Chapter Five
FLORA WAS EXHAUSTED by the time they made it to the theme park. She was yawning and as they checked in, Alessandro scooped her up and draped her over his shoulder so that she could nod off.
Georgie, on the other hand, was wide awake and more than making up for Flora’s sleepiness with high levels of excitement.
The hotel was busy but she imagined less so because of the time of year and because it was evening and rides would be winding down. She hung back, gaping while Alessandro did the checking in.
She could see the black still water of a lagoon outside and, in the distance, a stunning view of a turreted Cinderella castle, which was lit up like a Christmas tree.
Kids in the grand foyer were being entertained by Disney characters, from Minnie Mouse to Rapunzel.
Music to one of the Disney films was playing in the background and all in all it was magical.
‘Ready?’
Georgie blinked at the sound of Alessandro’s voice because she’d forgotten that he was there.
‘You’ve checked in already?’
‘The bags are being taken upstairs and I think I’ll have to get Flora off to sleep. Too much excitement.’
‘She’ll be fresh for tomorrow.’
‘Are you hungry? It’s after eight and it’s probably been a long day for you.’
He was walking and talking at the same time, heading for one of the lifts while a porter scuttled along in front of him, eager to please, until Alessandro told him that he could make his own way to the suite while fishing in his pocket and handing over some notes that made the guy’s eyes light up.
‘Well?’ he prompted, once in the lift. ‘Hungry? If you are you can order up whatever you like or you can explore if you want to and eat wherever you want. It will all be covered by me. I’ll give you one of my credit cards and the pin. Use it as you want.’
‘That’s very generous,’ Georgie said politely. ‘What will you do? I mean once you settle Flora?’ She hesitated. ‘Am I supposed to do something here? Help settle her? I can get her ready for bed or is that overstepping my duties?’
‘Just sort yourself out, Georgie, and leave my daughter to me.’
‘Okay.’
Stung, Georgie turned away and stared at the elevator door. Burnished matte silver. She could see her reflection in it as well as his.
He looked irritable and she wondered what she had done to provoke that.
It shouldn’t matter.
Georgie knew that. She also knew that she sometimes took passing comments to heart.
She knew where that stemmed from, knew that her reactions were sometimes overblown and irrational, but, at moments like this, her instinct was to retreat into herself and fall silent.
Growing up with her dyslexia, which had fostered such a confusing feeling of disadvantage before she could understand that there was even something wrong with her, had made her wary and always on the lookout for any kind of takedown.
And with the opposite sex? She knew when to back off, when to protect herself. Only with Hans had she forgotten to obey that basic instinct. However attractive this man was, she would have to remember that instinct.
The lift doors opened and they were disgorged onto a very large landing adorned with chairs and a sideboard on which stood the largest vase of fresh flowers she had ever seen.
She wanted to reach out and touch one of them, but she just followed Alessandro to an imposing door, which he opened with a key card.
The silence felt suffocating.
She was as excited as a kid, eager to find out what was on the theme park.
Instead, all she could think was that now that they were here, now that he was facing the prospect of being stuck with her for ten days, he was waking up to the fact that she irritated him.
Insecurities that she was so adept at hiding, that barely troubled her at all, began to creep in.
Was he embarrassed by her?
Here in this uber-expensive hotel where even the kids running around were decked out in designer clothes? She was sure she spotted a baby in a pushchair wearing Gucci.
She sneaked a glance at herself.
She’d layered up and as soon as they’d got off the plane, had begun de-layering.
She’d tied her jumper round her waist, stripped down to the tee shirt and stuffed the coat into her carry-on so that it bulged as though on the point of explosion.
Which it probably was.
She’d worn trainers because they were comfy, and had plaited her hair.
One long plait that had made it its mission to unravel pretty much as soon as she’d left Alessandro’s house on the way to the airport.
Mortification tore into her and she did her best to fight it, using every mantra available.
‘Choose whichever room you want,’ he said, interrupting her introspection.
When she looked at him, it was to see him disappearing towards the open adjoining door.
Flora was in a deep sleep. Through the door, Georgie could glimpse a suitcase in Flora’s suite, along with the garish Disney pull-along she had had at the airport.
Instinct would have propelled her to follow him, to make herself useful, because she was so accustomed to dealing with children. The ski resort ran a kids-only camp for a month over the summer holidays.
She knew all about tucking kids into bed, making sure they had their showers, often reading them stories even though the kids who stayed there for maybe a week at a time would have been older than Flora.
Kids were kids and who didn’t like a good story read to them?
He half shut the door behind him and Georgie gazed around her, her light dimmed.
It was beyond luxurious.
For the guy who had come from nothing, this was the top of the ladder he had climbed when it came to hotel suites. She didn’t think anything could surpass it.
It was simply enormous.
The living area, in which she now stood, was a canvas of soft pastel tones and the walls were adorned with large, framed Disney posters from way back when. The atmosphere, drenched in the whimsy of the age-old cartoon characters, was still sophisticated, elegant and tasteful.
Off to one side, there was a separate, spacious area, a TV zone with plush seating and a sideboard, which she guessed would always be laden with snacks.
She could have carried on staring but, instead, she took her case, which had been brought up and spent a couple of minutes shamelessly gaping.
The entire area was larger than most people’s apartments. Georgie didn’t know that a hotel suite could actually have such an enormous footprint.
If she’d had any apprehension about sharing space with him, then that would have been instantly dispelled.
Her quarters included a sitting area as well as a massive bathroom and a walk-in dressing room in which she had precious little to put.
There were also facilities for making hot drinks and baskets of fruit.
She would have to have something to eat but, first, she would have to at least say goodnight to Alessandro and find out what their plans would be for the following day.
She emerged from her rooms to find him prowling through the living area, still frowning.
The second she walked in, he looked at her but before he could say anything, she rushed into nervous chatter.
‘Is Flora asleep?’
‘She barely opened her eyes when I settled her into bed.’
‘Poor thing. Long day for a small child and when you add the excitement in…’ Georgie laughed a nervous laugh. ‘This is an amazing place, by the way!’ She made a wide gesture with her arms. ‘A person could get lost in here! And you’re not going to believe the size of the bedrooms!’
She didn’t want to dwell on how she looked because that would have returned her to the place of thinking that he was embarrassed to be seen with her.
She didn’t want her insecurities to stamp all over common sense.
They weren’t going to be here for very long and she mustn’t forget, she told herself, that she was doing him a favour. In a manner of speaking.
But she couldn’t help but register that, even after an equally long and tiring trip, he still managed to look cool and elegant and sophisticated.
Her eyes were compulsively drawn to the way the dark hairs on his wrist slightly curled round the matte gold of his watch strap.
The breadth of his shoulders pushing at the shirt and the length of his muscular legs.
‘I… I just came to say goodnight.’ She plunged into a bit more nervous chatter and dragged her eyes away from him.
‘I think I’ll order some food to eat in my room and…
and…you can tell me what time you’d like me to join you tomorrow morning.
I know you sent that email with everything laid out but it’ll save time if you just tell me when I should surface. ’
‘You must be tired. Join me in a drink before you order your food.’
‘Er…’
‘Wine? Gin and tonic? Water?’
He moved towards a mini-sized open-plan kitchen area and threw over his shoulder, ‘The bar will be fully stocked with whatever you want. If you want something different, they’ll bring it up to you.’
‘Amazing.’
‘You pay for what you get. What do you want to drink?’
‘I guess I’ll have a glass of wine. Thank you.’
She hovered, watching him, looking out for more signs of irritation.
When he reached to hand her a glass of wine, she could barely control the slight tremor in her hand.
‘I’m not going to bite, Georgie, so you don’t have to look so nervous.’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘What are you apologising for?’
‘I… I know you’re irritated with me but it’s not my fault that you’re here with me!’
She hadn’t meant to say anything because maintaining a dignified silence would have been so much better, but she hadn’t been able to help herself and now that she had said what she had, she looked at him with simmering defiance.
‘I’m not irritated with you.’
‘Is it because…? No, forget it.’
She went to sit on one of the comfortable sofas, although she would rather have skulked off to her bedroom.
She’d initiated a conversation and now she wished she hadn’t.
He’d told her that she made him feel old.
She could have said that he made her feel way too young and green around the ears for her liking.