Fiona squeezed her knees together and swivelled on the seat to swing her legs out of Carlo's car. She took his hand to help her stand up and smiled as the breeze ruffled the skirt of her dress and teased her nakedness underneath.
She looked Carlo in the eye. "Have you got the picnic basket?"
He frowned. "I'll get it now." He bustled round to the boot of the car and came back dangling a large wicker basket from his hand. "Is everything we need in here?"
She looked at the basket with the blue fleece picnic blanket folded neatly on the top. In her mind she checked off the contents she'd stowed beneath:
β Two small bowls
β Two small spoons
β Two tall wine glasses
β One punnet of strawberries
β One pot of cream
β One small plastic pot of sugar
β One bottle of prosecco
She licked her lips to try and moisten her dry mouth and thought of the things she'd left at home:
β Beach cover-up
β Knickers
β Bra
β Spare dress
The cover-up stuck in her mind particularly. It might have been useful later on, but she'd made a conscious decision not to bring it. She felt her heart rate spike as the adrenalin kicked in. "Yes," she said, "everything we need is in there."
"Excellent." His face relaxed into a smile.
She saw the smile, but just before it she saw the briefest flash of a frown cross his face. If this adventure was to work properly she needed him relaxed and lost in the moment. She chewed her lip,
time for action.
She spun on her heels to make the dress swirl around and draw his attention. Then she fluttered her eyelashes, took his arm, and turned away towards the trees. With a giggle and a playful tug on his arm she called out, "Let's go this way!"
It was a beautiful warm spring afternoon. The light was soft in the dappled shade under the trees, a stream splashed and gurgled alongside the path and the whole valley was carpeted with bluebells. A well defined path led the way beside the stream, but after a while Fiona took a narrow track which branched off up the valley side. She led the way among clumps of bluebells and between bushes until they came to a wide ledge part way up the slope. She turned to face Carlo and smiled up at him.