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Nick glanced down at her form in the soft light and smiled. The top of her head barely reached his shoulder. Small, indeed. He wrapped his arm around her and began to ascend the stairs. It was a blessed thing he was merely affecting the need for assistance—had he truly needed help, he had a hard time believing this little slip of a woman would be sufficient.
“How was tea with the fine women of Graton?” Nick asked to ease the awkwardness. The words no sooner left his mouth than he wished to recall them. Perhaps it was not the time to reiterate whatever they had said to her today.
“It was lovely.” Giulia said, the smile evident in her voice. “They were lovely. You could have warned me, you know.”
“I thought I did.”
“Not about their prowess, about their beauty. I could not even speak when I met them, I was so overcome. I felt so out of place.”
Nick stopped as they reached the main floor and closed the door to the kitchen behind them. “What do you mean, out of place?”
She swatted a hand as if to push the conversation away with air and resumed her position as his walking support.
“Giulia, you cannot mean that you were out of place among them in regard to your beauty.”
“I was not begging for compliments, Nick,” she said crisply. “It was merely an observation.”
“Well it was an inaccurate one, I can assure you.”
“You are not going to make me believe you are so blind,” Giulia countered. “They are among the most beautiful women I have ever seen.”
“I am not arguing on their merits, Giulia, but your skewed ideas of your own. You fit right in with those women. You could be their leader.”
Silence stretched as they finished climbing the stairs, pausing periodically for Nick to pretend to regain his breath, before completing the trek to his room. Giulia helped him inside and he did not complain or try to send her away. He wanted her to think he needed the help; it would keep her around longer, and he was not ready to let her leave.
She set the candle on the table beside his bed and cast him a stern look. “Do not try that again until you have regained more of your strength, please. What if no one was down there to help you back up?”
“Then I would have spent a very uncomfortable night on the kitchen floor.”
Giulia shook her head, an endearing smile gracing her lips. “Goodnight, Nick.”
He stopped her from leaving with a hand to her arm. “Giulia, I meant what I said. You are very beautiful. More so, in fact, than any of those women.”
“I told you, Nick, I am immune to your clever charms. I have Ames.”
He held her arm for a moment longer, searching her eyes for a grain of affection before letting it go. He watched her light her own candle with his flame and then walk from the room, closing the door behind her.
How would he get her to see that he was simply speaking the truth? He meant every single word.
