Page 55 of Italy and Forever

Thinking of her classes at the Great Heart gym made her emotions swim. She looked forward to her weekly lesson and thinking of her bond with Kira brought unexpected tears to her eyes. When she looked up at the arresting vertical of rock, she found Rhys looking down at her, watching, as he had on occasion at the gym. She wondered what he’d seen then and what he saw now.

Then Andreas delivered a challenge she couldn’t back down from. ‘You’re the representative of I Do Destinations here today. You’d better show us what you can do!’

With a gulp and a deep breath, Ginny accepted that the only way was up.

23

Ginny’s muscles were running on adrenaline fumes and stubborn pride. Any minute now, her entire metabolism would collapse and her body would scrape its way down – so far down – to the bottom of the rock face. Telling herself it was only two metres didn’t help. She was up higher than her own body, clinging to the jagged rock.

She found a nice textured ledge and, for a minute at least, she felt quite secure where she was. The stone was rough under her fingertips, pockmarked and powdery, with layers and facets of grey and gold. She took a moment to suck in a breath, releasing it to the count of five.

Her legs were turning to jelly. She needed to keep moving or she’d freeze up. It had happened frequently when she’d first started with Kira, but she hadn’t panicked for a couple of months. She recognised the creeping sensation.

‘Look for the next holds,’ she muttered to herself through chattering teeth.

She dared a glance upwards. The end of the rope Kira had set for her and Mattia swam in her vision, still so far away. And just beyond it was the shadowy form of another person. She blinked to clear her eyes, finding Rhys above her, his camera lowered.

The delighted smile on his lips shot warmth through her.

‘C’mon, Ginny!’ she heard Kira whining from below. ‘You know how to do this. You’re the toughest wedding planner of them all!’

‘Don’t make me laugh,’ she called back, but her head cleared enough for her to search for the next grip. Keeping her hips in close, as Kira had taught her, she scraped her way up with another few pushes of her legs, fingers scrabbling in the cracks as the rubber of her climbing shoes kept grip.

Another two metres and her muscle memory from the gym kicked in. Another one and her head cleared, her instincts coming fully online. Her blood was pumping. No matter what happened now, she’d gained this altitude under her own steam. Even if gravity pulled her down again, these few metres belonged to her. The attempt was what mattered.

The victory of each further foot buoyed her until the little anchor point holding the top rope was just above her. She reached up and grabbed it, pausing for a moment to let the calm ripple through her, even as elation wanted to butt in.

‘Open your eyes, Ginny.’

She followed the soft instruction without thought, colours suddenly blinding: blue sky, pale rock, the lake an astounding shade of turquoise. The craggy chimney turrets of the Tre Cime were just visible.

The snick of a camera shutter made her look up and Rhys took another shot before lowering the camera again.

‘You did well.’

They were little words, throwaway platitudes from anyone else. But Ginny saw the glow in his eyes, and she lit up even brighter, shooting him a grin.

He inhaled so deeply she heard it from her position, several feet below him. Then he said, ‘Now the others are far enough away, I can tell you how much I want to kiss you.’

The words landed smack in her stomach. ‘Are you trying to make me fall?’ she teased when she could finally form a sentence.

‘No!’ he replied suddenly. ‘Sorry. Maybe I’ve caught your habit of blurting things out.’ His expression was almost comically dismayed.

‘I hope so,’ she said lightly. ‘I would like to know what’s going on in your head.’

‘Right now? It’s just you,’ he said ruefully.

From anyone else, she would have thought it was a line, but this was Rhys, with his blunt tone and low brow. He didn’t look particularly happy about the fact that she was in his head, but she would take the compliment.

‘Well, I’m currently in your viewfinder, so I suppose that makes sense.’ She tilted her head in a pose and he dutifully snapped a photo. ‘I might need that one for my Instagram. I promise I’ll credit you. I assume you’re on there, or are you still on Facebook like the rest of your generation?’

‘Back down with you, Weller,’ he answered gruffly, but he was smiling. Wow, it was lucky he didn’t smile much, because he’d have most of the population swooning from that dimple and his perfect jaw.

‘Ginny?’ she heard Will calling from below. ‘Everything all right?’

Her gaze still locked on Rhys, she replied, ‘Yeah, I’m coming back down!’ Just as soon as she could tear herself away from this private bubble of ease.

The line went taut in response and she gripped the rope in her fist just behind her backside, sitting in her harness as she’d practised over and over at the gym. Catching Rhys’s eye once more, she said, ‘Well, it was nice flirting with you,’ and she let the rope run through her hand as she bounced neatly in the direction of the ground with her chin in the air, ready for a perfect landing.