Page 41 of A Very Italian Wedding
Ben waved his hands feeling flustered. ‘Neither am I.’ He took another big step towards the car. ‘Besides you’re already holding onto it.’
‘Go on,’ she muttered, holding it out again, but Ben shook his head. ‘Don’t be a coward.’
‘Nope.’ He wasn’t going near the thing. His fingertips were still tingling from where he’d already touched it.
Rose pursed her lips and cocked her head, narrowing her eyes. ‘Why not, if you’re not superstitious, surely there’s no reason not to?’
She held the bag closer to him, a slight smile playing at the edge of her mouth and Ben shook his head again. He’d been around the Marino family enough to know he wasn’t going near it anytime soon. Or ever, in fact.
When he was younger, before his wedding, he’d dreamed of having a family, of living an ordinary life, but since the almost wedding, he’d realised some things weren’t meant for him. Children were one of them. He’d be the best godfather in the world, if he was lucky to be asked, but that was all. He wasn’t interested in having a relationship and nothing, not even magic, would fix that.
‘It’s probably better if neither of us touches it again. Just to be safe.’ He pointed towards the Citroën, feeling unsettled. ‘Why don’t we put it into the boot of the car and cover it with something. We can get Marco to get it out when we get back. After all, it’s a gift for him and Luna,’ he said wickedly.
Rose sucked in a breath but didn’t argue, instead she headed for the car and indicated he should open the boot quickly. When Ben did, she quickly placed the statue in the back, pulling her hands away as if it had suddenly grown hot. ‘There’s nothing here to cover it with,’ she said.
‘Where’s thecornettibag?’ Ben asked.
‘In the footwell. I was waiting until I saw a bin.’ Rose went to collect it. It was just big enough to slide the statue into and Ben helped, taking care not to handle the hessian bag for long and making sure he didn’t touch the stone at all. Why take the chance?
‘If anyone sees it, they’ll assume it’s filled with litter,’ he told her.
Rose scraped her hands over her hips as if she were trying to clean away the feel of the stone, and Ben found himself doing the same – until he caught Rose watching him.
‘Shall we go to that beach you mentioned?’ she asked, scrubbing her hands over her hips again, making Ben wonder if she was trying to peel off her own skin. ‘I think I might want to go for that swim, after all.’
‘Salt water’s good for breaking spells,’ Ben teased, giving Rose a knowing look.
‘Is it?’ she asked brusquely, avoiding his gaze. ‘I’ve no idea what you mean.’
The beach looked empty and as Ben followed Rose from where he’d parked the car, he took in a deep breath. Marco had brought him here when he’d first visited the Marinos a year after they’d met. Ben had been staying in Bristol for the summer holidays after completing the first year of his degree while his friend planned to spend the time in Tuscany. With both of his parents dead, he had nowhere else to go.
On impulse, Marco had bought him a ticket and asked Ben to join him on the trip and their friendship had been cemented during that summer. Ben had never met a family like the Marinos. They’d been so open and friendly, and he’d been absorbed into the fold like a second son. Until Ben had met them, he hadn’t understood how close families could be. It had given him hope and ultimately it had made him believe he could have the same. Much later, he’d realised not everyone got to have the happy ever after – and he was okay with that. He really was.
‘Are you hungry?’ Ben asked Rose, working hard to keep pace with her as they marched down the final bank of glittering sand onto the flat of the main beach. ‘There’s a café down that way.’ He pointed right. He was famished but wanted to swim some of his energy off first.
‘Not yet,’ Rose said, looking around. ‘It’s not very busy, is it?’
‘It’s mid-week and it’s still early. This place will be heaving in a few hours,’ he told her sliding his bag from his shoulder and dropping it onto the hot sand. Then he lifted his T-shirt over his head and saw Rose’s eyes widen as she took him in.
She swallowed and Ben saw a pulse throb at the bottom of her throat, tried not to get pleasure from it, or to react to her obvious awareness of him. Until this moment, he hadn’t known if she felt the same pull as him.
‘You’re going to get undressed here?’ she squeaked. Ben had to fight a smile. It was the first time he’d seen the Love Doctor so flustered and he liked it. Liked that he could do that to her.
‘You don’t have to look,’ he said, slowly unzipping his shorts, intent on teasing her.
‘Seriously?’ Rose yelled as Ben dropped them, revealing his navy swimming trunks. He bit down on a grin as he slid the shorts off and watched Rose’s eyes widen as she tried to muffle a gasp.
Someone behind them began to clap and when Ben turned, he saw two women wearing bikinis lying on a towel staring at him with obvious interest. He hadn’t noticed them before, too focused on Rose. A few weeks ago, he’d have waved and gone to speak with them, but he wasn’t really interested now.
‘Are you his girlfriend?’ one of the women – who was obviously a native English speaker – asked Rose, raising an eyebrow. ‘Because if my man looked like that, I wouldn’t let him strip in public for fear of a stampede…’
‘Oh, he’s not my boyfriend. He’s just someone I bumped into in the car park, thinks he’s Magic Mike, apparently,’ Rose said mildly. She turned back to Ben, and as he began to apply sunscreen to his chest, folded her arms. ‘Are you hoping someone will drop money into a hat for you?’ she hissed. ‘I’m sure if you take the trunks off too, you’ll make enough for lunch. Yours anyway…’
‘Ouch.’ Ben laughed as one of the women whistled.
‘Your friend’s right, you should take them off. I’ve got some change unless you take credit cards?’ The woman heckled, giggling and signalling that he should continue.
Ben shook his head and flashed them a smile before turning to Rose. ‘You said you wanted to come in,’ he said as she shifted from foot to foot. She was wearing sandals and the emerald-green dress and looked more beautiful than Ben had ever seen her. More uncertain too.
