AllFreeNovel
Share Us
While the others ensured their water bottles were full and sunscreen suitably applied, Evan reappeared with Holly’s breakfast.
‘I was going to make you a coffee too, but I wasn’t sure what you like best. There’s a machine in the kitchen. All the pods are there to make whatever you want. Or if you prefer, there’s ground coffee and a cafetiere. Help yourself to anything. And one of my business cards is pinned to the fridge if you need to ring me for anything.’
It was a lot for Holly to absorb in one go, especially as she’d only just woken up, but if this was how Evan treated people he barely knew, she couldn’t help but wonder how spoilt she’d be if she was his girlfriend. The thought came out of nowhere, and even though she tried to quash it, she could still feel it lingering in the back of her mind.
‘Oh, I forgot to tell you the best news of all,’ he said with a new degree of excitement. ‘The airline rang. Your bag’s been returned.’
Holly made no attempt to disguise the sigh of relief that flew from her.
‘That’s amazing. Thank you.’
‘They said they’ll get a taxi driver to drop it off, although it probably won’t be until later in the day.’
It was like a weight has been lifted off her shoulder. Soon, she would be hobbling around in her own clothes.
‘Oh, and the taxi driver will need paying in cash when he gets here.’
Holly’s previous good mood evaporated.
‘I don’t have any cash on me. I thought I’d just be able to use card. Is there somewhere I could walk to get some before he arrives?’
‘You shouldn’t walk anywhere on the ankle,’ Evan said, reminding her. ‘At least not for a while. And the nearest town is three kilometres away. It’s fine. I’ve got plenty.’ He took out his wallet and placed it on the table. ‘Help yourself to whatever you need. It’s not like I’m gonna need to take anything hiking with me.’
Holly stared at the visibly bulging wallet in front of her. Is this what all wealthy people were like? It certainly didn’t fit the stereotype of the hard-nosed, rich folk she’d seen in films.
‘Thank you, I’ll pay you back. I’ll get some money out when we go to the port.’
‘You know you could pay me back in a different way?’ The instant he finished speaking, Evan’s jaw dropped in horror. ‘I didn’t mean like that.’ A crimson flush drowning his cheeks. ‘I… I, oh God. That sounded awful. I really didn’t mean that. I just meant dinner. We could go for dinner. Please, please forget I said that.’
It was hard not to enjoy watching him squirm. Particularly as he looked so sweet doing it.
‘It didn’t sound as horrendous as you think.’ Holly attempted to comfort him before changing her mind. ‘Actually, it did. It made you sound like an absolute creep. But when you clarified, that didn’t sound so terrible.’
The colour of his complexion was a tone brighter than it should’ve been and she met his gaze, a slight smile toying on her lips. Slowly, Evan’s look of shame switched to one of intrigue.
‘Is that you saying you’ll go for dinner with me?’
Holly nodded. ‘I would like that. But not here. This is Jamie and Fin’s time. But if you’d like to meet up when we’re back in the UK, that could be nice?’
‘I would like that.’ He grinned, causing an eruption of butterflies in her stomach. ‘I would like that very much.’
‘Evan, are you coming?’ Fin’s voice came from the hallway. Holly could already hear Tyler and Naomi whingeing about their headaches, and she could only imagine the bickering and sore heads would get worse when they started walking.
‘I should get going,’ Evan said, then leaned forward and kissed Holly once on the cheek before he disappeared to find the others.
As the front door closed and silence descended on the villa, Holly bit down on the side of her hand and released a silent scream. Had she correctly understood what had happened? She doubted for a moment that it had even been real. And yet the smell of Evan’s aftershave still lingered on her skin and the fluttering within her had yet to lessen, either. There was no denying it. Holly Berry was dating again.
22
The French pastries were sublime. Every mouthful Holly took was a dream: buttery, soft, melt in the mouth and even better than the ones they sold at the bakery in Bourton. When she got back home, she fully intended on learning to master croissants again. Not that she would be able to make them like this. No, these were absolute perfection.
After polishing off the remaining pastries and feeling like she should do something to repay Evan’s hospitality, she loaded the dishwasher and had a bit of a wipe around after which, she decided she’d done enough to deserve a break. Although taking some time for herself was easier said than done. After all, it had been a long time since she’d had nothing to do, and it was going to take some getting used to.
Standing on the balcony, she stared out at the view. Glimmers of reflected light sparkled across the sea, while the final clouds of the morning drifted off beyond the horizon. After checking her watch, she felt a pang of annoyance at not having asked Jamie how long the hike was going to take. They had marked it down on the events plan as all day, but they hadn’t packed any lunch, or at least not that she saw. Maybe the rucksacks had been full of French baguettes and cheese. If that was the case, she could easily be on her own until mid-afternoon. Which meant she still had several hours in the villa on her own and no idea how she was going to spend that time.
The lack of anything productive to do made Holly surprisingly nervous. But deciding to make the most of the weather, she lay down on one of the sun loungers, opened her book and started to read. She was less than two pages in before she closed it again. Ben had sent a message saying they were up and well, but he hadn’t sent a photograph, or tried to call. It seemed strange that he wouldn’t have called at all, considering how long Hope would have been up. Holly’s mind whirred with images of trips to A&E or Ben with a smashed phone so he could no longer contact her. Perhaps it was the opposite. That nothing bad had happened to Hope at all, but instead they’d both had so much fun with Georgia, stepmother extraordinaire, that they had simply forgotten about Holly altogether. With her anxiety building, she picked up her own mobile, preparing to call Ben, only to change her mind.
Everything okay?
