A Place in the Sun(43)

Georgie was sitting outside the bed and breakfast, locked out. She was wearing a loose sundress and her hair fell in a relaxed braid down her back, glistening in the early morning light. She didn’t notice me approach so for those few moments, I had an unhindered few of her profile as she reached into her brown paper sack and tore off a piece of croissant to feed one of the stray cats in the square.

“There,” she said with a timid smile, offering the flaky bread out for the cat. “Now shoo before Gianluca finds out.”

It didn’t hesitate, accepting her offer and scurrying beneath one of the docked boats to eat in peace.

She clapped the crumbs off her hands and leaned forward, resting her head on her knees. Her timid smile lingered as she stared off into the distance, presumably thinking over our night. I wondered if she regretted it.

I didn’t.

I’d wanted to. After all, it would have been so bloody easy if only I regretted it, but there was no question that I wanted Georgie.

“Now you won’t be able to get rid of him,” I said, announcing my presence when I was still a few yards away.

She jumped and pressed a hand to her heart.

“Are you mad?! You just scared me half to death.”

I smiled. “That’s what you get for feeding the cats.”

She stood and shook the dirt from her dress. “Oh please. There’s global warming and hurricanes and droughts out there—in the grand scheme of things, what’s the harm in me feeding some croissant to a chubby little cat?”

“I wonder how he got chubby.”

She grinned. “He’s got big bones. He’s got common ancestors with lions and tigers, y’know.”

“Sure it’s not from the pastries you feed him every morning and the fish scraps he nicks every evening?”

“Never.”

I was smiling then. Sometime between first spotting Georgie on the steps and coming within a few feet of her, the gloom and unease of my morning had lifted.

“It’s about time you showed up, by the way. Your tea has gone cold and there was nothing I could do about it.”

I accepted the cup she extended toward me and then reached into my pocket for the keys.

“Did you put a little honey in it?”

“More than a little. You always moan if I don’t put enough in. Just admit you like your tea with loads of honey. Nobody will judge you.”

I grinned, unlocked the door, and held it open for her. “I like my tea with loads of honey.”

She curtsied as she passed, this little teasing move that made me laugh. “What a big man you are, admitting you’ve got a sweet tooth.”

I tossed the keys onto the counter and tried a sip of the tea. It wasn’t yet cold.

She came to stand beside me, dropped the brown paper bag onto the counter, and tore it open. The smell of baked goods filled the air and we wasted no time tucking into each one, sharing the pastries we both liked.

“Gianluca?”

I tore off a piece of the almond croissant. “Hmm?”

“Should we discuss last night? It’s okay if you’d rather not. It’s just driving me a little crazy not knowing where we stand.” She continued without giving me time to cut in. “And, of course I don’t expect us to start going on proper dates or anything. God, that’d be so awkward, right? I was just wondering if the whole stripping me down to nothing and uhh…doing what you did was something I should expect to happen again or if we’re just going to brush it under the rug and pretend like it never happened? I’m prepared to do either. I’m really very good at acting cool in situations like this. I won’t make a big deal of it. I’ve had flings before. Granted, they were a few years back and the blokes weren’t as handsome as you. Some of them might’ve had better personalities, but I never hung around to find out because they were just flings after al—”

“Georgie, you’re doing that thing again, where you can’t stop talking.” Her eyes swept up to mine in shock. “I’m not any more prepared for a relationship than I was yesterday, or the day before.” She opened her mouth to cut in, but I shook my head. She needed to listen for a change. “You’ve seen that I’m a mess, so I’m not going to make false promises to you, but last night was…last night was—”

“Brilliant.”

I grinned. “Exactly. And I’m not going to stay away from you unless you want me to.”

Her eyes went wide as saucers. “God no. Please don’t stay away.”

“You’re not scared you’re wasting your time? You’re beautiful, y’know. If you actually opened yourself up a bit, you could have any guy in Vernazza that fits your list.”

She waved away my concern like it meant nothing to her. “I’d rather have this right now. This…no-strings-attached thing. Right? Just fun?”

“Right,” I agreed.

We agreed on it, though there was really nothing to agree about except that we didn’t want to stay away from each other. After that, we finished our breakfast in silence. She sipped her tea and I sipped mine. I’d feel her gaze on me and look over just as she turned away, back to the plaster wall in front of us. It was surprisingly funny—I’d spent weeks with Georgie and we’d never had a bit of silence between us; she ensured that. Her brain must have been working overtime to get a handle on our situation.