Christmas at the Island Hotel - Jenny Colgan Page 0,77
Isla dried and redried a cup because she had forgotten what she should do with it.
Konstantin found himself staring at the suds. “My dad sent me away,” he said.
“You’re kidding.”
“I think he got sick of looking at me. I think I was quite annoying.”
“He sent you here?”
“Well, I had to go somewhere. First away to school, then, when I still wouldn’t be what he wanted . . . he sent me here . . .”
“He turned you out?”
Konstantin shrugged.
“Oh God,” said Isla. This was her worst fear, that her mother would just tell her to go, because where would she go?
“Well, it could be worse,” said Konstantin. “You know, I like the mince pies you have here.”
“Oh my God,” said Isla. “I can’t believe . . . No wonder you were miserable.”
“I sometimes think,” said Konstantin, “that my mother was my only protector . . .”
“Yes! My dad, he just thought . . . he thought I was great. He thought everything I did was kind of cute and funny . . .”
“. . . even when I was naughty . . .”
“Sometimes I think he liked it when I was naughty. Like we were ganging up against my mum . . .”
“Yes! We were a gang and then . . .”
There was a silence and Isla looked at the hurt and the pain in his eyes, and suddenly, without realizing it, he slammed his hand down hard, and it splashed into the water and sent white soapy bubbles everywhere, including onto Isla’s nose. She looked at the mess for a second and he looked at her, worried about her reaction.
The next second, she too had splashed in the water, her hand sending a great big gout of foam up onto his hair.
Surprised, he laughed and immediately splashed back, and in two seconds they had gone from feeling miserable to laughing almost hysterically and having a massive foam fight.
As he rubbed some off her nose while trying to get some more of the foam down her neck, she found herself suddenly, willingly, drawn closer and closer to him, and she reached up a finger to wipe the big daub of suds off the tip of his nose, and suddenly he took her hand, gently this time, and put it on his cheek, looking at her, his blue eyes full of intent, his hand large and soft and warm. Color flooded to her cheeks, but she did not turn away, and instead turned and looked up at him, eyes wide.
He looked at her trusting face, eyes wide open, and got such a start. He brought his other hand up—still damp, but that didn’t matter—took her little heart-shaped face in it, tilted it up toward him as she moved toward him, a little closer, a little closer, without either of them taking their eyes off of each other. There was noise, of course, outside from the party—fiddles and Nollaig songs—but here in the little back utility, it felt quiet suddenly, and everybody else seemed very far away.
Infinitely slowly, Konstantin bent his head toward her, while she found herself, almost involuntarily, creeping up on her tiptoes to meet him; the space between them grew smaller and smaller, and she found her eyes closing as she bent herself into him . . .
“Konstantin? Konstantin?”
The voice was loud, harsh, and English, and they both immediately, guiltily, jumped apart.
Chapter 52
Squeezing her hand tightly, Konstantin turned and vanished into the kitchen, not wanting whoever it was to spot them together, put two and two together, and make . . .
. . . well, four, he supposed. He smiled to himself and glanced back. Isla was still staring at him, a smile playing round her lips, those huge eyes staring at him. Christ, she gave him such a charge.
In the bright kitchen, full of people singing and carousing and flirting and eating their food, he was pleased to see, he came upon the young woman he’d met before at the statue. She leaned over to Isla—“You don’t mind if I borrow him, do you?”—smiling and showing very white teeth.
Taken aback, Isla frowned. “Uhm, no, why would I?” she said, her voice a bit shaky.
“Oh, just looked like you were getting cozy! Not surprised, such a handsome chap!”
Candace couldn’t help pushing buttons, and she was pleased to see Isla’s face fall at the thought of being obvious.
“Oh, I’m only teasing you,” she added meanly. “It’s clearly nothing. Now come with me, you gorgeous hunk.”