Page 5 of A Winter Wedding Adventure
‘We’re not a couple,’ Kira said tightly, and laughter rose up his throat again.
‘Oh, I’m—’ The man behind the counter flushed. ‘That makes more sense. I shouldn’t have assumed— I mean, most people who come in together are— But I couldn’t work out how the two of you, looking like that?—’
The man realised a few seconds too late that he should have stopped talking several sentences ago. Mattia could almost see the sparks leaping from Kira’s gaze.
He shrugged. ‘You never know. I suppose we could have been… lovers.’
‘We definitely could not have been!’ She glowed when she was worked up. It was rather fascinating.
‘Let me see if I can find a hotel with two rooms,’ the man at the desk hurriedly interrupted. ‘Hotel Alpin unfortunately doesn’t. Ah, if you don’t mind something close to the station here, rather than in the city, then I’ve found?—’
‘That’s fine. Can you book it please?’
‘Eh,’ Mattia interrupted, the reality of sleeping in a strange hotel room settling over him. He was too close to the edge as it was and he needed to keep a lid on his anxiety until the wedding. ‘Are the windows insulated at least?’
Kira rolled her eyes and tapped her nails – bitten short and without polish – on the counter.
‘I’m certain they will be,’ the man assured him in an indulgent tone that convinced Mattia of the opposite.
‘We can go and see, I suppose,’ he said in a forlorn mutter.
When they finally walked back out into the forecourt, Mattia shuddered at the sudden cold, but Kira made no move to put her beanie back on. She ran a hand through her hair as though she wanted to tug out a tuft of it.
‘High maintenance indeed,’ she muttered under her breath.
He should probably tell her about his hearing, as a warning and an excuse for his behaviour, but she kept speaking before he had the chance.
‘“Lovers”? Really? Was that necessary?’
‘No,’ he admitted as soberly as he could, which wasn’t particularly sober, as he was still tickled by the misunderstanding.
‘You’re not exactly my type. You’re wearing more make-up than I am!’
‘And I have more piercings,’ he added, flicking the crucifix in one ear in her direction. ‘Unless you have some—’ He snapped his mouth shut at her indignant look. Ohi, he needed peace and quiet to calm down before he burst all of his messy intensity all over her. ‘Sorry.’
‘Are all Italian tenors as glossy as you?’
‘If that’s supposed to be a joke, I’m offended.’
‘What, I thought you wouldn’t mind the stereotype of the well-groomed Italian?’
He smoothed his hair as he realised he must look a mess from all the rushing. ‘That’s not what I meant. I’m not a tenor. I’m a baritone.’
‘Which makes all the difference, I’m sure.’
‘You know nothing about opera, do you?’
For a moment, he was concerned she’d respond defensively to the gentle accusation, but he shouldn’t have worried. Not about Kira Watling, who swaggered and sniped and tossed her blue hair in indignation when something didn’t appeal to her.
‘Your performance was wasted on me,’ she said. ‘But you’re my client and it’s my job to get you safely to the wedding. I don’t have to enjoy your singing for that.’
A little twinge at the emphasis on ‘safely’. He’d quite liked that up until now, she’d charged ahead, simply expecting him to follow. Apparently, she’d worked out how useless he could be, with his sensitivities and anxieties and his sheltered existence.
‘Client?’ he clarified in a light tone, to shake off the momentary gloom. ‘Is that what kidnappers call it these days?’
Alessandra says to look after Matty… Not sure what that means.
Kira frowned at Ginny’s message as she stood in the lift of the hotel before stowing her phone in her pocket. Mattia leaned against the mirror at the back, eyes closed, hands deep in the pockets of his tailored trousers. The smallest hint of stubble shadowed his cheeks – the boy might be able to grow a beard after all.
