Page 34 of Italy and Forever

She was wearing lipstick, but it was the twist of a smile, the way she moved her lips self-consciously – probably because of the piercing – that set off the familiar chain reaction in his stomach.

With her pale, wide-leg jeans and her white sweater cropped an inch too high, she was clearly far too young for him. One hand on her hip, eyebrows up, he could see even from her posture that she was teasing.

‘I don’t think the hotel has a boxing ring for overgrown children.’

‘Hey, you. What’s with the outfit?’ Kira asked.

‘Hmm?’ Ginny’s jaw stiffened.

‘You just look like off-duty Ginny, not wedding-planner Ginny.’ Kira looked at him. ‘Maybe Rhys won’t recognise you.’

‘She looks pretty with her hair down and I can still recognise her. Besides, she’s the only member of Gen Z for miles.’ He gestured to her outfit.

‘She looks pretty?’ Kira repeated, as though the compliment were the last thing she’d expected Rhys to say.

Leaning closer to Kira, he dropped his voice. ‘You told me to be nice to Ginny.’

‘You don’t have to flirt,’ Kira insisted.

Ginny straightened in horror. ‘Oh, I’m sure he’s not⁠—’

‘All right, all right,’ Kira said with a dismissive wave. ‘Just be careful. You’re pretty much the only singles here and weddings mess with your head – or your sex drive or something. I don’t think Ginny is grown-up enough for casual and I don’t want to deal with both of you if you burst her balloon, Rhys. We’re all a team.’

He should have told Kira he was going to Canada. At least then she would never have got it into her head that he and Ginny might cross some professional lines.

‘It’s a team I’m not sure I want to be on,’ Ginny grumbled. ‘You all seem to think that friendship means tongue-in-cheek insults and derogatory jokes, not to mention very hypocritical relationship advice. I’m not much younger than you and if I want Rhys to burst my balloon, that’s my business.’

He snorted in shock, choking on air, and Kira thumped him on the back in concern.

‘She’s joking,’ Kira reassured him, which possibly should have been Ginny’s line.

But Ginny just gave him a brassy smile. ‘Let’s go, hmm? We’ve got a date with a priest.’

‘One dance and all your friends think we’re sleeping together?’

He should have guessed Ginny would want to talk about this the instant they got into the car. He gave a shrug in reply. Saying anything else would be a mistake.

Her sigh was long. ‘Back to communicating with grunts and body language instead of actual words? Perhaps I use too many, but you don’t need to compensate by using none at all.’

She reversed the little powder-pink Fiat 500 carefully out of its parking space and headed for the road.

‘I should warn you, I don’t like hire cars,’ she said, a deep crease on her brow as she eyeballed the road ahead. ‘I’m not used to mountain roads either, so no comments about me driving like Grandma.’

‘My nan was notorious for getting speeding tickets on the Cardiff road.’

That made her smile. He stared into his lap until it passed.

After a moment of silence where Ginny sighed at least three times, she said, ‘I meant to say, thank you – for last night. It was kind of you. I wanted to disappear when Petra said we needed to find a partner.’

‘I’m… you deserved a better partner.’ And I shouldn’t have kissed your hand.

‘Oh, trust me, any partner was preferable to standing there like a fool.’

He aimed for a bland smile. She couldn’t be clearer and it was for the best, but her words still pinched. ‘I don’t know why Kira thought what she thought.’

Ginny’s laugh was forced. She must have been horrified about the inference that they might be interested in each other. ‘You do believe I was joking, right? About the… balloon bursting.’

‘Yes,’ he replied firmly.