Chapter 27
SAMMIE
As I stepped out of the sea, I exhaled.
The water was heavenly. Swimming here was a billion times better than at my local pool. Especially considering the last time I went, I saw a kid weeing in it.
And I much preferred the salty scent to the heavy chlorine stench that was always in the air at public pools.
Yep. I could definitely get used to this.
I walked over to where I’d left my things and picked up my towel. As I dried off, I thought about what I wanted to do next. Today’s group activity was a beach barbecue which started at seven, so I still had a few hours left before I had to get ready.
After breakfast, I’d read by the pool for hours, then once I’d eaten lunch, I’d started searching for Edward online.
I’d found his LinkedIn easily, so I’d tried calling his office, but his secretary said he was ‘unavailable’.
When I’d asked when he’d be free, she’d asked who was calling, so I’d hung up.
My social media searches so far had also come up blank. Stella hadn’t had any joy either, but she said Jasmine was great at research, so she’d ask her.
Then I’d decided that as much as I wanted to know what had happened to him, I couldn’t waste my holiday thinking about someone who clearly wasn’t thinking about me. Which is when I decided to come to the beach for a swim.
I looked out into the distance. The sea stretched as far as the eye could see and this beach looked pretty long too so I wrapped a sarong around my waist, slung my towel in my bag and decided to explore.
My feet sank into the golden sand and I wished for the hundredth time that I could stay here forever. Imagine being able to go swimming in the sea whenever I wanted. That’d be the dream.
It wasn’t likely to happen though. When I was younger, I’d thought about living in Florida, which is where my dad was from, but it just never happened.
It was hard enough finding a decent job in London, never mind in another country.
Moving to a new place and leaving my parents and friends behind was way too scary.
Plus, I was so close to getting that head receptionist role, so I couldn’t go swanning off.
If I did, all my hard work over the past almost five years would’ve been for nothing.
Maybe one day I’d go for an extended holiday.
‘Sammie,’ a deep Italian voice called out.
I snapped my gaze away from the sea and saw Romeo walking towards me.
Jesus. The man really was a god.
He wasn’t in his uniform. He was wearing a vest which showed off his glorious arms and a pair of swimming trunks.
Romeo’s hair was damp and droplets of water slid down his skin.
The urge to step forward and lick them off was strong. But I was happy to report that somehow, I resisted.
‘Romeo! Ciao !’ I said. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘I am on my break, so I went for a swim. I like to come to this part of the beach because it is quieter.’
‘I just went for a swim too. I never walked this far up before. It’s lovely here.’
‘Sorry I did not get to speak to you at breakfast.’
‘It’s fine.’ I waved my hand away. I’d missed speaking to him though. When I arrived and every time I looked up, he was chatting with other guests or his colleagues. ‘Thanks for sending over the pastries though.’
Not long after I’d arrived, one of the Cuisine Champions came over with a plate of cherry-flavoured pasticciotto , which she said were courtesy of Romeo.
‘ Prego ,’ he said. ‘Now that you have tried different flavours, I am interested to know which is your favourite?’
‘Oooh, that’s a tough one. Maybe the original custard one or the Nutella? You?’
‘I like them all, but perhaps Nutella is my favourite. I like chocolate.’
‘Me too.’
Our eyes locked.
Prosecco bubbles popped in my stomach and electricity crackled in the air.
‘You have…’ Romeo stepped closer and brushed away a curl that had fallen onto my cheek.
‘Th-thanks.’ My breath caught in my throat.
Romeo’s gaze dipped to my mouth.
Was he thinking about kissing me?
God, I hoped so.
I wanted him.
Would it be so bad if we did?
At this point, Edward returning seemed unlikely.
This part of the beach was deserted, so his bosses wouldn’t find out.
It would just be one kiss. Just so I could know how he tasted.
My lips parted and the thought of locking lips with Romeo caused tingles to erupt between my legs.
Just as I was about to inch my head closer, Romeo stepped back.
Noooo.
I couldn’t be imagining this attraction. I was sure that he liked me.
But maybe he just made every woman feel special. I still had Jasmine’s words swimming round in my head. I needed to know if he felt the electricity or if I was just another guest he was being nice to.
‘Can I ask you something?’ I said.
‘Sure.’
‘Did something happen between you and a guest before?’
‘What?’ He frowned. ‘Where did you hear this?’
‘I… er.’ I didn’t want to drop Jasmine in it. ‘I heard some people saying that you flirted with guests and that maybe something happened with one?’
‘That is not true.’ He shook his head. ‘I will explain.’ We sat on the sand, facing each other.
‘Last month, there was a guest who became a little… enthusiastic about me. She would always come to my office. I was concerned that she was becoming too familiar, but I thought that I could handle it. But then she tried to kiss me.’
‘No!’ I gasped.
‘ Sì .’ He rubbed the back of his neck. ‘I pushed her away and told her I was not interested and she should be with her match. I reported it to Victoria straightaway, but in the meantime, the woman had told her match that we had kissed and she did not want to be with him any more, because she was in love with me.’
‘Bloody hell! Sounds like she was obsessed! What happened then?’
‘Of course her match was furious. He complained to management and when he saw me, he tried to punch me.’
‘Fuck!’ I gasped. ‘Was that the only time something like that happened?’
‘That was the most extreme. Sometimes guests become too tactile. For example, a few weeks ago, a woman was stroking my arm and her match complained. I try to be polite but firm, but it is difficult because they do not like the rejection. So she also complained.’
‘It must be a nightmare being so irresistible that the guests can’t stop throwing themselves at you!’ I laughed, then winced. I didn’t want to sound insensitive.
‘I am not looking for sympathy. I just want to do my job. And it is damaging when these rumours circulate and they are not true.’
‘It must be,’ I nodded, then softened my voice. ‘If it means anything, I believe you.’
‘You do?’ Romeo’s eyes widened.
‘Yeah. I’ve spent a lot of time with you this week and I can see you’re a good guy.’
‘ Grazie .’ Romeo held my gaze. ‘That means a lot.’
I meant what I said. He was genuine, kind, caring and God, so beautiful.
‘I should get back.’ He stood up and brushed the sand off his shorts.
I jumped up too and stood in front of him.
Our eyes locked again.
Electricity sparked between us. I knew I should move away, but I couldn’t.
‘I am going.’ Romeo turned to leave.
‘Wait.’ I grabbed his hand and jeez, the sensation of touching his soft, warm palm hit me like a wrecking ball. His eyes shot up to meet mine, but he didn’t pull away. ‘Do you feel it?’ I blurted out then instantly regretted it. If he said no it was gonna be a very awkward week.
Maybe I shouldn’t have asked him so soon after what he’d just told me about the handsy guests, but in many ways, what he just said proved that he wasn’t the flirtatious womaniser people thought he was.
And just maybe it also proved that I wasn’t just another guest to him. That somehow I was more.
Even if we couldn’t act on it, I still needed to know, one way or the other.
‘Feel what?’ His gaze dropped to the sand.
‘Oh, come on!’ I rolled my eyes. ‘You know what. Can you feel the connection between us?’ I stroked his palm gently.
‘ Sì .’ He rubbed the back of his neck. ‘I feel it. But there is nothing we can do. You are still Edward’s match. Victoria has tried everything to contact him, but there is still no news. And you are a guest here. It is forbidden.’
‘I know.’ I blew out a heavy sigh.
‘But if the circumstances were different…’
‘Yeah?’ Hope sprung in my chest. ‘What would happen if they were?’
‘I should go.’ Romeo slipped his palm out of mine and I instantly missed the sensation. ‘I will see you at the barbecue tonight, va bene ?’
‘ Va bene ,’ I replied.
Although I wished I could say that I was okay, I was far from bene.
I was frustrated because I wanted Romeo.
He’d just admitted that he wanted me too.
But he was strictly off limits.
And there wasn’t a damn thing we could do about it.
* * *
I’d been at the barbecue for half an hour and was already thinking about heading back to my room. Being surrounded by all of these loved-up couples was difficult enough, but then seeing Romeo and knowing that I couldn’t be with him made things ten times harder.
Just as I was about to excuse myself, my phone rang.
‘Jasmine, hi!’ I said.
‘Hi, can you talk?’
‘Yeah. Perfect timing actually. Give me a sec.’ I stepped away from where everyone was huddled on the beach. ‘What’s up?’
‘I’ve been doing some digging on Edward. I know Victoria and the team have been on the case from day one. They’ve contacted him at work, called his next of kin, sent emails, texts… you name it, they’ve tried it.’
‘I’ve lost count of the messages I’ve sent. I even tried calling him at work too.’
‘He’s ignoring everyone and there’s something fishy going on.
I can just feel it. And I hate that he’s left you in limbo.
So, with Victoria’s permission, I tried a different route.
Instead of calling from the hotel, I said I was a new plant-based restaurant looking for influencers to promote the brand on social media and asked his PA for his social media handles to see if he’d be a good fit. ’
‘That’s genius! He’d lap that shit up!’
‘He did. His PA was very happy to share them and I found his Instagram.’
‘No way!’
‘I’ve just sent you a link to it now. He hasn’t posted since the first day he arrived in Italy, so there’s nothing suspicious that jumps out, but I haven’t time to do a deep dive and I won’t get a chance tonight.’
‘You’ve already done more than enough. I’ll have a look myself and see what I can find out. Thanks so much!’
‘You’re welcome. I hope you find something useful. Keep me updated.’
‘Will do.’
I hung up, then clicked the link.
No wonder I couldn’t find him online. His handle was Shredded Ed followed by a string of numbers (probably related to the exact number of calories he thought women should consume each week) which I never would’ve found or guessed.
I scrolled through his feed and, like Jasmine mentioned, nothing stood out. Then I started looking at his most recent posts. He didn’t have loads of likes, but I noticed there was one person that had liked every single one.
When I clicked on it, I saw it was a woman called Chardonnay.
That was his ex. I knew it was something related to wine.
She had a few more recent posts. One from a few days ago at a restaurant, holding some guy’s hand. That post had been liked by Edward.
So he had time to like his ex’s post, but couldn’t even take two seconds to message me? Twat.
Then I noticed Chardonnay had some stories that were still live, so clicked them straightaway.
But when I saw what was on the screen, my jaw dropped and my stomach plummeted.
It was a photo of Chardonnay.
Touching her bare stomach.
With Edward standing beside her, with his hand also touching her belly.
The caption read:
It’s early days, but we’re thrilled to announce that we’re expecting!
I blinked, then blinked again.
My phone slid out of my palm and crashed onto the sand.
There wasn’t a sick family member.
Edward wasn’t grieving.
All this time I was worrying about him, feeling like the worst person in the world because I had feelings for Romeo, Edward was with his ex.
His pregnant ex.
Anger bubbled in my chest and tears stung my eyes.
I scooped up my phone then started running.
I needed to get out of here.