Delilah's Diary #2: La Vita Sexy by Jasinda Wilder Page A

hurt.
    I'd hurt him by sneaking out. My gut clenched, and my heart was stabbed with a pang of guilt.
    "I...I don't know. I was afraid. I'm sorry, Luca. It wasn't you, or...not because—" I wasn't making sense. I took a breath and started over. "Everything just overwhelmed me, all of a sudden."
    Luca helped me stand up and gathered my clothes into my suitcase. He took my suitcase in one hand, carrying it rather than rolling it, and held out his other hand for me. He had blood smeared on his wrist and dripping from his nose. I took his hand. We walked in silence back to the hotel room.
    When we were back inside, I pushed Luca down into a chair and grabbed a towel from the bathroom to hold against his nose.
    "I'm sorry, Luca. I shouldn't have run." I kept my eyes on his as I spoke, forcing myself to face up to what I saw in them. "It was all so...intense, and scary. I don't...I didn't...god, I'm not making any sense. It wasn't you..."
    "You are saying the same things, but you are not saying why it is you did leave." Luca held my wrist as I dabbed at his nose. "You are afraid of feelings, I think. You see that I am feeling things for you, and this frightens you."
    I nodded. "I'm not ready to feel things. I don't know where I'm going, or what I'm doing, or who I am. I'm just...still figuring it all out."
    His nose had stopped bleeding, and he washed his hands and face in the bathroom sink. He flexed his fists, and I realized he'd split his knuckles open. I moved to dab at them as well, but he waved me off.
    "Is nothing, please, not to worry." He nudged me toward the bed and sat down on the edge next to me. "You are thinking too hard, worrying too much. You are on holiday; you must only have fun and relax. Do not worry about me, or what I do feel or don't feel. If you don't want to come with me to Firenze, then don't. If you don't want to stay in my parents' house, then don't. I will understand, any choice you are making."
    I yawned and stretched. Luca pushed me down and tugged my shoes off. "You must sleep. You have had a difficult day, and now a difficult night. Sleep, rest. I will be here when you wake up, and you will tell me what you wish to do. For now, no worries. You are safe."
    I was still wearing the tight shorts and the T-shirt, and I knew myself well enough to know I'd never sleep with them on. I glanced at Luca, then down at my shorts. It was ridiculous, since I'd already stripped for him, and done...god...such incredible things with him, but the idea of taking off my shorts in front of him brought all my fears and insecurities rushing back through me. This time, though, it was the innocent intimacy of getting ready to sleep that had my heart pounding. I'd never slept next to another man before. Never gotten ready for bed with another man before.
    New Delilah, new experiences. I repeated the phrase to myself. New me, new choices. No holding back.
    I took a deep breath and stood up, unbuttoned my shorts and pushed them off, acting as casual as I could despite my thundering heart and trembling knees. Luca was watching me, and I could feel the desire in his gaze, could feel it prickling my skin. He didn't move to touch me, and I was alternately grateful and disappointed.
    I pulled my arms out of the sleeves, unhooked my bra, and set it aside. As I slipped my arms back through, Luca chuckled.
    "I never get tired of watching that," he said. "Is always funny, for some reason. You girls can change clothes in the middle of a crowd without revealing a single inch of skin."
    I shrugged. "It's one of those things you just learn as a girl."
    I brushed my teeth and then went back to the bed. Luca was still sitting there, watching me, waiting. Standing near the bed, I had to summon my courage once more. Oddly, climbing in bed to sleep was as nerve-wracking as stripping for him in preparation to have sex. I felt a rush of excitement at the memory of what we'd done together just a few hours before. What I wanted to do again. Right