You try this before?” he asks. I shake my head. I’ve had…

““You try this before?” he asks. I shake my head. I’ve had versions of it back home, but the sight and aroma of this one renders all others imposters. I reach for a fork, but he snatches it out from under my hand and stabs a piece, bringing it to my mouth. I look from his eyes to the fork and back again. He can’t seriously think he’s feeding this to me. I reach for it but he pulls away. I check to make sure Luca and the chef’s have their backs to us. “You’re insane,” I say before hesitantly taking a bite. He mutters something I don’t even try to decipher because the juice from the tomato explodes in my mouth and my eyes close involuntarily as I savor it. The spice of pepper, the crunch of sea salt, the sweet, almost mint flavor of basil. “It’s amazing. I can’t believe you just threw that together.” Assuming he made it for me, I grab the fork from him and taste more. “Seriously,” I say between bites, “ incredibile. Bruno watches me eat, obviously pleased. He takes a step toward me and opens his mouth, somehow still smiling. He wants me to feed him. With my fork. I should probably put up a fight but as if in a trance, I offer him a little sliver of tomato and cheese. He leans forward to take it, eyes on mine the whole time. Holy. Crap. I never ever thought anything about eating could be sexy. I was wrong. So very wrong.””

— Kristin Rae