Page 31 of Tempted Hearts
“There were some things going on with my family at the time I didn’t want to get into. The sabbatical was a last-minute decision, and the guys know me well enough to know I don’t make last-minute decisions. So instead of lying to them about my real reasons for leaving, I flew under the radar for a few weeks.”
She wanted to ask more.
I prayed she didn’t.
“I… see.”
The silence that followed wasn’t as uncomfortable as it should have been. But the same couldn’t be said when Juliette, realizing we were getting close to our stop, announced her intention to use the on-board bathroom.
Delaney took off her headphones. Parker jolted awake. And I sucked in a breath and did my best to appear unaffected as Juliette shimmied past me, giving me an up-front view of an ass I could play with all night. Jaw ticking, I fought for control as Delaney packed up her stuff.
“You alright?” Parker asked, knowing me well.
“Perfectly,” I said, lying through my teeth.
A few minutes later, when a ruckus at the end of the train car demanded our attention, I knew instinctively Juliette was involved. Popping out of my seat, I found her kneeling beside a crying child, Juliette talking softly like she’d done it a hundred times. The mother cleaned up a spilled drink with an annoyed-looking passenger beside her.
Forgetting she spoke English to an obviously Italian child, her efforts weren’t having the desired effect. But since the mother was finished, she took over, ushering the child back to her, and thanked Juliette for attempting to help.
“Were you headed to the bathroom?” she asked on her way back.
No. I knew you were somehow involved.
I was coming to check on you.
Neither response would work. “Yes,” I said instead. “But I’ll just go at the station. We’re almost at our stop.”
She didn’t question me. Had no reason to.
Which was fine.
I had enough questions for the both of us.
* * *
“That was a lot easier than I expected it to be.”
Delaney pushed the button on the embassy’s elevator, the same one we’d ridden up two hours earlier. If by “easy” she meant inefficient, then I agreed.
It was marginally better than the police station in Monterosso, but that was about all I could say for the process. But at least the ladies had their temporary passports.
“Anyone else starved?” Juliette asked as we exited the building.
Thankfully, as we made our way to the center of town to eat, we had no more close calls. No brushes of the arm or asses so close to my face I’d be tempted to groan aloud.
Granted, dinner was as pleasant as the night before. We found a restaurant tucked away in one of the side streets after I explained to Parker, who was ready to pay double at one of the tourist traps in the first piazza we’d seen, how to eat more like a local.
We were surrounded by Italian-speakers, and the restaurant food was as good as expected.
And so was the company.
“I think he’s in love with you,” Delaney said to Juliette, talking about the owner.
Leave it to her to meet the guy while standing in line for the ladies’ room, and chat him up, eventually getting us an extra serving of arancini and a free bottle of wine.
“Get out of here.” Juliette waved a hand at her friend. “He’s just really friendly.”
From any other woman, I might have thought she was just being modest. But Juliette really didn’t seem to understand her appeal. She truly didn’t notice the way the restaurant owner, or any other admirer, had looked at her today. And that was while accompanied with me. What were they like when she was alone or with girlfriends?
