Our Little Secret by Rachael Stewart (free ebook novel txt) 📕

week they have Dani’s happiness to put first. And, as if she senses my thoughts, my sister turns in our direction.

‘Ah, Nonnina!’ Her smile lights up her face as she rises up from the bed and tugs at Tyler’s hand to bring him with her. ‘At last! What did you do with her, Dante? You were supposed to be here hours ago...and what’s this?’

She places her hand on the arm of the wheelchair and leans in to kiss Nonna, squeezing her tight.

‘Never you mind what this is, I’m perfectly fine without it!’ She tries to stand and winces. ‘Okay, maybe I get up later.’

She plonks herself back down and Dani turns to Dante, embracing him with a beaming smile. ‘So glad you’re here, cousin!’

But her eyes gesture back to Nonna and the chair. Dante gives her a warning look and she gets the message quicker than me.

‘Nonnina, you remember Tyler?’

‘Of course I do.’

Tyler leans down and plants a kiss on my grandmother’s cheek. ‘It’s lovely to see you again, Greta.’

‘Ah, nonsense...’ Her cheeks flush. ‘It’s Nonna to you now.’

I’m already tuning out, my eyes back on the path behind us. Where is she? She doesn’t strike me as the fashionably late type, looking to make an entrance. Unlike my mother.

‘You okay, Raf?’

It’s Dani who asks, her frown curious as I look back to her. How long had I zoned out for?

‘Of course.’

‘We’re just taking Nonna over to the shade.’

I nod and watch them go, save for Dante, who lets out a huge sigh.

‘That bad, eh?’ I say.

He shakes his head. ‘Would you object if I go and swim in a vat of grappa?’

I laugh. ‘Only if you don’t leave me to deal with this alone.’

‘Families, eh? Who’d have one?’

‘Not me, that’s for certain.’

He eyes me and I feel the question burning, the one that comes out at every family function from young relations and old alike. I head for the bar before he has a chance to ask it. I am, after all, forty-two, and showing no sign of settling down any time soon.

‘Now, about that grappa...’

He chuckles after me and we join Tyler’s parents at the bar. I do the introductions and, as they talk, my eyes go back to the path, searching, anticipating... And then I see it: a flash of red on the sloped path that runs from the house to the pool. I catch glimpses between the trees: a red kimono blowing in the breeze, long, tanned legs, a straw bag under one arm, fashionably large shades and a wide-brimmed sun hat. My pulse picks up; my eyes are transfixed.

I follow her progress until finally she’s at the other end of the pool, surveying her surroundings. Her eyes behind her shades meet mine. I know they do, as her head dips just a little and her lips curve up. Is she wearing red lipstick too, or is it a trick of the light, the sun reflecting her bright kimono?

I get a nudge from behind and a murmured, ‘Who’s Red?’

I flick Dante a look and see his eyes fixed on her, as well as the intent behind them. Just as I predicted. And my blood fires with it.

It? What’s it?

It’s not jealousy. I don’t get jealous.

‘She’s the maid of honour.’

‘Really?’ He gives a low whistle close to my shoulder, discreet enough for only me to hear. ‘This wedding just got a whole lot more interesting.’

I have the overwhelming urge to call dibs.

To call dibs. Gesù!

I reach past Dante to take up the freshly poured grappa he’s just been served and throw it back.

‘Hey...’ He’s not watching her now; he’s frowning at me. ‘Get your own.’

‘Don’t worry, there’s plenty more where that came from.’ I’m already crossing the poolside...

Getting there first isn’t quite as obvious as calling dibs.

It’s merely polite behaviour befitting the host—even if no one knows I own this place. No one except the woman in red inspiring all manner of illicit thoughts.

I’m staring intently at Dani as I arrive, but every fibre of my being is aware of Rafael. He’s moving in the same direction, his eyes pinned on me, burning into me, and even if the sun were behind a cloud I’d feel just as on fire.

He’s changed out of his clothes from earlier and into a light shirt, unbuttoned, and a pair of—I swallow—swimming briefs. Holy fuck. He’s like a swimwear model and he’s coming straight for me. I struggle to draw breath, struggle even more when a breeze threatens to take my hat with it, and I pin it back in place, which frees my kimono to open up around me, instantly calling attention to every exposed inch. Mesh panel, or not.

I pretend not to notice the slight falter in his stride, the flare in his eyes, or the fact that I feel more eyes drawn to me from the bar, and from the blonde that I know to be Harry’s date for the week.

Why, oh why, did I buy this thing?

‘Faye!’ Dani straightens up from where she’s been bent over a lady in a wheelchair who is dressed top-to-toe in black. Dani. She’s the reason I bought it. And her white swimsuit—which, to be fair, is even more revealing than mine—screams ‘the lady of the moment’ and I can hardly kill her now. On her wedding week.

‘It’s about time you got down here,’ she admonishes, walking towards me, her grin wide as she gives me a quick once-over. Her eyebrows do the same little waggle she pulled off in the swimwear boutique as she declared an impending end to my sex drought.

If only she knew the truth. I hadn’t required swimwear to sort it... I swallow. It hadn’t been the man she’d had in mind either.

‘Sorry!’ It’s a bit high-pitched and I smile more brightly and force my shoulders to relax as I embrace her and give her a peck to both cheeks. My eyes are drawn to Rafael, who is still heading in the same direction, before I snap