Page 19 of Ruin

“And your favorite dish here?” I asked, focusing on his deep eyes.

“Bucatini alla calabrese.” He smiled back as he turned his body straight toward mine. “It has a little stockfish to enhance the flavor, but is overwhelmingly simple—garlic, tomato, onion, and red pepper. An immensely popular dish in Calabria.”

“Well…” I exhaled as I picked up my crystal water glass. “I guess I will be having that then.”

Just as I took a sip of the cool water, the waiter appeared, looking nervous and speaking quickly in Italian that I could not even begin to attempt to understand. Arik looked at me as if he were expecting me to respond before quickly catching himself and laughing.

“Wine? Are we having a repeat of last night? Would you like me to carry you through the streets?”

I shot him a glance of annoyance as my brows dropped and eyes narrowed, suddenly remembering my lack of gracefulness after a wine or two…or four.

Arik cut in swiftly, as if he wanted to hurry the waiter along. He must have been famished. Italian words danced from his lips as he ordered what sounded like enough food to feed a family of four.

I stared at him, jaw dropped and eyes wide, amused by how his English accent seemed to disappear when he spoke in Italian. I had no idea what he said to the waiter, but whatever it was, it sounded so good coming out of his mouth—like a forbidden poetry that made my chest warm.

He also could have ordered five different kinds of smelly fish with eyeballs and everything. Who knows?

Arik reached for my hand now that there were no annoying menus taking up valuable space between us. As I looked toward the sea, I could feel him examining my face, seemingly trying to read me and searching for things to say.

Had we already run out of things to talk about? Was I that boring?

“So…how is your room?” he asked, squeezing my fingers gently.

I exclaimed, unable to contain my satisfaction. “Oh, God. It’s so amazing. I cannot even believe it. I want to take every bit of that bed back to New York with me.”

Arik laughed as he shifted his chair toward mine, practically sitting side by side with me. He asked, “Speaking of New York…how is it? I have not been in quite some time.”

“I mean, New York is New York. What do you mean?” I questioned.

“For you. What is New York City like for you? What do you do with your spare time? You told me about your parents on Long Island and your sister in New Jersey. Who do you spend time with?” Arik asked just as the waiter set wine goblets filled halfway with a deep ruby-red liquid in front of us.

“Ah. That. Well…” I replied, slightly irritated by his question. “I don’t spend my time with anyone these days since my breakup.”

His eyes softened. “Yes, I kind of picked up that maybe you were not used to being properly swooned.” He winked before taking a sip from his glass.

“I am not talking about romantic relationships or anything of the sort. How do you spend your time? When you are not working, of course,” he questioned, his face riddled with curiosity.

“Oh, sorry.” I shook my head as I gently swirled the wine in the glass before having a deep drink. “It has been a long day, and I think I am still kind of on edge. Let’s hope the wine will help.”

“Yes. You did appear a little irritated and edgy this morning. I mean, I understand your travel being disrupted is shocking, but why would you be upset? You get to stay here longer. You were going to be here for a mere twenty-four hours, and now you are on an extended vacation, all expenses paid,” he questioned as he mirrored my swirl-and-sip.

My expression turned stiff as I asked, “How do you know about that?”

Arik tilted his head, his eyebrow arching as he spoke. “About the accommodation?” Arik blinked rapidly and looked away from me. “Claire, I work with this winery. I know how they treat guests. Even guests that are there on business.”

He leaned back in his chair and picked up his wine glace, giving it another swirl.

I exhaled. “Oh. That makes sense.”

His eyes settled in on me again, scanning from my lips to my eyes slowly.

I looked down before continuing, trying my best not to overshare despite how easy he made it. “It really isn’t that simple. It seems simple but it’s not. One, yes, while I am fortunate to have this experience, I do worry about my parents. I worry that something will happen when I’m not there. I could never live with myself if I was galivanting around Italy while one of my parents were…” I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, unable to finish the sentence.

As soon as I felt the warm sensation of tears building behind my lashes, I focused on the taste of the wine on my tongue and the sea air caressing my face to keep myself from getting emotional.

I opened my eyes quickly, before I could get swept away in the moment.

Arik looked down at our fingers, laced together in the most natural way possible, as if we had known each other our entire lives. He exhaled. “That’s understandable.” His thumb gently rubbed from my wrist to the tip of my thumb and back down again, soothing me.