They paused for a snack lunch in the apartment kitchen, Leo taking the same seat at the table he always had. They sliced pecorino and tore chunks off a Fitascetta bread ring to eat with tomatoes. If time could have rewound sixteen years, Gran would have turned her bright eyes on Leo and demanded, ‘Brought your appetite with you, m’lad?’ But Gran wasn’t there, so Leo talked about Hotel Casa Leonardo and how much he was enjoying living in Italy again as they ate, then they returned upstairs to tackle the remaining rooms. The three hangover ladies were indeed, as Jade had hoped, sheltering behind theirnon disturbaresign.
The rooms were finished in time for Yara’s noon break. ‘I can’t thank you enough, Leo,’ Jade said. She wasn’t the kind of woman who liked to think she needed ‘saving’ by a man, but he’d definitely saved her today. She hugged him briefly, feeling that his kindness merited more than a smile.
Yara paused in the act of pulling her bag from a drawer. ‘I am supposed to be off tomorrow,’ she reminded Jade. It wasn’t said as if she was about to tag on, ‘But I can come in if you need me.’
‘I’d forgotten.’ Jade had an impulse to add a Gran-likedammit. Instead, she said calmly, ‘So after your shift ends today, I’ll see you on Wednesday.’
Yara hurried outside, pigtails flying, and Jade turned to find Leo frowning. ‘What?’ she asked.
‘How the hell will you manage without desk staff on top of everything else?’ His thick, dark brows met.
‘I’ll answer whenever someone rings the bell. Yara’s admin tasks will wait for her to come back,’ she replied, still sounding reasonable, even while her inner self screamed, ‘How WILL you manage without desk staff on top of everything else?’ Somehow, even if problems like a split inheritance and no staff felt like tonne weights tied to her ankles, it seemed vital that she appeared buoyant and in control in front of him. It was a matter of pride.
‘OK,’ he said slowly. ‘Shall I see you at Bar Rita about seven-thirty tonight, then?’
‘Pardon?’ The words seemed to have affected her hearing.
He furrowed his forehead, but a light of mischief lurked in his eyes. ‘I’m sure we agreed that my wages were to be a drink and me beating you at pool. Let’s eat there too and then neither of us has to cook.’
She drew in a breath to refuse, knowing that she’d offered no such thing. But then she reconsidered. ‘Actually, wine and pasta sound the perfect antidote to today. See you there.’
Was that a flicker of surprise she saw in his face as she turned away? It gave her satisfaction to think she might have nonplussed him.
Chapter Eleven
It was seven-forty before Jade hurried under the sun-bleached red canopy belonging to Bar Rita because, as she’d been leaving, a grumbling guest had collared her to complain that his shower wasn’t draining. Although she’d immediately fetched a pair of rubber gloves and gone up with him to clear the shower trap of gunge and hair, the guest had groused as if Jade had kept him waiting for a fortnight and then charged him a thousand euros. Suppressing the urge to force-feed him the gunk from the drain, she’d smiled sweetly and said, ‘All done now.’
She found Leo waiting at a small round table. Bar Rita was its usual faded self, with chipped paint and no tablecloths. Her explanation was economical. ‘Sorry I’m late. Guest.’
He nodded understandingly. ‘Shall we order? You look knackered.’
‘Thanks,’ she answered wryly. But she rapidly selected pasta all’arrabbiata and rosé, took his order for spaghetti alle vongole and beer, and hurried to the bar. Returning with the drinks, she plonked herself down opposite him and took a couple of gulps of wine, light but fruity and delicious.
‘Some idiots have grabbed the pool table before us.’ He glanced at three young Italian men gathered around the table.
‘Oh dear,’ she replied unconvincingly, because she was, as he’d observed, knackered. Staying where she was, with wine, was appealing.
In fact, they never did get on the pool table that evening, because once they’d eaten their pasta and ordered another drink, a bunch of Brits were hogging the cues and Jade was flagging. ‘Sorry.’ She smothered a yawn.
‘Long day.’ He finished his beer and stretched as if he, too, was feeling it. ‘I’ll walk you back. It’s on my way.’
It was and she didn’t mind having his escort as they stepped outside into the evening, where the pavement bars were thronged and pulsing music filled the air. She tried hard to resist a hoveringlike old timesfeeling. It was just that she was vulnerable over the myriad changes in her life, she told herself. And today Leo had helped her when she needed it.
‘Tourist season.’ Leo nodded towards crowded tables. The sinking sun was creating candy-floss-pink clouds and by the time they reached Piazza Cavour, it was edging the western foothills with glorious vermillion. To the side of Three Sisters, the tables of Anton’s Bistro were doing good business, alive with diners and drinkers.
Jade put out a hand to bestow a friendly touch on Leo’s arm. ‘Good night.’
At the same time, Leo rested his hands on her shoulders and went to drop a light kiss on each of her cheeks in the traditional Italian salute.
Something odd happened. As each leant in towards the other, it was as if invisible hands pressed gently at their backs – and somehow their mouths brushed.
Jade froze. Should she ignore it? Laugh it off? Instead, she found her gaze locked on his lips.
He moved in slowly, giving her plenty of time to step back. But she leant in, until his features blurred and she shut her eyes.As if magnetised, they angled their heads and suddenly they were kissing properly, right there in the street, familiarly and naturally, as if he’d never abandoned her for the UK. As if he’d never lived with Isabella. As if her relationship with Edoardo had not been. His mouth was soft and hot, and its caress shot sparks through her body. His tongue brushed her lips and seemed to upend every hair on her neck. If the human body could melt, it would feel like this...
Slowly, he straightened, his pupils enormous in stunned eyes.
Heart pounding, Jade stumbled backwards under the arch that bore the namePensione Three Sisters. One strained smile, then she whisked around and bolted through the glass doors, past the office, across Reception, around the desk to the sanctuary of the apartment.
