Excerpt of Italian Affair by Annie Seaton

The soughing of the waves washing back over the pebbly beach below the villa woke Tom before sunrise. His chest was heavy as he remembered the argument with Brianna. God, he was so damn attracted to her, and he knew he’d hurt her feelings. It had taken him ages to get to sleep. Logic told him it was way too soon to get involved with her. He was still not ready to go down that path, no matter how much she tempted him. He tended to avoided situations like this—he hated conflict and messy emotions. Give him a financial problem to sort out any day. When you didn't depend on anyone else, you didn't have to deal with all the emotional crap that came with it. He much preferred his life to be organized and predictable. So what the hell was he doing? He’d been happy with the agreement as it stood, and then Brianna had to go and ruin it all last night. He hated not being in control.

Friends with benefits was not the way he operated. He dozed back off and woke a while later when the bed creaked and moved. He rolled over to his side. Or rather, he attempted to roll over. A weight on his chest and legs prevented him from moving, and he opened his eyes slowly. Tom groaned and immediately closed them. He kept them squeezed shut, hoping he was still asleep and this was a dream, but a little giggle and a tickle of hair on his bare chest convinced him he was awake and his wife of less than twenty-four hours was straddling his bare legs.