His Forbidden Princess(25)
Then she smacked him on the arm. It was all he could do not to laugh when Sofie’s eyes went wide. “How many times have you been home and you haven’t been down to see me?
What’s that all about?”
“I’m sorry. I’ll never do it again.”
“Damn right.” Patty’s eyes turned and looked Sofie up and down. It was the moment of truth. “And you brought a friend. I’m Patty. It’s nice to meet you…”
“Sofie.” She shook hands without hesitation.
“This is Sofie Luzano.” Time to try it on for size. “My girlfriend.”
“It is about damn time.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I love seeing all Ian’s old haunts. This is such a lovely island.”
Patty’s eyes narrowed. Sofia was speaking in perfect British English, but there was a hint of Italian in her speech, just enough to make his old boss wonder about the woman he was with.
“I think it’s safe to say you’re not from around here, are you, Sofie?”
“No,” she said, looking to him for guidance, but then making a snap decision. “I’m
Swiss.”
Perfect. There wasn’t a person around here who would question she was from
Switzerland.
Patty grabbed her arm. “Switzerland. Like where they make chocolate?”
Sofie nodded. “Yes, the Swiss, the Belgians, the Dutch. There’s some lovely chocolate in that part of Europe.”
Patty dropped her head in mock worship, then looked at Ian and nodded. “I like her. She can stay.” He was glad to see that Sofie was enjoying the attention, and not finding Patty insulting. “Go sit down, I’ll bring out your usual. Two?”
“Yes. Thanks.” He guided Sofie to a small umbrella table that faced the beach. It was still early in the season, technically not even summer yet, and since it was a weekday, everything was pretty quiet. There were only three other tables occupied in the whole place.
“Your usual?” she said as he pulled out her chair.
“I get the same thing every time I come in for lunch. You’re having it, too. You need to sample the local fare.”
“Oh. What if I don’t like it?” It was a valid question, but it didn’t matter.
“You will. Trust me.”
“But what if I don’t? It is possible, Ian.”
“Do I have to remind you of the weekend we went to Paris?”
Her eyes narrowed at the reminder, then she looked away. “The view is quite nice here,”
she said.
Obviously, Sofie didn’t want to talk about Paris.
“You told me to let you order for me? I ended up eating pasta made with octopus ink?”
“I was helping you expand your palate,” she defended. “You needed to eat something
other than hamburgers, fish and chips, or shepherd’s pie.”
“I ate snails,” he said.
“Escargot and it was delicious.”
“Goose liver.”
“Pate de fois gras.”
“Fish eggs.”
“Caviar! Oh, good grief. Stop it, now you’re just being contrary.”
He laughed, enjoying every annoyed look she sent in his direction. It was only a few minutes when two beers appeared on their table. No glasses, just the bottles.
He took a long pull on his, letting the cold brew make its way down. After waiting a few minutes for her glass to show up, and realizing it wasn’t going to, Sofie did the same. .
“Patty truly adores you. It’s sweet to see how you two are with each other. She’s like your big sister.”
“She’s good people,” Ian agreed. “Gave me a job when no one would hire me.”
“Why was that?”
“I was a little bit of a hell raiser. Got into some trouble.”
“You were? And now look at you. What changed?”
“My girlfriend dumped me.”
“Oh, no. Smartened you up a bit, I guess.”
He smiled, leaned back in his chair and sipped his beer. “That’s for sure. I was seventeen and she was the sixteen-year-old, youngest daughter of a very wealthy family. They’d rented a house for the season and she and I met at the beach.”
“A summer romance. I never had one of those.”
“There’s nothing better when you’re a teenager. Heat, hormones, and angst, make for some great memories.”
Now picking at the label on her beer, he could see her bottled-up nerves. “So tell me about your lost love,” she said.
“Ah. You want to hear about my humiliation? Her name was Hannah and she was