CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER TWO

That Bryn had completely forgotten Keira would be returning today was immediately apparent the moment they stepped inside her apartment.

It was a state. There were clothes and shoes strewn everywhere, a collection of stained wine glasses on the kitchen counter, and empty chips and dip containers covering the coffee table, which was also coated in a layer of crumbs. Keira winced at the sight of it. What would Cristiano think?

To complete the picture of utter disarray, Bryn herself was lying on the couch snoring loudly. Makeup was smeared all over her face. Her sparkly sequined dress was barely covering her. Her red-lipped mouth hung-open.

Keira grimaced and looked at her watch. It wasn’t even that late. Bryn must have had one of her marathon Saturday drinking sessions, starting at midday before bar hopping around town until she returned home and passed out on the couch.

Just behind her, Keira could feel Cristiano lingering, hesitating. She was too filled with dread to turn around and assess his expression. Yes, she may have told him to brace himself, but this was worse than even she had anticipated!

Keira slung her purse onto the floor and Bryn jolted awake at the noise. She sat up with a startled snore. Swaying, she touched the mess of knotted hair on top of her head. Then she peered at Keira through squinted eyes.

“You’re home?” she asked.

“Yup,” Keira replied tersely. “You forgot I was coming back today, didn’t you? And you forgot I was bringing a guest.”

She said the last statement between her teeth, as a prompt to Bryn that they had company, something else she had seemingly failed to notice.

Bryn squinched her eyes, looking past Keira to Cristiano. With a few blinks of disbelief, she suddenly sprung to life.

“Oh hi,” she said, sounding awake and alert for the first time. “I’m Bryn. You must be Cristiano.”

For the first time since entering the apartment, Keira turned to see Cristiano’s reaction to the chaos she had brought him into. Far from looking appalled, he seemed to be wearing an amused expression. Even whilst Keira cringed at Bryn wobbling to her feet and staggering towards him, Cristiano seemed to be taking the whole thing light-heartedly.

“Wow, you

are

gorgeous,” Bryn said as she drew up close to Cristiano and embraced him. “I thought Keira was just exaggerating to make me jealous.”

Keira got a waft of alcohol mixed with too much perfume.

“Thank you, I guess,” Cristiano replied, sounding uncertain but chuckling nonetheless. “Both you and your sister have inherited very beautiful genes.”

Bryn raised her eyebrows at Keira, making no attempt to hide her swooning. Keira was struck by a sudden fear. Her sister was considered by most people the more attractive of the pair. She was also an outrageous flirt. What if Cristiano fell for her charms? For her more exuberant personality? It was impossible to tell by studying Cristiano’s behavior what he truly thought of Bryn since he acted in the same charming way to every pretty woman he met.

“Do you guys want something to drink?” Bryn said, her gaze fixed upon Cristiano’s perfect features. “Beer. Wine. Prosecco?”

“Is that a good idea?” Keira asked, raising an eyebrow at her sister’s dishevelled appearance.

Bryn rolled her eyes and looked over at Cristiano again. “Was she like this the whole time in Italy too? Keira can be such a square.”

“Hey!” Keira protested.

“Not at all,” Cristiano said. He seemed to be taking this all in good humor, even if Keira herself felt extremely awkward. “We spent many evenings drinking fine wine, didn’t we my dear?” He flashed his gorgeous eyes in her direction and grinned in that way that made her feel like she was the only woman in the world.

“Yes,” she murmured dreamily.

Bryn interrupted in her usual brash way. “Well, you must have rubbed off on her, Cris, because getting her out the house for the evening can be like trying to get blood from a stone.”

Keira shook her head at Bryn’s teasing.

“Just pour the drinks please,” she muttered.

Bryn grinned wickedly at Keira, clearly enjoying the process of winding her up, then smiled sweetly at Cristiano. “What’s your poison, Cris?”

Keira grimaced. She already hated the way Bryn had bestowed him with a nickname. It was far too familiar. Keira herself hadn’t yet called him anything other than Cristiano! If anyone should be giving her a pet name it should be her!

“Wine, red,” Cristiano replied. “A New Zealand Shiraz if you have it.”

Bryn giggled loudly, in her usual flirtatious way. “I’ll see what I can do,” she purred. Then she looked over at Keira. “Can you tidy the place up a bit?” she asked, waving her hand in the general direction of the messy room.

Keira grit her teeth. She could feel the heat rising into her cheeks.

As she stomped around the apartment collecting debris, she could overhear Bryn and Cristiano chatting at the kitchen island.

“So how long are you in town for, Cris?” Bryn was asking.

Keira stopped what she was doing and glanced over her shoulder. She and Cristiano had not discussed that yet. In fact, their relationship had been such a whirlwind since day one they had planned very little. She hadn’t even thought about the fact there was only one bed in Bryn’s home! Where were they even going to sleep?

“I don’t know yet,” Cristiano replied. “We’re living for the moment. Taking each minute as it comes.”

Keira exhaled. It was a reassuring answer.

She finished tidying everything up quickly then went over to the kitchenette to supervize her sister and Cristiano’s interaction. Bryn poured an extra glass of wine.

“I think I should let you guys sleep in the bed,” she said, as she slid the wine glass across the table. “There’s no way you’ll both fit on the couch.”

“Really?” Keira asked, surprised by her generosity. It wasn’t like Bryn to think of other people. “But what about you?”

Bryn gestured to the couch. “Most nights I just pass out in front of the TV anyway. If I’m home that is.”

She raised her eyebrows and wiggled them. Keira groaned; thinking about Bryn’s frequent and numerous conquests made her feel more than a little icky.

“That’s very kind of you,” Cristiano said, clearly oblivious to undertone.

“Sorting out an apartment is at the top of my priority list,” Keira added. “I promise we’ll be out of your hair asap.”

In the seat beside her, Cristiano became suddenly straight backed. He sipped his wine, his gaze averted. Was he tensing? And if so, what in her comment had made him do so?

A sudden terror struck Keira then. Did Cristiano think she was suggesting they get an apartment

together?

Awkwardness swelled inside of her. Keira hunkered down in her seat. That had not been what she was implying at all! It would be absurdly presumptuous of her to expect Cristiano to want to move in with her immediately, especially since they had not discussed anything. Especially since she herself had no idea how long she wanted him around for. There was a whole spectrum between the present day and forever!

Suddenly, their throwing caution to the wind in a giddy haze of romance felt a little rash. It had felt amazing on the airplane but now they were on her home turf it felt different. It felt

real

. At some point she would need to summon the courage to have an actual conversation with him about all the practicalities of how to negotiate their long distance relationship, but the last thing she wanted to do was scare him away.

Keira fell silent, lost in her thoughts, taking small sips of wine. She became a spectator rather than a participant to the conversation, watching on as Bryn giggled at Cristiano and commented on his lovely accent, gazing at him with adoring eyes. When she reached across the kitchen island and lightly touched his arm, Keira snapped back to attention. It was time for an exit strategy. She let out a loud yawn.

Bryn flinched with surprise, as though she had completely forgotten Keira was even there.

“Are you tired?” she asked. “Don’t feel like you need to stay up on my account. You’ve only got one day before you have to go back to work and you don’t want to be exhausted for it.”

Usually, Keira found Bryn’s mother-hen impersonation irritating, but this time she welcomed the invitation of getting an early night. And getting away from her sister.

She stood. “Sorry, I’m just so exhausted from all the traveling. Let’s catch up properly tomorrow. I have a gift for you.”

Bryn grinned. “Awesome. I can’t wait.”

She stood too, and the sisters hugged. Then Keira looked at Cristiano, who was still seated.

“Are you coming?” she asked.

He looked surprised, as though it hadn’t crossed his mind that Keira expected him to come to bed with her.

“Ah, yeah, sure,” he replied, sounding anything but certain.

“You don’t have to,” Bryn said hurriedly. “If you’re not tired, feel free to stay up with me and chat. I have more New Zealand Shiraz.”

Keira narrowed her eyes at Bryn. Cristiano looked from one sister to the other as though caught between something he didn’t fully understand. Finally, he stood, clearly deciding to follow Keira. She nodded decisively in acknowledgement of her win.

“Tomorrow,” Cristiano said to Bryn. “Thank you for the wine.”

Keira noticed he hadn’t finished his glass. She felt bad for spiriting him away, but she knew Bryn better than he did. Leaving her alone with him would be potentially dangerous!

“Good night,” Keira called back to Bryn, as she dragged her suitcase into the bedroom.

Cristiano entered after her. As soon as he was inside, Keira shut the door behind him. She leaned against it and took a deep breath.

“I’m so sorry about her,” she said.

Cristiano looked bemused. “I don’t understand. She seemed very nice.”

“She was flirting with you!” Keira replied, shaking her head.

Cristiano didn’t seem concerned at all. “I don’t mind.”

“Well, I do,” Keira told him. “She’s my sister. It’s rude.”

Cristiano just shrugged. He came over and wrapped his arms around Keira. “You know I only have eyes for you,” he told her, squeezing her body closely to his.

“It’s not you I’m worried about,” Keira replied, relaxing into him. “It’s every other hot blooded woman in the world.”

She was hit by a sudden realization then. In Italy, Cristiano, though undoubtedly handsome, was one among many. Here, in New York City, he was an exotic creature, a real Italian man, a model come to life from the pages of a fashion catalogue. Her home city posed a whole new set of challenges to their relationship that she had not yet even considered.

There was only one solution. She would have to keep Cristiano completely occupied from dawn ‘til dusk, supervized morning, noon and night!

“We should get an early start tomorrow,” she said, moving from his embrace. She began undressing for bed. “Only one day of the weekend to enjoy before I’m back at work. We have a lot of sightseeing to do.”

Cristiano grinned. “I can’t wait. But we’re not going straight to sleep are we?” He gave her one of his suggestive looks. “I’ve been cooped up on an airplane for hours. There’s a lot of pent up energy inside of me.”

Keira’s smile quirked up. She reached for the lightswitch. “Whatever you desire,” she murmured, then she flicked it off, plunging them into darkness.