Chapter 32
32
‘Good morning, beautiful,’ I hear a voice say, gently beckoning me back to the real world.
Andrea’s soft lips brush against my forehead, stirring me from my slumber. As I slowly wake up, I remember where I am.
I’m in bed with him, cocooned in Andrea’s embrace. My head rests peacefully on his chest, and I feel his steady heartbeat beneath my cheek – it’s so relaxing, and oddly reassuring, although I don’t know why. His strong arm is wrapped around me, holding me close, while my hand rests lightly on his stomach.
‘Morning,’ I murmur sleepily, feeling a contented smile tug at my lips.
‘Did you sleep well?’ he asks, his voice warm with affection.
‘What little I slept, yes, it was very good,’ I reply, giggling softly.
I’ve heard people – mostly on TV and in the movies – talk about making love until the sun came up, but I never actually thought that it was a thing. Wow, how wrong I was. It was light outside by the time Andrea and I were done with one another and, even then, I don’t think we were actually done, I think we were just exhausted.
‘It’s nice here, no?’ Andrea remarks, his voice sounding relaxed – well, he always sounds relaxed, so I guess what I’m saying is that he sounds even more relaxed than usual. ‘It feels like we’re away from everything. Away from work, away from real life.’
‘I know what you mean,’ I reply, shifting slightly to gaze up at him. ‘It was really nice yesterday, to just spend time together and have fun and just forget about… well, absolutely everything else.’
‘Well, it doesn’t have to end yet,’ he says. ‘You can get breakfast delivered to your room here, you know. Would you like something?’
My mind races with possibilities, but Andrea, on a platter, every day for the rest of my life is probably the thing I fancy the most.
‘Always,’ I reply as I stretch out briefly before snuggling back up to him again. ‘But then we do have to go back to real life, sadly.’
‘Let’s just stay like this, for a little longer,’ he suggests, his tone pleading.
‘Okay,’ I say with a deep sigh, as I try to make myself even more comfortable. ‘Well, we were supposed to break up last night, weren’t we? And we kind of did the opposite, so there’s that.’
‘It would be crazy to break up today, though, not when it’s Nonna’s birthday party later,’ he reminds me, his tone light and jokey. ‘You know, she’s so happy that you’re coming, and that I’ve found you. You’ll come, right?’
‘Of course,’ I say, smiling to myself, because Nonna is just the cutest. The thought of missing her party, of letting her down like that, almost breaks my heart.
Perhaps I’m being overly optimistic, but it feels like maybe both of us are thinking that pretending to break up isn’t as pressing an issue as we thought it was initially. Obviously we’re not actually engaged, and despite spending years talking and getting to know each other, we did only meet in person about a week ago. So why start rushing things now, right? Decisions like when we should fake break up will have to wait until after the party, at least.
That said, Andrea might be moving to LA, sooner rather than later, so the idea of this being anything more than temporary needs pushing out of my head as quickly as possible.
Gosh, isn’t it just like me, to sleep with a man, for our bodies to still be touching, and for me to start worrying about what happens next? Now is not the time to dwell on what happens next, it’s a time to just enjoy the moment.
I notice my phone vibrating on the bedside table, forcing me to stop stressing for a minute. Sometimes it feels like that sound is the soundtrack to my life, especially when I’m in bed.
‘Do you need to look?’ Andrea asks, knowing that the answer is probably going to be yes.
‘Probably,’ I reply, reluctantly tearing myself away from his arms. ‘But I’ll be right back, and, I don’t know, maybe you can think of something else to give me before breakfast.’
‘I’ll see what I can do for you,’ he replies with a chuckle.
I grab my phone and see a few messages from Rick, but one stands out the most:
Beppe from Come a Casa wants to hear our pitches today.
‘Oh, shit,’ I blurt, my heart sinking as I realise what’s going on.
‘What’s wrong?’ Andrea asks, sitting up in bed, his concern evident on his face.
‘Rick says that Beppe wants to hear our pitches today,’ I tell him. ‘I need to get back to the resort, asap.’
‘That’s okay,’ he tells me reassuringly. ‘We’re not far, I have my car here. I can drive us to the resort. It won’t be a problem.’
‘Okay, thanks,’ I say, jumping out of bed and grabbing my bag to put on the change of clothes I packed for the drive back today.
Andrea springs into action too, throwing on clothes and packing things up with a sense of urgency that I really appreciate.
‘How about we pick up where we left off later?’ Andrea suggests, daring to flirt as we rush around the room like headless chickens, gathering our things up so we can go. ‘After you pitch, before we go to the party – then maybe again after.’
‘That sounds great to me,’ I reply with a smile.
I am so, so close to winning my first big project at work. All I need to do is go, get it done, and then that’s it. I can go to the party, and if Beppe likes my idea then great. If not, well, no one can say I didn’t try.