Page 51 of Winter With You

‘No,’ Luca said quickly. ‘We are good here.’

‘But, perhaps⁠—’

‘I don’t think we need a bracelet, Sybille,’ he stated firmly. ‘My client. My decision.’

Gabriella swallowed, watching the exchange that she knew was very much her doing.

Sybille took a step back and nodded at Luca. ‘You are right, of course.’ And then she clapped her hands together. ‘So, Phoebe and I have been talking and I have a suggestion to make.’

‘O-K,’ Gabriella said a little warily.

Sybille began. ‘So⁠—’

‘Sybille says I can come to her house with Mr Darcy and we can watch old French movies and eat ice cream,’ Phoebe blurted out.

‘O-K,’ Gabriella said. ‘And that’s what you want to do?’ She knew this trip was more work than it was fun but Phoebe wanting to go and have fun with someone else, someone she had only just met was a little blow to her aunt/guardian ego. She should be doing better, she needed to do better…

‘I am sorry,’ Sybille said quickly. ‘I should have asked you first. Before I made such an invitation. We do not have to⁠—’

‘No, it’s OK,’ Gabriella said, already seeing the flicker of disappointment about to cast a shadow over Phoebe’s face. It was unusual for Phoebe to take quickly to people she had just met. Gabriella knew some of that was down to her niece’s anxiety but also a little because of her own overprotectiveness. But Phoebe was growing up. She needed to try some independence. Gabriella continued. ‘I mean, if you tell me where you live so I can come pick Phoebe up later and⁠—’

‘And Mr Darcy,’ Phoebe added.

‘Luca knows the address,’ Sybille said. ‘So, we shall go now, yes? Come along, Mr Darcy.’

And before Gabriella could say anything else, she watched Phoebe, Mr Darcy and a little French woman walk out of the room chatting about cinema.

‘What just happened?’ Gabriella asked.

‘Sybille occasionally remembers that she shouldn’t work twenty-four hours a day and that she shouldn’t always watch movies alone.’ He smiled. ‘Don’t worry about Phoebe. Sybille has the best ice cream selection, I can vouch for it.’

‘Oh, OK, I feel reassured.’

‘You should.’

He reached out, fingers touching her hair and Gabriella immediately flinched.

‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘You just had a little white feather in there.’ He showed her.

‘Oh, OK. Thanks.’ Why was her heart hammering right now?

‘So, now we’re done here,’ Luca stated with a nod.

‘Yes, great.’ She turned towards the curtain of the changing area but stopped when he spoke again.

‘Listen, I don’t know if you think it’s too cold for ice cream in the middle of this icy snap we’re having in the city but… did you want to go get some food? Like, of some kind. It doesn’t have to be ice cream. But, it could be. Or not.’

Had he asked her out? Or was this just client/stylist professional behaviour? He had sounded a bit awkward. Nervous even. She hesitated. What she should be doing was catching up on her emails and checking in with Cheyenne. Except…

She turned around. ‘I mean, I’m definitely hungry for something.’ She coughed. Why had she said that? ‘Food I mean. Just, maybe not the ice cream, yet.’

He smiled. ‘Great. I mean, cool… but not… cold.’

He definitely sounded nervy. The confidence he had about his clothing choices was definitely dialled down a notch…

‘I’ll get changed,’ she said rapidly. And then she rushed back behind the curtain.

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