He runs a hand through his hair. ‘Urgh. Well, we can safely say I’ll never sign Lucy to my list.’
‘Why is that?’
His cheeks colour at whatever memory he’s conjuring. ‘Uh, the thing is – she uh …’
I laugh and take him by the hand to the leather chesterfield. I have to rest my feet before they explode sideways from being in too-tight stilettos. ‘Just say it, Georgios.’
I slip the little torture devices off, and there’s that delicious moment of being pain-free. He drops his gaze to my heels, as if worried I might pick one up and brandish it as a weapon.
‘What? I’m not going to chase Lucy into the night, high heel at the ready.’
Georgios lets out a strangled laugh. ‘She called me and asked me to help her with something, so I went to my villa and there she was standing in her underwear, claiming her buttons wouldn’t do up.’
‘Oh my God.’ I put a hand to my mouth.
He grimaces. ‘Yeah, it wassuperawkward. I told her it was best if I got my grandmother to help.’
‘Pure sweet boy, you are.’ I swoon a little.
He laughs. ‘That’s me. But Lucy was none too happy about it. I ran for my grandmother and explained the situation. We returned together and Lucy was miraculously in the dress and sent my grandmother away.’
‘And then she suddenly couldn’t do up her buttons?’
‘No, like wereallycouldn’t do them up. The dress was far too small. Lucy was losing her temper and blaming you for feeding her rich Greek food, as if you’d done it on purpose so her dress wouldn’t fit.’
‘Me? How do I always get the blame?’
‘I made the mistake of laughing and she didn’t take too kindly to that.’ He shrugs. ‘Once again, I got my grandmother back and she managed to get the buttons done up. I was trying to hurry Lucy but she won’t be hurried. If anything she went slower, so I was hiding my frustration while she insisted we have a glass of wine, a chat.’
‘Howtedious.’ I can’t help but shake my head. What was shethinking?
‘This drags on and I’m worrying about the time, plus I don’t want to drink and drive. I’ll probably kill us both on those bends.’
‘That’s true, your driving is atrocious.’
He leans in to me. ‘Thanks?’
‘Welcome.’
He stares up to the heavens as if wondering why there wasn’t divine intervention and continues sharing the sorry saga. ‘I finally manage to convince Lucy that her many beloved fans are waiting and get her in the car. As we approach the lookout, she insists we stop for social media photos. Begrudgingly, I do because I know by this stage that disagreeing with her only takes more time. We get out, she throws me her phone and poses this way and that. When I hand the phone back she launches herself at me. I’m so shocked I step to the left. Unfortunately, the dress is too tight for such catapulting, and she stumbles over. Then I have to sort of lift her like a crane because she can’t really bend in the dress. She’s covered in volcanic earth, like your nose was that very first day.’
‘Yikes. Shelaunchedherself at you?’ For some reason this provokes a fit of giggles as I picture the calamity.
‘Yes but still I wasn’t sure, like was she trying to hug me because the view made her happy – or what? Could have been completely innocent, right? And I didn’t want to offend her by presuming. I blurted out that my girlfriend wouldn’t appreciate me hugging another woman. In my panic I put the blame directly on you. I should have said,Ididn’t want to hug another woman. But I worried if I handled it badly she might not come to the launch at all.’
He’s calling me his girlfriend – already? I take a moment to enjoy the buzz of hearing him say it as if it’s the most natural thing in the world. But the buzz is soon replaced by guilt. If he knew the truth about this fake-dating folly, would he still want me in his life? I wish so much I could have a do-over and never agree to this terrible plan. If I’m honest, I’m developing real feelings for him that can’t be explained away, even if this did start out simply to help Gran. But you can’t build a real relationship on a lie. I have the urge to blurt it all out, confess and hope he forgives me, but at that moment he takes my hand and gives it a squeeze and I lose what little courage I had. As usual, my brain offers an alternate reason – is this a real confirmation of his feelings for me or was it simply a way for him to escape from the clutches of Lucy?
I’m too conflicted by my own deception to ask.
He’s staring at me, waiting for a response but I’m still lost inside myself, wondering how to salvage this … us. Is it even real? Do girls like me really get their happy ever after with a guy who ticks all the boxes, like he does? Why does the wordgirlfriendsuddenly change the status of everything? Is it because he was so aloof about love before and this seems solid, like a big step forward? ‘Gosh, what an ordeal,’ I eventually manage.
With a nod he says, ‘We went back to my villa so Lucy could change. This time I waited in the car. Lucy returned and didn’t say another word for the rest of the drive.’
I cover my face in my hands. ‘You did the right thing.’
He shrugs as if it’s nothing. But he managed to get her here, despite her feathers being a little ruffled.
‘Not one part of you was tempted? I mean, she is Lucy Strike.’ Men have literally fallen at her feet all the way around the archipelago.
