(2012) Evie Undercover (11 page)

She was faced with a stark choice
:
risk alienating Tom in an attempt to learn about his affair from Eduardo
,
or stop flirting with Eduardo at once and
abandon
any hope of getting information from him. It was a no-brainer
–
she must stop playing up to
Eduardo. H
e was only the side order
:
Tom was the main course. She’d have to put all of her eggs into that one basket.

A huge fee
ling of relief swept over her that s
he didn’t have to
flirt with
Eduardo any longer. It hadn’t been one of her
guardian angel
’s better ideas.

She would hate to hurt
him
, and if he thought she’d fallen for him and he was really keen on her, which Tom seemed to think he was, he could get badly hurt in the end. She’d have to
subtly
let him know that she liked him as a friend, but not in any other way.

But, hey
,
she was getting ahead of herself
.
Tom was wrong about her feelings for Eduardo, and he could be wrong about Eduardo’s feelings for her. She should be pick
ing up on what Tom said in his
last comment and running with it. She helped herself to a few more nuts and sat back in her chair.

‘Really,
Mr
Hadleigh,’ she said in a tone of mock severity. ‘Women are alwa
ys accused of being matchmakers,
but listen to you! And you make a pretty bad matchmaker at that
, if I may say so
.
Eduardo isn’t interested in me any more than I’m interested in him.’

‘The evidence of my eyes says the opposite.’

‘Everyone knows that witnesses always give different accounts of the same event
–
you’d know that better than anyone else. Eduardo’s just
being
friendly
,
that’s all.’

‘Fair enough, Evie. B
ut we’ll see who’s right in the fullness of time.’

‘Now that sounds almost like a challenge.’ She took a black olive from the dish and popped it into her mouth. ‘But it’s a challenge I’m going to ignore.’

‘You’ll ruin your appetite if you’re not careful.’

‘You sound just like my mother.’

‘Ouch! That hurt. From matchmaker to mother in the blink of an eye. I think we’d better drink up and go before I do any more damage to the sophisticated image I aspire to.’ He picked up his glass and finished his beer.

‘Do you want me to get the bill?’

‘No, not this time. I’m going to ask for it in Italian. It’s something I should be able to do by now
–
I’ve heard you and Eduardo say the words enough times.’

He caught the waiter’s attention. ‘
Il conto, per favore
.’ The waiter nodded back at him, and he turned to her, a triumphant smile on his face. ‘There you are.’

She laughed. ‘You look like a schoolboy who’s just found a huge conker.’

‘At least you’re comparing me with someone
of my own gender
this time,’ he said with a grin. ‘That’s got to be progress of a sort.’

She smiled up at him. The few days in the sun had bleached his hair and lightly tanned his skin.

This would be so much easier if
he
were ugly, she thought.

Evie followed Tom and the waiter across the stone terrace of the restaurant in Casigliano. Her steps slowed as she neared the balustrade that ran round the edge of the terrace and saw the panoramic view of the valley beneath them.

The sun was setting in a fiery ball that streaked the sky. Hints of a sparkling
rosé gradually darkened into
deep claret, bathing the valley and terrace in a warm, rich glow. Above
her
, fairy lights glittered in the canopy of vine leaves that grew in abundance along the top of the pergola. From somewhere inside the restaurant,
the
soft strains of a violin
floa
ted
on the scented evening air.

Wow, she thought. W
hat a romantic place. If only it was going to be just her and Tom at dinner that evening.

‘Ah, look
,
there’s Eduardo
.
’ Tom’s voice broke into her thoughts. ‘He’s beaten us here.’

Eduardo looked up from the menu as they reached the table. His face broke into a wide smile and he promptly pushed back his chair and rose to greet them.
             

‘
Buona sera
, Tom
.’
Eduardo clasped Tom warmly by the shoulders.

Tom gently extricated himself from Eduardo’s grip.
‘
Buona sera, Eduardo
.’

‘
E la divina
Evie
,’
Eduardo sighed.
In an elegant action, he bowed towards her, his hand across his heart.

Pointedly ignoring Tom’s I
-
told
-
you
-
so grin, she clasped her fingers tightly behind her back and stared at the slender hand that covered Eduardo’s heart. Her eyes narrowed: she’d used that same hand-across-the-heart flourish herself in the past. Urgent note to self
–
delete said action from
her mental List of Alluring Gestures. It
was much too cheesy.

‘
Assolutamente divina
,’ Eduardo murmured to the floor.

He slowly raised himself upright, his eyes sliding up her short
,
strapless lime
-
green dress to her face and to the cloud of auburn hair that hung loosely around her face
. His
lips curved into an appreciative smile. Taking his hand from his heart, he gestured towards the table. ‘
Si accomodino
.’

‘Eduardo wants us to sit down.’

‘I’m not too sure about the seating plan,’ he remarked as he sat down next to her and saw Eduardo taking the place opposite her. ‘The sight of Eduardo gazing slavishly at you is likely to play havoc with my digestion. And I’d rather look at you than at that empty chair.’

‘You certainly do know how to flatter a girl,’ she said brightly.

He threw back his head and laughed. ‘You know what I mean. Anyway, how come there’s a fourth place set when there’re only three of us. Ask Eduardo, would you, please?’

Evie relayed Tom’s question.

‘
Ah si
!
’ Eduardo exclaimed, and he broke into a stream of rapid, excitable Italian, which ended with him looking at his watch, shrugging his shoulders and raising his hands to the darkening sky.

‘
H
is sister, Gabriela, is going to join us. She lives in Florence, but h
er job’s taking her to London very soon. She’ll be there for about a year. A
pparently, a
s soon as she heard
that
you were over this week, she asked if she could come and meet you. I think she wants to talk to you about London and get your advice about things. According to Eduardo, she’s very clever and very ambitious.’

Tom nodded his understanding to Eduardo.

‘Oh, and she’s late. They’ve hardly seen each other since she moved to Florence a couple of years ago, so Eduardo suggested that she come early so that they could catch up before we arrived
,
but she’s late, as you can see.’

Tom shook his head sympathetically across the table to Eduardo. ‘That’s women all over for you.’

‘
How disappointing for you
,’ Evie translated.

Eduardo smiled gratefully at Tom, then raised his
finger
to call the waiter.

‘
Un aperitivo
?’ he suggested as the waiter approached the table.

‘
Per favore
,’ Tom replied.

‘
Bravo
, Tom
!’ Eduardo clapped his hands. ‘
Molto bene. E tu
, Evie
?’

‘
Si, per favore
.’

‘
E per me, Eduardo
.
And for me, too,’ came a husky voice with a strong Italian accent.

‘Gabriela!’ Eduardo cried, looking up at the slender, beautiful woman with jet black hair who stood at the side of their table, smiling down at him. Jumping up, he kissed her warmly on both cheeks, then he turned to introduce her to Tom and Evie.

             
‘
Mia sorella
,’ he said with obvious pride. ‘
Gabriela
.’

Evie stared up at Gabriela
in dismay
. Eduardo’s sister was the last word in elegance and sophistication.

Not so long ago, Tom had joked about aspiring to an image of sophistication. Maybe he also aspired to having an image of sophistication in his arms, and
worse still,
in his bed.

What frigging luck!

Chapter Eight

If looks could kill …

Tom rose to his feet at once. ‘I don’t need a translation for that.’ He leaned across the table to shake hands with Gabriela. ‘You’
re obviously Eduardo’s sister. T
here’s a strong family likeness. It’s a real pleasure to meet you.’

‘It’s my pleasure, too,’ Gabriela murmured, her voice deep in her throat. She held Tom’s eyes for a moment, then glanced down at Evie. ‘And you must be Evie. Eduardo has told me
so
much about you. It’s lovely to meet you, too.’

Evie half rose from her chair. Gabriela’s dark eyes swept appraisingly over her. ‘We are going to be friends, I feel, Evie,’ she said, and she turned back to Tom. ‘I was so wanting to meet you, Tom. Please forgive me for inviting myself to join you this evening.’

‘There’s nothing to forgive. Please do sit down.’ He went swiftly round the table and pulled out the chair opposite him. Gabriela gracefully slid to the seat, and Tom
returned
to his place. ‘
We’re delighted
to
have the opportunity
of
meet
ing
you
,’ he said as he sat down.

While Eduardo was giving the order for their aperitifs, Evie surreptitiously watched Gabriela settle in her seat. She put her slim black leather bag on the table beside her, twisted
her body
slightly and crossed one long leg over the other. It was hard not to watch her
;
Eduardo’s sister was stunning.
She
glanced sideways at Tom
. H
e obviously thought so, too
.
And he’d complained that Eduardo had drooled over her. Huh!
Tom
couldn’t take his eyes off Gabriela and his tongue was all but hanging out.

Glamour Puss
would put Gabriela in the category of vamp, she decided.

Her crimson sheath dress fitted her super slim body like a sheet of cling film
. Her
glossy black hair had been expertly c
oiled at the nape of her neck, and n
ot a single strand of hair had escaped the coil.
Thick bands of silver hung around her neck and arms.
Her mouth was the same shape as Eduardo’s, but hers was a vivid red gash
,
dramatic
against her pale olive skin.

Yes, definitely vampish.
And sophisticated.

For an awful moment she thought she was g
oing to burst into tears. W
hat
on earth
was wrong with her!

She stared down at the table and swallowed hard. So what if Tom did fall for Gabriela
;
what he did was his own affair and nothing at all to do with her. He was good-looking and fun to be with, but the bottom line was that he was a job, and no more than that.
Yes,
Gabriela’s arrival m
ight
have pushed things in a direction
that
they weren’t meant to be going
, but
that was no reason for her to get all tearful.

Which
she was.

She blinked furiously. She was losing the plot
. W
hatever
the two of them
got up to was nothing to do with her, unless it involved a story. And since
‘
S
uccessful
B
achelor
L
awyer
S
crews
B
eautiful,
U
nattached
W
oman
’
was hardly the exposé her editor w
as looking for
, what he and Gabriela did or didn’t do was never going to be any of her business.