Page 46 of Twin Surprise for the Italian Doc

CHAPTER NINE

‘I’MSORRY, GEORGIA. I hadnoidea.’

Matteo had looked surprised when Georgia opened the door of the cottage with her own keys. And then he’d looked stricken as the penny had dropped.

‘I know.’ She shrugged. ‘I think Kate and Luke have got this idea that we could...that we might...’

Matteo pushed his fingers through his hair. ‘Take me back to town. I can find a hotel.’

The factthat it was Matteo who didn’t want to be here perversely made Georgia more inclined to let him stay.

It was a battle between her head and her heart that was being played out in real life instead of in her imagination. And right now her heart was winning.

‘It’s okay. As Kate said, it’s logical. You need a place to stay for a little while. There’s an empty room here. For tonight anyway.’

‘I wouldnever force myself on you like this. You know that, don’t you?’

Oddly, Katedidknow that. Instinctively, she knew that this man’s moral code would prevent him from ever hurting anyone—especially a woman—with no consideration taken for any personal injury that could be the result.

This situation should have been making her more afraid than ever.

But, weirdly, it was making her feel safer.

This was her turf and she was in control. And itwasan intervention in a way that Kate knew nothing about.

Georgia didn’t want to live with unresolved guilt for the rest of her life. Being under the same roof as Matteo was going to force her to find the solution, wasn’t it?

Not that she had any idea what that solution might be, mind you.

Emigrating to New Zealand was starting to seem like lessof a crazy idea...

* * *

By the time Georgia got up the next morning, Matteo was already gone. There wasn’t even a dirty cup in the sink to suggest that he’d been in the kitchen but she could sense that he had been.

It felt different...

As if the emptiness of her house over the last few weeks had been smudged around the edges.

How had he managed to be so tidy? And so quiet? Had Matteo actuallyslipped out of the house at some point during the night and gone off to find a hotel?

The notion should have been a relief but it was curiously alarming at the same time. So much so that Georgia climbed the stairs again, which was getting to be quite an effort, in order to peep around the partially open door of Kate’s old room.

Matteo’s leather satchel lay on floor in front of the wooden chairin the corner of the room. The clothes he’d been wearing last night were carelessly draped over the back of the chair.

Georgia’s breath came out in a sigh that felt like relief.

He was coming back, then...

Her gaze drifted sideways to the bed. The patchwork quilt had been pulled up but it wasn’t as smooth as Kate would have left it. She could almost see the indent of where Matteo’s body hadbeen.

Her breath got stuck. Maybe that was why she was feeling a bit weird. Dizzy even...

There was definitely an edge of confusion.

Her hours of work were far more relaxed now, so Georgia had time to sit in the sun with her cup of tea and toast. Time to explore what it was that was nagging at the back of her mind and causing her confusion.

She missed Kate. This was the best thing about havinga bestie. You got to think aloud and the supportive audience could help pinpoint not only what the real issue was but what you wanted to do about it.

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