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I slowly lower my legs until my feet touch the seabed.

“Are you okay?”

I take a step towards him.

“We should go,” he says.

But he doesn't move.

“Not yet.”

I smile, taking another step.

“I don't want this night to end. I…”

I shake my head and glance away, searching for the words.

“I want to be the woman floating under the stars on an Italian island for a little while longer.”

When I look back at him, he looks as though he is struggling to find the words.

“Stay with me?”

For a moment, he says nothing.

Then he gives a small nod.

“Okay.”

I laugh softly, relieved, and glance up at the sky again.

“I wanted to thank you.”

“No need.”

“There is, actually.”

He looks at me.

“You brought me here when I wasn't sure I could come. And tonight…”

I glance towards the beach, where the last echoes of laughter seem to have been swallowed by the waves.

“Tonight, I didn't want to be anywhere else.”

Jude's expression changes.

Not much. Just a slight softening around his eyes, a movement of his lips that never quite becomes a smile.

But I know him well enough now to recognize it.

And when he looks at me like that, with the whole of the Sicilian night spread out behind him, I suddenly forget what I was going to say next.

I take another step towards him and my foot catches between two rocks.

“Ow!”

I pitch forward, arms flailing, but before I can hit the water, Jude catches me. One arm wraps around my waist, the other steadying my back as he pulls me upright.