Make Me Bad(89)

We picked a spot out front on the small patio and they unloaded all these brilliant maps, flopping them on the table and pointing out which trails were best and which ones were better left for the real sporty types.

I was fit, but I didn’t really fancy a trek to Everest or anything. They suggested I start with a simple route and then they slid the maps toward me.

“Keep them. We have extra.”

I thanked them loads and stuffed the maps into my purse. They were standing, ready to set off for their hike, when I caught sight of a man in a ball cap walking up the main path toward the train station.

Gianluca.

He was alone, keeping his head down as he walked. My heart sped up, watching him approach. A part of me had assumed I’d never see him again, and now here he was, less than a day later!

He took long, confident strides up the road, keeping his hands stuffed in his pockets. I couldn’t see his face with his head down like that, and I willed him to glance up and see me so I wouldn’t have to call his name. What would I call him anyway? Luca was what his friends called him, and after our short meeting—where I’d acted like a nutter on her deathbed—I had no misconceptions that we were at that level.

I opened my mouth, prepared to call out to him, to say something, anything, when a man farther up on the road caught his attention first.

“Buongiorno Luca!”

He whipped his head up and broke out into a devastating smile, all even white teeth and deep dimples. My heart sputtered to a stop. God, he was romantic looking, the sort of man who breathes passion into life without even trying.

“Good looking, huh?”

One of the American women nudged me with her elbow and nodded to Gianluca.

I nodded, trying to ignore how shaky I felt.

“He’s the kind of handsome you don’t see all that often,” her friend chimed in. “You’re safer staying away from Italian men like that, Georgie.”

Maybe she was right.

Maybe I should have kept my distance.

But I didn’t.

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