Guido la Vespa Amore and Pinot Grigio – a Guido la Vespa Christmas Tale When Sigrid O'Herlihy and Sandro Totti meet a short time before Christmas—with the help of an injured cat and a pink Vespa—the last thing either wants is love. Sigrid can't forget the betrayal of her ex-fiance, and Sandro can't forget the Italian beauty who broke his heart. But the attraction between Sigrid and Sandro is sizzling, so they decide to give lust a try. Love, after all, is for the naive and Sigrid and Sandro, both in their thirties and both determined to avoid future pain, take a more practical approach. With the Eternal City as their playground, the pair enjoy their Vespas—and occasionally Sandro's fancy Italian sports car—fine wine, and helping homeless animals. A holiday visit to Sandro's family in Tuscany, however, threatens their no-strings agreement and forces the pair to face their feelings and their fears. Will a little Christmas spirit be enough to bring about a leap of faith? Genre: Contemporary Length: 30,824 words AMORE AND PINOT GRIGIO – A GUIDO LA VESPA CHRISTMAS TALE Guido la Vespa Veronica Bell ROMANCE www.BookStrand.com ABOUT THE E-BOOK YOU HAVE PURCHASED: Your non- refundable purchase of this e-book allows you to only ONE LEGAL copy for your own personal reading on your own personal computer or device. You do not have resell or distribution rights without the prior written permission of both the publisher and the copyright owner of this book. This book cannot be copied in any format, sold, or otherwise transferred from your computer to another through upload to a file sharing peer to peer program, for free or for a fee, or as a prize in any contest. Such action is illegal and in violation of the U.S. Copyright Law. Distribution of this e-book, in whole or in part, online, offline, in print or in any way or any other method currently known or yet to be invented, is forbidden. If you do not want this book anymore, you must delete it from your computer. WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. If you find a SirenBookStrand e-book being sold or shared illegally, please let us know at [email protected] A SIREN-BOOKSTRAND TITLE IMPRINT: Romance AMORE AND PINOT GRIGIO – A GUIDO LA VESPA CHRISTMAS TALE Copyright © 2013 by Veronica Bell E-book ISBN: 978-1-62740-498-3 First E-book Publication: October 2013 Cover design by Christine Kirchoff All cover art and logo copyright © 2013 by Siren Publishing, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission. All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental. PUBLISHER www.BookStrand.com DEDICATION For animal lovers everywhere. Table of Contents Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Preface Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten About the Author AMORE AND PINOT GRIGIO – A GUIDO LA VESPA CHRISTMAS TALE Guido la Vespa VERONICA BELL Copyright © 2013 Preface Marisa Palumbo Cantarelli locked and attached a nametag to her last suitcase and did some quick math to figure out exactly how many euros in excess baggage fees she was going to have to pay. Tomorrow she was leaving for New York City. New home, new country, new husband. Greg Cantarelli had come into her life only a year before in a way that wouldn’t exactly augur a lifelong commitment. The handsome Italian-American was studying architecture in Rome and was very nearly run over by Marisa when she turned a sharp corner and lost control of her Vespa in all its pink glory, near the Church of San Clemente. The memory made Marisa smile, though at the time, she had been horrified at how close she had come to injuring someone. She had never before had an accident of any kind and considered herself responsible, never the type to show off or speed on her bike. Greg only suffered some scrapes and a tear to his jeans, but Marisa felt compelled to accompany him to a doctor and then after, to offer him lunch. And then, well, here she was, married and happier than she could ever have imagined. Marisa and Greg had a private joke that the Vespa had deliberately swerved that day to bring them together. She had considered bringing it to New York with her, but Greg said it would cost so much to transport that it would be wiser to buy a new one, if she wished, in the States. So the Vespa was staying put, at her parents’ Bed and Breakfast. “You can sell it, Papa,” she told her father. “If you wish. Maybe it will bring love to someone else.” Chapter One Sigrid rounded the corner of the Via della Propaganda. Italians gave their streets such great names, she had noticed. She continued up one of the smaller streets near the Piazza di Spagna till she found a spot near the restaurant to park Guido. Guido was what she called her Vespa. He was Guido la Vespa and he was male. She just knew it. He was, at least, a friendly and honest male who didn’t want anything from her other than good stewardship and safe parking spots. She was determined to find that cat. It had been on her mind all day. In fact, it had been on her mind all day to the point that she could barely concentrate during the private English tutoring sessions she taught, work she had taken on even though supposedly she was on vacation in Italy. At least being busy leaves me little time to think about my broken heart. And of course, without tutoring the Palumbos, she’d be without her Vespa, without means of private transport, and subject to the whims of Roman public transit. The latter was fine when it worked, but Italians did love their strikes. The night before, she’d been out on the Vespa quite late and had spied the poor gray cat limping across some ruins. Goodness, those Romans had left a glorious mess behind when their empire crumbled. The cat had gone behind a restaurant, no doubt to see if any leftovers worthy of a Roman street feline could be found. Poor little guy. Or gal, thought Sigrid. It looked as though the cat’s front right leg was broken. Though the fact that it was eating gave Sigrid hope, as it indicated it likely did not have an internal injury. It was early December, the start of winter in Rome, and though nothing like the winters back home, it was still cold, and cats had a way of trying to warm themselves by huddling under cars. She had seen it more times than she cared to recall. The problem was that if the driver didn’t see them and got back into the car and drove off, sleeping kitties that didn’t move quickly enough could end up with a broken limb or worse. The restaurant was closed, like so many places in Italy on a Sunday. There was something sweet and old-fashioned about that. In Toronto, everything was open all the time: twenty-four-hour grocery stores and pharmacies and seven- day-a-week everything. All. The. Time. Why the frantic pace? It was one of the things she hoped to achieve in Italy—the ability to relax. Still, she felt anything but relaxed as she approached the back of the