All I Believe (Firsts and Forever, #10)(12)

I called out, “Mi scusi. Puoi indirizzare mi torna all'Hotel Conchiglia?”

A familiar voice said, “I’ll do you one better than directing you back to the hotel. I’ll escort you.” When he got within about a foot of me, he came into focus. The gorgeous guy from earlier had traded his suit for a black t-shirt and shorts, and pushed a pair of sunglasses onto the top of his head as he smiled at me.

“Thanks. Do you make a habit of saving hapless tourists?”

“Only the incredibly sexy, scantily clad ones. I didn’t think anything could top the red undies, but I have to say, this look is my new favorite.”

“I don’t normally dress like this,” I said as we began walking down the beach. “At all. The airlines lost my luggage, so my grandmother went out and bought me some clothes this morning. They’re all I have, since she also misplaced my wallet and I can’t buy myself anything else until it’s returned.”

“Your grandmother picked out what you’re wearing?”

“Yeah. I think she’s trying to get me laid.”

“It’s working,” he said, and an embarrassed bark of laughter slipped from me. “Is she the same person who hosed you down with anal lube at the airport?” The amusement in his voice was unmistakable.

“Yup.”

“She sounds like my kind of woman.”

“There’s no one in all the world like Nana. Her heart’s in the right place, even if her methods are occasionally borderline horrifying.”

After a few moments, my companion asked, “How far can you see without your glasses?”

“Maybe a foot. Everything beyond that’s a blur. I was swimming and got disoriented when I returned to the beach.”


“That’s what I figured. I was watching you as you were swimming. You stayed out so long that I was beginning to wonder if you’d ever return to dry land.”

“Why were you watching me?”

“Because I realized the current was slowly pushing you a little farther south with each lap, and I was concerned. I also saw the way you entered the water after you put your glasses down. You walked across the beach so cautiously that it was pretty obvious you really couldn’t see what was in front of you.”

“That’s incredibly observant.”

“I’m an observant kind of guy. Oops, look out.” He grabbed my upper arms and quickly spun me around.

When we came to a stop, I looked up at him. The sun was just starting to set. It cast warm, bronze highlights in his slightly long black hair and made his olive skin look golden. He stared back at me for a long moment, and then I asked, “What was that move just then?”

“Jellyfish. One had washed up on the beach. I don’t know if they can still sting you once they’re dead, but I didn’t want to take any chances.”

“Thank you.”

He kept looking in my eyes for another moment before asking, “What’s your name?”

“Nico. What’s yours?”

“Luca. Is that short for Nicolaus?”

“Nicolo, actually. Is Luca short for anything?”

“Luciano, but I don’t use my full name.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you officially, Luca.”

“I should have introduced myself earlier, after the café incident. Please forgive my lack of manners.”

“It’s okay. You were distracted by the pack of not entirely wild dogs.”

“No I wasn’t. I was distracted by the beautiful guy in tiny, red briefs.”

“Do you make a habit of calling strange men beautiful?” I asked, deflecting the compliment.

“Definitely not. Only ones I’m hitting on.”

I grinned at that. “What makes you assume I’m gay?”

“The fact that you almost gave yourself whiplash by checking out my ass right before the dogs started swarming.”

My eyes went wide and I said, “You couldn’t possibly have seen that! You never looked up from your phone!”

“When I reached the door to the café, I saw your reflection in that big plate-glass window beside the entrance.”

Busted! I murmured, “I’m usually not that blatant.”

“Thanks for making an exception for me.” His tone was light, bordering on teasing.

“Well, you are exceptional,” I said, then immediately felt stupid. I had no game. Zero. What was I doing trying to flirt with this man? I quickly changed the subject by asking, “Do you know what time it is?”

He glanced at the silver watch on his wrist and said, “Just past seven.”

“Crap, I’m late. Are we close to the hotel?”

“We’re almost there. Do you maybe want to borrow my t-shirt?”

“Why?”

“Well, because your suit’s pretty revealing and there are a lot of people up ahead.”

“I know it’s skimpy, but it’s not like Speedos are that uncommon in Europe.”

“See-through ones are.”

I looked down at myself, and even with my bad eyesight, I saw way too much of my junk through the now incredibly sheer lime green fabric. I immediately cupped my hands in front of my crotch and exclaimed, “Oh my God! What kind of swimsuit turns see-through when it gets wet?”