A Place in the Sun(22)

She smiled coyly and I turned back to Gianluca, aware that he had ducked past the door and we still hadn’t really said a proper greeting. I turned to face him and he stepped forward. My heart shot up into my throat as he bent to kiss me. To him, it was all very polite and customary, but I nearly fainted from the feel of his lips on my cheeks. God, it was an intimate greeting, wasn’t it? I could have turned my face an inch to the left and oops, his mouth would have been on mine.

“You look lovely,” he said, admiring my dress with a quick gaze down my body before turning his attention to Katerina.

I swallowed past the lump in my throat and turned to cover my blushing cheeks. “Thanks.”

Lord it was annoying how much I clammed up when he was around. I’d never gone this mental over a man before.

“I’ll pour some wine,” I said, my voice a bit peaky. I turned quickly and set out doing tasks that kept me flitting around the apartment. I brought Massimo and Gianluca full glasses of red wine then tossed the dressing into the salad. I set everything out onto the table and relit a candle that had blown out. Katerina laughed and asked if I was all right when I’d set out cutting up even more bread. She put her hand over mine to stop me from slicing. “I think we’ve got enough bread to feed the village. C’mon, let’s sit.”

Gianluca pulled my chair out for me and I squeaked out a quiet thank you.

Katerina poured the sauce over the chicken and set it down on the table. We had loads of food and more wine than we knew what to do with. I gulped down another long sip and draped my napkin over my lap, aware of how close Gianluca was sitting to my left. Katerina’s table was small and we were sort of crammed together over the food and candles. It was heaven, all of it. She’d left her windows open, so a soft breeze swelled in every now and then, spreading goosebumps over my bare arms.

Gianluca noticed. I saw him glance over and furrow his brow. I thought for a second he’d say something or offer to shut the windows, but he swallowed and turned his attention back to his chicken. Massimo broke the silence.

“Georgie, what are we going to do once you’ve left Vernazza? Katerina says you’ve been helping in the shop a lot lately.”

She moaned. “Don’t even bring it up. I don’t want to think about it.”

I laughed. “I actually think I might stay on a bit longer. I asked Chiara about a prolonged stay at the hotel.”

Massimo’s brows arched. “Really? That’s great!”

“What will you do?” Gianluca asked. “If you stay?”

“It’s not like she needs a job or anything, Luca,” Katerina chimed in, hinting at the posh life I’d left behind in England.

“I think I’d like one, though,” I admitted. “I’ve loved exploring and relaxing, but I can’t just loll about all day, every day.”

Katerina frowned. “I really don’t think I could hire you on right now. This is my busy season, but I have to save up everything I earn for when things slow down in the winter.”

I shook my head. “Don’t worry, Kat, I know you can’t hire me on. I have a different idea.”

“What is it? Have you been offered a job somewhere else?”

“If it’s at one of the restaurants in the square, I wouldn’t bother,” Massimo added. “You can come work for me and I’ll give you real hours. Whatever you need.”

I reached for my wine, took another gulp, and turned my attention to Gianluca.

“Actually…I was thinking I could purchase the bed and breakfast and fix it up.”





THE THREE OF them stared at me as if I’d gone mad.

“What do you mean you want to buy it?” Katerina asked.

Gianluca cut her off. “It’s not for sale.”

Massimo leaned forward and propped his hand on Gianluca’s shoulder. “Let’s hear her out. For the right price, anything is possible…”

“No. Absolutely not.”

“You haven’t even heard what she has to say yet!” Katerina said, defusing the intense stare-down developing across the table.

“It doesn’t matter.”

Massimo grunted. “It might matter. We aren’t all living like you, Luca.”

Gianluca shot him a sharp glare. “You have more than you need with the farm and restaurant. That inn belonged to Nonna and it’s been in the family for centuries. We aren’t going to sell it to the first tourist who throws us an offer.”

“So to honor our heritage, we let it rot instead?” blustered Massimo.

Once the dust had settled on his words, three sets of eyes turned to me expectantly.

“If you aren’t prepared to sell it outright, I have a compromise I think we can all support.”

Katerina and Massimo whipped their attention to Gianluca. He didn’t make a move to reply right away; I could tell he wanted to put an end to the entire conversation, but eventually, he nodded, giving me the okay to proceed.

“Right, well like Massimo mentioned, it’s a shame that such a beautiful place has fallen into a state of disrepair. I haven’t seen anyone in or out of the building since the day I arrived. It’s got such a lovely spot in the square and I know the views would draw people in. So, I’d like to help restore the place to its former beauty and reopen it for business.”