She laughed. ‘Not with my two left feet.’
‘Dancing a tango’s easier than making latte art.’ He gave her a speculative look. ‘Maybe I’ll teach you.’
Being musical and having a good sense of rhythm, Gio would probably be a superb dancer. And the idea of dancing a tango with him—breast to breast and cheek to cheek, their bodies moving as one—sent little ripples of desire down her spine.
‘In Argentina, there’s a saying that everything may change except the tango…but Piazzolla changed it,’ Gio said. ‘He fused the old-fashioned style with jazz, to make something called nuevo tango.’
Given that saying…‘And it went down badly?’ she guessed.
‘At the time, yes—though nowadays most people think of him as the Tango King. He ended up living in Italy, where his parents’ family came from, in the late nineteen-seventies. Nonna actually saw him play in Rome, and said he was completely amazing.’ He smiled wryly. ‘I normally only play Piazzolla for Nonna.’
‘Then I consider myself honoured,’ Fran said. ‘What does “Verano Porteño” mean?’
‘Summer—well, it’s meant to be an evocation of summer in Buenos Aires. It’s from his Four Seasons,’ he said, ‘which is sadly not as well known as Vivaldi’s.’ He played a couple of bars she recognised from ‘Spring’, then put his guitar back in the case. ‘Enough for now.’
‘Thank you for playing for me,’ she said.
‘Well, I guess you earned it. Seeing as you passed your exams.’ He smiled. ‘And I’m glad you came to tell me.’
‘Even though, strictly speaking, it could’ve waited until tomorrow,’ she admitted. ‘But you believed in me, Gio. I couldn’t wait tell you.’ She took a deep breath. ‘Actually, what I’d intended to do was drag you off to a bar and buy you a glass of champagne to celebrate.’
‘That’s very sweet of you.’
At his tone, Fran felt her stomach swoop. Oh, no. Now he’d think she was trying to hit on him. And he was going to be kind about it and refuse very politely.
‘But I think champagne is overrated. There’s way too much snobbery about a few bubbles in some wine. I’d rather have a good Margaux any day. Or there’s this amazing Sicilian red wine Netti found that actually tastes of chocolate. It’s fabulous with puddings.’ He switched off the computer. ‘Have you eaten yet?’
‘No.’
‘Good. Do you like dim sum?’
She nodded.
‘Then how about we swap the champagne for Chinese food?’
‘Don’t tell me.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘You know the best Chinese in London, and it’s something to do with your family?’
He laughed. ‘Yes to the first, no to the second. Actually, there were a couple of things I wanted to run by you.’
‘So we might as well multi-task it.’ She threw his favourite phrase back at him.
‘We want to celebrate your exam. We both need to eat.’ He spread his hands. ‘And we can talk at the same time, can we not?’
Jasmine tea really hadn’t been the way Fran had intended celebrating, but when they were seated in the restaurant, having chosen a mixture of dishes to share, she realised that this was just about perfect.
‘So, what did you want to run by me?’ she asked.
‘We’re just about into week four of your trial. Which is practically a month.’ His eyes glittered. ‘We said a month’s trial, with a week’s notice on either side.’
Fran went cold. Her boss had told her about the studio merger over lunch. Was Gio about to tell her that he’d changed his mind about her working with him, over dinner? Was this going to be her week’s notice?
Then her rational side kicked in. They were celebrating her exam results. And he wouldn’t have suggested having dinner or said that he had some things to run by her if he was about to terminate her contract. ‘So we did,’ she agreed coolly, and sipped her jasmine tea.
If he noticed that the bowl clattered when she returned it to the saucer, he didn’t comment. ‘I’m happy with the way things are going. What about you?’
She nodded. ‘I’m enjoying the work and I like the staff.’
‘So can we consider you a permanent member of the team, now? Don’t look so worried,’ he added.
‘I wasn’t worried,’ she fibbed.
‘Then you’ll stay?’
‘Yes.’
‘Good.’
That was the first hurdle over with. Now for the biggie. Gio decided to wait until they were eating and Fran had filled her bowl with choice morsels.