Leo’s phone rang. He pulled it out an answered, barely breaking eye contact with me. He started off speaking Dutch, but switched to English with a wink at me.
“Okay, we’ll see you soon, Nicky.” Leo put his phone back in his pocket. “That was my friend Nicky,” he said needlessly.
“Yeah, I figured.” I stuck my tongue out. He stuck his right back out at me, and I felt like a giddy high schooler.
“He’ll be here soon, he suggested we meet at a place he knows for some lunch. Is that okay?”
“Yeah, sounds great!”
Leo took my hand in his and we walked slowly along the cobblestones. I stumbled once or twice, not looking where I was walking. Leo caught me both times, and I made an effort to watch where I was going so that he wouldn’t think I was a total klutz.
“There he is,” Leo said and nodded towards a tall, fair headed man standing under a tree looking at his phone. I stared at him unashamedly while he was concentrating on the device in his hands, but let my eyes drop when he looked up, a grin spreading over his handsome face.
“Nicky, this is Bea. Bea, please meet Nicky.” I smiled politely at Nicky and he grinned back at me, and then surprised me by going in for a cheek kiss.
“Nice to meet you,” we both said at the same time, and then laughed.
“Welcome to Belgium,” Nicky said. “Leo tells me it is your first time here.”
I nodded. “Thanks. I really like it here.”
Nicky led us to a nearby restaurant. Leo continued broadening my beer credentials and ordered me yet another new beer. I couldn’t tell yet if all Belgian beer was amazing, or if Leo just had great taste and kept selecting the best, but I was enjoying my education anyway.
“What’s filet americain?” I asked, scanning down the menu.
Leo smirked. “I don’t think you’d like it.”
“Why not? I’m not a fussy eater. Do you like it?”
Leo shrugged. “It’s okay. Not my favourite.”
“What is it?” I asked again.
Leo paused and glanced at Nicky, a slightly mischievous glint in his eyes. “It’s minced beef spread on bread.”
“Well that doesn’t sound so bad,” I said with a slight frown.
“The beef is raw,” Nicky said.
My nose scrunched up. “Ew, gross.”
Leo laughed. “I thought you might think so.”
“Okay, well that narrows the menu down a bit,” I said. I settled on some sort of stew that the boys guaranteed me had no raw meat in it.
The rest of the afternoon flew by in a blur of laughter, stolen caresses, beer, and waffles. And some more beer.
When Nicky found out Leo was planning to take me to their hometown, Blankenberge, on the weekend, he enthusiastically invited us to come and watch his sisters band. There was some sort of festival on apparently, and they’d been booked to play.
Leo said something to Nicky in Dutch, and Nicky shook his head slowly. I glanced quizzically between them, but neither of them elaborated. So far they’d been really good about speaking in English for my benefit, which I appreciated. Feeling slightly disgruntled, I walked off a few metres to take a picture of a stray cute cat that had wandered out and seemed to be demanding attention.
Not long after, Nicky said goodbye, and made us promise to find him on Sunday in Blankenberge.
“I kind of miss knowing where my life was going,” I said, fiddling with the label on my beer bottle. We were back in Ghent, sitting outside a bar, enjoying the warm evening. I couldn’t get over how pretty the night was, with the reflection of the medieval buildings glinting off the still water. It was almost exactly what I’d dreamed of when I’d pictured lazy, boozey evenings in Europe. The company wasn’t what I’d imagined, but for now, I liked how reality was turning out better than what my mind had conjured up pre-trip.
“You can’t ever really know where your life is going,” Leo replied after a moment.
“I know. It’s just a comforting illusion that I miss. Now everything, everything, is up in the air. I haven’t ever felt like that. When I was younger, like in school, I had all these plans and back up plans. If I got this score, then I’d go to this uni and study this course, if I got that score, I’d go to that uni and study something different… you know? Now… I don’t know.”
“Mmm.” Leo took a sip of his beer.
“For awhile there I thought I had everything kind of figured out. Tom and I would travel the world together, then when we landed back in Australia, he’d teach and I’d go back and get my Masters. But now…”
Leo didn’t say anything for a minute, just sat staring into his beer.
“Life is unpredictable,” he said slowly. “You never truely know what is coming at you. What will happen around the corner? You just need to deal with it when it happens, to the best of your abilities.”
“You’re right,” I said. “Sometimes I wish I could just flick to the back of the book, you know?”
Leo nodded. “I get it. But, I don’t think I would, even if I could. I don’t want to know when I’ll die.”
“Really? I guess not, me either. That would be strange. And very weird. At first, you think, oh maybe it would be good because you could make sure that you’ve done everything you wanted to do in life, and you’ve made your peace with everyone, and got your affairs in order… but… I dunno. Seems a bit morbid.”
“And what if you found out your time is up sooner than you’re ready for? Or that it’s going to be painful and horrible?” Leo stared maudlinly into his beer.
“Well, this is a cheery topic!” I said, lightly.
“You’re right,” Leo said. “So, where do you want to go for your next holiday?”
I sat for a moment, unsure. “Somewhere warm,” I finally said.
“Greek islands?” Leo suggested.
“Have you been?”
Leo nodded. “Years ago, I’d like to go back.”
“We should go together,” I said, and then blushed. Was I being too presumptuous? Would he even want to go on a holiday with me?
Leo leaned over the little table and took my chin in his hand. I gazed into his eyes, and then glanced down at his lips, his oh so kissable lips. Before I could even will him to kiss me, his lips hovered against mine, warm and soft. I leant into the kiss. All too soon we were interrupted by an awkwardly apologetic waiter.
We broke apart and I let out an almost involuntary, self-conscious giggle.
Leo stared at me intently, completely ignoring the waiter, with a look of what I could only describe as desire over his face.
“Come.” He stood up and held his hand out to me. “Let’s go.”
I put my hand slowly into his and followed him, glancing back at the blushing waiter with a wry grin. Once we were past the crowd of people, and into the twilight Leo stopped and turned to me suddenly, crushing me against him. My body responded at once, arms twining up around him, pressing myself as close to him as I possibly could.
“I’ve been wanting to do that since you got here,” he murmured into my hair, after pulling back to nibble at my neck. I shivered with pleasure, not wanting him to stop.
“Why didn’t you?” I asked. Apart from the hand squeezes and brief hugs, I’d been beginning to wonder…
The lips at my neck paused and I wiggled to encourage them to keep doing what they’d been doing.
Leo pulled back and looked at me. “I didn’t know if you wanted me to,” he said after a moment.
“Of course I did. I came here, didn’t I?”
“Yes... We’ve both been too shy it would seem.”
I pulled his beautiful face down closer to mine. “Let’s not be shy anymore.”
“Agreed.”
A feeling of sublime contentedness swept me awake. I lay there, half awake, half asleep, trying to remember the dream I could feel slipping away. It took me a moment to realise that it hadn’t been a dream. I replayed the evening over in my mind, examining it from every angle. It had been p
erfect. More than perfect. Mind-blowing.
“Good morning,” Leo murmured.
I opened my eyes and a smile spread over my face. Leo, looking slightly dishevelled but decidedly handsome, was leaning up on his elbow, looking down at me. I forgot to be self-conscious for a minute. The look on his face was as if he were looking at the most beautiful creature in the world and I almost forgot that in reality I was a bleary eyed, sleep encrusted, smudged make-up mess. Just enjoy the adoration while it lasts, I told myself. This is probably fleeting.
“Were you watching me sleep?” I tried to stifle a yawn but failed miserably.
“Maybe,” he said softly and slid down so that we were on the same level. He pulled me closer to him and I had a quick moment of panic about my morning breath.
“That’s a little Edward Cullen of you,” I teased.
“Who?” Leo quirked an eyebrow. His fingers started lightly caressing my belly, making patterns and swirls. It felt divine and I really didn’t want him to stop.
“Edward Cullen? You know?” Leo shook his head. “Twilight? Sparkly vampire? It’s a book. And a movie. C’mon, it was huge a few years ago.”
“Oh. Right. Yeah. I think I know.”
“Sheesh.” I snuggled closer to him, entwining his fingers with mine.
“I never read it. Or saw it.” Leo’s fingers started exploring further.
“Fair enough. I don’t think it was really huge in the early twenties male set.”
Leo snorted. “So what did he do? Watch people sleep?”
“Yeah. It was a bit creepy actually. He’d watch the main character sleep but she wouldn’t even know about it. He’d like, sneak into her room and watch her sleep every night for months. Totally creepy now that I think about it…”
“Well, I wasn’t watching you for that long, only a few minutes. You looked too beautiful not to admire.”
“Well, shucks.”
He kissed me lightly on the lips, and then each of my cheeks and finally the tip of my nose.
“You really are, you know?”
“Are what?” I asked softly, skin prickling where his fingers were still stroking me.
“Beautiful.”
I didn’t have anything intelligent to say to that, but I could definitely get used to it.
“So what have you got planned for us today, Mr Tour Guide?” I asked after a few moments of gazing into each others eyes like saps. Damnation, I was feeling sappier than I had in a long time. It slightly scared me.
Leo turned under the covers so that he was lying on his back. He stretched one muscular arm up under his head, and used the other one to draw me close. I snuggled in next to him, feeling petite next to his broad shoulders. I ran my fingers lightly over his abs, and through the neat hair on his chest. Leo had just the right amount of body hair, in my biased opinion.
It was my turn to make him tremble. I revelled in my power over his body.
“Brussels,” Leo sighed.
“What?” I asked, distracted.
“I thought we should go to Brussels,” he said, eyes half closed.
“Oh. Right. Cool.” My fingers were tracing large circles around his torso, getting lower and lower. “What time should we go?” I asked softly, gazing up at Leo with what I hoped was an innocent face. My fingers were anything but innocent as they went further down and down. Leo let out a soft groan as they found their target.
“Naughty girl,” he whispered. I grinned evilly up him, feeling the effect I was having on him.
“Should I stop?” I asked, innocently.
“Most definitely not,” he growled. His lips found mine. He flipped me over, and before I knew it, I was under him. His lips worshiped my neck, my chest, my breasts and I lost track of time completely, giving in to my bodies demands and desires.
Chapter Twelve
Blankenberge: The meet the family edition
Leo gave my hand a quick squeeze. I smiled up at him. We stood on the steps outside his mother’s house. I hadn’t done a ‘meet the family’ type of thing for a long time, and I was unexpectedly nervous. What if they hated me? What if they were horrible? What if... I shook my head. Being silly. I was being silly.
“You okay?” Leo asked. I nodded, my mouth suddenly dry.
Leo raised his hand and knocked. He waited a moment and then pushed the bright red door open.
“Hallo! Mama!” Leo called something else out in Dutch that I didn’t understand.
Leo ushered me into the hallway where large pictures of Leo and his siblings smiled down at us.
A tall, middle-aged blonde woman in a bright yellow dress materialised out of one of the doorways and exclaimed happily, holding her arms out to Leo. He gave her a tight hug and kisses on both cheeks.
After she was satisfied with her son, she turned her attention to me.
“Mama, this is my friend, Beatrix. Bea, this is my mother, Julie.”
I held my hand out, but Julie ignored it and went in for the hug and cheek kisses.
“Lovely to meet you! Welcome to Blankenberge. You are from Australia, yes?” Her accent was slightly stronger than Leo’s to my ears.
I nodded. “Thank you. Yes, but I’m living in London at the moment.”
Julie linked her arm with mine and led me up the passageway. I glanced bemusedly over my shoulder at Leo who was trailing after us. He winked at me.
“How wonderful. I love London,” she said somewhat wistfully, cocking her head to the side. “I lived there when I first met Leo’s father, actually. Did he tell you that?”
I shook my head. “No, he didn’t.” I grinned at Leo, who just shrugged.
Julie tsked at her son. “Well, I did and it was lovely. How are you enjoying Belgium?”
“It’s great, I really like it here,” I said.
She led me into the lounge room and gestured for me to sit on the couch. I obediently sank down, and smiled at Leo who was hovering by the doorway still, looking around.
“No Joeri?” Leo asked his mother.
Julie started saying something that I couldn’t understand, but switched to English with an apologetic glance in my direction. “He’ll meet us at the beach in a little time.”
Leo nodded and came and sat by me on the couch. Julie disappeared into the kitchen I caught a glimpse of, and came out a few moments later with a platter of cheeses, bread and pate.
“Please.” Julie put the platter down in front of me. “Would you like anything to drink?”
“Water would be lovely, thank you.”
Julie came back again with a jug of water with slice lemon floating in it and three glasses.
“I hope my son has been a good host and showing you proper Belgian life, food, and beer?” She handed me a glass.
I laughed, and took a sip of water. “Yes, he’s been very good. I’ve had more Belgian beers than I can remember, we’ve had frites, mussels, what was that stew called again?” I turned to Leo.
“Waterzooi,” he said, reaching for his own water.
“That, yes. It was delicious.”
“She didn’t want to try filet americain for some reason.” Leo’s eyes sparkled at me as popped a piece of cheese in his mouth. I wrinkled my nose, glad yet again that I’d had Leo there to translate the menu for me. I didn’t think I’d have been able to stomach eating raw minced beef. My stomach lurched slightly at the thought.
Julie laughed softly at the look on my face. “It’s actually quite tasty, you know.”
“I’ll take your word for it…”
“And of course you have tried our famous chocolates?”
I groaned. “Too many! Well, not too many. They’re all so good. Too many for my waistline…”
Julie just laughed again and then started asking me all about my life in Australia and London.
We chatted for a few minutes, but were interrupted by Julie’s phone ringing. She looked at it and sighed. “Je oma… I’m sorry, I need to answer. It’s Leo’s grandmother.”
I nodded and Le
o let out a snort.
“They’ll be talking for ages,” he said, eyes on his mother as her back disappeared down the hall, talking rapidly in Dutch.
“So where are all your embarrassing baby photos?” I stood up and nudged Leo. The shelves in the room were stacked with framed photos.
“I never take an embarrassing photo,” Leo said stiffly. “Definitely not this one.” He gestured to a photo of a chubby little boy with what looked like butter all over his hair. I burst out laughing.
“That’s not embarrassing. That’s just ridiculously cute.”
“Well, I made her put away the naked ones before you came.”
I laughed and kept looking at the photos. Lots of happy family shots, and photos of various family members all around the world.
“Whose that?” I asked, curious. Leo looked very happy in the picture. He had his arm wrapped around a extremely pretty young woman who looked equally as happy. I thought I’d seen her in a couple of photos back at Leo’s apartment.
Leo came up behind me and rested his chin on the top of my head. He sighed and took the framed photograph from me.
“That’s Emma.”
I waited, but he didn’t say anything else. I glanced up at him. He was looking sadly at the picture.
“She… we were going to be married,” he said eventually, sadness heavy in his voice. I stiffened. Engaged? Say what now?
“What happened?” I asked, cautiously, quietly.
“She died,” Leo said shortly. He put the frame back down on the shelf. My eyes followed him, but he didn’t look at me. I didn’t know what to say. I felt clammy all of a sudden. My moroseness over Tom felt pathetic in the face of a dead fiancé.
Unexpected: A Backpacker Romance (The Backpacker Romances) Page 13