“Who are you?” she asked, allowing him to draw her to her feet.

“You don’t recognize me?” he asked, smiling.

His face was perfect, Keira realized as she looked at him. He was so gorgeous she felt herself growing weak at the knees.

Suddenly, he swept her up into his arms. He cradled her against his chest, holding her easily like she was weightless. The sea was suddenly sloshing around his calves. They were standing in the ocean.

“You still haven’t told me your name,” Keira asked again.

The man laughed, a noise that was pure pleasure to her eardrums.

“I don’t need to tell you, you already know it,” he said.

Keira wracked her brains. Then the name came to her, suddenly and full of clarity.

“Are you Romeo?” she asked with disbelief.

The man smiled, his face alive with beauty. “Yes. I’m Romeo. Your Romeo.”

He leaned in toward her, slowly, their lips just millimeters apart.

A sudden jolt made Keira’s eyes ping open. She looked around, disoriented, startled to find herself on an airplane. They were descending through the clouds and the seatbelt sign was on. The final approach must have begun. She’d slept the whole journey.

The dream had left her panting. She touched her chest, feeling her heart fluttering beneath her shirt. Her head was still swirling with the effects of the liquor that she hadn’t managed to fully sleep off.

“I think you were having a nightmare,” Garrett said.

Keira rubbed her temples, recalling the strange dream she’d had. “Yes, I think you’re right. At first. I was being haunted by my ex-boyfriend who was marrying my sister. And all my best friends. And my mom.”

The man looked bemused. Keira wondered what he really thought of her. By his expression, she’d take a guess that he thought she was a nut job. A crackpot.

The plane touched down with a shudder, then began taxiing along the runway. When it eventually drew to a halt, the man beside Keira leapt up the second the seatbelt light flicked off.

“Avoiding the queues,” he said, sheepishly.

“Of course,” Keira replied with a quirk to her smile.

The cabin doors were opened and Garrett bolted for them. Keira laughed to herself. She’d enjoyed her fake persona. Maybe Bryn wasn’t as foolish as she always thought!

She gathered up her things and unbuckled herself, then retrieved her purse from the overhead storage. Heading along the aisle, Keira thought about how the game she’d played with Garrett would now need to be put into real action. For the next three weeks she was going to have to pretend to be someone she wasn’t, someone who still believed in love. Somehow, she had a feeling that doing so was going to be a whole lot harder than being the wine connoisseur had proven to be.

She stepped out of the plane and let the warm sunshine caress her skin. It was much nicer than the cold weather she’d left behind in New York City. There was something about the sun that always made her feel optimistic. It made everything look more beautiful, and though she couldn’t see much of Italy at the moment besides the airport, the surrounding hills looked stunning in the bright light.