In the Name of Love (14 page)

Charlie felt shaken up and jittery. She couldn’t eat, and nor could she keep up the pretence that she and Aidan were an item. All she could think about was Felipe. She was so intensely aware of him across the table from her. She had felt his gaze on her and it had taken every ounce of self-control to tear her eyes away. She needed to get out of here, to clear her head and decide what
to
do. She quickly left the ballroom, heading in the direction of the Ladies. She was halfway down a long corridor with mirrored walls when Felipe called after her. She stopped and spun round. He was a few feet away. God, why did he have to be so handsome! Even more handsome than she had remembered. It wasn’t fair. She wanted to hate him for what he’d done, to run away from him, but she couldn’t.

‘Charlie, please wait, I need to talk to you.’

‘What makes you think I want to listen to anything
you
have to say! Why don’t you go back and carry on flirting with Darcy? She’s much more your type. You’re both arrogant, rich and spoilt!’

Felipe shrugged off the insult. ‘You’re the only woman who interests me, Charlie.’

It was unfortunate that Darcy had chosen that moment to go to the Ladies and heard their comments as she passed by. Charlie would almost have felt sorry for her but for the intensely hostile look the other woman shot her. Felipe barely seemed to register Darcy. He stepped closer to Charlie. ‘Please give me the chance to talk. We can go in here.’ He pointed out an empty room off the corridor, that was being used to store tables and chairs.

Charlie hesitated, then followed him. Once inside the room he shut the door behind them. Charlie stood, with arms folded, trying to keep her expression as neutral as possible, while all the while emotions battled inside her. Lust, anger, longing, hurt pride, all vying to be the most powerful …

‘What do you want to talk about? You’ve already
apologised.
What more can you have to say to me? Oh, I know, how about the fact that you didn’t tell me who you were and what you do? Talk about hypocritical!’

Felipe had his hands in his jacket pockets, and seemed less sure of himself. ‘I should have been honest with you from the start, it’s true. I get the feeling that you don’t take my apology seriously?’

‘Oh, I do apologise, my lord,’ Charlie said sarcastically, making a curtsey to him. But even as she sounded so uptight, all she could think about was how much she wanted him … it was fucked up, but she couldn’t help it.

Felipe moved closer. ‘Please, Charlie, do we have to fight? I was a fool, a complete idiot, just as Luis said. I should have believed you, but past experience has made me mistrustful of journalists. The fact that you didn’t tell me what you do caused me to be defensive and too quick to jump to conclusions. The wrong conclusions.’

‘Why has it taken you so long to realise your mistake?’ Charlie still sounded hard but she was softening, his dark brown eyes were very persuasive … and he was close enough that she could smell his delicious musky aftershave, a scent that triggered memories of lying in his arms and making love in the afternoon.

‘I told myself that I could forget you. I didn’t want to admit that I was wrong. But seeing you tonight has changed all that, made me realise that I can’t forget you, Charlie. I can’t forget how good we were together.’ Felipe moved closer still. Reaching for her hand, he raised it to his lips and kissed it. ‘And I don’t think you have forgotten either.’

Charlie shivered at the feel of his lips on her skin. She wasn’t sure who made the next move but suddenly they were in each other’s arms and he was kissing her, and instead of being outraged, she was kissing him back for all she was worth, an intense, passionate, must-have-you kiss. His hands slid over her shoulders, down her back. She remembered what it felt like when they made love, and realised that was what she burned to do now. She pressed her body against his, boldly ran her hand over his chest. She had to have contact with his skin. She pulled open the buttons of his shirt, then dipped lower still. She dared to unbutton his fly and caressed him.

‘What are you doing to me?’ Felipe murmured.

He bunched up her skirt and his fingers circled her inner thigh … tantalising, teasing, brushing over her lace briefs. She was melting at his touch. Her body was screaming for him to possess her … But suddenly a vivid image came into her mind, a memory of the look of disdain on Felipe’s face when he had told her he never wanted to see her again. He had made her feel so completely worthless. That look had burned into her consciousness. It was also a brutal reminder of the way TFB had cheated on her. If she made love with Felipe now he would only turn round and hurt her again. However much she ached for him, she could not,
would
not, allow herself to be vulnerable again.

‘D’you want me?’ she murmured, knowing perfectly well what the answer would be.

‘So much,’ came his reply, in a voice that was husky with desire.

With an immense effort Charlie pulled herself away from him. ‘Well, you can’t have me!’ And before Felipe had the chance to stop her, she raced out of the room and carried on running all the way out of the hotel, where she jumped straight into a waiting taxi, knowing that if she didn’t get right away from Felipe, this minute, she would do something she regretted.

Chapter 9

LUIS COULD NOT
stop laughing when Felipe told him what had happened back at the hotel.

‘You really are a complete idiot, my friend. And it’s entirely your fault. You needed to woo her, romance her, make her feel special … not leap on her like a randy schoolboy.’

Felipe undid his bow tie and dropped it on the floor. No woman had ever left him in that situation before. His pride was severely dented, and other parts much deflated … He flung himself down on the sofa and put his head in his hands. How could he have blown it with Charlie twice? He wasn’t used to failing like this with women. It was humiliating.
Very
humiliating. He looked up at his friends.

‘I thought she wanted me. I’m misreading everything. I don’t know what I can do.’ This was quite an admission from a man who had always thought he knew exactly what women wanted.

Mariana picked up the bow tie and handed Felipe a
cup
of black coffee. ‘It’s not as bad as you think. But you do need to put more effort into winning her back. After Charlie left, I had a very interesting talk with Aidan. Charming man. He and Charlie are most definitely not together. I’m almost one hundred per cent certain that he’s gay. They are simply friends and work colleagues – whatever Charlie was trying to make you believe. He is convinced that she still has feelings for you but doesn’t want to admit it. No doubt because of the appalling way you treated her. And because of her horrid ex who cheated on her.’

Felipe winced at the reminder, but at least Mariana wasn’t laughing at him. He drank some coffee and started to feel slightly more optimistic about his chances.

‘I’ve also been finding out about what Charlie is doing tomorrow. In the morning she coaches a girls’ football team at a school in Wandsworth, which is in South London. In the afternoon she will go to the gym, and in the evening she has no plans. So there are more than enough opportunities for you to charm her tomorrow. And it being Valentine’s Day, what could be a more perfect time for your reconciliation?’

‘What makes you so sure she will be charmed by me?’

‘Because she still has feelings for you, believe it or not, that much is obvious to everyone.’ Mariana handed him a piece of paper on which she had written down Charlie’s itinerary for the following day. ‘If you don’t try and win her back you will regret it for ever. And for ever, my dearest Felipe, is a very long time.’

He looked at his two best friends and suddenly realised that it was far too much of a coincidence he had
ended
up at the same event as Charlie. ‘That dinner wasn’t about meeting new clients. You planned for me to see her, didn’t you?’ he said accusingly.

‘Yes, we did, along with Zoe,’ Luis replied cheerfully. ‘We’ve been in contact since Barbados. You’ve no idea how complicated it’s been playing Cupid – like a military campaign.’

Felipe threw a cushion at Luis’s head, but his friend ducked and laughed.

‘Why the hell didn’t you tell me?’ Felipe exclaimed. ‘That way I might have been more prepared and not fucked it up again.’

‘You have many good qualities, but you’re also the most stubborn man I know. I thought you were more than likely to refuse to come to the dinner if I told you.’

That silenced Felipe. Luis continued, ‘We all know that the feelings you and Charlie have for each other go far deeper than a holiday fling.’ He looked at Mariana and smiled. ‘And as you introduced me to my wife, the love of my life, I felt it was about time I repaid the debt.’

Mariana kissed her husband and then blew Felipe a kiss. ‘I know you’re not really cross with us. You must go to bed, you need to be super-fresh for tomorrow. And no pressure, but you really can’t afford to blow it this time.’

Then, taking Luis’s hand, she led him off to their next-door suite.

Felipe slumped back on the sofa. He felt as if he’d been put through the mill emotionally. Was there
possibly
a way to win Charlie back? He fervently hoped so; he was starting to believe he couldn’t be happy again without this beautiful woman in his life.

Charlie was in bed, but unable to sleep. Her mind was still buzzing from the after-effects of seeing Felipe. And not just seeing him … she had never before experienced such intense desire. A few minutes longer with him and she knew she would never have been able to pull away. But she had to forget about him. He was a one-way ticket to heartbreak and she had been there before. And yet … how could she forget him?

Her phone vibrated with a text message. Who would be texting her at half two in the morning? For a second she wondered if it was Felipe. Maybe he too couldn’t sleep and was writing to tell her that he had to see her again. Instead it was an automated reminder that she had an appointment at the dentist on Tuesday – how romantic. Felipe was probably sleeping soundly. Or maybe he had gone back with Arsey Darcy and done the deed with her. Though maybe not, since he had said he wasn’t interested in her. Then again, he was very charming and could probably talk his way out of that one. Darcy had certainly seemed very interested in him, and although she was annoying she was also stunning … Oh, for God’s sake! Why couldn’t she get this man out of her head? Charlie punched her pillow in frustration – both at herself for caring and at Felipe. At this rate she was going to be knackered for football training tomorrow.

She only fell asleep around four, and as a result
overslept.
Fortunately she was low-maintenance, so it was a quick shower, tinted moisturiser, lip balm, mascara, and hair tied back in a pony-tail. Clothes were a tee-shirt, oversized black hoodie and Puffa gilet over baggy tracksuit bottoms and trainers. A complete contrast to the all-out glamour of last night.

Charlie’s weekends used to be taken up with riding. But since the accident she’d found that she had to fill up her time in other ways when she wasn’t working. So if she wasn’t doing a presenting shift, Saturdays were now set aside for a two-hour session with her personal trainer and, once a month, she helped out with a girls’ football team on a Sunday.

Brandon, who was one of the team’s coaches, met her as she raced into the sports centre. He had a massive crush on her, which Charlie was fully aware of as every time he spoke to her he blushed. He was boyishly good-looking but reminded her a bit too much of TFB with his shaved head and cheeky grin. He had hoped to be a professional footballer but hadn’t quite been good enough, so he had given up the dream and trained as a PE teacher instead.

‘Hi, Charlie, how are you?’ His cheeks flamed as he said her name. He was sweet. Maybe she could experiment with being a cougar? Brandon didn’t look like he could break her heart and trample over her self-esteem.

‘I’m good, thanks, Brandon.’

He cleared his throat. ‘So did you get any Valentine cards?’

Shit! The cutesy bear must have come from him. There was no way she could be a cougar to a man who
sent
pictures of cutesy bears. He probably still lived at home and his mum ironed his boxers. It was plain wrong.

‘Oh, yeah, I did.’

Brandon’s cheeks turned a shade redder. ‘I was wondering if you had any plans for tonight? I mean, I’m sure you’re bound to, but I thought I read that you’d split up with that footballer … and if you were free, then I could take you out.’

It was the longest speech Brandon had ever made to her. She would have to let him down gently. ‘That’s so sweet of you, but I can’t. I have plans.’ A bottle of Sauvignon Blanc had her name on it, along with an M&S ready meal (because no one should cook their own dinner on Valentine’s Day, right?) and
Kill Bill 1
. She was in no mood for a rom-com.

Brandon looked crushed; it must have taken a lot of courage for him to ask her out and Charlie felt slightly guilty. Not guilty enough to say yes, though.

‘So how did the girls get on last week?’

‘They got well and truly beaten. It was a massacre.’ He was a bit sulky now she had rejected him. Charlie could only hope he hadn’t spoken in that tone to the girls; it would be too demoralising for them. She sighed. ‘Okay, that was last week. Fingers crossed, things will be better this week.’

Charlie stashed her bag in one of the lockers in the communal changing room that always smelt of trainers and sickly floral body sprays. She headed out to the pitch where Dave, one of the girls’ dad, was putting
them
through some warm-up exercises. Dave was the main reason why Charlie had ended up working with the team. He had contacted her at work and asked if she would agree to help out for six months, figuring that having someone like her on their side would inspire the team, which to some degree it had. But Charlie was convinced it was mainly so he could get one up on the rival teams, as Dave was the most fiercely competitive dad she had ever encountered. Given half the chance, he would have had the girls training every single night of the week, appearing to forget they were only ten years old.