‘And I love, love, love these chips!’ Coral said theatrically. ‘I was so afraid we were only going to get pasta on this holiday.’
The portions were generous, so the girls decided that fruit and coffee would be all they’d need to complete the meal. But Coral insisted on ordering more wine, waving away Emily’s protest.
‘Don’t be a party-pooper, Ellie,’ she said beseechingly. ‘We’re on holiday, remember.’
‘You are—I’m not,’ Emily replied, but she drank the wine anyway. She certainly didn’t want to be accused of being a drag. Anyway, Coral was having such a good time it was hard not to be affected by the girl’s exuberance.
As they sat sipping their wine, the men whom Coral had been smiling at came over and, without asking, pulled out two chairs so that they could sit down.
‘Is OK,’ one of them said, ‘to sit?’ and, although Emily merely shrugged pleasantly, Coral was thrilled.
‘Of course it’s OK,’ she said brightly, darting a quick glance at Emily.
Immediately, one of the men beckoned a waiter and insisted that the girls should have more wine. They were young—probably barely twenty years old, Emily thought—good-looking and well turned-out in their casual clothes, and it was obvious that they’d been encouraged by Coral’s overtly friendly eye signals.
It didn’t take long for the men to find out that the girls were English and on holiday and, in their halting attempts to make themselves understood, they became more and more animated, throwing their heads back and roaring with laughter at the mistakes they were making. But when one of them leaned across and took hold of Emily’s hand, looking into her eyes and telling her how beautiful she was, the girl had had enough. While she was quite ready to go along with this—up to a point, for Coral’s sake—it was becoming clear that this was going to lead to a situation she definitely did not want. She took her hand away, glancing at her watch.
‘Well—great to have met you,’ she said, ‘but we have to go now.’
‘Oh—no—no,’ her admirer said. ‘Is too early…’
Emily looked helplessly at Coral, hoping for some support, but her friend refused to meet her gaze, clearly enjoying the situation, and for a few moments Emily felt at a loss. The men were only being friendly and she had no sense of being threatened. Yet this was the very thing she had wanted to avoid. How was she going to get out of it without appearing to snub these local lads?
And then her good fairy alighted on her shoulder, literally, as the warm hand of the handsome Italian she’d met earlier in the day rested on her bare arm for a second. He looked down into her rather startled gaze and smiled the smile that set her heart racing.
‘We meet again,’ he said calmly. ‘I was sitting inside in the bar having a drink and saw you come in.’ He paused. ‘Is—is everything all right?’ The words were uttered in perfect English, which had the effect of throwing Emily off balance for a moment. What she’d thought of earlier as his halting ability with the language was obviously a ploy he used in order to avoid having to make tiresome conversation with customers! But she admitted to feeling relieved that he’d turned up then—because now the situation was different—and the younger men saw it at once, standing up almost deferentially.
‘ ‘Giorno, Giovanni,’ the men said, almost in unison. He was obviously well known, Emily thought—and why not? He ran a local shop, and these were local youths. She smiled up at him.
‘Oh, hello again,’ she said. ‘We…were just explaining to these…guys…that we are actually just leaving now…’
‘Giovanni’ spoke in rapid Italian to the men, who answered back in the same way, all three laughing loudly and clearly enjoying a joke—probably at her and Coral’s expense, Emily thought—and then they were gone, smiling back as they went, leaving Giovanni standing there alone. He looked down at the girls, treating Coral to one of his disarming grins before introducing himself, holding out his hand to each of them in turn.
‘My name is Giovanni,’ he said, ‘but my friends call me Joe…Gio.’ He paused, his eyes flickering over Emily’s upturned face.
Quickly, she said, ‘Oh—I’m Emily, and this is Coral. We’re only here for a few days—on a sort of holiday…’ she went on rather stumblingly, aware that her friend was staring at her open-mouthed. Not just because it was obvious that Giovanni was somehow known to Emily, but also because he was looking so stunningly handsome she knew that the girl’s curiosity would be killing her. Emily knew she had some explaining to do!
‘Um…do sit down…Giovanni…’ she said hesitantly, and immediately he pulled out a chair. She looked across at Coral. ‘I bought a lovely present for my father at Giovanni’s shop this afternoon,’ she began, ‘and that’s when I met…Giovanni…Gio…’
Although Coral might have been disappointed at the hasty exit the younger men had just made, she was so entranced at the most recent arrival she could hardly speak! He was wearing well-cut jeans and a loose, immaculate white cotton shirt open at the neck, exhibiting a teasing expanse of muscular brown chest. His hair was stylishly untidy, one or two dark fronds falling over his broad forehead. And his bewitching eyes were fringed by long, curling lashes. But when he leaned across and took Coral’s hand in his briefly, saying, ‘I am so delighted to meet you, Coral,’ Emily thought her friend was going to faint!
‘Oh…’ Coral said at last. ‘Pleased to meet you, Gio.’ She darted a quick glance at Emily, as if to say-Well, you might have said something—before giving the man her close attention. And his perfect English, with only the occasional mouth-watering Italian accent, made conversation easy—and wonderfully entertaining, as he turned on the full power of his Latin charm. He beckoned to the drinks waiter and turned to Emily.
‘May we celebrate our acquaintance?’ he asked. ‘What would you like to drink—and you, Coral…? What may I order for you?’
‘I’d like another coffee, please,’ Emily said firmly. She’d already had several generous glasses of wine. Any more would be too many, she thought. But Coral had no such problem, and soon she was sipping at yet another large glass of the expensive bubbles as she regaled Giovanni with her life story, allowing Emily to add one or two comments about herself while he listened intently.
Presently, Emily decided that for her the evening was over. ‘I want to go back to the hotel now, Coral,’ she said. ‘It’s late.’
‘Where are you staying?’ Giovanni asked casually, and when they told him he said, ‘I can take you, if you like. My car is just a few minutes away.’
‘Oh, lovely!’ Coral said at once, but Emily interrupted firmly.
‘Thank you, but we can easily get a taxi. We wouldn’t want to bother you.’ She stood up and shot a warning glance at Coral, who stood up as well. Then she held out her hand. ‘It’s been very…pleasant…to meet you…Gio,’ she said. ‘And thanks for the coffee.’
He smiled at her, tilting his head briefly to one side. ‘You’re welcome,’ he said. He hesitated. ‘By the way, if you have trouble locating the places you need to visit tomorrow, I’ll be at the shop, so you know where to find me. I can always point you in the right direction.’
‘Oh…thank you, but I’m sure I’ll manage,’ Emily said.
‘Why didn’t you accept his offer of a lift?’ Coral demanded as they were driven swiftly back to the hotel in a taxi.
‘Because we don’t know him, Coral!’
‘He wasn’t exactly a stranger…’
‘As good as,’ Emily replied.
But later, as Emily listened to Coral’s gentle snoring from the other bed, she instinctively felt that there would have