‘I thought that would get your attention,’ he said wryly. ‘You’ve spent the past couple of days pretending I don’t exist.’
‘You sound like a spoiled kid when you say that.’
‘We need to talk.’
‘No, we don’t. Least of all here! Look. We’re at the end of the queue. We’ll be on the next batch of rides! Flora! Ready to go on a trip around the Hundred Acre Wood?’
‘You can run…’ Alessandro’s voice was amused as he leant to place a hand in the small of her back, drawing her closer to him while between them Flora positively vibrated with excitement ‘…but you can’t hide. We’ll talk later, when we’re not surrounded by thousands of people.’
‘You can’t make me have a conversation I don’t want to have,’ Georgie hissed back. ‘That’s not part of my job description.’
‘I didn’t think therewasa specific job description,’ he mused as people began stepping out of the mobile honeypots, making their way towards the exit, leaving room for the ride to be filled with another tide of eager kids and weary parents, ‘but if therewas, then I’d say we’ve played fast and loose with it from the minute we got here. So…once we’re back at the hotel, no scurrying off or escaping outside like you did yesterday evening. Dinner with me and we can…see where the conversation takes us. Deal?’
‘Alessandro…’ Georgie looked at him helplessly as Flora began stepping into the honeypot.
Did she want to have a conversation with him? She couldn’t think of much else she’d rather do less but how could she refuse?
If she kicked up a fuss abouttalking to him on his own, then who knew where his thoughts would turn, what deductions he would make?
If she was unaffected by him then why would she run away from discussing the stupid little nonsense that had happened between them, which had now grown out of all proportion because she’d made such a big deal of it?
‘Okay. I guess so.’
‘Splendid! I must say I’ve missed our cosy little chats.’
‘That’s something else I don’t believe,’ Georgie scoffed, letting him help her into her seat and gazing at him as he climbed in after her, rocking the honeypot because he was so big. God, she had to tear her eyes away.
‘I’m hurt.’
He was grinning and relaxed as he stretched his arm out behind her on the back of the seat.
‘But I’m sure I’ll feel much better once we’re back on even ground and you’re not trying to avoid me.’
Georgie glowered but her cheeks were pink. She barely noticed the ride. She paid next to no attention to their Under the Sea adventure fromThe Little Mermaid. They ate hot dogs for lunch from one of the many stands, milling about with the crowds in the sunshine, like any normal family of three.
Which they weren’t.
She would normally have relished the foot-long hot dog but all she could think of was having dinner with Alessandro, not knowing what he would say, not knowing how she would react.
It was a full day.
No dinner for Flora, who had done sterling work with her hot dog and was full.
They took it easy after lunch, strolling through the park, people-watching and then heading to one of the resort beaches, where they enjoyed looking at the boats bobbing in the water while having pineapple whips.
They ended up on the monorail back to the hotel, by which time Flora was dead on her feet.
‘But I’m not tired,’ she half heartedly protested, stifling a wide yawn.
‘Said the very tired little girl, stumbling around on very tired little legs,’ Georgie teased, reaching for her hand and volunteering bedtime duties with a sideways look at Alessandro.
He looked even more sexily bronzed after time in the sun. He was wearing a white polo shirt and a pair of cream chinos. He could have stepped straight off the cover of a men’s magazine.
He had changed and was waiting for her when, an hour later, she emerged from her rooms, showered and changed and dreading whatever conversation was brewing. Or wasdreadthe right word? She wished it were butexcitedfelt disturbingly closer to the mark.
The relaxed, amused look on his face didn’t help. He handed her a glass of wine and for a few minutes they recapped the day.
‘So, spit it out,’ Georgie said, cutting to the chase and building some Dutch courage by drinking her wine very quickly and then accepting a top-up.
