AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Mates’ rates, Holly thought. She gave people bags of sweets at mates’ rates, but the two did not compare.
‘You okay?’ Evan slipped back past the others to where she was standing.
‘Well, I’m glad I didn’t opt for a day with just you in the villa. No offence.’
Evan grinned. ‘None taken. I better give the guy a ring and tell him we’re here. We’re a bit early, so he probably wasn’t expecting us yet.’ He pulled his phone out of his pocket, only to speak into it almost immediately. ‘Hello, yeah, down on the jetty. Got here a bit early. Fantastic.’
He turned to face the group. ‘Well, he told us to climb aboard. He’s just on the bridge. He’ll come and meet us.’
Naomi and Zahida didn’t need telling twice, leaping onto the back of the boat. Holly, meanwhile, had no intention of rushing.
‘Don’t worry,’ Evan said. ‘There’s no chance I’m going to let you fall twice.’
All the same, Holly waited until everyone was on board and, climbing up to the higher decks, then surveyed the ground in front of her carefully to ensure it was perfectly dry. With a deep breath, she took a wide step over towards where Evan waited on the other side to catch her. When she had both feet on the boat, he fixed his hands around her waist firmly.
‘You’re getting better at this already,’ he said and kissed her.
‘It must be the excellent teacher.’
As she stood there in Evan’s arms, hearing the others’ voices drifting into the distance, she couldn’t help but think how nice it would’ve been to spend the whole day getting to know him. Now she’d made up her mind that she was going to give this a chance, she couldn’t help but feel like she would miss him when this was over, and they weren’t even separated yet. Hopefully, they’d meet up in England soon.
‘Holly, I think you need to come here.’ Jamie’s voice came from an upper section of the boat and it had a peculiar pang of urgency.
‘She probably just wants you to see the hot tub,’ Evan said, moving to continue the kissing.
‘Wait, there’s a hot tub? That is way better than this. I need to go now!’ She twisted towards the stairs before he tugged her back. The pair laughed as he pulled her into his chest. She was still there, tightly pressed against Evan, when a voice called from the top of the boat.
‘Good morning, guys. If you want to get aboard then we can get the show on the road.’
Holly froze. She had heard that voice so many times in her life, in good times, and not so good times.
‘I guess that must be the owner,’ Evan said, releasing Holly from his grasp so that he was only holding her hand. But Holly didn’t want to be released. She didn’t want to move an inch, and she certainly didn’t want to look up to see where the voice had come from.
Her heart turned a somersault in her chest as, against her better judgement, she lifted her head and saw his silhouette against the sun. Giles Caverty.
35
It was a strange scenario. Those who knew Giles, like Jamie, Caroline and Fin, had fallen deathly silent, while Zahida, Naomi, and Tyler were still gabbling away excitedly. Sandra seemed to understand somewhat and was trying to read the situation, trying to work out what was going on.
When they reached the top of the stairs, Evan’s arm remained hooked around Holly’s waist. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to pull him in closer or push him away.
‘Sorry.’ Evan finally left Holly’s side to shake Giles’s hand. ‘I was a little distracted. I’m Evan. I made the booking with you. Giles, right?’
His hand remained hanging in the air, as if Giles hadn’t even noticed the man who was speaking to him. Given how he was staring solely at Holly, it was entirely possible.
Evan tried again. ‘You are Giles Caverty, aren’t you? I haven’t made a mistake with the boat?’
‘Oh, that’s definitely Giles Caverty,’ Jamie said pointedly.
‘You guys know each other?’
‘Oh, we all know Giles,’ Caroline chimed in.
A burning lump was pushing its way up through Holly’s throat. How? That was the only question that filled her mind. How could he be there? And why now?
‘I wasn’t expecting this again.’ Giles looked solely at Holly as he spoke. ‘I’m sorry about running off earlier.’
‘It’s fine.’
