Chapter Seventeen #2
The small town was already busy when they eventually reached it, strolling along a narrow cobbled street which opened onto a central square, dominated by the church and its tall bell tower.
Painted doors and balconies stuffed with plants made a colourful splash against dark railings, the height of the buildings helping to block out the sun, if not the heat.
They followed tram tracks carved into the ground, which Raf told her ran from the town to the harbour.
Buildings lined every side of the square, some set behind hedges and more railings, mountains rising behind them.
Stalls were crammed into every scrap of space, shaded by white canopies, and Cassie shot him a smile, itching to explore.
Tables lined the pavements outside cafes, already half full as people hurried past with laden bags bumping at their sides.
‘You didn’t tell me there was so much here!’ She was glad she’d brought a large bag, although lugging it home up that hill wouldn’t be much fun. ‘How long have we got?’
‘As long as you want.’ He paused beside a stall hung with preserved meats, chunky red rings of chorizo suspended in the shade. He spoke rapidly and soon the stallholder was wrapping a couple and handing them over.
‘I’d forgotten how well you speak Spanish,’ Cassie said wistfully as they resumed their walk.
Languages had never been her strong point.
‘You sounded like a local.’ She also hadn’t missed how easily he attracted attention as surprised glances and a few double takes came his way.
Was it his height and looks attracting interest, his fame, or was he simply known to some of these people after years of holidaying on this hillside?
Orange trees jammed in wide planters stood on the pavements outside the cafes, parasols open wide to offer shade.
Fashion, food, plants, local arts and crafts; all were here, and she wandered from stall to stall, appreciating having the time to explore without two teenagers grumbling at her shoulder.
She bought a sunhat and put it on immediately, pausing to let Raf adjust it.
His hands skimmed her shoulders before he caught her hand and tugged her closer still, dropping a kiss on her cheek.
At a stall selling dresses, she pulled one and then another out for a closer look, holding them against her body.
‘What do you think?’ She felt a little self-conscious, asking for his opinion. Even though she couldn’t see his eyes behind the aviators, she had the sense they’d narrowed to observe her.
‘The truth?’
‘Of course.’ She laughed. ‘I can take it.’
‘I’m not sure the green would suit you, but the other one is perfect.’
A soft cream cotton with narrow straps across the shoulders, the dress was emblazoned with deep blush roses and splashes of pale green leaves.
It fell almost to her ankles and fastened across the left hip, the skirt a wide swirl that fanned out as she twirled.
It was a holiday dress, the sort she didn’t often get to wear.
But here, in the sunshine of a bustling market lively with tourists and locals jostling amongst the stalls, Cassie felt loosened from her life at home.
‘So shall I buy it?’
‘Definitely. I think it will look great on you.’
‘Maybe later.’ She slid the dress back on the rail with an apologetic smile at the stallholder. ‘I don’t suppose I’d wear it much at home.’
After that their hands found their way to each other, fingers entwined, and occasionally she tugged him over to a stall to examine something. Raf readjusted her hat when he dislodged it and pulled her into his side, as though they really were lovers and this day had been made just for them.
They lingered over coffee and breakfast at a pavement cafe, watching the world strolling by, and bought enough food to last until they left on Saturday.
Walking back up the hill was much harder, even with a light breeze, and Cassie was glad to return and put everything away.
In the mirror in her room, she noticed a suntan already developing.
The face staring back looked more at ease, her skin smooth and clear, eyes glittering with something she recognised as desire.
She changed into her bikini with the kaftan over the top and wandered out to the pool.
He was on the terrace and her skin burned yet more as he watched her approach.
‘I’m off to see a neighbour up the mountain, the one who produces the olive oil. Pippa wants me to bring some back. I was going to do it tomorrow, but he’s messaged to say he won’t be around. You want to come with me?’
‘Do you mind if I don’t?’ Cassie raised her book. ‘I’m feeling very lazy after that walk, and I don’t think I’m ready to face another hill just yet. I thought I’d read and swim.’
‘Sure, you go ahead.’ Raf got up from the sofa and collected his phone. ‘I’ll only be an hour or so.’
The villa felt empty when he’d left, as though it had lost some of its energy without his presence.
After a swim, she oiled herself and lay on her front to top up the suntan, chin folded on her hands.
It wasn’t long before she felt sleepy again, and she woke to the touch of his hand gentle on her shoulder.
‘How long have you been out here?’
‘I’m not sure,’ she muttered. She raised her head, blinking, the sun bright behind him as he settled on the edge of her lounger, utterly aware of his proximity as he pushed sunglasses into his hair. ‘Since you left. I swam and had a shower, then lay down here.’
‘Maybe you need to move inside, or at least into the shade again.’ He tapped her shoulder with a finger. ‘You’re burning.’
‘I don’t know what’s come over me,’ she said hazily, aware of his finger resting lightly against her skin. ‘I just want to swim, sleep or sunbathe the whole time. And eat. The food is amazing.’
‘It’s your body’s way of letting you know you needed a rest. And maybe some sun. Go with it, don’t fight it.’
‘Do I look like I’m fighting it?’ she mumbled into her hands. ‘Maybe I need another week.’
‘That could be arranged.’ Raf traced an idle path down her back and Cassie could barely breathe. ‘Would you like me to oil you?’
‘Would you mind?’ She cleared her throat, the catch in her voice giving her away.
‘Not in the least. Budge up.’
She shifted across, aware of him reaching for the bottle of factor fifty on the floor.
Was he being deliberately loud as he unscrewed the top and tipped some onto his hand, or was it that her every sense was heightened, poised for him to begin.
He smoothed gentle circles across her back, working the suncream into her skin, brushing her hair out of the way.
She gasped when his fingers slid beneath the strap fastening the bikini around her neck.
Slowly he worked his way down, his hands firm and sure, as though he was imprinting himself onto her soul.
Never had her body been touched with so much sensitivity, as though they had all the time in the world and the only thing Raf cared about was her and how he made her feel.
She could barely recall her own name as she wondered wildly how he could make so simple a task feel so utterly sensual, until she was almost melting with anticipation and desire.
When his finger tugged at the thin bikini strap across her back, she stifled another sharp intake of breath.
‘You have a line, here,’ he said huskily, a second finger joining the first. ‘It seems a shame to spoil your suntan. Would you like me to undo it?’
‘Please,’ she told him tremulously, the whispered reply making her decision clear. ‘I think you’re right. It would be a shame.’
Cassie couldn’t care less about her suntan.
It was all Raf, his touch and how they felt, where they were going, that mattered.
How slow and careful he was being, how polite and yet lethal, every brush of his fingers leaving her longing for more.
Was she imagining the length of time he was taking to unfasten it?
And when he parted the straps and let them fall away, she wondered how the separating of two thin strips of material could suddenly make her feel so naked.
He could see no more of her than he had before, and yet she felt totally undressed and entirely aware of his every ragged breath.
Even the sun couldn’t compete with the heat he was generating in her body. She felt scorched, branded. His.
‘I think you’re good now,’ he muttered. He found the bottle again and tightened the lid. ‘I should go and make us some lunch.’
‘What if I don’t want you to go?’ she whispered.
‘I don’t want to go either,’ Raf told her hoarsely. ‘But I promised I’d wait until you were ready. I want you to be certain and maybe this isn’t the right moment to decide that. Not when you’re lying here almost naked and I don’t want us to stop.’
She swallowed, caught between desire to have him continue and a tiny voice telling her he was right. That she might act on this moment and regret it before the day was out. And she wanted to be certain, too. No regrets. She needed reason, not her body clamouring for more.
‘So it’s not just me who feels this way?’
‘You want me to prove it?’ He leant over to place the words in her ear.
‘How would you do that?’ Cassie muttered distractedly.
‘I’ll show you, when you’re ready.’ He dropped a kiss onto her shoulder, and she was already ruing reason and sense.
‘I just don’t think I can mend my heart a second time, Raf,’ she whispered.
‘I don’t want you to have to mend your heart again, I promise.
And for what it’s worth, I think we can work it out.
I want to work this thing out, so you and me can find a way to be together.
But we take it as slow as you need.’ The lounger shifted as he stood up.
‘I’ll be inside when you’re ready to eat. ’
After lunch he disappeared, telling her he had to work. She napped in her room after another swim, opening her bedroom door to a knock after she’d woken and showered.
‘You forgot this, when we were at the market.’ Raf held out something soft wrapped in tissue paper, and she took it, tearing it open. Inside was the rose-patterned dress she’d found this morning, and she laughed.
‘You went back to get it for me? Why?’
‘Because you loved it and I think you’ll look beautiful in it,’ he told her softly.
‘Thank you.’ She held it against her body, tilting a hip. ‘I do love it, even more than I did this morning.’
‘You’re welcome. I’m going for a shower. I’ll see you at dinner, yeah?’
‘Absolutely. And it’s my turn to make it.’
There was no doubt what she’d be wearing tonight.
Throughout their friendship they’d shared the usual celebratory gifts, but he’d never chosen one like this before.
One so intimate and meaningful, that he wanted her to wear.
An idea fell into her mind as she closed the door to change, wondering if she dared see it through.