the phone, his face furious. ‘Jesus, Lucy,’ he gasps. ‘What’s got into you? Why the hell should I be buying you a ring, for Christ’s sake?’
I widen my eyes pointedly. ‘Why do men usually buy women rings?’
He stares in bewilderment. Then suddenly the penny drops. ‘What the . . .?’ He pauses, trying to contain himself. ‘Have you gone insane?’
‘No.’ I shake my head. ‘It’s just . . .’ The words stick in my throat and I swallow hard. OK, come on, Lucy, you can do it. Screwing up all my courage, I think about the Strategy. It was Kate’s second suggestion. She said it couldn’t possibly fail . . .
I screw my hands into tight fists and dive off the edge.
‘I’m in love with you,’ I blurt.
Nate looks at me like I’ve suddenly got two heads. The colour seems to drain from his face and a million different emotions flash across his features – shock, disbelief, horror, scepticism, before finally settling on suspicion.
‘What are you up to?’ Narrowing his eyes, he peers at me.
‘Up to?’ I feign innocence. Badly.
‘You and I both know that’s not true,’ he says simply. ‘I mean, please, those granny panties?’ He pulls a face. ‘No woman would wear those in front of a man she was in love with.’
I feel my cheeks flush. ‘No, but . . .’ I’m about to argue, but what’s the point? It’s not going to work. He doesn’t believe, and who can blame him? ‘OK, so you’re right. I’m not in love with you.’
‘Good. Because as you might have guessed, I’m not in love with you either.’
‘I guess that’s something else we agree on, then,’ I say, feeling rather foolish after my outburst.
He throws me a withering look. ‘Believe me, I’m as horrified as you are that we’ve been thrown together these past couple of days. When you sat down on the plane next to me, my heart just sank.’
‘It did?’
‘Are you kidding me? Like a rock.’ He nods. ‘It was bad enough bumping into you the whole time in New York, but trapped on an island together? I have to confess I thought you were stalking me.’
‘Me?’ I look at him with indignation. ‘Stalking you?’
‘Well, c’mon, there’s coincidence and there’s coincidence.’ He raises his eyebrows. ‘I thought you were trying to find a way to get back with me.’
I’m speechless. Totally speechless.
‘A friend of mine said it was obvious. I mean, all those calls.’ He throws me a pointed look. ‘Apparently that’s what girls do.’
‘That’s what girls do?’ I repeat. I can’t believe I’m hearing this.
‘He said you were probably a psycho ex.’
< itali²widgn=“justify”>I glare at him in disbelief. ‘Me? A psycho ex?’ Oh my God, wait till I tell Kate.
‘For a moment I almost believed him.’ He pauses, as if steeling himself, then adds in a low voice, ‘Until I saw those panties.’
He makes a scary face, but the corners of his mouth twitch in amusement and I can’t help smiling.
‘It’s been hell for me too, you know,’ I protest.
‘I’m sure.’ He nods. ‘It’s not pleasant for either of us.’
‘You know, maybe we can end up being friends,’ I say, as we move away from the jewellery shop.
‘Hey, steady on,’ he replies sardonically.
‘OK, well, what about acquaintances? Our only contact can be a Christmas card every year,’ I suggest. ‘Unless of course I forget.’
‘Or I delete your address. By accident, of course.’
I feel a shift, as if we’ve entered a new phase in our relationship, an understanding.
‘Sounds perfect.’ I grin.
‘Doesn’t it?’ He grins back.
We end up staying in town and having dinner together. It goes fairly smoothly, apart from when I snap at him for making a fuss about wanting to taste their wine list (I mean, really. We’re in Pappa’s Pizza. They have two wines: house red and house white), and he snaps at me for using my fingers to eat the calamari starter we’re sharing.
Then there’s the bit when he tells me off for glancing at a text that beeps up from Adam – Looking 4ward 2 tomorrow x – and texting a reply – Me 2 x – and I accuse him of being a hypocrite for using his iPhone at the table, which results in him doing that thing with his hand where he tries to shush me for talking too loudly and I get infuriated and tell him to sod off loudly.
Followed by several long sulky silences from both of us.
All in all, though, it’s pretty civil, and although it’s not an