‘You don’t have to, but I think you will, because you always put Sam ahead of yourself.’
Before she could respond, Sam appeared dripping with a phone in his hand.
‘You two are trending!’
‘Don’t be stupid,’ Tilda said.
‘No,really!’he insisted,waving the phone while dripping on Tilda’s shoes.
‘He’s right,’ Ezio said quietly.
‘Let me see,’ she snapped, holding out her hand to Sam for the phone.
The image on the screen made her freeze in shock. The blossoms floating around them and the shaft of light filtering through the trees gave the photo an other-worldly quality. Her face was between Ezio’s hands and they were kissing. They looked like two people in love, but Tilda knew that this description only applied to one...
She was in love with him and always had been. It was like suddenly noticing an oak tree growing in the middle of her living room: it had always been there; she’d just been walking around it.
‘Watch it!’ Sam warned, rescuing his phone from her limp grasp. ‘That’s my life there,’ he reproached, jogging back in the direction of the pool.
‘You have gone very quiet.’
‘You knew?’
‘Jake sent it to me, yes.’
‘And you didn’t think to tell me?’
‘It’s a good photo, Tilda.’
‘Yes, Jake is very good.’And I am an idiot.
‘He never did take the photowithyour glasses. I’ve noticed you have not been wearing them. Have you mislaid them?’
Her green eyes flicked guiltily from side to side but, before she could decide whether to lie or tell the truth about her need for glasses, Sam appeared like a whirlwind and grabbed the towel he had left crumpled on the floor.
‘It’s OK, she doesn’t really need them, it’s to make her look older and make bosses take her seriously,’ he informed them cheekily.
Ezio waited until Sam had vanished before speaking. ‘Is that true?’
She shrugged and found herself wishing that she had her glasses to hide behind.
‘So they were props! It’s no big thing. I looked young.’
‘You are young.’ Had she really thought the glasses made her look older? He felt a surge of anger that she’d even felt the need to change her behaviour for her bosses.
‘As I said, I looked younger than I am, and it’s hard to be taken seriously. I got used to them, they made me feel more confident, and now... I don’t need them.’ The realisation made her smile.
‘I can see that,’ he said, looking at the lovely warm woman smiling at him.
‘I thought I might work from here for a few days,’ he threw out casually, and watched the initial surprise on her face morph into a guarded expression. ‘If there are any issues with Sam, I should be here.’ It was an explanation about the emotions he was wrestling with he could accept. It made total sense when he factored in that, by the time Sam was settled, this thing would have burnt itself out and he could step back into his life pre-Tilda.
It was a totally logical decision.
‘Do you think there will be issues?’ she said sharply.
‘No, but if there is you might need someone to blame, and it will rather defeat the object of this exercise if I leave my bride before the honeymoon is over. Saul is a man of his generation and very traditional.’
Was it traditional to marry four...five times? she wondered as her shoulders slumped. ‘Do you think he has spies planted?’ she sniped, gnawing delicately at her full lower lip and drawing his eyes to the lush outline. ‘Sorry; I used up all my sparkling charm at lunch. My face was aching with smiling. And when I don’t sleep much, I’m cranky.’ She closed her eyes...Did I really just say that?