Vettori's Damsel in Distress (Harlequin Romance Large Print) by Liz Fielding

fact that they had been cleared and gritted. ‘Only I noticed none of them needed assistance.’
    ‘I think you know the answer to that.’
    He wasn’t smiling and released her arm the moment they hit the slushy, slippery pavement, keeping a clear distance between them as they walked back to the café, his face, his body so stiff that he looked as if he’d crack in two.
    After about twenty paces she couldn’t stand it another moment and stopped. ‘Dante, last night...’ He’d gone a couple of steps before he realised she wasn’t with him and glanced back. ‘This morning...’ She swallowed. ‘I just wanted you to know that I’m truly grateful for everything. I won’t do or say anything to mess up Lisa’s plans.’
    He turned to face her. ‘I appreciate that,’ he said stiffly.
    ‘And I’ll design you the prettiest ice cream parlour imaginable. If you’re serious about the workshop space?’
    ‘It’s yours, but this isn’t the weather to be standing around in the street discussing interior decoration.’
    She didn’t move.
    He shrugged. ‘There’s a small room at the back of Café Rosa that opens onto the garden. When I saw your designs it occurred to me that an American ice cream parlour might go down well with the younger element.’
    ‘In that case, forget pretty—it had better be nineteen-fifties cool.’
    ‘Maybe. Will your sister object to me borrowing her ideas?’
    ‘There’s no copyright in ideas,’ she said. ‘She borrowed the concept from the US after all and you won’t be calling it Knickerbocker Gloria, using her branding or copying her ices. You’ll be using gelato rather than ice cream, I imagine?’
    ‘You’re getting technical.’
    ‘Just thinking ahead. Will you make your own
gelato
or buy it in, for instance? Is there anyone local who would make specials for you?’
    ‘Good question. I’ll think about it. Shall we go?’
    ‘Yes...’ She took a step, stopped again. ‘No.’ There was something she had to say. ‘I want you to know that I understand why you were being completely—if rather brutally—honest with me this morning.’
    ‘Do you?’
    ‘You said it’s no con—at least where I’m concerned. Lisa, well, that’s between you and her.’
    ‘Is that it?’
    ‘Yes...’ She rolled her eyes; he really wasn’t helping... ‘No.’ He said nothing, although his eyebrows spoke volumes. But he waited. ‘You might want to relax a little, walk a little closer, try and find a smile from somewhere because right now we look as if we’re in the middle of a fight rather than about to fall into bed.’
    ‘Do we?’ And for a moment the question, loaded with unspoken reference to how close they’d come to the latter, hung there. Then he stuck his hands in his pockets, looked somewhere above her head. ‘I owe you an apology, too.’
    ‘If it’s about the horse thing,’ she said quickly as they continued walking, ‘the least said the better.’
    ‘Lisa put the words in my head last night and they leapt out when I wasn’t paying attention,’ he said and stuck out his elbow, inviting her to slide her arm beneath it. Her turn to do the thing with the eyebrows and he raised a wintry smile. ‘You said it, Angelica—we’re in this together.’
    ‘Right.’ She tucked her arm in his and he drew her closer, no doubt glad of warmth. ‘And forget about the horse. I shouldn’t be so touchy. I don’t know what I’d have done last night if you hadn’t been so kind.’
    ‘You’d have managed,’ he said as they walked back towards Café Rosa. ‘You’re a resourceful woman.’
    ‘I’m glad you think so because I’d rather like to put my resourcefulness to the test,’ she said as they reached the piazza. ‘Will the bartending lesson keep for an hour?’
    ‘Take all the time you need. Lisa managed to drag hers out for weeks.’
    ‘How?’ she asked. The fancy barista stuff might take time to master but the basics weren’t exactly rocket science.
    ‘I was