A Place in the Sun(50)

“Don’t play coy. I just thought you two were really hitting it off when we went to the beach a while back.”

“No. We’re just friends.”

I smiled, but then wiped it away when I remembered Katerina had a perfect line of sight to me.

“Right. Okay.”

Massimo laughed. “Don’t pester him, Katerina. If he wants to live the life of a celibate monk, we’ll let him. Good news is, I invited a few lads Georgie might enjoy chatting with—”

“Oh! You shouldn’t have done that. I’m perfectly happy to just hang out with you guys tonight.”

Katerina frowned. “What happened to looking for a relationship—a ‘proper Italian man’?”

I croaked out a laugh. “Did I say that? Hmm, well if you’ll recall, my whole reason for fleeing London was to escape from matchmaking. There’s just too much pressure involved.”

Gianluca nodded. “Right, so then we won’t concern ourselves with all that. Everyone will be here in a few minutes, so let’s worry about all the vegetables that still need to be chopped up.”

I grinned, happy for the change in subject. “I’ll do it.”

If Katerina and Massimo were suspicious of Gianluca and me, they didn’t press it. Katerina and I slipped into the kitchen and dropped our things on the broad wooden table. I wasn’t ready to change into my party clothes, but I reached into my bag and pulled out my dress so it wouldn’t wrinkle. It was fabulous, with little straps over the shoulders and a short skirt. The thin material was light blue, nearly white, and even though it wasn’t practical for the cool evening, I knew it would look brilliant with my tan.

Katerina had been inside Gianluca’s villa more than I had, so she flitted around the kitchen, pulling out cutting boards and knives for us. I washed all the vegetables in the sink, scrubbing off the rich dirt from Massimo’s farm. The zucchini still had the giant yellow flowers on the end. The peppers were massive and misshapen, not like the aesthetically curated ones you get at shops in England.

“Hey! You’re supposed to be chopping, not eating.”

I winked over at Katerina. “Just doing a quality check.”

“Mmhmm,” she hummed, stepping over and opening her mouth for me. I slipped her a slice of red pepper and she grinned while she chewed.

“I think we should set these aside and eat them raw. They’re so good as they are.”

She nodded. “I agree, but we can take everything else out to Gianluca. The grill should be hot by now and there’s just enough time to change and fix our makeup before guests start to arrive.”

We’d only been inside for a few minutes, but by the time we carried the food out for the boys to grill, the sky had already darkened another shade of navy blue. Swirling clouds gathered over the sea and though the sun wasn’t due to set for another few hours, it already looked like night outside.

“I hope everyone still makes it,” I said, handing off the bowl of raw vegetables to Gianluca.

A massive gust of wind whipped up around the villa just then, forcing a few strands of my hair across my face. Gianluca leaned over and pulled them away, grinning down at me.

“Looks like I might get my wish after all.”

“What’s that?” Katerina asked.

For a moment I’d forgotten we weren’t alone.

Gianluca straightened up and took a step back from me. “I told Georgie I would have preferred a smaller party, just the four of us.”

“No shock there,” she snorted and turned back for the villa. “Come on, Georgie, let’s go freshen up.”

Gianluca’s villa was ancient, and though I could tell he’d worked hard to restore it, there were still features that spoke to its age, such as the worn wooden floors and white plaster walls. Most of the rooms on the first floor were lit naturally by the massive windows. Unlike the windows I had in my hotel and in the bed and breakfast, there was glass in these, allowing for a bit of the dreary light to enter without any of the strong winds.

“Let’s flip a light on in here, shall we?”

Katerina reached around for a light switch in the living room and then a soft yellow chandelier illuminated the space. It was beautiful—the entire place was really. The first floor had a massive kitchen that opened out to the living room. A staircase led up to a second story, where I assumed Gianluca had his bedroom, but Katerina and I stayed away from it. I didn’t want to invade his space. Gianluca and I were getting closer, but at times he still felt like an absolute stranger to me. In all the weeks we’d been together, he’d never once invited me up to his villa. I knew it was because we had the bed and breakfast. It was just easier to be together there, but still, there were sizeable chunks of Gianluca’s life that he kept hidden away. Whether or not it was on purpose, I couldn’t tell.

“Georgie?” Katerina called from the doorway of the bathroom down the hall past the stairs. “You coming?”

I’d been standing at the base of the staircase staring up into the darkness above.

“Oh. Yeah, let me grab my stuff.”

The ground-floor bathroom was big enough that Katerina and I could both get ready without feeling too cramped. She fixed my hair, untangling it so it fell down my back in loose waves. My dress didn’t allow for a bra and most of my back was exposed to the silky strands. I shivered at the sensation and met Katerina’s eyes in the mirror.