Page 77 of An Italian Wedding Adventure

‘Here we go,’ Andreas said, paddling strongly against the current and steering the light craft around a protruding rock and under a lush vine.

Then Sophie caught sight of the waterfall. Through a fissure, she could make out the cascade of water glowing white in the dappled sunlight from far above, tumbling into a rippling pool.

Kira got out of her kayak in the shallows and helped Lucia and Katie to navigate the narrow opening between the rocks. Sophie leaned forward and gazed upwards. It was a cave of sorts, partially open to admit light from above, but secluded in the rock face so it was barely visible from the outside. The inside was airy and sun-kissed, the shallow water shimmering aqua, the pale stone covered in places with moss and vivid-green epiphytes.

Andreas manoeuvred through the opening using his hands to push off the rock and jumped smoothly out of the kayak into calf-deep water, holding his hand out to help Sophie do the same. She hesitated, remembering her rather juvenile jealousy when they put the boats in and wishing it could be just the two of them in this place.

‘I won’t bite, Sophie,’ he said softly.

Giving him a narrow look, she put her hands in his and slipped her feet into the water, appreciating the delicious cool on her skin after the harsh sunlight. ‘Arse last, I’m assuming?’ she muttered.

He smiled faintly. ‘You got it.’

They were very much not alone. The cavern echoed with exclamations from the guests, which would usually have filled Sophie with satisfaction.

‘It’s amazing!’

‘So beautiful! We could be on a tropical island!’

The little humph that Andreas made coaxed a smile on to Sophie’s lips. ‘A tropical island would be too hot, right?’ she teased.

‘And too sandy,’ he said with a nod.

‘Südtiroler don’t like to go too far from home.’

‘Why would you need to?’

He pushed the boat to the side of the cave and sloshed back to where the hen party stood around the waterfall, raising their arms in the spray and laughing. ‘Is anyone going under it?’

Kira stepped through, pausing to let the heavy gush pummel her shoulders, then emerged out the other side with a whoop, shaking her hair back.

‘I’ll do it!’

The hens took turns to run through the waterfall, squealing at the shock of the cool temperature and the pressure of the water. Lily held up her arms, a wide grin on her face.

‘Wow, I have to come back here with Roman!’

‘Ah,’ said Lucia, with a pained smile on her face. ‘That’s love, huh? You haven’t really seen anything until the other one has seen it too.’

Sophie bit her lip as the poignant words pricked her. Her gaze strayed to Andreas and she jumped when she found his eyes already on her. He quickly looked away, staring up into the patch of sky visible at the top of the waterfall.

He’d seen many things without her – would see many more things without her. So why had he looked at her as though he’d stood at the top of a mountain and wanted to show her the view?

She enjoyed her own view five minutes later when Andreas shrugged out of his life vest and took his turn under the waterfall. He stood under the cold spray as though it were a luxury multi-head shower system at a five-star hotel. A cold waterfall fed from his precious mountains probably was his preferred method for washing. She took her time, inclining her head to take in every detail of muscle: not just the biceps, that continually attracted attention, but also the triceps on the back, thick and overdeveloped like the rest of his arm muscles.

Sophie marvelled that he had such a capable body, built to survive the impossible, but with his own emotions, he was lost.

‘We’re going to have a lot of footage of Andreas on there, aren’t we?’

Sophie whirled to face Lily, approaching from the side. She blinked, glancing down at the camera clipped to her life vest, as her cheeks heated. ‘Sorry,’ she whispered, hurriedly switching it off.

‘It’s fine,’ Lily said with a chuckle. ‘But when are you going to tell him how you feel?’

‘Oh, I’m—’ She swallowed. ‘Not,’ she finished. ‘I tried that once and it didn’t end well.’

Lily briefly grasped her arm. ‘But that wasn’t the end,’ she pointed out.

‘Your turn, Sophie!’ Andreas called out, deepening her blush even though he couldn’t have heard anything Lily had said over the sound of the water.

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