“He came here for an agritech conference.” Gabriel chuckles. “We’d broken up into smaller groups, and we were in the same meeting room. He knocked his coffee cup over and it spread across the table and soaked all the handouts.”
I giggle. “That sounds like Caesar.”
“He was mortified, but it broke the ice.” He stops outside our villa.
“Thank you for taking the time to show us around,” Luke says, “I appreciate it.”
“I hope everything’s okay inside?” Gabriel asks.
“Yes, thank you,” I reply, “it’s beautiful.”
“The hotel will be busy today, but you’re always welcome to use the facilities.”
“We’ll probably stay down here,” Luke says as we get out, “but thank you.”
Gabriel nods. “Just call if you need anything.” He waves and heads off, back to the hotel.
We go down the path and into the villa. I stand in the center of the living room, arms folded.
“What’s up?” Luke asks.
I shrug. “You said we’d stay here. It… reminded me, I guess, about last night.” He wants us to keep away from people. For a while, I’d forgotten.
Luke studies me for a moment. Then he says softly, “Want to go for a walk along the beach?”
I swallow hard. “That would be nice.”
“Come on, then.”
“Give me one sec.” I go into my room, take my shoes off, and change into a pair of shorts. I grab a bottle of sun lotion and take it back out, and we both apply a little to our face and arms, then don sunglasses and baseball caps.
We walk over to the sliding doors and open them, and Luke takes off his shoes and leaves them inside. He locks the doors behind us and puts the key card in his shorts. Then we step down from the deck onto the sand, and head off along the beach.
Chapter Nineteen
Luke
The tide is on its way out, revealing a long strip of white sand that curves away to our left in a crescent. We’re almost at the end of the beach, and so we have a nice long walk ahead of us, up to what I presume is the end of the 35 South property, where the ground rises steeply to meet the cliffs.
It’s a beautiful morning, although the growing clouds on the horizon suggest it might rain later. We have plenty of time yet, though, and so we walk close to the shoreline, the waves washing over our feet. The water is a lot warmer than it was earlier, heated by the sun as it crept up the sand.
Aurelia looks young and beautiful, her hair in its bun like heated copper filaments in the bright sunshine. I feel bad for reminding her about the events of last night, and do my best to distract her as we walk along the beach.
Rather than talk about the company or what’s been happening, I ask her about her favorite movies. I tease her because she likes romcoms, and she teases me for liking action thrillers, then we discover we both like historical movies, and spend a while debating our top ten.
We reach the end of the beach, turn, and start walking back, this time talking about travel and places we’ve been. She’s visited Europe with her family, and loved Rome, Venice, and Madrid, while I’ve been all over Australia and the Middle East with the army. I joke that she’s only seen the inside of five-star hotels and first-class cabins, and she gives me a playful shove.
I have no problem with her touching me, and just laugh. She looks across at me, the corner of her mouth quirking up. She’s wearing sunglasses, and I can’t see her beautiful green eyes.
“What?” I ask, as she continues to look at me.
“You don’t laugh enough,” she says. “It completely changes your face. You’re normally so stern.”
“I’m not stern. I’m usually concentrating, that’s all.”
“I hadn’t realized how you’re always on alert. You seem so relaxed now.”
I glance at the villa complex. “I’m still aware of where the security cameras are, and the best place to exit the beach. But I know he won’t have followed us here.”
