2 Chapter Two

Diane sat on her bed wondering why Luca had lied to her. Even after a year together he thought she couldn't tell when he was lying. It was driving her crazy wondering why he was lying this time. He had never cheated on her, she knew that for sure because she had sent two women to try and tempt him but he had sent them both packing even though they were two of the most beautiful women in the world. His life was football and his family. She wondered if he was simply avoiding her because he did not want her or if he had finally found a woman he could not say no to. If it was the latter then Diane really had to see who this woman was.

She had noticed his odd behavior over the past three months. She however took into consideration the fact that he had narrowly missed out on the Ballon D'or after his team did not win any silverware last season and his form taking a slight dive and figured it was his career that was stressing him out. Her career was stressful enough but she had a whole team designed to make her looks good and she could reshoot a scene if they were not happy with it. He on the other hand had the mammoth task of making the team look good. His fans were mostly unforgiving and would pick apart his every action, expecting him to give his best with each and every single match, mistakes would be dissected and criticized. So she had assumed the role of the understanding girlfriend who would not ask him to choose between her and his career.

She had thought with the season coming to a close, his form having picked up and his team on the verge of winning all four cups that he would go back to being normal but it had gotten worse. She could not find an excuse for his behavior anymore, especially that evening. They had not seen each other in a month and even though they had agreed that business dinners would take precedence it could be overlooked in some cases such as when she had been away for a month shooting. The fact that he said he had not seen her email was worrisome on its own. They used to talk every day and about everything, now she was lucky if she found anything out before the newspapers and magazines published it, such as this dinner.

She suddenly remembered that he had told her he was getting dressed. She knew it took him at least an hour to get ready, so she got up out of bed, grabbed her keys and raced to his house. She would follow him and see whether or not he was seeing another woman. If he wasn't, she would come back to his house and wait to surprise him. She waited outside his house until she saw him drive away and followed him. The fact that he was driving to the restaurant instead of being picked up like he had said sounded alarm bells. She saw him pull up to a hotel so she parked at a discreet distance, got out of the car and headed for the hotel restaurant. She asked the hostess to show her to Mr. Bataglia's table.

'It's free seating in this restaurant, no need to make reservations.' she said.

'Oh! Um...ok, well thank you. On second thought could you show me to a table?'

Diane knew she was acting odd and hated the look of pity that crossed the woman's face before she replaced it with a blank look. She picked a table that would allow her to see who was seated inside the restaurant as well as everyone who walked in.

'Will Mr. Bataglia be joining you?' a waiter asked, as he led her to the table.

'No. In fact, I don't want him to know I am here.'

She gave the waiter a wink which he met with a smile.

As she sat down with the menu in her hand and her eyes surveying the crowd she realized she was acting like those insecure women she always swore she would never be. If she was not so focused on the task at hand she would have laughed at herself. She ordered wine and tried not to bring any attention to herself. The last thing she needed was to be recognized before she did what she had come to do. The odds of her getting recognized increased with every minute she spent in that restaurant especially now that her waiter and the hostess knew that she knew Luca. It would not be long before dots were connected. She tipped him a hundred, let him know who she was and promised him there would be another hundred if he made sure no one found out who she was. As she waited she wondered why Luca would agree to meet at a place like that. She would talk to Luca about this in the morning and maybe dissuade him from going into business with anyone who could not afford a more decent place.

She got hungry and ordered a salad while she waited. Halfway through her salad she had still caught no sign of Luca so she decided it was time to leave. She asked for the bill, tipped her waiter and left. Outside she bribed valet to let her know if Luca's car was still there but they told him he had left within ten minutes. Fuming she drove back to her house. She called him but it went straight to voice mail so she left him several messages and text him for good measure. Five hours later, unable to concentrate, she drove to his house.

Samorena finished putting on lip gloss; part of her make up routine which consisted of eye liner, mascara and blush. She always tried to keep her make-up minimum because she had convinced herself that she did not have the time for more. She rarely accessorized either but that night she put on a diamond earrings and a matching bracelet. Next she combed her hair and smiled at her reflection. The little blue dress she had picked hugged her wide hips in a most becoming manner and emphasized the smallness of her waist. Her long legs were shown off to perfection and the red shoes she had on showed off her toned legs. When she stepped back into the living area Saone grabbed the edge of the sofa and pretended to swoon.

'You are going to knock him off his feet...that is if the heart attack doesn't do him in first. You look amazing.'

Samorena smiled. She was happy. A knock at the door had them both gasping and Samorena running to the bathroom to do final touch ups while Saone went to get the door. Samorena listened from inside the bathroom.

Butterflies fluttered in her stomach when she heard his deep voice.

'You are not coming?' Luca asked, Saone. He noticed that she had no makeup on, her hair in a messy bun and, she was wearing a sweater and jeans.

'Oh! No, I have to Skype with my boyfriend. Long distance, jealous boyfriend, you know?' Saone said.

'Does Samorena have a jealous boyfriend too?' he asked.

He could not believe he had not asked before. The last thing he needed was some jilted lover running his mouth to the tabloids.

'No, no, no. No boyfriend at all. She is single. Unattached. Solo.'

'When you run out of adjectives...I think he gets the picture.' Samorena said, as she stepped out of the bathroom.

Conveniently, Luca had his back to her, so she was able to check him out for two seconds before he turned to look at her. He looked dashing in his navy blue pants and crisp white shirt.

His fantasies sadly had not done this woman justice. She looked even more breathtaking than he could have imagined. The way that dress clung to her hips and brought out the gold tones in her skin was a sight to behold. For a second he forgot to breathe as his mouth went dry. Without make-up earlier he had found her beautiful but with make-up she was absolutely stunning. He knew that when people looked at them that night they would not be staring at him and he felt himself unreasonably possessive wanting to be the only man to behold her. When she moved closer to where he was standing he was happy to realize that, even with heels on, she was still a foot shorter than he was which he found incredibly sexy. She smelled good too.

'You look incredible.' he said, when he found his tongue. She smiled and he almost choked on the said tongue. 'I bought you these.'

He produced a bouquet of yellow chrysanthemums. His first impression of her was she was not the roses or daisies type of girl and the way her face lit up at the sight of the flowers told him that he had guessed correctly. She gnawed at her lower lip, seemed to recover herself and stopped.

'These are beautiful, thank you. You know this is the first time anyone has ever given me flowers.' she told him.

Luca frowned in surprise. How can a woman this beautiful have never been given flowers before? Were there no men in her part of the world?

Saone reached for them, 'I'll go put those in water.' she said.

'Thank you again. They really are beautiful.' Samorena said.

'So are you. You look absolutely breathtaking.'

Saone listened from the bathroom at the two. The chemistry between them was unmistakable. Saone was nowhere near surprised, men always reacted in the same way to her friend. Famous or not, Luca was still a man and he was bound to react to her beauty.

'Shall we go?' he asked.

'Yes please.' she said.

Samorena got her first taste of the paparazzi the minute she stepped out of the hotel with Luca Bataglia at her side. His security team kept the crowds at bay while he helped her into the car. They kept up lively chatter about the paparazzi situation and what she had gotten up to that day as he drove to the restaurant. When she stepped out of the car and the lights began to flash once more she had to hand onto Luca's hand. He reached for her hand knowing she would need to be guided into the restaurant. The flashing lights could be a little disorienting for someone who is unused to it. She knew that right at that moment search engines were getting familiar with her picture as every paparazzi worth their salt sought to find out whether she was anyone famous. Within the hour her picture would be all over social media and at least one person will have her cellphone number by the morning. She found she missed those days when it would take at least a day before anyone saw pictures of her and started speculating.

She glanced at the man leading her to the table and realized that he came with the territory and if she wanted to spend any amount of time with him then she would have to get used to this. They reached their table and he pulled out a chair for her and she graciously thanked him. The waiter placed their menus in front of them.

'What can I get you to drink?' the waiter asked.

'There is this really good wine that they serve here, shall I get us a bottle?'

'I would like that.'

The waiter announced that their wine would be with them in a minute. She thanked him as he walked away.

'You are not from Manchester are you?' he asked, as the waiter retreated.

'Why do you say that?'

'Your accent...'

She smiled, 'I am not. Not from this country either.'

'How long have you been in Manchester?'

'It's...since Thursday, that's uh...four days right?'

'Right. Did you fly in for the match? Is that something you do regularly?'

'No. This is a business trip but I'd always wanted to watch a match so I figured I would since we are here.'

'I'm glad you did. So, business..?'

'Yes.'

'Let me guess you are a model.'

She smiled winningly and shook her head. 'No, nothing glamorous.' 'Heavens! It's difficult getting information out of you.'

She laughed.

'Occupational hazard I guess. Uh, Saone and I run an advertising firm.

Sometimes we handle a little PR.' she said.

'Stop me if I am being nosy but I find you very interesting.'

'No, not nosy at all. What do you want to know?'

'What business brings you to Manchester?'

She gave him that smile again. He wondered if she would continue to smile like that if she knew what it was doing to him.

'It's like this, like when you win one cup and then the following season two, then you decide to see if you can win a treble and so forth...well Sasa and I have enjoyed a lot of success back home so we decided to try expand business and this seemed like the perfect place to start.'

'Can a woman be any sexier? How long will you be here?'

'We are here until the end of the week, in New York for a week, Spain for another week and then we are flying back home.' 'Where is home?

'Home is Botswana.'

'Bots-wa-na.' he struggled with the word. 'Where is that?'

'In the southern region of Africa.'

'Did you grow up there?'

'Born and bred.'

'I've been to South Africa, 2010 world cup, but I would love to go back and see some of it, maybe see a lot of Botswana.'

'I would be happy to show you a lot of Botswana and maybe a little bit of South Africa.'

He was about to ask her more about her home country when the waiter appeared with a bottle of wine and asked to pour for them. They looked at each other while the waiter poured their wine. He asked if they were ready to order and they were not but asked for a little bit of time to make their selections. They asked him to hang around and were ready to order almost immediately. Conversation resumed as soon as he was gone. Samorena was surprised at how much more comfortable she got as time went on unlike a lot of her first dates. She figured she was not as nervous because this was not a date.

He had watched her speak to the waiter and was shocked to realize he was jealous of her interaction with the guy. He wanted to her smiles to himself and hated that other men were surreptitiously checking her out. What drove him even crazier with jealousy was the fact that he had no idea where he stood with her. She was throwing mixed signals; one minute she was flirting with him and making him believe the attraction was not one sided and the next she was just friendly. He was used to women showing their hand from the start and knew within the first ten minutes whether he could have a woman or not. He wanted to know if she was as turned on as he was sitting across from her, wondered if she wanted to run her fingers through his hair, if she wanted to taste his kiss and feel his body against hers. He wanted to know he was not alone in this but he was a patient man and would not press the issue. One thing he was sure of and it was that, whether she felt anything for him or not that night, by the end of the week he would have her.

She saw the looks he was throwing her way and knew that Luca was attracted to her and wanted her. While that thought made her head spin and her heart race she tempered her emotion and tried her hardest not to let it show. At least not until she decided whether she wanted to be with him or not. She had to find out what type of man he was and dinner without the anticipation of sex was the best way to find out.

Dinner went smoothly and they both had a fantastic time of it. When he had exhausted questions about Botswana they moved on to talk about football. He asked her if she had always been a football fan and she told him about being Wilson's daughter and Isaac's sister.

There was never any doubt about her learning to enjoy football since it was practically the only thing they ever watched, except when their mother put her foot down. When Ashlee came along her mother decided that she would not be corrupted. He laughed at that.

She was surprised to learn that he had turned on to football after realizing he was not as good at tennis as he would have liked to be. She asked him about his pre-match routine and that led to talk about music and music moved to movies. There was never a moment of silence between the two of them. She found that the more she talked to him the more human he became but sadly the more she liked him. He was lost by the time the final course made its way to the table. He knew he was smitten. As they enjoyed dessert both knew that the night would have to come to an end and the question lingered on their minds; would they go their separate ways with memories of the dinner to hold on to, or would they spend the night together? Samorena made the decision that would change her life forever. She took Saone's advice to spend the night with Luca hoping that it would cure her of her obsession with him. Many conversations that centered on "I only want one night with him, one night, just one." had taken place between the two best friends and there she was with the opportunity to realize that fantasy. He was doing nothing to hide his attraction from her while she was doing all she could to hide it.

Luca decided that once they were in the car he would ask her back to his place. If she said no, he would be disappointed but he would live with that. Rejection was a thousand times better than wondering what if. Several times he asked himself what it was about her that he found so much more intriguing than most of the women that he met and finally decided that it had everything to do with the fact that she was not throwing herself at him. She was a beautiful woman, possibly more so than a lot of women he had met, but he did meet beautiful women every day and he was no longer taken in by just a pretty face. Maybe it was the way she was so mysterious. He liked to solve mysteries and women were not the exception. He would bed her and tomorrow she would be just another woman and he would go back to his normal life with Diane. A wave of guilt swept through him at Diane's name but he quickly quashed it. They finished dinner, he settled the bill then led her to the car outside.

They had not gone far when he bit the bullet and asked her.

'I am having a really great time.' He said.

'I'm having a great time as well.'

'I would love to spend more time with you. We could go out to a club, or something and have a drink or two. Or we could go back to my place where it will be just the two of us, no nosy reporters or waiters coming over for pictures and autographs. That's if you are not tired of my company.'

She smiled and surprised him by saying, 'I was beginning to think you would never ask.'

He did a double take then chuckled, 'Alright then.'

He was smiling from ear to ear and felt like he had been given a treat when he least expected it. He wanted to race back to his place but reigned that thought in and continued at the leisurely pace in spite of the fact that he was more turned on than he had been in a very long time. He wanted to savor the feeling.

Samorena was calm and excited in waves over the prospect of realizing her fantasy. Surprisingly, she was not nervous at all. She hoped the reality would be as good as the fantasy. Thus far, meeting him had been just as she had hoped it would be. He was every bit the man she had imagined him to be. He was charming and witty. It did not hurt one bit that he looked as good as he did either. The nerves hit her as they drove up to the front of the house.

'Welcome to mia casa.'

'É molto bello. Mi piacciono i colori.'

'You speak Italian?'

'I fake Italian.'

'I like that. Da questa parte, prego. Vino?'

'Si, rosso, per favore.'

'Bene.'

He led her to the lounge where he offered her a seat while he went to fetch a bottle of red wine. He was back and pouring them a glass each in no time at all. He sat down next to her and noticed something from this close distance that he had not seen earlier; her eyes were brown and not black.

'Your eyes are brown.' he said, then bit the inside of his cheek.

She smiled when she saw that he was as nervous as she was if not more. It shocked her and relaxed her that she would be making such a man nervous.

'You are very beautiful.' he said.

'Thank you.'

She bit her lip, set her glass down, took his and placed it next to hers. He knew what was on her mind because it had been on his from the moment he met her. He felt his heart pound and wondered at the nerves he was experiencing. You could swear he was a teenager again and not the experienced man of twenty eight that he was. When her lips touched his instinct took over and he snapped out of it. When he kissed her back he felt her shudder and let out a sigh. It was better than he had thought it would be. The taste of her, the smell and feel of her lips on his was a myriad of sensations that he could not describe. He cupped her face and deepened the kiss wanting to explore the sweetness of her mouth and was rewarded with a moan. She moved in closer until there was no separating their bodies and her arms wrapped around his neck. He slipped his hands under her and lifted her, without breaking the kiss, and carried her to the bedroom.

Samorena looked up at him as he joined her on the bed. He looked down at her, stroked her cheek then leaned down to reclaim her lips right with these words right before he reclaimed his prize.

'So beautiful.'

His hand moved from her neck, traveled the length of her body before coming back up to rest of a breast. Her nipple puckered up in an invitation which he accepted by circling it with a finger. Samorena gasped, smiled and took possession of his lips once more.