The Liberation of Alice Love(59)
Author: Abby McDonald

“So, what’s our next step?” Alice asked. “Hacking into the security system? Slipping the cleaning staff a few euros to jog their memories?”

Nathan coughed. “Didn’t you learn anything from your night behind bars? Nothing illegal, Alice. That’s the number one rule of the job.”

“Oh.” She was disappointed. “Really? I thought—”

“You thought wrong.” Nathan fixed her with a stern look. “Sure, there are some guys who run around, breaking the rules, but they give the rest of us a bad name. I get what I’m after the legal way.”

Alice frowned. “Then what do we do now?”

“Go back to England.” Nathan softened. “I know you wanted to find her, but you’re chasing shadows here—it’s time to give it up.”

But Alice wasn’t ready to do that. “We should have some lunch first,” she suggested.

“We can eat in the car.”

“Yes, but look at the restaurant here.” Alice pointed invitingly at the sunlit terrace and sweeping ocean views. “We could sit outside, have some drinks…Although, you might want to—” Alice reached over and straightened Nathan’s shirt, smoothing down his hair.

“Thanks,” he replied, a touch sarcastic. “Personal grooming has been kind of far down my priority list. After, you know, flying in and rescuing you from the squalor of a foreign jail cell.”

Alice wasn’t so easily managed. “Is this where you try and guilt-trip me into obedience?” she grinned, her hand still resting on his chest. She felt a flicker of excitement from the bold touch.

“Maybe.” His eyes were glinting as he looked down at her. “Is it working?”

Alice smiled, flirtatious. “Not yet. You’ll have to try a little harder.”

“Damn,” Nathan adopted another hang-dog expression. “What if I tell you about getting woken at five a.m.? Or spending hours manfully wrestling with the Roman police force for your freedom? I didn’t even have time for breakfast,” he added darkly. “I’ve had so much coffee and sugar, I feel like I’ve got the shakes.”

“Poor baby.” Alice took his hand and led him toward the terrace. “All the more reason to get you fed.”

***

Nathan didn’t even pretend to protest about flights and timing once he was seated, with a cool beer in his hand. Considering that he’d refused to even leave Rome only a few hours before, Alice thought her newfound powers of persuasion were doing rather well. Ella was right, she decided, gazing happily at the vivid ocean views; men did enjoy the femme fatale routine. Her red dress had played a part last night, true, but so did the lure of foreign travel and mysterious investigations.

The temptations of adventure were not to be overlooked.

“It’s not the Fifth Arrondissement, but it’ll do…” Alice leaned back and gave Nathan a deliberate smile.

He looked up, surprised, but quickly rearranged his features into their usual friendly expression. “And there I was, thinking we weren’t going to talk about that.”

“Sorry,” Alice laughed. “Unspoken agreements aren’t worth the words they’re not spoken with.”

Nathan grinned. “Is that your official legal advice?”

“Mmm-hmm,” she murmured, taking another sip of wine. “I won’t even bill you for it.”

“No, it’s OK. I’ll just take it off my expense claim for this search and rescue.” He winked and went back to his steak.

Alice wasn’t so easily dismissed. Nonchalance had been Nathan’s default setting since the day they met, but she wanted to know who he really was, beneath that casual smile. If she couldn’t be direct now, with this restless impulse still fluttering in her veins, then when would she ever be?

“Do you do it often?” Alice took off her sunglasses off to watch him. “Invite strangers to run away on an illicit weekend?”

“You make it sound so dramatic.” Nathan chuckled, still utterly at ease. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up, pale against his tanned skin, and he looked as if he belonged there, lounging in the sun.

“A little hotel, blazing rows over pastries?” Alice fixed him with a skeptical look. “No, you were the one promising the drama. I’m just curious.” She shrugged. “It isn’t often a girl gets propositioned like that.”

Nathan gulped his beer, looking less comfortable now. “I guess that’s the point. All that small talk, dancing around anything that really matters…Isn’t it better just to cut through all the bullshit?”

“But you’re so good at it,” Alice teased. “Charm is what you do best.”

He met her eyes, frowning slightly. “Is that really what you think?”

“Come on,” she scolded, even bolder now. Consequences be damned, she’d spent too much of her life holding back out of caution and careful politeness. “You say you want to get to what matters, but with you, it’s been nothing but jokes and meaningless banter about Flora’s ceramics. I haven’t seen you break a sweat over anything.”

“You should have seen me when Stefan called,” Nathan said, looking away. “I broke a sweat then—and the speed limit, getting to that police station.”

Alice laughed again. “With a client list like yours? I’m sure you’ve had plenty of rescue calls.”

“Not like this.”

There was silence for a moment, just the light chatter of guests around them and the steady crash of waves below. There was something sincere in his eyes, Alice realized; a directness she hadn’t seen before, except at the party. His proposition. She hadn’t dreamed of actually accepting him then, but things were different now.

She was different.

“It’s nice here, don’t you think?” Alice remembered Ella’s urging to cut loose. She felt a thrill, anticipating the risk of her next words.

Nathan seemed thrown by the sudden change of subject. “Sure. Gorgeous weather, amazing views. What’s not to like?”

Alice swallowed, her heart already racing. “So why don’t we stay a night or two?” she said, her voice even despite the weight of what she was suggesting. “Think of it as collecting on that Paris rain check.”

Chapter Twenty-one

Nathan’s mouth dropped open, but Alice held his gaze.

He shook his head. “You’ve, uh, had a crazy few days. You’re not yourself.” Nathan took a swift gulp of beer, as if that were the end of the conversation. But he didn’t seem quite so cavalier.