Read Online (2012) Evie Undercover by Liz Harris - Free Book Online Page A

obvious after Eduardo had returned them to the hotel once all the furniture had been ordered and had gone home to change . T rue , before Tom had disappeared into his room to have a shower he’d suggested leaving early and stop ping for a drink in Todi before they met up with Eduardo at Cas i gli ano for a celebratory dinner , but as she’d stood on the terrace and stared after his departing back, s he hadn’ t seen any sign of a real thaw .
    This was a mega big headache. If she didn’t know what had caused the change in him, she couldn’t work on getting things back to the way they were. She didn’t have long in which to act – the week was flying by at a scary speed – so she had to come up with something fast.
    Inspiration struck – she’d call Rachel and ask her advice. Rachel always knew what to do in every situation. She pulled her mobile phone out of her bag and flicked it open. It was high time she called her friends, anyway.
    ‘It really is a perfect evening, isn’t it?’
    She looked up. The focus of her frantic concern was standing next to the table. She snapped her phone shut.
    ‘Don’t let me interrupt you,’ h e said, signall ing to the waiter a s he sat down on the chair opposite her.
    ‘You’re not. I was only going to phone Rachel and Jess – they’re the girls I share a house with – but it can wait. I wasn’t really in the mood, anyway.’
    ‘Feel free to phone them, if you want to. I promise not to listen.’
    ‘I don’t want to.’
    ‘As you wish. Ah, here’s the waiter. Una birra , per favore . And what would you like, Evie?’
    ‘ Un bellini, per favore ,’ she said, and the waiter moved off. ‘I think it’s my favourite drink of all. Sparkling white wine and peach purée is a marriage made in heaven.’
    ‘Aha, something else to add to your list of favourites. And what’s more, it’s made with one of the items already on your list. A double whammy, one might almost say.’ He grinned at her and reached across to the nuts.
    ‘Why, so one could.’ She gave a little laugh.
    A frisson of excitement ran through her; he hadn’t forgotten their conversation of the day before. She hadn’t a clue why he’d suddenly referred to it after the way he’d been acting all da y, but it was one hell of a gift horse and no way was sh e going to look it in the mouth. But s low and cautious would be her watchwords – she mustn’t send him scurrying back into his shell by jumping in too quickly.
    ‘I didn’t think you’d be back so soon. I thought you were going to look round the cathedral.’
    ‘And s o I was. However, if I may quote you, I wasn’t really in the mood. I’ll go another time , there’s no urgency.’
    ‘So what are you in the mood for?’
    Shit e! That was hardly slow and cautious. One swallow didn’t make a summer, and one reference to her list of favourites didn’t mean that they were back at the ir pre-picnic stage. God, would she ever learn to think before she spoke!
    ‘It’d probably be easier if I told you what I was not in the mood for,’ he said as the waiter put their drinks in front of them , along with a small dish of black and green olives . ‘I’m not in the mood for Eduardo t his evening. Don’t get me wrong, Eduardo was a great help today and I’m very grateful to him for everything he’s done – you were absolutely right to insist that he come along with us – however, a little Latin bowing and scraping goes a long, long way, and I could do without any more of it this evening.’
    She smiled at him. ‘I know just what you mean. But he’s good company, all the same.’
    ‘Which he’d also say about you, I’m sure – only he’d put it more strongly than that and each word would be accompanied by a low bow and some suction on the back of your hands.’
    She burst out laughing and took an olive.
    ‘He’s obviously fallen for you in a big way . T he man positively drools every time he sees you, and you love every slu shy minute