I Could Always Make You

Chapter One

EPOV

From the moment our eyes met, he had me.

And he knew it.

His eyes were beautiful.

Beyond beautiful.

I had never seen such a golden color before, deep ochre with a faint fleck of almost red.

As he stepped onto the coach, I couldn't help but catch his eye. I was seated on the front row and there he stood right in front of me. I had no choice but to look at him.

And he at me.

He offered a welcoming smile.

And I, of course, returned it with an added nod.

He welcomed a few more passengers as they made their way onboard the coach.

We waited for the last remaining members of our tour group to arrive and within moments, the door closed and the coach was pulling away.

With my eyes still fixed on him, he pulled down the tour guide's seat and chatted in Italian to the coach driver. His voice mesmerized me, too. It was so sweet and full of charm, almost soulful.

Forcing myself to look out of the window and away from him, I absorbed the view as we made our way out of the airport and through the Italian countryside.

But not for long.

His eyes had me from the start, but the rest of his face and body were just as beautiful. As the sun shone through the glass and caught his face, his skin almost appeared to shimmer and I wondered if for some reason he had applied glitter to his skin. Perhaps it was the remnants of a party from the previous night.

As he was seated in front of me and to my right side, I could only glimpse his profile when he turned towards the driver. Wheat-colored waves hung on either side of his pale face, the breeze from the open window making his chin-length hair flutter from his face, so every now and then I could see more of his beauty.

Too soon, I kept saying to myself. Too soon.

This holiday was meant to be a chance to recover from the recent split from my boyfriend of two years. I hadn't intended to look for a holiday fling.

All I wanted was a chance to mull things over, and hopefully pick myself up after being hurt so badly. I wanted to be in the right frame of mind for when I took up my first appointment.

I had been with Emmett during my final two years at university. We had shared a room from the beginning and eventually declared our affections for each other. I truly thought he was the one for me and we would spend the rest of our lives together.

But apparently, I wasn't good enough for him.

On the night of our end of university celebrations, we had become separated in the large student crowds. Not wanting to continue on my own, I made my way back to our room, only to find Emmett screwing a second year student on my bed. He said it meant nothing to him, but when I went along to Mike's room to find a place to crash for the night, he told me it wasn't the first time Emmett had been unfaithful to me. In fact, it was a regular occurrence.

I was shattered beyond belief with this revelation. I had no idea what Emmett had been doing behind my back for the previous few months and the more I thought about it, the more heart-broken I became.

The thought of returning home to stew for the summer months was not appealing in the slightest, so I decided to book myself a touring holiday around Italy as a treat instead.

Culture, some glorious sunshine and the chance to think alone and away from my family were the excuses I had given. I would use the time to distract myself and get over Emmett before I began a new life on my own.

But here I was falling for a guy I would probably never see again. A tour guide, who probably has his pick of tourists each week.

The way he flirted with everyone, including the little old ladies, told me that.

And he was flirting with me.

As he sat there, talking into the microphone, telling us about the fascinating history of Volterra, his gleaming eyes frequently caught mine and he smirked.

Not just once.

Or even twice.

No, our eyes were like magnets being drawn to each other.

He would point to the buildings or other geographical features he was referring to, but then he would turn, occasionally looking to the rest of the passengers, but mostly he would stare into my eyes.

I could not resist.

He made me feel so ... good. My mood had definitely lifted already.

I was positive that Emmett would soon be forgotten. What the hell!

I could live with a holiday hook-up. It was probably just what I needed to make me forget him.

Sex.

Sex for the sheer pleasure and fun of it.

With a total stranger.

A fucking gorgeous stranger.

No commitment.

No ties.

Just for the hell of it.

Nothing more.

As long as I didn't fall for him, I kept telling myself.