Page 12 of Kiss Me Like You Mean It

You don’t need to be an expert in Nico’s micro-expressions to see that panic is close at hand.

‘You check in here and I’ll check the bedroom,’ I suggest.

Ten frantic minutes later, there’s no sign of his camera anywhere, and we turn the place upside down looking. My handbag is also missing.

‘Okay,’ I say soothingly. ‘I’m going to ring Frankie. Don’t worry, the chances are you left it with him.’

Nico paces the floor as I make the call, watching me like a parent whose child has been kidnapped and is forced to sit by as the cops make contact about the ransom demand.

‘Lee, baby!’ Frankie booms in my ear.

‘Hi, Frankie.’ I try not to wince at the volume of his greeting. Clearly, he isn’t feeling the effects of last night. ‘Sorry to interrupt, but I needed to check… do you have Nico’s camera?’

‘Sure,’ Frankie says. ‘He left it with me when the two of you headed out. I’ll have someone bring it to his room.’

I give Nico the thumbs up gesture. He falls back into the sofa, the picture of relief. ‘Nico’s here with me,’ I say absently.

‘Oh yeah?’ Frankie yells, delighted.

‘It’s not—’ I start, casting an anxious look at Nico and turning away from him, my shoulders hunched.

Frankie doesn’t let me finish. ‘You know, I like him for you,’ he’s already musing loudly in my ear. Do these phones have a volume control? I begin frantically smashing buttons as Frankie continues shouting. ‘He’s a good boy. Talented, too. Those pictures he took of me and the guys?’ Frankie gives a low whistle. ‘I’m gonna have them framed in the hotel lobby.’

‘They—’ I try to cut in again but it’s like facing down a steamroller.

‘At first I wasn’t sure,’ Frankie admits, unwittingly echoing Nico’s own opinion of him. ‘But now I got a good feeling about him. I mean the kid’s practically part of the royal family.’

I freeze. ‘Did he tell you that?’ I ask in a low voice.

Frankie makes a dismissive noise. ‘I had my people check him out. Full background. Wanted to make sure he’s good enough for you.’

I cast another look over my shoulder at Nico, but thankfully he’s busy scrolling through his phone, not paying attention. Nico’s dad is – for obvious reasons – a touchy subject.

‘The two of you make a great couple,’ Frankie continues to wax lyrical. ‘Classy, y’know? Like something out of Downton Abbey.’ I forgot about Frankie’s unlikely obsession with Downton Abbey, and there’s no stopping him now. ‘Does he know King Charles? Does he play polo? If you had a kid, would it be a lord?’

‘Frankie, it’s not like that,’ I whisper firmly, cutting him off. Knowing Frankie, he’s already picturing himself at a shooting party on the duke’s estate. I bet he’s been internet shopping for tweeds all morning. The man loves a snazzy outfit.

Frankie only laughs. ‘It sure looked like that last night.’

What the hell does that mean?

‘About last night,’ I murmur, steering him away from the royal wedding he’s planning. ‘It’s all a bit blurry. Do you know where we went after the poker game?’

‘You left around ten,’ Frankie says. ‘And you headed back down to the bar. Last I heard you were trying to talk Nico into flaming sambucas.’

‘Flaming sambucas?’ I whisper, and my stomach practically moans in protest.

He’s laughing again. ‘What the pair of you got up to after that, I can’t possibly say.’ His tone is arch, the meaning clear.

‘Well, it wasn’t what you’re thinking.’ I rub my forehead, trying to gather my thoughts. ‘Did I leave my handbag with you as well? I can’t find it.’

‘No, you had that when you left,’ Frankie replies. ‘I know because I told you to be careful throwing all your winnings from the game in it. You walked away with a bundle last night.’

There’s a knock on the door and Nico goes to answer it.

‘The camera’s here,’ I say. ‘Thanks, Frankie. I’ll come and say goodbye before I leave.’

‘Well,’ Nico says, coming to stand beside me and pressing at the buttons on his camera, ‘if we left this with Frankie then there aren’t going to be any clues about the rest of the night on here.’ His face relaxes into an expression of pleasure. ‘But I did get some great shots.’