The Liberation of Alice Love - Abby McDonald [115]
He made small talk with Stefan and Flora for a few minutes—about the restaurant selection and some upcoming charity event—and then they were on their way, Nathan’s hand light on the curve of her back as he ushered her out to his car. “I know, it’s a waste in the city,” he said, as if preempting an argument he’d had too many times. “What can I say? It’s in my blood.”
“The open road?” Alice waited while he opened the car door for her.
“No, dependence on oil and drive-throughs.”
Alice laughed, slipping into the seat. “As long as you don’t start talking about RPM and acceleration speeds,” she advised. “I’ll just glaze over if you do.”
“Car talk, off limits—duly noted.” Nathan grinned. “Now, where are you on American football and the NFL?”
***
Dinner drifted by in a pleasant haze of wine, delicious food, easy conversation—a miraculous change from the other, awkward dates Alice had suffered through. But with Nathan, it was simple: no stilted pauses or searching for common interests. It was as if their time together in Italy really had broken through that early stage of carefully selected confessions and measured responses, and now they were free to laugh and chat without caution.
“I can’t believe you finished that dessert.” Nathan followed her out onto the narrow street. “On top of everything else!”
“I was hungry.” Alice gave a careless shrug, slipping her hand through the crook of his arm. The rain had stopped, leaving a crisp freshness in the air, the sound of evening drinkers drifting down from the pubs and bars nearby. “Besides, it was clear you weren’t going to let me share any of yours.”
“I would have,” Nathan argued, not entirely convincing. “Maybe. Just a little. And I wouldn’t do that for everyone,” he added, patting her hand.
Alice laughed. “Well, then, I feel special.”
“Good.” Nathan looked up and down the street. “So…shall we get a drink somewhere?”
Alice smiled. She didn’t want to end the night yet either, but the prospect of a noisy bar didn’t appeal. “How about we walk for a while?” she suggested. It was warm enough that she just needed a cardigan over her fluttering dress, and her stacked sandals were safe enough for an evening stroll.
“Sounds good to me.”
They fell into an easy pace together, meandering through Soho and across to Covent Garden. Alice had walked this route a hundred times in daylight, but somehow, the dusky light made everything seem different—emptied of the usual rushing shoppers, it was peaceful, almost pretty.
“Do you miss the States?” Alice asked him. “You said you were from—North Carolina, was it?”
Nathan nodded. “But my mom moved to Florida, after Dad died, and I went straight to New York for college, so…It hasn’t been home in a long time.”
“I wonder about that,” Alice said quietly. “Whether home is somewhere you find or just wherever you decide to make it.”
She could have been living in her neat one-bedroom in Stoke Newington by now had it not been for Ella and her creative approach to charity fund-raising. Would she have been happy there? Alice wondered—if everything had gone exactly to her plan: if there had been no living with Flora, or trips to Rome, or new discoveries. Or Nathan.
Somehow, she didn’t think so.
“It’s funny how things work out,” she murmured, almost to herself. Her feet were beginning to ache, but Alice liked the casual intimacy they had out there in the dark, so she led him to where several cobbled streets met at a junction, marked by a pillar of sundials. It was a well-lit spot, with several restaurants in sight just down the nearby streets, but for a moment, they were completely alone. She settled on the low, stone steps and flexed her toes in front of her.
Nathan chuckled. “Comfortable?”
“Enough.” Alice tilted her head up to him with a smile. “Care to join me?”
He sat down beside her, and then, as if it were a familiar gesture,