‘I don’t think a mugging is the tiniest thing.’
Kate smiled ruefully. She’d been lucky to run into Jamie on her first day. She hoped he would want to stay in touch at the end of the holiday, because she could see he would be a wonderful friend to have in the future. And maybe she’d even visit him in New York one day, on his home soil. That would be a lot of fun, she was sure, as long as he didn’t make a habit of disappearing on her whenever they had dinner.
‘As luck would have it,’ he added, ‘the meeting I had scheduled for tomorrow is cancelled, so I’m free for the day.’
‘That’s good. So what are you going to do with yourself?’
‘I don’t know. I’ve pretty much seen Rome over the years, but I wondered whether you wanted to do something. . . maybe catch some of the sights that first-time tourists wouldn’t see? There’s plenty I could show you.’
‘Oh, that would have been lovely but. . .’
‘But?’
‘I kind of have plans.’
‘Oh. Well that’s cool. I was just thinking but. . . you want to spend some time on your own, I get that. It doesn’t matter.’
‘No! It isn’t that. Ordinarily I’d love to go sightseeing with you but it’s not that simple. It’s. . .’ Kate paused. Jamie looked so disappointed that she hated to let him down. But she’d made arrangements now that she couldn’t undo, particularly as she didn’t even know how to contact Alessandro to undo them, even if she’d wanted to. Which she didn’t, despite Orazia’s interference and even though she felt bad about Jamie. Would she sound like a crazy woman if she told Jamie the truth? Probably no worse than he already thought she was. ‘I’ve arranged to go to the Vatican with someone.’
Jamie raised his eyebrows. ‘Someone?’
‘Yes. . . someone.’
As she had offered no more information, it seemed obvious that it was something more than any old companion, and Jamie seized on the idea with a grin. ‘Male?’
‘Maybe. . .’
‘I’m impressed! That was quick work!’
‘You’re a male someone!’ Kate laughed. ‘And I met you on the first day.’
He speared an olive and popped it into his mouth with a suggestive wink that would have been skin crawling on anyone else but on him was just funny. ‘You did, but I can tell by your face that this is a potential-sexual-partner kind of someone.’
‘Jamie!’ Kate squeaked.
‘Tell me I’m wrong.’
‘I don’t know what he is; I’ve only just met him. But he asked me and I said yes.’
He leaned back again in his seat. ‘Wow, you do work fast!’
‘I don’t know what he means by it. I think he was just being nice.’
‘Nice because he wants to get into your panties. Guys are like that.’
‘No he doesn’t!’ Kate giggled. ‘He certainly won’t be doing that at the Vatican.’
‘So tell me everything. Mugging and flirting; it sounds as if you’ve had a very busy day.’
Kate paused as the waiter brought wine and antipasti. Then she continued as he left them again. ‘There’s not that much to tell. He helped me out and then took me back to my hotel this afternoon—’
‘Yes, of course. . . back to your hotel. . .’ Jamie gave her a lazy grin, looking immensely pleased with his deduction. Kate couldn’t help but giggle.
‘Not like that, Jamie! It was all very innocent and he just dropped me off outside. I had been a victim of crime, you know, and I was very traumatised. Then he asked if I wanted to go to the Vatican tomorrow and I said yes.’
Jamie’s eyes were wide as he seemed to come to a conclusion. ‘Wait! This is your helpful cop?’ His grin was back, bigger than ever. ‘I guess you did need personal one-to-one care from the police. Not an ugly dude, of course.’
Kate laughed. ‘Shut up!’ But she had almost certainly ensured that Jamie thought she was a nutter now.
‘So this is a date?’
‘I think so. It’s hard to tell. . .’
‘It so is!’ He clapped his hands together like a little kid who’d just been shown a table full of chocolate. ‘Score! You bagged yourself a cop!’
Kate shot a quick glance at the surrounding tables, all crammed with chattering customers. Jamie’s outburst didn’t seem to have brought as much attention to their table as she had feared, and most were happily talking away as they ate, or leaning back in their seats with a glass of wine and drinking in the scenery.
‘Do you think it’s a bad idea?’
‘Bad idea? Are you crazy? Italian, fine sense of justice, probably looks hot in his uniform and could handle himself in a fight. I think you’ll do just fine. And he’s suggested taking you to the Vatican, so he’s probably a good Catholic boy too.’
‘I never thought about that. I’m not Catholic. Do you think it will matter?’
‘Kate, you can be anything he wants for tomorrow. It’s not like you’re going to marry him.’
‘Yeah, I suppose so. I’ve got myself in such a tizzy about the whole thing if I’m honest that I don’t know what I’m saying half the time.’ She popped a lemon-infused olive into her mouth, savouring the flavours as they burst into life on her tongue.
‘I’m sure it will be just fine. I could be on standby for you if it doesn’t work out. We could come up with a safe word you can call me with and I can come and meet you in an “accidental” way. . .’ He crooked two fingers in the air to make speech marks. ‘Or I could arrange to call you at a certain time of the day and pretend I need you for something. That way you’d have a get-out plan. In case he’s boring as hell.’
Kate didn’t imagine for a minute that Alessandro would be boring, but perhaps Jamie had a point. Not that she thought there would be any issue with him, but if he turned out to be unexpectedly obnoxious or just started coming on too heavy, it would be good to feel she had an escape route. After all, she didn’t know him at all. She hardly knew Jamie but at least she’d spent a little more time with him – enough to get the measure of what sort of person he was. And despite the episode in the trattoria the night before, she trusted him to come to her rescue if she asked; he had come back to the hotel to check on her, after all. ‘That’s probably a good idea. How about I phone you and mention. . .’ she glanced around, and her gaze fell on the antipasti plate, ‘green olives if I need you?’
‘Green olives, got it.’
Jamie reached over to top his wine glass up and then did the same with Kate’s. She made a mental note to drink the next glass more slowly so she wouldn’t end up in a state like she had the night before.
‘So,’ she began, ‘now that we have that sorted, are you going to tell me what happened to you last night? I mean, I don’t want the sordid details. . . but I get the feeling that something is going on with you and Pietro.’
Jamie paused and took a slow sip of his wine as he held her in a steady gaze, all merriment suddenly gone. He seemed to be weighing up how much to tell her. Kate had been so preoccupied with whether she could trust a man she’d only just met that she had forgotten the same applied to him. He knew Kate as well as she knew him, and she was probably asking him something quite personal.
‘Forget it,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘I shouldn’t have asked.’
‘No, you have a right to know. I did excuse myself from the table for a very long time, and I understand why you would have been upset and thought I’d run out on you. I wasn’t intending to be so long, and before you say anything, I’m not having an affair with him.’
‘Really, if you don’t want to tell me—’
‘I don’t mind telling you; it’s just that I don’t know where to begin. And really it’s not my story to tell so this is in confidence. OK?’
Kate nodded. ‘Of course.’
He took another swig of his wine before putting the glass down and tracing its rim with an idle finger. Kate had never seen him look so serious.
‘The first time I ate at Trattoria da Luigi I was in Ro
me with Brad.’
‘Your boyfriend?’
Jamie nodded. ‘We had dinner together there, and Pietro was very attentive. I thought nothing of it, only to recall it the next time I came to Rome on business, so that when I thought about having dinner alone it seemed a no-brainer to eat at the place where I’d had great service from a friendly waiter. Sure enough he waited my table again and he was great. We got chatting, and he asked if I wanted to go to a bar when he’d finished his shift. I was alone, and I was bored.’ He shrugged. ‘It seemed like a good idea.’
‘Did you think it was a come-on? That he wanted to take you to a bar because he fancied you?’
‘Not really. He hadn’t showed that sort of interest. . . he was just friendly and I was glad to be out of my hotel room for an evening.’
‘So what happened?’
‘Nothing. We had a few drinks, he introduced me to his friends, and we had a great time. We went out again the following night, and again the night after that. I came back to Rome three more times and each time we hooked up in the same way. I mean, it’s great if you can find a friend to spend time with, otherwise these business trips can get pretty lonely.’
Kate nodded, but she didn’t interrupt, sensing that he needed to stay focused on his story.
‘One day we went back to his friend’s apartment instead of the bar. His friend was out but he’d given Pietro a key, so we made ourselves at home. That’s when he told me he’d fallen in love with me.’
He paused then knocked back the rest of his wine. Kate waited patiently while he refilled the glass. She wasn’t shocked by his revelation, having already guessed that this was where the story was heading. She was only surprised that Jamie himself hadn’t seen it coming at the time, as he had professed. But she didn’t say so and he continued.
‘We were both drunk by this point, and I thought he was messing with me. So I began messing with him, putting my arms around him, kissing his cheek. . . I told him I loved him too, but I thought it was fun – nothing more than that. I thought it was all a drunken game. It couldn’t be possible that it was true – he’d never shown any signs of it before. . . hell, everything about him screamed straight to me. But then he kissed me properly and I knew. I’m not proud, but things got out of hand. I didn’t sleep with him,’ he added quickly, ‘but things went way too far. I wasn’t so drunk that I had forgotten Brad, and I stopped before I did something I might regret. Pietro was hurt, and he was ashamed, I could tell. It was hard on both of us. Anyway. . . I went to talk to him again the next night when we’d both had time to cool down, and we agreed that we could be friends, and I would even help him come out if he wanted me to. His family are pretty religious and very traditional, so he was terrified. I honestly wondered whether he would ever dare, or whether he was doomed to spend his life married to a woman he didn’t love just to make them happy.’
‘You said last night that you thought he was going to the Alps,’ Kate reminded him.
‘Ah, yes. The last time I saw him he had suddenly decided he was going to leave Rome and work as a ski instructor. I thought it was a bit random, but if it made him happy then that was cool.’
‘But last night you saw he was still working at his dad’s restaurant and that’s why you went off with him? To find out why?’
‘I could guess why. He called me away from the table to talk; there were things he needed to get off his chest and I guess the sight of me sitting there brought them all to his mind. He said he was struggling to concentrate on anything with me around.’
‘He still loves you?’
Jamie nodded. ‘He says he wants to come and live in New York so that he’s near the only person he feels understands him. He says he doesn’t care that Brad is there, and when I tried to explain to him that seeing us together all the time would be torture, he said he didn’t care about that either and that he’d be able to control himself.’
‘You don’t think that would be the case?’
‘Living near to me would be a disaster, and it wouldn’t help him at all. I told him so and that it would only make things worse with temptation that close by, no matter what he said. Plus, there’s the danger of him being too close to Brad. I don’t think he would say anything to incriminate me, and I think Brad would trust me in the face of any accusations, but it’s not something I want to risk.’
Kate blew out a long breath. ‘And I thought my life was complicated. I can see why you’re so worried.’
‘I don’t know what to do about him, but I feel responsible for him, whether I should or not. He’s trusting me with something that’s a huge deal for him, and he needs my support.’
‘Do you think that’s why he’s so attached to you? Because he’s latching on to someone who understands him, rather than being genuinely in love?’
Jamie nodded. ‘Perhaps. If only he would come out, he could find someone who was free to love him back openly. He’s a great guy, and he doesn’t deserve all this hellfire and damnation shit his parents have indoctrinated in him.’
‘You think they’d come round? If they’re as traditional as you say, they’ll take a lot of persuading.’
‘It’s either risk it and tell them or continue to live a lie. Neither situation is a great one, but that’s the choice he’s faced with. He’s going to be miserable for a while whatever he chooses to do – there’s no way around that. But I think if he’s honest then he has a chance of happiness when the dust is settled.’
‘How did you leave it last night?’
‘We were interrupted by his brother, who came into the office for the safe.’ Jamie paused. ‘I actually think his brother suspects something is going on.’
‘Isn’t that a good thing? Won’t it make coming out easier if they have an inkling already?’
‘I don’t know. His brother is a mean specimen. I think he’d be less tolerant than Pietro’s parents.’
‘You think he’d get violent?’
‘I don’t know. But I don’t like the way he looked at me last night. He practically told me to get out.’
Kate’s eyes widened. ‘He threw you out?’
‘As politely as he could. But there was no mistaking what he meant.’
Kate sat back in her seat. Her gaze went to the stone pillars of the Pantheon as she digested Jamie’s story. ‘I don’t know what to say. Poor Pietro.’
‘Exactly. I think it would be poor Jamie if Roberto had his way.’
‘Roberto’s his brother? He wouldn’t dare surely?’
‘I’m not a gambling man but. . .’
‘So you can’t go back to Trattoria da Luigi?’
‘I don’t think so. It’s a shame – the seafood is the best in Rome.’
‘I think that might be the least of your worries.’
He let out a sigh. ‘I’m sorry to have laid all this at your door. I’m sure you have enough of your own to worry about.’
‘Are you kidding? I’ve just done the same to you. Besides, I’m glad you’ve told me; at least it explains what happened. I was beginning to think it was me. I mean, I have a track record with men running out on me, but if it started to extend to virtual strangers I’d get really concerned.’
Jamie smiled. ‘So it looks as if I have to find a new favourite restaurant. Care to help me? Not tomorrow, obviously. Unless your date goes so well that you don’t have time to fit me in for the rest of your stay.’
‘I would always have time to fit you in, Jamie. I don’t think I’ve ever made a new best friend so quickly, but best friend is what you already are.’
He raised his glass, and Kate did the same. ‘I’ll drink to that!’
Chapter Eight
Kate settled on a primrose-yellow polka-dot tea dress, one of her own creations. It seemed demure enough to be suitable for a holy site, yet playful enough to be flirty. She couldn’t exactly say it was perfect, but out of everything she’d brought along it fit the bill the best. Her red hair was pinned up in a cute Gibson roll finished with tiny
fabric daisies. A slick of lip stain and navy-blue mascara to bring out her blue-grey eyes and she was ready. Standing in front of the mirror, she took a deep breath, sucked her tummy in, and gave herself a critical once-over. She supposed she looked a lot better than she had yesterday when she’d arrived at the police station sweating and red-faced, so it had to be an improvement.
Her phone said 8.50 a.m. Was it too early to go down and wait? What sort of impression would that give? The right one? It was the first time she’d done something like this since her first date with Matt, and that felt like a very long time ago now. Besides, things were very different these days. She had waited for Matt outside the school gates, still in her uniform, and then he had ridden alongside her on his bike as she walked and they compared insults for the head teacher they had a mutual hatred for. As first dates went it wasn’t particularly sophisticated, and at the time they hadn’t really even realised they were on one.
Sod it. Kate gathered her bag and a crocheted cardigan to cover up with and headed downstairs to wait on the street.
Alessandro was ten minutes late. It was quite possibly the longest ten minutes of her life as Kate considered every possible reason for this, from him deciding not to come at all to him being knocked off his moped as he sped through the streets of Rome. When he finally arrived, however, he was not on his moped at all, but stepped, smiling, from a car driven by a good-looking woman who subjected Kate to a curious study before bidding him goodbye and speeding off again. Kate wanted to ask him who it was, but something about doing that felt a bit needy and unreasonable. After all, she wouldn’t be a romantic interest, surely, dropping him off for a date with another woman? But after the phone call from Orazia, which still had Kate puzzled, she was beginning to wonder if anything was possible where this man was concerned. She wouldn’t be surprised to learn that he had a harem tucked away somewhere. Orazia was a question that perhaps needed to be asked of him, but Kate wasn’t really sure she wanted the answer. In any case, she decided against it for the time being, until she knew where the day was heading.
Rome is Where the Heart is: An uplifting romantic read, perfect to escape with (From Italy with Love Book 1) Page 8
