‘Hey, I didn’t say that.’
She looked away, down the river. Alex didn’t want to pick a fight. Not tonight.
‘So that guy Stefan? He’s from Le Caché, right?’ he said as casually as he could, although Alex had Googled him as soon as he’d got back to his room at the Fairmont. He was Dutch, forthright, worthy. A bit too good-looking, in Alex’s opinion. A bit smug.
‘Stefan? Yes, he’s the co-founder.’
‘I see,’ said Alex, pressing his lips together unconsciously. He’d been shocked when he’d seen them together, by the harbour laughing, not quite holding hands but their intimacy had put him on edge. Alex and Lara stood there awkwardly, both knowing they had stepped into a minefield, but neither really knowing how to back out.
‘Well, I’m glad you like the scarf,’ said Lara.
‘I love it,’ he replied, remembering that trip to Berlin, how excited he’d been when Lara had flown out to see him. He wanted to tell her, to remind her how close they had been, to talk about all the memories they’d shared, but his phone was ringing. It was almost certainly Alicia asking him where he was.
‘Sorry,’ he said, pulling his mobile out of his pocket to reject the call, and in his haste, something else flew out and tinkled to the floor. Lara bent down and picked it up.
She held it between finger and thumb for a moment, before she held it out to him.
‘A ring,’ she said.
He hesitated.
‘It was my mum’s.’
Lara raised an eyebrow.
‘Tonight’s the night, then?’
‘For what?’
‘The proposal, you idiot,’ she said, with a hint of amusement in her voice.
‘No, my Dad gave it to me just now. You know, for when I’m ready.’
He took the ring and put it back in his pocket.
‘And are you ready?’
He looked away from her. ‘I don’t know Lar, are you ever ready for something like that?’
Lara just snorted and threw a leg over her bike.
‘What, don’t you think I should?’ asked Alex.
Lara met his gaze.
‘When have you ever listened to anything I say, Alex Ford?’
‘You didn’t answer the question.’
She shrugged her shoulders. They’d only met a handful of times, but Alex suspected that Lara and Alicia weren’t overly fond of each other. Too different. Lara looked as though she was about to say something, but his phone began to ring again.
‘She’ll be wondering where you are,’ said Lara, pulling on her helmet, then firing up her engine with a roar.
‘I’m not proposing to her,’ he said, raising his voice. He didn’t know why it was so important to tell her, but it was. Her face was covered and Alex couldn’t tell if Lara had even heard him.
She turned the bike back towards the road and, wiggling her fingers in an ironic goodbye, tore off, leaving a trail of rubber behind her.
Chapter 19