‘Could I take you out for dinner tomorrow night?’ Gus asked, his fingers brushing hers as he reached for his jacket.
‘I don’t—’I don’twhat? Why can’t I just say yes? Would it be so wrong?
‘A walk then,’ he said, taking a step closer and reaching for her hand. ‘Or breakfast?’
She let him hold her hand, liking the softness of his skin against hers, realising how easily she could be drawn to him. It seemed like forever since she’d felt the warm press of another’s skin against her own.
‘I have to be at work at nine,’ she told him.
‘Breakfast before work, then,’ he said, taking a watch from his pocket and laughing. ‘It’s almost tomorrow already, would you believe it?’
‘Breakfast tomorrow,’ Hope agreed, shaking her head at herself, at how easily she’d agreed to see him again, even as a flutter of excitement rose in her stomach.
Gus lifted her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm, before closing her fingers together and letting go.
‘I’ll see you again soon,’ he said with a wink.
Hope bit down on her lip and watched as he walked backwards, his eyes never leaving hers, before she finally turned and went inside. To her tiny, box-sized bedroom and the snoring from her drunk housemate—so loud that it reverberated through the doors.
And after she’d undressed and lain there in the dark, far from falling asleep, all she could think of was the handsome stranger with eyes the colour of the sea, and how much her fingers itched to go into her studio and see if she could capture his likeness with a paintbrush.
Be careful. The words echoed in her mind even as she did her best to ignore them. But the warning wasn’t wrong. She’d fought for her independence, she’d struggled for what she wanted, and she had no intention of giving that away just because a man had walked into her life who seemed to see her for who she was.
But it doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy breakfast with him. Her stomach fluttered again and she turned over, squeezing her eyes shut and hugging her pillow tightly as she desperately tried to fall asleep.
Never once in her life had she gone to bed thinking about a boy, but she supposed there was a first time for everything.
15
PRESENT DAY
Mia had been nervous all morning about seeing Joe again. She’d woken early and gone out for a coffee, deciding to walk and enjoy the sights, but she’d still had two hours to fill in between then and lunch, and she found herself going back to her hotel to retrieve her camera. Which was how she’d ended up racing back to her room to get ready, suddenly running behind and ending up outside Joe’s restaurant almost fifteen minutes late.
‘I’m so sorry,’ she apologised.
He just stepped forward and kissed her cheeks, his eyes landing on hers and telling her that he wasn’t worried in the least.
‘I was starting to think my mother had scared you away.’
Mia stood back, her fingers instinctively reaching for the camera strap around her neck, which of course wasn’t there any longer. It had been a long time since that had felt instinctive, but after being out shooting that morning, it was almost second nature again.
‘You have to tell her this isn’t real,’ Mia said, as her gaze dropped to his lips, and for a split second she wished it was. What had Charlotte said about embracing a holiday romance?
‘And break her heart?’ Joe grinned and raised an eyebrow.
Mia laughed. ‘If you’d just told her the truth in the first place…’
‘You would never be one step closer to finding out about your aunt,’ he said.
‘Well, you have me there, because Iamgrateful for that, and I can’t wait to see if she’s found out anything more.’
‘Come on,’ he said, indicating for her to follow. ‘It’s not far.’
‘May I ask you something personal?’ she said as they walked. It almost felt familiar now, since they’d walked the same pavement the very first time they’d met.
‘It depends on what it is.’
When he flashed her his easy smile, she found it impossible not to return.
