
     
    His hand rested on my knee, the same spot as the night of the kiss. "Rested" didn't describe the feelings that simple contact stirred up. We'd been driving in silence for maybe half an hour, and my head swirled with dozens of questions, questions I couldn't find the nerve to put into words. I kept the conversation in neutral, ignoring the furious thumping of my heart.
    "Where are we going?"
    "Orange."
    "Orange? We're in Orange County right now, aren't we?"
    "The town of Orange. Are you hungry?"
    "Famished. I skipped lunch. I was too busy with Kyle, my son—"
    "How about we forget about family and friends for tonight? The day is almost over. Let's celebrate the evening, and I can promise you all the issues, the problems we left behind tonight, will be there in the morning. Deal?"
    "Deal." Did he say in the morning? He assumed I would spend the night with him? I couldn't possibly do that. I wasn't prepared for an overnight stay. It all happened so quickly that in the excitement of the moment I forgot to take my cell phone. Did I feed Flash before rushing out the door? If Larry sensed my hesitation, he didn't acknowledge it. His hand went from my knee to my cheek. He had this way of stroking my face with the back of his fingers, such intense tenderness. I wished I could stop the passing seconds, encapsulate the moment, so I could revisit that bewitching feeling in times of loneliness. Ah, those magic fingers must have the power to stop intelligent thoughts from becoming spoken words and also made the lack of cell phone or overnight necessities seem okay, because I didn't object about a thing.
    We left the freeway and traveled a street I didn't recognize. Few cars passed us in either direction. I couldn't see any shape of