Will looked at me like I had just sprouted an extra head. “You’re a genius.”

“What?”

“I’ll make a few calls later.”

You should fix your own problems, first. My head boiled with it, but I said nothing. I would confront him about it later when we had more privacy.

Still, the cat situation seemed to pull him out of the well of depression and he talked excitedly about what he was going to do to help. He was going to set up a trap, neuter, and release program and pay locals to take them to the vets in La Spezia.

I already regretted mentioning my idea to Will. We needed to focus on completing his campaign. There were even more cats when we descended to Vernazza. They prowled the cobblestone streets and hopped on chairs to beg from tourists eating lunch. Will pet the ones that approached him, grief stirring in his eyes when they pawed his hand.

“I didn’t know you were such a bleeding heart,” I said as I stroked the yellowed, filthy fur of a white cat.

“I like animals. I feel like I ought to help them, especially when I have the means to do so.”

I stood up and brushed my fingers lightly over his hair. Whatever helps you sleep at night. It added a sweet, sensitive side of him I’d never witnessed before. Will was always so abrasive that it was bizarre to see him obsess over a handful of stray cats.

“You can’t save every single cat.”

“I know.” He frowned at me and stood up, dusting off his hands.

“I think I’ve one more village in me and then I should head back to start working.”

He nodded. “Okay.”

The ascent to the next town made my thighs scream in protest, but the views were perhaps the most breathtaking. We were on the edge of the terrace, looking down at the inviting ocean stretched out as far as I could see.

“Let’s just stay here,” I said wistfully. “You can buy a place and we can stay here—you can rescue cats and I can sell my paintings to tourists. You speak Italian—it would be perfect!”

Will turned around with a happy, mischievous gleam in his eyes. “Oh, yeah? You’d be happy staying here, playing house? What about all of your ambition?”

Watching the rolling waves had me hypnotized. “All of that doesn’t seem to matter anymore.”

“You would get bored of it. And I would drive you crazy.”

William wiped the sheen of sweat from his brow with the back of his dark hand and squinted at me under the sun.

Why is he so determined to push me away?

"I don't think I could ever get bored around you. I can never predict what you’ll do next.”

“Why do you want me, Natalie?” he asked suddenly.

Are you kidding me? I wanted to scream. “I want you for your money, that’s all.”

He smirked. “I would believe that, except that you haven’t asked me to buy you anything this whole trip.” He was looking at me as though he had never seen anything quite like me.

I gave him a faint smile. “Maybe I’m just waiting until we’re married.” I laughed out loud at his widened eyes. “Relax, I’m just teasing.”

He shook his head and scowled at me with a don’t-joke-about-things-like-that expression. “You really just seem like a normal, middle class girl. Why would you want me?” Why would you want all of my baggage?

I brushed his hair from his face and fingered the back of his neck and ear. He closed his eyes. “You’re selling yourself short. You’re a great guy and you’re fun to be around. Maybe it’s because you make me feel like I’m special. You realize you could get any girl you wanted, right?”

The realization of that fact made my heart clench with pain. I was not a great catch—I was just normal. Even he admitted it.

“Yes, but when you’re constantly surrounded by people tripping over themselves to impress you, you start looking for something different. Someone like you. You treat me like you would anyone else. I’ve never met a girl who made me feel—normal.”

Normal? Was that a good thing to be? I always raged against being normal, hating my perfect background because it made my whole life seem so inadequate. To only reach so far with so much help and education seemed mediocre. And yet, William liked me because of it. I wasn’t the type to bend to his every demand. I didn’t take advantage of his wealth. Was it that hard to find someone who was like me?

“Well—thanks.”

His hand tightened around my waist and he kissed my forehead. I hugged him, inhaling his scent and wanting more. He lifted my chin with his index finger and gave me a kiss that made me want to collapse in his arms. It was hard and biting, filled with all his pent-up sexual tension. He backed me against the fence separating the path from the vineyards and his hands groped my ass, squeezing hard. His tongue shoved into my mouth and mingled with mine, and then he retreated, giving my lips a small bite before he finally pulled back to breathe.

That fiery blaze was back in his eyes that said: I’m going to fuck your brains out when we get back. My palm slid down from his waist and anchored over the hard bump bulging in his shorts. He gasped as I squeezed him and I felt a little shock of excitement of my own. I kissed him hard and let go because there were people walking up the path.

William managed to straighten himself before they caught up to us. He turned towards the fence as if he was tired as I stood beside him and laughed.

“Groping me in public,” he muttered indistinctly, shooting me a hot glare.

When we finally reached the wind-swept Corniglia after a winding series of stairs that led down, we took the small train back to our bed and breakfast. Will kept his arm draped around me during the trip and I nestled in his embrace. It was almost as if we were a real couple. By the time we reached Monterosso, the sun burned like orange glitter over the darkening water.

We held hands and walked along the beach, William’s flyaway hair flattened against his head. We kissed again, and the knowledge that we were so close to our hotel room made my heart throb with anxiety. Would he be good? I didn’t have a lot of experience to compare him to. I was with Ben for the last six years, and our sex life was, well, lacking.

“We should eat somewhere.”

“Eat?” I said, as if I had never heard something so ridiculous.

“Yes,” he smirked, laying his hot lips over me again and again. “We’ve been hiking all day, I’m hungry.”

A series of camera flashes from the corner of my eyes distracted me. Tourists, probably. No, it couldn’t be. William curled his arm around me and roared at man clicking away, screaming something in Italian.