Page 27 of Best Laid Plans
She grinned at his rather clipped tone and rolled her eyes at him. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll bring a packed lunch with me so you won’t need to carry me past the finishing line.’
‘Good,’ he said, with one chastising eyebrow raised.
‘Good,’ she replied, pressing her lips into a pugnacious smile.
There was a voice in the back of his head warning him again about the wisdom of getting too friendly with her, but he pushed it aside. Neither of them was stupid; they knew what this was.
But, more importantly, they knew now what it wasn’t.
7
Positano to Nerano via Sant’ Agata. More vertiginous drops with a ridge-top walk and views for miles. Going for a reinvigorating swim in the ocean is a must at the end of this hard day’s walk…
So, walking partners it was.
At least that would mean they could stop trying to avoid each other at every turn when it was clear they were destined to walk this path together, both metaphorically and physically, Indigo mused as she finished her breakfast the next morning.
She’d been really tempted to take him up on his offer of dinner last night, so much so that she’d had a physical pain in the back of her throat as she forced out her refusal, but she knew she had to be sensible here. There could be a danger she was reverting to type and thinking she could help or even fix him without getting hurt – just like she had with Gavin – and that wasn’t something she wanted to put herself through again.
Ugh!Was it going to be like this every time she met someone she was attracted to? Damn Gavin and his ability to make her feel so paranoid. So she liked helping people! What was so wrong with that?
Still, even if Julien had been willing to embark on a holiday fling with her, giving in to her attraction was a definite no-no. She’d be a fool to get entangled with him when he was so emotionally unavailable, and she was still feeling sore after being given the boot by Gavin.
This holiday was supposed to be about looking after her for a change, she reminded herself for what felt like the millionth time.
After making sure she’d packed everything into her small rucksack, all the while giving herself a stern talking-to about keeping her fascination with him under wraps today, she checked out and left the hotel to meet Julien.
He was waiting for her where they’d agreed to meet the night before, looking just as perfectly turned out as usual, though his eyes were ringed with dark circles and he clearly hadn’t bothered to shave. The sight of Julien with rough edges gave her a delicious little shiver of pleasure, which she quickly stamped on before it got the better of her.
Sighing, she tugged hard on her backpack straps to tighten them.
It was going to be a long day.
After a slightly awkward greeting, they strode away from Positano, both a little quiet to begin with, but after a few false starts at conversation they fell into a comfortable rhythm, finding a surprisingly diverse array of subjects to chat about, including a somewhat heated discussion about whether London or Paris was the better city to live in.
‘But we have amazing markets in London! Like Spitalfields and Notting Hill and the Columbia Road flower market,’ Indigo interjected when Julien suggested that Paris was the best city in the world for street markets.
‘Well, we have the best architecture,’ he countered.
‘London is full of great buildings, including lots of new ones,’ she pointed out. ‘The Shard, for example. It’s way taller and more impressive than any of the buildings in Paris. Parisians seem to be totally averse to moving with the times and building anything new.’
‘Ah, but we have the Eiffel Tower, which beats the Shard hands down for style,’ he threw back, as if that answered everything. ‘And I would hate to live in a place that was a perpetual building site.’
In fact, they were so engrossed in their back-and-forth banter about which city ruled supreme that Julien barely seemed to notice when she slid her hand into his as they reached the spot where one side of the path fell away to a sheer drop, as if it was the most natural thing in the world for her to do.
She thought he seemed a little less tense than he’d been the day before as they traversed the exposed section, moving their conversation on to discuss the debates around being part of the European Union. He seemed so engrossed, in fact, that Indigo found herself enjoying a sense of achievement at managing to distract him enough for his vertigo not to have been too much of a problem today.
Then later, chatting over lunch, it turned out they were both big fans of psychological suspense and they got into another animated discussion comparing the top writers of the genre, which took till they reached the fortress-like outskirts of Sant’ Agata to conclude.
It had been so wonderful to talk about things they both felt passionate about that Indigo arrived in the town having really enjoyed her walk that day.
Her hotel for the night was located on the outskirts, to the east, which meant they walked straight past it once they’d left the trail.
‘I’m going to use their bathroom to splash some water on my face before I leave you,’ Julien said, following her up to the entrance and into the wonderfully cool interior.
‘Okay,’ Indigo replied, watching him stride away, feeling a mixture of apprehension and regret as she made her way to the reception desk.
Her insides felt twisted. Would this be the last they’d see of each other now that the more perilous parts of the walk were over? She couldn’t imagine Julien wanting to continue holidaying with her now she wasn’t needed, not after what he’d told her about wanting time on his own to get his head together. Her stomach clenched with dismay. She’d so enjoyed getting to know him better today and had been surprised and excited by how much their tastes and beliefs had aligned.
