‘Yes, they helped carry your shopping spree up here,’ said Anna, her voice tart.
‘Oh, has it arrived already? Great. I’ll have a bed tonight.’ Leo flipped open the cap of the bottle he carried.
Anna glared at him. Unbelievable.
‘That shagging mattress was bloody heavy,’ said Steve. ‘You’re welcome.’
‘Amazing that they can roll them up like that, though,’ said Leo, clearly impervious to the implied criticism. ‘And the way theypouf–’ he emphasised the word with his spare hand ‘– up when you break the plastic wrapping. Amazing! Thanks, though. You know what it’s like in Ikea. You grab a couple of bits and before you know it, you’re having trouble steering the trolley.’
Michaela laughed as Jan groaned. ‘Every time,’ she said with an empathetic smile.
As the four seats around the little bistro table were taken, Leo sat down on the terrace, his elbows resting loosely on his open knees. ‘So, Michaela and Jan, give us the lowdown. What can you recommend about the neighbourhood? Where’s the best pub? Places to go? I’ve got no sense of where we are.’
‘We’re in Kore. You know the city is divided into districts?’
Leo shook his head.
‘This is Praha 5 and it’s a beautiful suburb, lots of parks and families. Some parts are quite hilly. There is a supermarket on Pod Školou and a really good pub. We can take you there. We visit at least once a week, usually on a Monday evening.’
‘Sounds like a great idea to me,’ said Leo with enthusiasm. ‘Get the week off to a good start. I’d love to join you.’
‘We’re busy this week but come knock for us at seven, next Monday,’ said Michaela, the smile highlighting her sweet little dimples.
And just like that, Leo had made friends already. Anna couldn’t help feeling a little nip of jealousy that he found it so easy. It cast light on her inadequacy.
‘This is a cool apartment,’ he said, gesturing with the beer bottle.
‘We’re very jealous of this roof terrace.’
‘Oh, come up any time,’ said Leo with a blithe wave, oblivious to Anna’s quick glare. They didn’t even know these people and he was already inviting them to drop in. ‘It’s a real bonus. In fact, the whole apartment is. Not what I was expecting from the outside.’
‘Yeah, it’s an ugly building,’ said Jan. ‘You find that a lot. Old communist practicality on the outside, Czech love and skill on the inside. We take pride in making our spaces our homes. Musílkova is a great street to live on, there’s a good mix of the old and the new. And it’s very safe.’
‘Very,’ interjected Michaela. ‘The Czech Republic is one of the safest countries in Europe to live.’
Now that Leo had appeared, the conversation ran smoothly, with none of the false starts of trying to get to know someone. He had that ability to befriend people. Anna gritted her teeth. It was so annoying.
ChapterThree
Anna poured herself a cup of coffee from the cafetière and tensed at the sound of footsteps coming into the kitchen. All weekend she’d successfully avoided being on her own with Leo, but now it was Monday and Steve had left half an hour before to make the long drive back across Europe.
‘Morning,’ said Leo, full of cheer.
‘Morning,’ she replied, her vocal cords constricting her voice. She deliberately kept her back to him.
‘Don’t suppose there’s one of those for me?’ he asked, as if this was the most normal thing in the world.
‘Sure,’ she said, through gritted teeth, as she reached up to grab a fresh mug. She could feel her pulse racing in her neck but she doggedly poured the coffee and added milk before turning to face him. Maybe she should take a leaf out of his book and play along as if they were two strangers.
That was before she turned around.
Every drop of moisture in her mouth evaporated. OMG.
Whoa! Where the hell had these Greek god proportions come from? Leo had filled out considerably since she’d last seen him … but then again, they had been a lot younger.
He stood there with a pale blue towel wrapped around his hips, emphasising the golden tones of his skin and the white-blond hairs on his muscular legs. He had pecs, biceps and – she almost gulped – a darker track of hair leading down below his belly button.
She knew she was staring but Leo, being Leo, seemed totally oblivious. That blithe, insouciant confidence for some reason irritated her even more. How could he pretend that everything was normal? And how did he manage it, when her flipping stomach churned with the heaviness of a concrete mixer?
