“Send ’em over, and I’ll work it on our end. It may be a day or two before you hear back from me.”
“Copy that. Thanks, Doc.”
When the call ended, I threw my phone on the sofa, the same one I’d sat on with Tara only a couple of nights ago. Imagining her there made me sick to my stomach. Worse would be going into the kitchen, where our half-prepared dinner still sat. There was no way I could deal with that shit tonight. I picked up my phone and went upstairs, knowing I wouldn’t be getting a moment’s sleep tonight.
When I saw the sun on the horizon, I took a shower and went back to one of the places I’d used to surveil Tara’s casina when she thought I was away.
Two hours later, she came out the front door and walked in the direction of the villa. I followed, and when I saw her join Pia on the terrazza for breakfast, I did the same. As a guest staying at the farmhouse, it was something I’d been invited to do during my stay.
“Good morning, ladies,” I said, walking over to make a cup of tea.
“Buongiorno, Ben,” said Pia, looking from me to Tara, who stood and approached me.
“Good morning,” she murmured, a soft smile on her face. “I’m sorry about having to leave so abruptly last night.”
Interesting. If this was how she was going to play it, I could play along. I leaned forward so my mouth was close to her ear. “I’m looking forward to picking up where we left off.”
Not only did her cheeks flush, but her nipples hardened. “I’d like that,” I heard her whisper.
Inside, a war was waging, but on the surface, I kept it together. “Still heading to Florence today?”
“I am.”
I couldn’t wait to see how she’d handle this. “Up for some company?”
“Do you have time?” she asked, stunning me.
“I’ve got all day. Night too,” I added with a wink.
“Do you think it would be a problem if I brought someone with me,” she asked Pia, who picked her mobile up from the table.
“Let me check, but I don’t think so.”
“Pia was kind enough to make me a reservation at the Museo di San Marco,” Tara explained.
“No problem to add another person,” Pia said, setting her phone back down. “I’m so happy you’ll be able to enjoy it together.”
I decided to push harder. “Can you spare our Catarina tomorrow?”
Tara’s eyes scrunched, and Pia smiled. “Take all the time you’d like. Our Catarina deserves some time off after all the wine she sold in the last two days.”
“I thought I’d make a reservation at a pensione. That way, we could have dinner in Florence too.”
“Um…sure…we can talk about it before we head out,” said Tara. She turned her back to get more coffee, but I didn’t miss that she bit her bottom lip.
“Is there something else you need to do while you’re in Florence?”
She looked up at me and cocked her head. “No. Why do you ask?”
“You seem distracted.”
“Not at all.” She filled a plate with fruit and sat down at the table.
“What time is our reservation?”
“At one. You should leave soon,” answered Pia.
Given it would take at least two hours to get to Florence from here, soon meant within the next thirty minutes. If I wanted to keep up the charade until Tara was forced to end it, I had to make her think I’d meant what I said about spending the night.