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Vic pulled out a chair for her and she sat, glad of the leafy shade over them. She picked up a glass of ice-cold mineral water and took a refreshing sip. ‘I could get used to this,’ she said, sighing as she looked at the stunning view from the terrace. ‘Work seems a long way away right now.’
Vic leaned forward to hand Katerina her sippy cup. She took it from him with both hands, her enthusiastic guzzling sounds making him smile. ‘Yes, it’s certainly a long way from what I normally do.’ He sat back in his chair and looked at Addie. ‘We can leave Katerina with Lucia for a couple of hours while she naps and get you a swimsuit.’
Shifting her gaze from his, she put her glass down with an unsteady hand. ‘I hope you’re up to date on first aid because I can’t remember the last time I went into the water. I’m strictly a stay-in-the-shallows girl. Anything over my ankles is out of my depth.’ But wasn’t she already out of her depth sitting here in the dappled shade having lunch with a notorious playboy? She had stepped in over her head the minute she agreed to come with Vic Jacobetti to Lake Como.
‘Don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe.’
Half an hour later they were walking along Via Vittoria Emanuele II, one of the main shopping areas in medieval Como. At the north end, the main street linked with Piazza de Duomo, the pedestrian-only area running for about four hundred metres until tapering out at Saint Vitale Tower and the end of the historic centre.
Addie was immediately aware of some of the shoppers and tourists doing double takes at Vic as they walked through the area. A couple of people even stopped and took photos of them with their phones. As she walked past a couple of women, she heard one woman speculate on whether she was Vic’s latest lover. Her companion shook her head and insisted she wasn’t pretty enough. Addie turned her face away, heat storming her cheeks, but Vic seemed oblivious to the attention they were drawing and if he’d heard what the two women had said, he gave no indication of it.
‘Let’s try here,’ Vic said, gently guiding her by the elbow into a boutique.
The cool temperature of the air conditioning was a welcome relief from the warmth outside, but it wasn’t the type of shop she frequented. Unlike her mother, she didn’t have a taste for designer gear. Vic spoke in Italian to the female attendant, and she was soon ushered into a change room with an array of swimsuits to choose from. She stood there staring at the collection of bikinis and maillots and spaghetti-strapped one-pieces, the colours as vibrant and bright as spring flowers. She stripped off her clothes and tried on a sleek black maillot and studied her reflection, trying to silence the critical voice that had taken up residence in her head since she was a kid.
You’re fat. You’re plain. You’re ugly. You’re boring.
‘How are you going in there?’ Vic’s deep voice made her jump out of her self-critical assessment.
‘Erm… I need a little longer…’
‘Take your time.’
She let out an uneven breath and peeled off the maillot and then reached for a hot pink string bikini. She couldn’t explain why she was trying on such a notice-me colour other than she was tempted. Tempted to step out of her beige stage and live on the bright side for a while. She tied the strings of the bikini and looked at herself in the mirror. She had never worn anything so daring, so minimal…sosexy.A frisson passed over her flesh. By trying on the bikini, she was allowing herself to embrace a side of herself she hadn’t known existed. A side who didn’t hide in the shadows but stepped into the spotlight. A side who didn’t walk in the shallows but dived in the deep end.
Addie took off the bikini and got dressed again. She couldn’t help cringing at her beige outfit. After the vibrancy of the hot-pink bikini, her bland outfit did nothing for her colouring. It washed out her features and hid her slight curves like a sack. The attendant approached, asking if she needed help with anything. She found herself asking her for some separates, some casual outfits that would enhance her figure and colouring.
It was like the old her stepped into that change room but a new her stepped out. She put her beige clothes in one of the shopping bags and dressed in one of her new outfits—a fire-engine red top teamed with slim-fitting white capri pants.
She came out to join Vic and his gaze swept over her appreciatively. ‘Wow. Red suits you.’
‘I don’t usually wear it. I think the only red thing I had in my wardrobe until now is a hair tie.’
He smiled a lazy smile. ‘Go you.’
She went towards the attendant to pay but Vic stalled her by touching her on the arm. ‘I’ve already paid.’
Addie’s eyes widened. ‘But I bought much more than a swimsuit.’
‘No matter. Consider it a gift for coming all this way to help me with Katerina.’
‘But I can pay for my own clothes. I don’t expect you to—’
‘Indulge me, Addie.’
‘By allowing you to indulge me?’
He flicked her cheek with a feather-light touch of his finger. ‘Don’t you deserve to be spoilt now and again? Hmm?’
She moistened her suddenly dry lips. ‘I’m not sure why you’d want to spoil me.’
There was a long moment of silence.
A frown began to form on his forehead. ‘Don’t read too much into it,cara.’
‘What could I read into it?’ She gave a mock laugh. ‘No one would ever think you and I were…were…anything other than casual acquaintances.’
His frown deepened and he guided her out of the store. ‘So, you heard that woman earlier.’