‘It’s nothing, honestly,’ Kim replied. ‘You’re a big girl and I’m sure you know what you’re doing.’
Annie’s gaze wandered from Kim back to Colette, who looked troubled. ‘Colette, why all the questions? What about you and Luca – have you two done the deed yet?’
Colette coloured and Annie’s eyes widened. Well, who’d have thought it? It really was the quiet ones you had to watch.
‘It’s just …’ The younger girl looked uncertain. ‘It’s just we had this … amazing night, but I haven’t heard from him since.’
‘Well, I’m sure he’s busy with work. Didn’t you already say he had to go to Rome on business?’ Annie reminded her.
‘Yes, but it’s not just that that’s bothering me.’ Colette’s eyes shifted uncomfortably.
‘Colette, spill. What is it?’ Kim asked.
‘Something happened that night on the boat …’ Her eyes left Annie’s face and settled on a spot on the table. ‘We were having such a … romantic time together and then he got this call. He was really mysterious about it. He hates mobile phones but this time he answered. He jumped up away from me to take it and then immediately afterwards we needed to go back. I felt weird about it, especially the way he went so … cold after. And now it’s been days since I’ve heard from him.’
Mysterious calls that ruined the mood when you were with a fella? Annie knew those situations all too well. And they usually meant the same thing – you weren’t the only one he was seeing.
She looked at Colette sadly. She could tell that her friend was serious about Luca, and that she cared about him.
She hoped for her sake that she was wrong about this, but there was no way to be sure. Especially when dealing with Italian men in summer resorts, where having holiday romances and multiple women on the go was almost expected.
Kim replied before she could. ‘Colette, if you felt something was strange, did you ask Luca what it was about?’
‘I did. He just told me it was nothing to worry about and that he needed to get home,’ Colette replied.
Another bad sign in Annie’s mind.
‘Well, if you’re concerned that he hasn’t been in touch, why don’t you just phone him? No reason why you should have to be waiting on him to call you.’
‘I don’t have his number,’ the younger girl admitted simply. ‘As I said, he hates phones.’
Oh, come on …
‘Seriously?’ Annie said disbelievingly and Kim flashed her a warning look. ‘He hates mobile phones? Yet he was able to take a call on the boat that night – an important one, apparently.’
The writing was on the wall here as far as Annie was concerned. Colettewasbeing played for a fool. And she was damned if she was going to let that happen.
‘I know,’ Colette admitted, with more than a hint of embarrassment. ‘But maybe I’m just imagining things. Maybe that call really was nothing to worry about – a business call or something.’
‘At that hour of the night, though?’ Annie mused sceptically. ‘Weren’t you guys out there well after dark? I mean, it’s possible, of course, but it’s also just as possible it was something – or even someone – else …’
Colette looked so crestfallen that Annie felt like a heel and realised that she should really keep her thoughts to herself.
Kim obviously felt the same way – staring daggers at Annie now, she put a comforting hand on Colette’s arm. ‘Sweetheart, I think that maybe Annie is trying to suggest that you should take a step back from this whole thing for a bit, just to be sure. It’s not that we’re saying that Luca’s playing a game or anything. We’re not. It’s just that maybe you should take your time on this?’ she assured her.
Colette twisted her hands in her lap. ‘OK, but if there is someone else … then maybe I’m no better than he is.’
‘What d’you mean?’ Kim asked.
‘I mean, I’ve kind of … met someone else in the meantime.’ She peeked up from beneath her long lashes.
Annie yelped. ‘Holy feck, what? How the hell have you managed to snag yourself another fella?’
Colette’s face contorted in confusion. ‘It’s not like that,’ she continued and Annie’s mind almost exploded when she told them about a guy she’d bumped into at the jewellery shop in Sorrento the day before.
She had to smile. How in God’s name did innocent little butter-wouldn’t-melt Colette manage to get two fine things chasing after her in a matter of weeks? Clearly, she and Kim were all wrong about Colette needing to sex-up her look; she was doing just fine without them!
‘He was really nice and as we were saying goodbye he asked for my number,’ she explained. ‘So I gave it to him. He was so nice. And we’ve been texting a little, and now he’s asked to meet up again for a coffee. He’s really sweet … Totally different to Luca.’
