Page 28 of A Winter Wedding Adventure (Adventure Weddings #2)

The hiss and crackle of the eggs reverberating in Mattia’s ears, he whirled and stumbled in his rush to save the food – and therefore the wooden building – from burning.

Che cavolo, he suspected he might have just missed out on another kiss. But he was trying to be practical – helpful – not dreamy Matty with his head in the clouds.

He hadn’t ruined the eggs, thankfully. Just the moment. Stealing another glance at her, he wondered when – if – he’d get another chance. Even the way she frowned lightly at the coffee grounds made him want to pull her close. He was so sick of staying away from her.

He wanted to know how she was feeling about seeing her ex, convince her she was doing a great job in difficult circumstances. He wanted to hug her again – kiss her until she gave him that giddy smile she saved for special occasions.

Anything between them would be the definition of casual, but… he could try that out. He could turn this wedding delay into a blessing in disguise, like their first night together in Salzburg.

‘Has Alessandra come down yet?’ she mumbled before he had a chance to cheer her up. ‘I haven’t seen her since I built the fire in her room.’

He shook his head. ‘She won’t take a chance on Joe seeing her in case the wedding is still going ahead.’

He wasn’t surprised when Kira grimaced and said flatly, ‘It’s not.’ She poured the coffee into an insulated pot and closed the lid. ‘I suppose I’d better go see her.’

‘I’ll come with you. Here, have some eggs first.’

‘Mattia, I?—’

Before she could protest further, he slipped a forkful into her mouth, expecting and rather enjoying her put-out expression.

‘This is ridicul—’ Her tone already lacked conviction and when she licked her lips and gave a satisfying ‘Mmm’, he knew he’d done the right thing. The next time he prepared a bite for her, she opened her mouth eagerly. ‘Delicious. This is delicious.’

‘You’re hungry,’ he said mildly.

She snatched the plate from him and wolfed down two more mouthfuls. She finished the omelette before he’d even gathered his thoughts, brushing past him with a sigh.

In the dining room, she greeted the wedding party with a tight smile and the assurance that she’d be right back with an update on the weather and they should sit tight.

‘I can imagine you as an expedition leader,’ he said when he caught up with her in the hallway, shoving his hands in his pockets against the sudden cold so far from the fireplace.

‘Better than as a wedding planner,’ she said. Stopping suddenly at the top of the stairs, she whirled to face him. ‘You seem happy that the wedding isn’t going ahead.’

He hesitated, his mind racing. ‘I’m not happy,’ he insisted. ‘I know she’ll be upset and I’m not looking forward to that, but I did see certain other possibilities now this has happened.’

‘What possibilities ?’ she asked with a snort.

He gave half a shrug. ‘Like… what nearly happened in the kitchen.’

‘What nearly happened in the—’ She sucked in a swift breath. ‘I don’t know what you were trying to do in the kitchen.’

‘Look after you.’

‘I don’t need—’ Her chest rose and fell with heavy breaths. Perhaps she realised she was lying and stopped talking. Pressing the heel of her hand to her forehead, she groaned, ‘I’m supposed to be throwing you together with Carla.’

‘Carissima,’ he began, taking a step closer, but he forgot he was on the steps and scuffed his foot.

With a cry of alarm, he groped for something to hold onto and ended up suspended in the stairwell, one hand clutching the banister and the other around her waist, his face pressed into her chest. He froze, expecting her to grab him and steady him – then push him away.

But instead, there was a hitch in her breathing and a swallow and he stayed where he was, breathing in the strength of her.

‘What is going on here?’

He cursed Alessandra’s impeccable – or terrible – timing.

He opened his eyes and reluctantly extracted his face from Kira’s fleece.

Her nostrils flared and he considered for a moment leaving Alessandra to wonder for a few more minutes and talking all of this out.

Poor Kira. She was afraid – probably of her own feelings. How she must hate that.

But Alessandra was watching, wide-eyed and expectant, from the door of her room. All Mattia could do was lift his eyebrows at Kira, give her arm a squeeze in the hope she understood that to mean We’ll talk later. Hang in there .

‘Eh, I slipped. We were coming to see you.’

Shut inside the bridal suite for warmth, Kira invited Alessandra to sit down, while his old friend still looked between them as though they were about to announce their own marriage – and she’d be horrified.

‘We can’t have the wedding today,’ he blurted out.

‘What?’

Kira’s gaze flew to the ceiling. ‘Bloody hell, Mattia, even I could have done that with more tact.’

He was distracted by how good his name sounded in her voice.

‘I’m so sorry,’ she said to Alessandra. ‘There’s an avalanche warning for this area and we’ve been strongly advised to stay put.’

‘An avalanche?’ Alessandra cried, echoing Mattia’s thoughts.

‘A warning,’ Kira reassured them. ‘This position is protected or they wouldn’t have built the chalet here.

It’s the road in and out that’s the concern.

Norbert won’t risk it, which is fair. But I’ve spoken to Ginny and she’s already checked that the priest is available tomorrow or the next day and he’s been very accommodating. ’

‘The next day! Our wedding day was supposed to be today ! I’m supposed to be married before the new year! I even had a commemorative plaque engraved with this year on it! I can’t get married next year !’

‘It isn’t safe for the reindeer anyway,’ Kira pointed out.

What reindeer?

‘But at least it gives us lots of time for Ginny to get back from Mayrhofen with the mistletoe.’

‘The mistletoe!’ Alessandra exclaimed and then she burst into tears. ‘All the flowers! Everything will be wilted!’

His friend had her own dramatic streak, but he’d never seen her worked up like this. His gaze flickered to Kira in horror. She glared back.

Patting Alessandra’s shoulder awkwardly, she said, ‘There, there. The low temperature might slow the process.’ She shot him another look, clearly expecting him to do something.

He sat down next to Alessandra, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, and tried to reason with her.

‘Given the fact that we’re safe and warm…

enough, anyway, during a catastrophic snowfall event, aren’t your flowers and the commemorative plaque a side issue, Ale? We’re all together, like you wanted.’

His words only seemed to get her more worked up.

‘This was supposed to be the happiest day of my life and instead I’m freezing in fifteen layers of clothing, and what I wanted was for you to fall in love with Carla again so at least you’d have each other when I’m gone, but you’ve decided you want to let your horse run, chasing every woman in this chalet except the one who’s interested in you! ’

Kira stepped back so suddenly, she nearly tripped. ‘I’m not… I don’t want to be involved in this.’

Mattia’s throat closed, terrified she didn’t want anything to do with him , but not certain that was what she meant.

‘Look, I’m going to go?—’

‘No!’ Mattia stopped her. ‘We haven’t finished?—’

When Kira wrenched open the door, Carla stood behind it, her hand raised to knock. Mattia’s groan came from deep in his chest as he watched them exchange a wide-eyed look across the threshold.

He’d been wrong. It would have been better if they’d got Alessandra married and out of the way so he could talk to Kira in peace – except after the wedding, they’d have no reason to ever see each other again.

‘I have to—’ Kira made a jerky hand gesture. Moving stiffly past Carla, she fled into the corridor and was gone in a blur of blue.

‘What happened to her?’ Carla asked.

‘Nothing,’ Mattia insisted. ‘We were just telling Alessandra the bad news about the weather.’

‘ We ?’ Alessandra repeated, her brow low.

‘Yes?’ He gave an elaborate shrug, hoping that made him more convincing. ‘It’s a pronoun. First person plural, I believe.’

‘Matty,’ she continued – but thankfully, her shrill tone had abated – ‘you’re a terrible liar.’ She studied Carla as she came into the room. ‘There’s… no hope of the two of you getting back together, is there?’

Afraid of another outburst – or getting Kira into trouble – Mattia hesitated.

‘No chance at all.’

That pronouncement was the last thing he’d expected to hear. His gaze snapped up to see Carla giving him a sad smile.

‘I hope we’ll always be friends, though.’

‘Of course.’

‘Ale,’ Carla said, taking the bride’s hand and patting it, ‘we don’t need each other to make up for your absence from Naples and you don’t need to feel guilty for leaving. Matty’s not your little brother and I think he’d like the chance to choose his own partner.’

She raised her brow at him, as though challenging him to disagree, but he couldn’t.

‘I would like to have been better friends with Joe, but you know the most important thing to me is your happiness,’ he added emphatically.

‘It doesn’t matter what’s going on with Carla or me.

’ At least, he hoped she’d stop giving him suspicious looks and heavily implied pronouns.

‘Once the snow is cleared, it’s your day. Your marriage.’

To his horror, her tears returned.

‘Shhhh, Ale. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you cry.’ He grimaced at the door. It might be a while before he could go after Kira.

‘For more than a year, my whole life has been about this wedding: these wild ideas for the destination, the decorations. Joe never once told me “no”.’

‘And that’s a problem because…?’ Carla prompted.

‘After all this, I’m not sure he cares. I just wanted him to care .’

‘Oh, Ale,’ Mattia said with a shake of his head. The first thing that entered his mind was how much he wanted to discuss this with Kira. ‘Have you talked to him about this?’