“Whatdoesn’the sell is more like it—ceramics,jewelry, perfumes…”
“Does he sell one-piece bathing suits?” Wes asked her.
I rolled my eyes.
“Never mind him.” I shook my head. “We’ll definitely check the store out. What’s the name of it?”
“La Conchiglia. It means the seashell in English.”
Wes turned to me. “Maybe we can get you an early anniversary present there.”
I narrowed my eyes. He was pretending to be my partner. We hadn’t discussed how to explain ourselves to people here. And now he’d made the decision for us.
“How long have you two been married?” she asked.
I began to explain, “Oh, we’re not married—”
“We’ve been dating for five years,” Wes interrupted.
“How nice…” She grinned.
“Yeah…” I muttered.
“Do you have plans for dinner tonight? I’d love to have you over.”
“We don’t, actually,” I answered. What the hell? She seemed nice.
“I’m making fried eggplant, pasta, and ricotta salad.”
“That sounds absolutely delicious.” My stomach growled just thinking about it. “What can we bring?”
“Please. Just yourselves.”
“Nonsense,” Wes said. “We’ll pick up dessert at that bakery down the road.”
“If you must…” She shrugged.
“What time should we be there?” I asked.
“Nine thirty? Does that sound good?”
“Sounds wonderful.” I grinned.
“See you then!” Natalia waved before heading back toward her house.
After the door shut, Wes chuckled. “Nine thirty for dinner? That’s a littlelate, isn’t it?”
“Not in Italy. Dinner is later here than in the US.”
“Ah, yeah. I should’ve known.”
I crossed my arms. “Why did you tell her we were a couple?”
“Are you forgetting that people aren’t supposed to know what we’re doing here together? There’s no other explanation that would make sense.”
“You could’ve said you were my brother or something…”
“That would be weird. I’m notthat goodof an actor.”
