Page 27 of Night and Day
“About three years.”
Izzy couldn’t help his volume jumping up. “Three years, and he offers you abusinessproposal?”
Mia shifted on the blanket, turning slightly away from him. “It’s a great deal. In a way, it comes with more commitment than marriage or something like that. Like, multiple legal contracts and shares and all that.” She sounded defensive.
“Sounds romantic.” Izzy bit his lip on his snarky words. He had to stop antagonising this other guy. It wasn’t right.
He couldn’t see Mia’s expression in the dark, but heard her huff in his general direction. “I know what it sounds like, but it’s a good deal. He’s very pragmatic. For him, it’s the best thing he could offer.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend. He sounds like a smart guy.”
“Very smart. He’s been so patient with me, waiting for me to do this trip and make up my mind. I should be there right now, working for them. Every day I’m away, I’m costing them... And now I can’t even contact him. He can’t contact me. And the worst thing is...” she turned to the faint light of his phone, her expression conflicted. “I like it. I just want to hide here.” She bit her bottom lip in an adorable way, her eyes flashing with guilt. “I get to pretend I’m someone else, someone who doesn’t have to make decisions at all. Someone who’s hanging out with a new friend in a foreign country with nothing to worry about.”
Her smile nearly stole his breath away, but Izzy steeled his nerves, sensing an opening. “Well, if you like pretending, I’ve got a gig for you.”
“Okay. What is it?”
Izzy swallowed at something that felt like a golf ball in his throat. “I’m going to a barbecue at my brother’s on Sunday. Would you pretend to be my date?”
Mia stared at him from under the hood, her eyes sparkling. “A fake date? You want me to be your fake date?” Her voice rose in delight and her smile widened to show off a beautiful set of teeth.
“Yeah. I know it’s a silly idea.” Izzy fiddled with his phone. Maybe it was time to shut up and turn on the music.
“I love it!” Mia exclaimed. “But you know it always leads to falling in love, don’t you? Like, according to every romantic comedy ever made.”
Heat flushed Izzy’s neck, making him snort with nervous laughter. “Yeah, I hadn’t thought about that. You’re right.”
“I’m just teasing you,” Mia softened her tone. “I’d love to play your girlfriend, if it helps with your family. It’s no bother at all.”
“Okay, because I’m not talking about putting on a show or anything. I can tell them we met online and have only just met in person for the first time. Nobody would expect us to act all... you know?”
“Lovey-dovey?” She giggled, her eyes lighting up with mischief, and Izzy fought the urge to push her down on the blanket and show her she was playing with fire.
“Yeah. None of that. No matter how irresistible you find me,” he said mock-reproachingly, narrowing his eyes at her.
“It’ll be damn hard.” She pulled a face, then laughed again, making Izzy’s heart permanently lodge in his throat. He’d known her for half-a-day, and in that moment, could have sworn he was already half in love with her. This fake dating thing was a terrible idea.
“Put on your headphones. Here comes the first song.”
He lay down on the blanket, focusing his eyes on the sky above. He could count the stars with one hand, most of the sky obscured by rapidly moving clouds. Mia snapped on her headphones and lay down next to him. Izzy pushed ‘play’ and the first song blasted through, sending a ripple of pleasure through his shivering body.
They lay still for the length of the song, watching the clouds travel, allowing them peeks of the few stars behind.
Izzy tried to relax against the cold ground and focus on the music instead of the energy between them. In the dark, with a cool breeze sweeping across, he could almost forget her, forget everything and let the music carry his imagination beyond the immediate reality. The song was one of his favourites, one with a powerful drive, sung in that impeccable style and emotion that even studio headphones couldn’t ruin. Would Mia like it? It shouldn’t have mattered at all whether she did, but his stomach disagreed, releasing a pack of winged creatures, pulling him out of the zone.
And that’s when the first raindrops graced his skin, delivering a warning that came too little and too late. By the time they got up and removed their headphones, it was already raining.
“Okay, let’s go!” Izzy stuffed the headphones in his bag while Mia rolled the blanket under her arm, and they ran down the hill, trying to follow the barely visible path leading back to the cul-de-sac and Izzy’s car.
Once inside, Mia let out a long sigh, shivering against her seat. “That was fast!”
“Yeah, the weather is changeable here.”
“Are you okay? You’re in a T-shirt. Do you want this back?” She glanced at the hoodie and visibly relaxed when Izzy shook her head.
“No, all good.” He started the car and turned up the heat before steering them back to where they’d come from. “Sorry about that.”
She laughed. “About what? Did you make it rain?” She stared out the window, a dreamy look in her eyes. “I loved that song. Like, really loved it. What was it?”
