In a Heartbeat (Heartbeat #1) (18 page)

That’s what happens when you lose the love of your life.

“Max, honey, did you score any goals?” She came over to her son and gave him a hug. He had to bend down almost in half to meet his mum’s body. Stella couldn’t believe such a small woman could give birth to such a huge man as Max.

“Yeah. Two,” he said with a crooked smile.

“That’s my boy.” She gave him a peck on the cheek and moved to hug Lisa.

“And you’re Stella. So glad to finally meet you.” She hugged her in turn and kissed her cheeks. “Come on, everyone out. Table is almost set. Gia’s outside.”

She shooed them out of the French windows into a garden that was bigger than Lisa’s. It also had a pool and a patio area with a big table, lots of chairs and a built-in barbecue. Gia was fussing around the table, placing plates and napkins. When she saw the others, she immediately assigned tasks to them all, and half an hour later they were all sitting at the table, enjoying the great food Gia had cooked and each other’s company.

It became evident that Beppe was not coming. Nobody asked where he was or if he was going to be late; they just tucked in to their food.

“Is Beppe OK?” Stella asked Max, her voice low so that only he could hear her.

“I don’t know,” Max answered honestly, concern shadowing his eyes.

Stella didn’t know what to say or do. She didn’t know what this was all about, but still wanted to ease Max’s worries. The urge to touch him and reassure him that everything was going to be fine was so strong that, on an impulse, she put her hand on his thigh under the table. Silently, without even looking at her, he placed his own hand over hers and entwined their fingers.

They stayed like that for the rest of the meal, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

During dessert, Max’s phone buzzed in his pocket and he took it out. It was a text and his brows furrowed at first, but then he smiled. Turning to Stella, he said,

“Beppe’s fine. I guess. Look, he sent me a couple of photos of us from last night.” He gave her the phone to look at the pictures.

They were lovely – one was from the match, and they were hugging, celebrating one of the goals. The other was from the karaoke bar; they were dancing close to one another, and Stella had her head tilted back to look at Max’s face, who was talking. She was smiling and looked so blissfully happy.

Is that how I always look when I’m around him?

“I didn’t know he was taking photos of us. That’s kind of creepy,” she said, smiling. What was she supposed to say? I love how good we look? How at ease with each other we seem?

“Yeah, he’s always had some stalker tendencies,” Max replied, and matched her smile. “You can’t deny he’s got talent, though.”

“Can you send them to me?”

“So now you want the creepy pictures?”

“I didn’t say
they
were creepy. I said
he
was creepy for taking them without us realising,” Stella specified and Max laughed, while pressing some buttons. Stella’s phone buzzed. “Thanks,” she said as she took it out.

“What are you guys laughing about?” Lisa asked, noticing the exchange between Max and Stella.

“Beppe sent me some photos from last night. I was showing them to Stella.”

Stella instinctively glanced in Gia’s direction, wanting to see her reaction to Beppe’s name. Gia noticeably flinched but, playing completely disinterested, sipped her wine.

“Let me see,” Lisa said, extending her hand for Max’s phone.

His phone passed through everyone’s hands and they all loved the pictures. Elsa, Max’s mother, gushed about how handsome he was, then shared a couple of childhood stories that made everyone laugh while Max slumped in his chair uncomfortably. She went on to relate some of Gia’s childhood antics, and this time Max laughed while his sister squirmed in her seat.

Sooner than Stella would have liked, dinner was over. Lisa said she had some work to do in her studio and wanted to head home, but Niki was deep in conversation with Elsa and wanted to stay a little longer.

“How about you, Stella? You wanna go?” her cousin asked, picking up her bag and heading for the door. Stella hesitated. If she went home with Lisa now, she’d have to spend the rest of the evening alone, because her cousin would be locked in her studio. It was still just 7 p.m. and she’d much rather spend some more time here.

“I think I’m gonna stay and wait for Aunt Niki, if you have to work.”

“Yeah, sorry about that, but I really need to finish this painting for tomorrow. I’ve been putting it off for a while and I need to show it in class tomorrow.”

“Sure. Don’t worry – I’m fine here. I’ll see you tomorrow, then.” She walked Lisa to the door and hugged her goodbye.

She went back outside and helped Gia and Max clear the table. Niki and Elsa had moved, along with their wine glasses, to the loungers along the pool, and seemed to be having a great time catching up.

“Hey,” Max said, as Stella returned outside after bringing the last of the plates into the kitchen. She offered to help Gia wash up, but she shooed her away. “I have to be at work in forty minutes,” he said, and Stella felt her good mood instantly evaporate. Sensing that, he moved closer to her, tilting her chin up with his finger. “You wanna come with me? It’s Sunday night so it’s not going to be too busy, and besides, this time I won’t be alone and I won’t make you work.”

She didn’t need a second invitation.

*

Max didn’t know why he’d invited Stella to come along. It was on a pure impulse. He just wanted to be with her, right until he had to go to bed. If it was up to him, even after that – but it wasn’t. She wasn’t ready for that yet. Sure, if he caught her alone and vulnerable again, and if there was no phone call to interrupt them, she’d spend the night with him. What worried him was that in the morning she’d close off to him. She’d regret what she’d done, because she wasn’t where he was just yet. But she would be. He’d make her see how good they were for each other. He’d make her consciously want to be with him, not just on an impulse.

*

The bar wasn’t nearly as full as it had been the other night. There were two guys behind the bar, but when Max came in one of them left. He introduced her to his remaining colleague. His name was Francesco and he was younger than Max, probably Stella’s age. He had this whole rock-star vibe going on – messy dark hair with purple strands sticking out here and there; black-painted finger nails; piercings on his eyebrow and ears. His smile was warm and genuine though, and he was easy to talk to. Max told him that Stella was his guest tonight and they took turns to entertain her.

Towards the end of the night, when the bar was nearly empty, Max called for last drinks and soon after that everyone left. He let Francesco and the two waitresses go and said he’d finish up and close.

When they were alone, he switched the music back on, turned the volume down to a normal level and offered her his hand.

“I’ve wanted to dance with you all night, but didn’t get a chance.” She smiled and put her hand in his.

Adele’s magical voice filled the bar as she sang ‘Someone like you’. Max hugged Stella close and they swayed to the rhythm. She never wanted that moment to end. It was so perfect – just the two of them, nothing else. She allowed herself to forget about the rest of the world, even if just for the duration of the song.

Chapter Fourteen

It was 2 a.m. when Stella finally made it to her bed. Even though she was exhausted, she couldn’t fall asleep straight away. The day’s events flooded her head and seemed to have no intention of ever leaving her to rest.

She’d danced with Max through half of Adele’s ‘21’ album. They hadn’t talked, he hadn’t flirted. They’d just hugged and moved to the music, completely losing themselves in it. Then she’d helped him to close up the bar and he’d driven her home. In the car he hadn’t made any move towards her – no hand-holding, no attempt to kiss her. Despite that, Stella hadn’t somehow felt that he’d tried to distance himself from her. On the contrary: the vibe he was giving off had been that he’d turned a new page and his innocent flirting was over, with something much more meaningful taking its place.

Or maybe that’s just my imagination
.

Her phone’s text alert woke her up. It was 7 a.m. She’d slept for four hours at most. Grumbling, she took it from the nightstand and instantly smiled.

Max: Couldn’t sleep well. Can’t stay in my cold, lonely bed anymore. Fancy a run?

Her bad morning mood evaporated and she typed:

Stella: 15 mins. On the beach.

Max: See ya in 15.

His reply was instant and, as her smile grew wider, Stella sprang from the bed and headed for the bathroom.

In five minutes she was ready to go. She’d brushed her teeth, combed and tamed her hair in a ponytail, and put on her shorts and tank top in record time. Deciding against taking her iPod along because she’d have Max to keep her company, Stella opened her door and, as quietly as possible, crept down the stairs. There was no one in the kitchen and she didn’t want to wake Niki and Lisa up, so she didn’t make any coffee. The machine was way too noisy and would alert them to her plans. For some reason, Stella didn’t want Lisa to know she was going to meet Max.

The conversation they’d had yesterday was a confirmation of how Stella suspected Lisa felt. Even though she was right about everything and Lisa was genuinely concerned about her friends, Stella wasn’t going to follow her advice or her logic. She just couldn’t. Not when Max was right here, opening himself to her, wanting to be with her. She had no intention of shoving him away, because he’d been the best thing to happen in her life for quite a while, and for the first time since she could remember, Stella wanted to be selfish.

Live for the moment.

Because life was too damn short.

The best thing to do was to let go of her reservations and follow his lead.

It was colder outside than she’d anticipated. Taking a long-sleeved shirt with her, only to take it off when she warmed up, was not something Stella felt like doing. She decided to warm up quickly and ran towards the beach.

Her foot was like new; she didn’t feel any pain whatsoever. It had been a good idea to give it a rest for a few days. She reached the beach and realised that they hadn’t specified an exact place to meet. ‘The beach’ was a very general term. Stella remembered that both times she’d seen Max running he’d come from her left, so she turned and headed that way.

Her muscles were warming up from the brisk run to the beach and Stella wanted to stretch for a while to avoid any injury. Reaching the water, she bent down with her legs close together, and touched the sand. Inhale, exhale. Then she slowly stood up, reaching with her arms over her head. Stella repeated the sequence several times, including some side stretches as well. Feeling ready to go, she turned to her left and slowly started jogging.

She saw Max immediately. He was coming her way, running. He was wearing his usual black shorts, but this time he’d added a sleeveless, grey hoodie, zipped up over his bare chest. The hood was up on his head and, if it was possible, he looked even hotter than usual.

As they got closer to each other, they both slowed down to a walk.

“Oh, come on! Seriously?” Max said, as he got right in front of Stella. She looked at him in confusion and he pointed at her outfit. “You’re not making this any easier on me, babe. Shorts and a tank top?”

Still not getting what he was talking about, Stella looked down at herself and didn’t see anything wrong. Her shorts were quite short, but they were work-out gear. Her tank top was quite fitted, but again, it was what she worked out in.

“That’s my work-out clothes. Deal with it,” she said, and brushing past him with a smile, jogged off.

“And now you’re going to run in front of me? Are you trying to seduce me,
tesoro
?”

“If you stop moaning and pick up your pace, maybe you’ll be able to run next to me, not behind me,” she said, turning around and running backwards to face Max as she spoke.

There was a quick flash of pure lust in his eyes, but then his mouth spread into a slow, lazy smile. Accepting the challenge, he ran faster and caught up with Stella easily. He jogged past her, and imitating her backwards running, teased her,

“Oh, come on, what’s wrong? Can’t keep up?”

“Your legs are twice as long as mine. There’s no point in racing you. You’re faster.”

Max cocked an eyebrow, surprised at her easy defeat.

“I just have to figure out some other way to beat you,” she said, and grinned. “Distraction’s been working pretty good for me lately.”

“Is that right?” Max was smiling sexily at her, the look in his eyes as close to a panther playing with its food as it got.

“Mm-hm.”

Still running backwards in front of her, Max slowly unzipped his hoodie, his eyes never leaving Stella’s. She knew what he was doing, but still couldn’t help it; she stared at the zipper as it went down and revealed Max’s chest. Involuntarily, she licked her lower lip as she got a glimpse of the tattoo on his hip.

“What does it say?” she asked, pointing at the tattoo, trying to clear the fog in her head that Max had just created. His smile had turned into a satisfied smirk, having achieved what he was after.