Page 70 of Italy and Forever

‘Old habits die hard, I suppose,’ she said with a shrug.

He was a second away from making a comment about Laurie, so he took himself back to his seat at the table. His hair stood on end every time he caught sight of her conversing with him, even though his rational brain knew it was nothing. But the lump in his throat was enough that he had to admit he was in trouble. After the wedding, he needed to make sure he went back to avoiding her. Whatever momentary insanity she was experiencing to want to sleep with him, she’d get over it sooner rather than later and he’d be safely in Canada.

After lunch, the two families gathered under the enormous chestnut for posed photos, which brought Rhys out in a cold sweat. Too many variables, too many faces.

He waved a hand above his head, trying to get the attention of the two unruly little people in the front row. ‘Uh, kids? Look this way. And smile.’ It didn’t work.

‘Do you need a hand?’

Desperately, except he’d just been thinking about keeping his distance from Ginny.

‘Hey, Eliza!’ she called out to the little girl. ‘Did you see these?’ After opening one of the spiny cases with her foot, she retrieved two little chestnuts and brought them to Eliza and the boy who was probably her brother. ‘These are chestnuts, not conkers. Do you collect conkers at home? Yeah? Well, these you can actually eat, although you have to cook them first. Don’t they feel good in your hand?’

Helpless to do otherwise, Rhys raised the camera, framed up the shot and immortalised the picture she made, crouching in her smart dress, making the little girl smile.

Eliza took one nut and her brother the other one.

‘You can collect more of them in a minute, although you have to open them with your foot, like this. The spines are really sharp, which I discovered the hard way,’ she said drily, gesturing for the kids to retrieve two more nuts from the case at their feet. ‘How about you hold them up? No, not in front of your face,’ she said with a laugh. ‘Next to your face. And say cheese! And biscuits! Cheese and biscuits!’

It seemed impossible to resist Ginny’s charm when she was nearby, so he gave up trying and embraced it. He unfolded a soft white reflector and handed it to her, ushering her to the position he needed and just barely managing to ignore the amused lift of her shoulder as he put her in place.

‘You’re welcome,’ she said indulgently. ‘Happy to help.’

When the shots had been taken and the guests dispersed to explore the red-and-gold vineyards or stand around the barrel fire where Franz was roasting nuts, Rhys released a deep breath and checked over his gear out of habit.

‘Survived?’

He glanced up, only to flinch away, shielding his eyes.

‘Oh shit, sorry,’ Ginny said, hastily lowering the reflector. ‘This thing is stronger than I thought. I can kind of see why you don’t like photographing people, when there are all these extra considerations.’

‘And now you believe it’s not only because I don’t like people on principle?’

‘Only partly,’ she teased.

‘I make an exception for you.’ The closer he got to saying goodbye to her, the less control he seemed to have over his mouth. ‘You look gorgeous, by the way.’

She straightened in surprise. ‘Thank you. What exactly looks gorgeous? I’m not fishing for compliments, I’m just curious about what makes a difference for you.’

So she could take that into account when she chose an outfit on another occasion? The thought appealed to him immensely, although there wouldn’t be another occasion.

‘You’re a study in contrasts,’ he murmured with half a smile. ‘This colour suits your skin. I like the material here.’ He gestured vaguely to her chest. ‘And your body language tells me you’re happy to be beautiful.’

She had nothing to say to that. She just pursed her cherry-red lips and raised her shoulders self-consciously. That wasn’t quite the reaction he’d been going for, but it wasn’t surprising for something between them to backfire.

‘I… didn’t expect you’d be so good at compliments,’ she said, biting her lip.

‘Did Laurie tell you you look lovely?’

‘What? Why would he?’

He could identify the guilty stiffening in her posture.

‘I suspect letting Sophie believe you’re having a fling with Laurie will come back to bite you later.’

She sighed, coming closer to speak quietly. ‘What was I supposed to say? She noticed beard burn and whose fault is that?’

His face heated, although his chest expanded too – both reactions unhelpful. ‘But you didn’t need to put her off the scent with such an outrageous lie.’ It made me jealous and frustrated and so many other things I shouldn’t be feeling.