Page 8 of Best Laid Plans
After spending the whole morning trying not to think about the sight of Julien lying bare-chested on the sofa, looking utterly divine in repose as she tiptoed past him, she was disconcerted to see him again in the flesh. Not that she was going to let that stop her from being friendly. She’d made that promise to herself to check he was okay here on his own, so that was what she was going to do. Just because he was ridiculously sexy and ever so slightly intimidating it didn’t mean she couldn’t have a friendly chat with him.
‘Hi there,’ she called as he came level with where she was sitting.
He didn’t appear to hear her.
‘Julien! Hey, Julien, over here!’ she shouted this time. She could have sworn she saw him flinch before turning to look over to where she was sitting. He raised a hand and gave her a nod of acknowledgement, before turning back and continuing on his journey.
Huh.
Perhaps he assumed she wouldn’t want to be disturbed whilst eating her lunch. Yes, that must be it; he couldn’t be deliberately avoiding her.
Could he?
No – she was being paranoid.
Jumping up and grabbing her rucksack, she made after him, having to pick up her pace in order to catch up with him before he strode out of sight.
‘Hey, Julien, wait!’ she called, a little out of breath by the time she reached him.
He turned around and gave her a look of expectant concern. ‘Are you okay?’ he asked, his gaze flicking behind her as if he was worried she was being pursued.
‘I’m fine,’ she panted, ‘just wanted to check you’re enjoying your day. You seemed a little – er…’ she flapped a hand at him ‘…stressed yesterday.’
He let out a sharp snort. ‘Yes, I’m enjoying it so far.’ A small frown flickered across his face. ‘Thank you.’
There was a pause while she waited for him to ask if she was having a good time too.
He didn’t.
‘Okay, good.’ She clapped her hands together awkwardly. ‘Well, I just wanted to say hi. So, hi!’ she blurted, sincerely hoping he’d assume the blush travelling up her neck was a flush from the sun and her mad dash across the grass.
‘Hi,’ he replied flatly, folding his arms across his chest.
There was another heavy pause where he blinked at her, as if waiting for her to make her excuses and leave. Well, she wasn’t going to. She’d learnt over the last year whilst working at the cafe that just because someone seemed unfriendly when you first spoke to them it didn’t necessarily mean they didn’t want to talk to you. They were probably just distracted by something they’d been thinking about, or they were hungry, or concerned about the tightness of their trousers or something. Not that it appeared as though any of his clothes weren’t fitting him perfectly. In fact, he looked as if he’d just stepped out of one of the hiking gear websites she’d pored over whilst preparing for the holiday, before realising she could afford exactly none of the items on it.
‘Did you like Ravello? All those steps up to it nearly killed me!’ she joked, cringing inside at the hint of desperation in her voice.
He didn’t even break a smile. ‘Yes, it was an interesting place.’ His brow creased into a frown. ‘They told me at the reception desk you’d checked out. I didn’t expect to see you on this circuit today.’
She stiffened, wondering why on earth he seemed so irritated about her walking the same route as him.
‘I have another hotel in town booked for tonight. A better organised one, I hope,’ she said, shrugging off her discomfort and forcing a smile onto her face.
‘Okay. Bon.’ He took a deliberate step backwards, then froze as her words seemed to sink in. ‘Do you mean you’re staying in Amalfi again tonight?’
Another wave of warmth began to creep up her neck. ‘Yup.’
His brow crinkled in confusion. ‘Then why are you moving hotels after only one night?’
She shifted uncomfortably. ‘I like to change things up. It keeps me on my toes.’
And I can’t afford to stay in that hotel again, not that I’m admitting that to you, Monsieur Moneybags.
He nodded slowly, his gaze searching hers as if he was trying to rootle out a lie.
She just raised both eyebrows at him, determined not to give in and blurt out the truth, trying to ignore the way her pulse had sped up.
Letting out a sharp huff of a laugh, Julien broke eye contact and glanced behind him as if looking for an excuse to leave. Not that she could blame him; the conversation wasn’t exactly flowing well, and she was tempted to slink away herself. But she wasn’t going to; she was going to see this through to the bitter end, as a matter of personal pride.
