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?”