Page 82 of Italy and Forever

‘You spoke so beautifully,’ he murmured between kisses. ‘You do everything so beautifully. I can’t take it.’

She knew how he felt. If she asked to see him when they got back to England, maybe that would settle her down a little. The way he touched her, his thumb under her ear, suggested he might just agree.

‘I meant all of it,’ she said, hoping he understood what she truly meant: I love you. She’d broken the rules of their liaison, but he was breaking them too, kissing her as though he needed her in order to breathe. ‘When I was talking about what I’ve learned this week it was… about you.’

Did his eyes light up? She wasn’t sure; certainly he studied her with an urgency she hadn’t seen before.

‘I’m glad we… did this,’ she continued when he didn’t say anything.

His forehead fell to hers in a pained kind of closeness that was trying to pull her heart out. ‘Me too,’ he said, pressing another hard kiss to her mouth.

She couldn’t remember what she wanted him to say, she just held on tight as the kiss slowed and deepened until she needed air and her legs wouldn’t hold her.

She hoped now that she’d proven to him that she could handle his flaws. Would he agree to give this thing between them a chance to grow into something more solid? She didn’t care what that looked like. She didn’t need a diamond ring or promises in a church. She just wanted to keep him in her life – preferably her arms.

His hands came up to frame her face and she discovered all the romantic films couldn’t come close to capturing the reality of the person she loved holding her like this. ‘Ginny, I⁠—’

Scuffling footsteps sounded on the stairs and Rhys wrenched away so fast, the air rippled through the soft material of her dress and she teetered after him. He shot an arm out to steady her at the waist, but dropped it again when Andreas’s friend Lucas appeared at the door, followed immediately by a frowning Sophie.

Ginny rushed forward, taking her friend’s hands. ‘Hey! What’s going on?’

‘They’ve stolen me, apparently,’ she replied with a wry smile. ‘Another tradition. They’re going to ransom me back to Andreas or something – involving more schnapps, I’m guessing.’

Marco appeared behind her, holding up a bottle of beer in salute before taking a sip.

‘I suppose it’s an appropriate place to be stolen to,’ Sophie commented, looking out at the darkening sky over Bruneck. The city was nestled in the confluence of three valleys, the mountains in between defining its position and the strategic importance of this hill in the past. ‘What are you doing up here?’

‘Um, just…’ completely losing my heart.

‘Ginny thought we could get some sunset shots up here. I was just checking it out.’ His voice was steady, while Ginny was worried she’d start speaking Icelandic all of a sudden, her head was so scattered.

‘We’ll have to see how quickly Andreas negotiates for my freedom.’

The ‘kidnappers’ had thankfully also stolen Sophie’s matching fluffy jacket and she wrapped it more closely around her against the breeze. Rhys lifted the camera, which was hanging on its strap across his torso.

‘Shall I?’

‘Take a shot with Ginny and me.’ Sophie wrapped an arm around Ginny and tilted her head until their updos were touching. ‘It was a beautiful speech, sweetie. Everyone’s talking about it.’

‘Oh, I…’ Ginny wasn’t sure she wanted to know what they were saying.

‘Are you sure you’re okay?’

Ginny nodded a little wildly. ‘Just the adrenaline after the speech. Does Andreas know where they’ve taken you?’

‘I don’t think so. They smuggled me out through a service passage. It would have been fun except I am incredibly hungry.’

‘Oh, I have something in my—’ She cursed. ‘I don’t have my bag. How about I go and get it for you?’

‘No! You’re all hostages,’ Lucas declared. ‘See how long it takes him to notice you’re gone.’

‘It kind of feels like an actual hostage situation,’ Ginny commented in dismay.

‘Do you want a beer?’ Marco asked Ginny with a smile.

‘Okay, not quite a real hostage situation,’ she said drily as Rhys accepted a bottle, popping the top off against the wall of the tower.

‘I think we should let Rhys go off duty from now,’ Sophie commented, holding up an imaginary bottle for him to pretend to tap his against. ‘No need for any sunset photos. You’ve been working him hard enough.’