Love Like That

by Sophie Love

  Because Keira knew she and Bryn shared the same size and shape of foot, she knew that her own measurements could be used to make Bryn a pair as well. Her sister would be thrilled when she returned with the gift, Keira knew.

  The man took measurements of Keira’s feet, then together they chose the color and type of leather and the style. If she’d wanted to, Keira could have spent all day designing her sandals, but she decided on one of the designs already on display, and the man got to work creating two pairs, one for her, and one for Bryn.

  She watched, transfixed, fascinated, as he constructed what she already knew was her new favorite fashion item.

  When they were done, Keira slid them on. They fit perfectly and felt more comfortable than any pair of shoes she’d ever worn. Not to mention they looked fantastic as well. She was utterly thrilled with them, and thanked the man with a big hug. Bryn’s pair she stowed carefully away in her purse, eager for the time she’d get to present them to her sister.

  Cristiano whistled when she showed off her new sandals to him.

  “You look very chic,” he told her.

  “Thank you,” she said with a coy blush. “Where to now?”

  “I think you have had enough retail therapy,” Cristiano joked. “It is time to see some of Capri that is off the beaten path. The bits not for tourists. First, we will see the Certosa di San Giacomo. It is a former Carthusian monastery with beautiful gardens.”

  “How exciting,” Keira said.

  She loved to experience the culture of a place just as much as she loved sampling the food and viewing the scenery.

  They set off again. This time, Keira felt like a million dollars strolling along the Capri streets in her new sandals. With the gorgeous Cristiano at her side she could hardly stop grinning.

  When they reached the Certosa di San Giacomo, Keira’s mouth dropped open. She’d never seen a building so grand, so decadent. The gray stone seemed to camouflage so well with the surrounding mountains, and it was completely nestled within foliage making it look even more at one with the surrounding hills. In the distance a sliver of ocean glittered.

  “I thought you said this was a monastery!” Keira exclaimed, breathless. “It looks more like a luxury spa.”

  “Former monastery,” Cristiano corrected.

  Keira sniffed the air. The flowers were in full bloom and their fragrance was wonderful.

  She turned to Cristiano, grinning widely. “And you were right. No tourists at all! Why does no one come here?”

  “They are too busy shopping in Prada,” Cristiano replied with a chuckle. “Now, we must head on. The Gardens of Augustus are even more beautiful.”

  Keira shook her head. “I don’t believe you. Nothing can be better than this.”

  “Just you wait,” Cristiano replied, his eyes widening with excitement.

  Keira was sad to not have more time to spend in the monastery’s gardens; she could quite happily enjoy an entire day in the tranquility, breathing in the fragrant blossom. But there was so much still to see.

  They headed onward. The roads were incredibly windy, and rather steep.

  “Are you okay to walk?” Cristiano said. “I thought you would prefer that to the bus.”

  At that moment, Keira saw one of the tourist buses swerving around the extremely tight, narrow corner. Even from this safe distance it made her stomach roll.

  “You made a good call,” she told Cristiano. “I think going up these hills on a bus would give me PTSD.”

  Cristiano laughed, and they continued to trek upward, zigzagging up the cliffside.

  After a long climb, they reached the Gardens of Augustus. It was very small and quaint, filled with statues and bright flowers. Again, there were so few tourists Keira felt like she was completely out of the general hustle and bustle of Capri.

  “The view here is astounding,” Keira said.

  Cristiano pointed at a protrusion of three rocks in the ocean. “The Faraglioni,” he explained.

  Keira felt awed looking at the natural wonders.

  The next stop on Cristiano’s whistle-stop tour of the less well-known parts of Capri was San Michele, an eighteenth-century church. On their walk there they passed vineyards and lemon groves where lizards sunbathed lazily, and took in the views of Capri’s coastal lighthouses. With every step they took, Keira felt herself falling more and more in love with Capri.

  Cristiano removed a sweater from his backpack. “You should put this on to cover your shoulders.”

  From the outside, San Michele looked like a small church, pretty but nothing particularly astounding. But then Keira stepped inside.

  The entire church floor was made up of hundreds of tiles covered in artwork that depicted Eden.

  Keira gasped. “It’s fantastic.”

  “Here,” Cristiano said, leading her to a small staircase. “The view is even better from above.”

  They climbed the rickety steps together. Keira looked down in wonder at the workmanship that gone into such a beautiful design.

  “Thank you for showing me this,” she said to Cristiano. “I would never have found this place without a guide.”

  He smiled. “You are welcome, Keira. But I am afraid we must head back down into the busy town now, then take the funicular to the docks.”

  Keira tensed at the thought. “Can’t we stay here?” she asked. “It’s so peaceful. So…” She stopped herself. The word she’d been about to say was “romantic.”

  Cristiano shook his head. “You must trust me, Keira. It will be worth it.”

  The highest heat of the sun had now passed as they headed downhill, giving them a slightly more comfortable journey down. Even the funicular wasn’t quite as terrifying the second time around.

  Once they reached the coastline, Cristiano steered Keira by her elbow to the docks.

  “You have not seen Capri until it has also been explored from the water,” he explained, gesturing to a small gondola.

  “In that?” Keira asked, balking. “But it’s tiny.”

  What she really meant was that it was so small they would inevitably have to touch one another. She wondered if that was Cristiano’s intention. A way of getting the wheels finally turning between them.

  He chuckled. “It is the best way to travel. You don’t want to share with them, do you?” He pointed at the hordes of tourists as they poured onto one of the small touring boats. “This way we can go at our own pace. And we do not have to listen to their chatter.”

  Keira couldn’t really argue with that. “Well, okay, but promise me it’s safe?”

  “Of course, it is safe!” Cristiano said, gesturing for her to step aboard.

  Keira did, feeling the boat wobble beneath her. She sat hurriedly, so as not to fall. Cristiano laughed.

  “You have no grace,” he teased as he slid in beside her, looking very at home. “Now listen,” he added. “The tour boats will tell them that this house belongs to Donatella Versace. This one to Jennifer Lopez. It is not true, they just make it up.”

  Keira laughed. “How scandalous.” She became aware of the sensation of her thigh pressing against his. She readjusted her position and cleared her throat awkwardly. “So where are we heading?”

  “The Blue Grotto,” Cristiano told her. “It is beautiful there.”

  “Everything is beautiful here,” Keira told him. “I feel like I’m living in a painting, or a dream.”

  Cristiano smiled.

  The gondola began to move through the water, lengthening the distance between them and the tourist vessels. The din of their loud voices died away until everything became very peaceful and all Keira could hear were the sloshing waves.

  They toured the coast, ducking in and out of caves lined with red coral and stalactites, passing through arches carved through the limestone by the process of erosion.

  Then they reached the Blue Grotto. Keira looked at the small entrance, which was no more than a yard wide and maybe a little taller than that. In order to get inside, Kei
ra realized, she would have to duck. But that meant leaning back right into Cristiano. She looked at him uneasily.

  He was already prepared, with his confident crooked smile on display and his arms open wide. Keira raised an eyebrow.

  “Really?” she said, witheringly.

  “You must,” Cristiano stated. “Or you will bang your head on the rock.”

  With no choice, Keira leaned back into Cristiano’s arms and the gondola passed into the grotto.

  Keira was so stunned by what she saw inside the grotto she didn’t immediately think to move out of Cristiano’s embrace. The water inside the sea cave was glowing bright blue, the illuminated water looking otherworldly.

  “How is that happening?” she gasped, feeling like she had entered a whole new dimension.

  “It is a miracle of nature,” Cristiano’s voice came in her ear. “Natural light filtration has an effect that is out of this world.”

  Completely awed by what she was witnessing, Keira finally sat up and looked over her shoulder to take in the sight of Cristiano in the mystical cerulean hues. His face was just as remarkable as always, if not more so. It was a face that belonged on the pages of a fashion magazine, not out here with her. But to her disbelief, Cristiano was gazing at her with a look she could only describe as infatuation.

  Keira felt a strong desire to kiss him. It felt like the most natural thing to do in the world. But something was holding her back, something more than just his intimidating beauty.

  Keira turned her face, looking away from him and back out toward the glowing water. With disappointment, she realized the moment was lost.

  In spite of the incredible day they had just spent together, Keira had become a coward at the last second.

  As they left the Grotto, passing once more through the small opening, Keira leaned into Cristiano. But this time she felt wooden. She couldn’t work out what had just happened, but it left her feeling cold.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  By the time they made it back to the dock, evening had fallen.

  “It is time for dinner,” Cristiano told Keira.

  She nodded, silent, still feeling confused about what had happened in the Grotto. As they took the funicular up, Keira hardly even noticed her fear as she was so preoccupied with her thoughts.

  The restaurant Cristiano had chosen for them was gorgeous, built into a lemon grove. Their table, too, was surrounded by lemon trees and inevitably the air was scented with citrus.

  Keira quietly perused the menu, then selected a fresh mussel risotto, while Cristiano had a slightly more adventurous dish of veal with spinach and mozzarella. Of course, there was also wine.

  “Are you okay today, Keira?” Cristiano asked them as they ate. “You have seemed quiet. Did I make you walk too far? We must have covered the whole island today!”

  “It’s not that,” Keira replied. “I enjoy walking and the island is so spectacular I wanted to see all that it had to offer. We’re only here one more night after all.”

  Cristiano looked at her with his head quirked to the side. “Then what is it that is bothering you?” he pressed.

  Keira prodded her meal with her fork. She wasn’t sure what it was. But it had something to do with what had happened back at the Blue Grotto. The perfect opportunity had presented itself for her to make a move and she had let the moment pass. She was starting to suspect it had something to do with Shane, with Zach, with the rapid succession of breakups she’d been through. She’d been trying to protect herself, to stop herself from experiencing any more pain, and as a result had passed up the chance of complete bliss.

  She’d been a coward before. She was not about to be one again.

  “Just before I came here,” she began, “I went through a really painful breakup.”

  Cristiano looked at her sympathetically. “I am sorry to hear this, Keira. Are you hurting now?”

  She nodded. “I think I am. Our relationship was something I’d never had before. I thought I’d finally found true love, that everything I’d known before that had just been a game.”

  Cristiano nodded emphatically. “I understand. It was the same for me and Maria.”

  “Your wife?”

  “My ex, yes.”

  Nodding, Keira tipped her gaze down to the food in her bowl. “The thing is, just before things ended with me and Shane, I’d been in a long-term relationship that had lasted two years. He didn’t like my career aspirations and cheated on me. I never had a chance to heal from that because I found Shane right away. And I think I must have been taught a terrible lesson by fate, that once one relationship ends a better one will immediately appear to replace it. Is that an unhealthy way to behave?”

  Cristiano smiled then. “Are you asking for my permission to move on from your Shane? With me?”

  Keira pressed her lips together. Cristiano’s honesty and openness made her feel uncomfortable. But she put her awkwardness to one side, because in his quiet, unassuming way, Cristiano had hit on something, the word permission.

  Was she waiting for some kind of sign, or some kind of permission to move on with her life? Hadn’t she resisted falling in love with Shane because she’d been clinging to her past with Zach and had taken the coward’s approach, waiting until he cheated on her for the relationship to end? Was she doing it again, staring at her phone every evening waiting for some kind of sign from Shane that gave her permission to move on with her life, something that really told her it was over for good?

  She glanced up at Cristiano and realized it was about time for her to become the author of her own destiny.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Keira’s time on the Amalfi Coast soon came to an end. With Cristiano by her side, she boarded the ferry back to the mainland, heading toward Naples. Like the gentleman he was proving himself to be, Cristiano took care of her luggage.

  “I’m not much looking forward to being in Naples again,” Keira told him.

  “It’s not the best of cities,” Cristiano agreed. “Especially compared to somewhere like Capri. But it is not as bad as some make it out to be.”

  “My first guide seemed to think the city was controlled by the mafia and that everyone fought each other all the time. I still don’t know if he was just trying to scare me.”

  Cristiano seemed amused by the anecdote. “You must be pleased to have been paired with me,” he said, boldly.

  Keira allowed a smile to flit across her lips before breaking eye contact. She still wasn’t sure where she stood with Cristiano. In the restaurant last night she’d felt a shift in herself while being in his presence, a greater awareness of the ways in which she expected life to somehow tell her what to do, rather than taking control of it and molding it in her own way. But last night had still ended with her making no moves toward Cristiano, and she’d been wondering why ever since. The Blue Grotto had provided the perfect opportunity, but dinner last night had provided an even more perfect moment. That Keira hadn’t allowed anything to happen either time was playing on her mind.

  She tried to figure it out now, as she sat side by side with Cristiano in relatively easy silence. The ferry cut through the azure waves and the sun high above them was making the sky a dreamy haze, providing the perfect backdrop for quiet contemplation.

  Keira came to the conclusion that she just wasn’t confident enough to take that step of her own accord. She was no Bryn. Her sister wouldn’t have worried whether she was attractive enough, or dressed smartly enough, she’d just see what she wanted and go for it. Keira herself could not do the same. She had too much self-doubt to contend with, and the heartbreaks she’d endured recently seemed to have set her back even further.

  “You are thinking very hard,” Cristiano said, breaking through her reverie.

  “How can you tell?” Keira asked.

  “You are frowning,” he replied, laughing, mimicking her expression.

  Keira laughed too, but she felt too clammed up to reveal the real reason behind her facial expression to Cristi
ano.

  “Is it because of the article?” Cristiano asked. “Are you finding enough material?”

  She looked up into his dark eyes. “More than enough,” she told him, trying to push the real meaning behind her statement all the way into his soul. It didn’t work. Cristiano just went back to sitting quietly, allowing Keira some space with her thoughts.

  “Let me get us some gelatos,” Cristiano said suddenly, standing up. “This is a long boat ride and it will get only hotter as we go.”

  “Thanks,” Keira said. She’d gotten quite the taste for gelatos since coming to Italy. She wished there was an authentic counterpart in New York City somewhere, but so far the stuff she’d tasted back at home wasn’t close to what the real Italy had to offer.

  “Can you get me an exciting flavor?” Keira asked.

  Cristiano flashed her his wicked smile in affirmation, and she watched him walk across the deck and disappear inside. He really was a work of art, a finely sculpted man. From his looks to his choice of clothes, everything about him was kind of perfect.

  Keira wondered if that was the real thing holding her back. No one was perfect, Shane had been testament to that. She’d thought she’d found Mr. Forever but she’d actually just found Mr. For The Moment. Was she worried that Cristiano wouldn’t measure up in reality to the Romeo of her fantasy? Was she more into the idea of Cristiano than the real person?

  As she ruminated on these thoughts, becoming more and more lost in her daydream, a group of Italian men came and sat in the row of red plastic seats behind her.

  One of them leaned forward so that his face was in line with hers.

  “Hey, lady,” he said, smiling.

  Keira turned, feeling a little tingle run through her at the familiar thrill that came with being flirted with.

  “Yes?” she said coquettishly. “Can I help?”

  “Of course,” the man said. “I am Luis. This is my good friend Jorge, and his brother Paolo. We saw you sitting alone and thought it was not possible for a woman of your magnitude to be unaccompanied.”