Page 28 of It's All Sun and Games

‘It’s, er… it’s…’ Andrea starts, but he doesn’t know what to say either.

‘It’s great news,’ Rick said, clapping Andrea on the back again. ‘I mean, it’s great news for you two and, Robin, I didn’t realise you were settling down – you should have told me. But this is great for us because, Andrea, Beppe seemed to really like you. Are you busy this week? Can you be our translator?’

Andrea looks to me for any kind of indication of what he should say but I can’t seem to get my jaw out of the dropped position.

‘You’re staying here, right? With Robin?’ Rick continues. ‘Your holiday is on us. You’re part of the company now. Stay, enjoy the facilities – hell, come to my wedding, just say you’ll be our translator?’

‘I, er…’

Andrea still doesn’t know what to say.

‘This reflects well on you, Robin, really well, good work,’ Rick tells me. Then he turns back to Andrea, waiting for his reply.

Andrea smiles, as though he knows exactly what to say now.

‘I would love to,’ he tells Rick.

Rick lights up, James deflates, and I’m just in shock.

‘Right, let’s get you two checked in,’ Rick says. ‘And we can find out all about you at dinner later…’

Rick fades his voice out in a way that implies he hasn’t caught Andrea’s name yet.

‘Andrea,’ Andrea replies.

‘Andrea,’ Rick repeats back to him. ‘Welcome to the team.’

As the two of us follow Rick to the front desk – me still cupping my boobs – there is one thing echoing in my head. What was it Andrea said earlier? This is what lying gets you.

What am I getting myself into?

12

Today has been a day of twists, turns and total surprises. Still, even with each development, I never thought I’d wind up here, sitting on the end of a super king bed, with Andrea sitting beside me.

‘So…’ I start, my voice trailing off.

‘So,’ Andrea replies through an awkward chuckle. ‘So this is… interesting.’

‘I thought your English was good,’ I dare to joke. ‘But interesting means fascinating, intriguing – it doesn’t mean an absolute cluster-fuck of absolutely everything.’

‘Cluster-fuck,’ Andrea says softly, his accent as sexy as ever. ‘That’s a new one for me. I like it.’

I can’t help but laugh.

‘It’s not all bad,’ he offers up optimistically. ‘This villa is beautiful.’

Rick has really pushed the boat out (well, in his case, you only get married three times) for this trip, booking us apartments in the villas, rather than rooms in the hotel. Each villa appears to be divided into four apartments, each with a bedroom and a living space, with either a patio or a balcony, depending on which floor they’re on. We’re upstairs, so we have a balcony that I’m yet to check out.

The apartment is really nice, though. It’s so chic and elegant with a subtle beach theme that mirrors the tranquil beauty of the resort outside. Both the bedroom and the living area have wooden double doors that open out onto the balcony. Both were already open when we arrived, but with closed sheer curtains that are dancing in the breeze.

The colour scheme is mostly made up of soft, sandy hues with occasional pops of seafoam green and deep ocean blue. Somehow it all just feels so soothing and calming, and that’s a big ask when you’re the director of a shitshow like I am right now.

I’m currently wearing one of the robes from the bathroom – well, it was the quickest thing to put on, so that I could put my boobs down.

I run my hand over the crisp white bedsheets – the only bed, I hasten to add. Even the living area has comfy chairs instead of a sofa.

Don’t get me wrong, there is a fantasy, lurking in the back of my mind, where we do this. Andrea stays here with me, we share a bed, he helps me impress my boss and show James what he’s been missing out on. But a fantasy is exactly that. We’re not doing this, are we? We can’t.

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