In the Name of Love (4 page)

Charlie ignored the last comment and walked over to Felipe’s table. For some reason she felt a flutter of butterflies in her stomach as she became aware of his dark brown eyes fixed on her. It must be hunger pangs, she tried to tell herself, but she knew it was something altogether different …

Both men stood up politely when she reached their table. So Felipe had good manners apart from with the staff. Charlie flicked back her hair, and tried to act casual. ‘Thanks for the champagne and the flowers, but you really didn’t have to. There was no need.’ Usually a very direct, confident person, she was finding it incredibly hard to look him in the face.

‘There was every need. I would hate you to think that I don’t treat people with respect.’

Charlie could feel herself blushing as she remembered her outburst. Maybe she had been a little over the top. She managed to meet his gaze and saw that he was smiling.

‘Oh, Charlie’s forgiven you! She’s a very forgiving sort of person.’ Zoe had joined them. ‘Anyway, we
wondered
if you wanted to have dinner with us? I’m Zoe, by the way.’

Charlie shot her friend a WTF look, which Zoe ignored.

‘And I’m Luis,’ Felipe’s friend said, kissing Zoe on each cheek, and then greeting Charlie in the same way. Luis had wild black curly hair that tumbled across his forehead, and a friendly open face.

‘And you all know who I am, the man who was rude but who very much wants to make amends,’ Felipe said, kissing Zoe then Charlie. There it was, that flutter again as his lips touched her skin and she caught the aroma of a deliciously musky aftershave. ‘And, yes, we would like very much to join you for dinner. Maybe it would be best if you came to our table as it is already set for four.’

He raised his hand and signalled for the waiter, catching Charlie’s eye as he did so. He grinned. ‘Don’t worry, Charlie, I promise to be very polite.’

While Felipe spoke to the waiter, Charlie and Zoe returned to their table to collect their bags. ‘What did you do that for?’ Charlie demanded. ‘I told you I didn’t want to have dinner with him.’

‘Oh, come on, live a little. You’re on holiday!’ Zoe gave a cheeky grin. ‘And I reckon Felipe likes you. I saw the way he was checking you out. Got to love a hot Latin!’

Charlie admitted defeat, she was never going to get Zoe to change her mind, and actually, if she was honest, she was secretly looking forward to dinner with Señor Castillo.

‘Okay, but please don’t tell them I’m a TV presenter. I don’t want to talk about work. If it comes up, I’ll say that I work in your boutique.’ In the past Charlie had found that if she talked about her career it tended to dominate the conversation, and right now she wanted time out from that.

‘As if I would ever let you near any of my customers with
your
dress sense,’ Zoe teased. But she agreed.

Felipe Castillo de Rivas, internationally renowned event rider, middle child of one of the oldest and most aristocratic families in Spain, watched with admiration as Charlie gathered her things. Now this was a woman he would like to get to know better. He hadn’t been annoyed by her earlier outburst; on the contrary, she had aroused his interest. He had been rather bored on this holiday so far as he wasn’t used to relaxing. Usually every minute of every single day was taken up with riding, but two months ago he had sustained a serious shoulder injury when his horse fell during a cross-country course and the doctors had advised rest, sun and physiotherapy – especially if he wanted to be fit enough to compete in the London Olympics. A brief affair with a beautiful, fiery woman could really liven things up for him …

He saw Luis shaking his head. ‘How is it that you always,
always
get your own way?’

Felipe shrugged, and gave a wicked grin. ‘It must be down to my charisma. But, Luis, just one thing. I don’t want to tell Charlie what I do. This is supposed to be a holiday, I don’t want to get sucked into a conversation about riding.’

‘Or about coming from a super-rich family? How sweet, you want her to like you for yourself,’ Luis teased.

‘That too. If it comes up, just say that I’ve got a web-design company with you.’

Luis chuckled. ‘That the best you can come up with? You can barely use your iPhone and you have to call me every time there’s a problem with your broadband connection!’ Luis was Felipe’s oldest and best friend. They had known each other since the age of six, and Felipe was well used to Luis teasing him. And as Luis did run a web-design company, Felipe supposed he could fill in for him if there were any awkward questions.

‘Just don’t let her see you without your shirt on, because you hardly look like someone who spends hours at their computer.’ Luis looked ruefully at his own slight paunch, while Felipe couldn’t resist slapping his solid abs and grinning. ‘I guarantee it won’t be long before the lovely Charlie sees much more of me than just my chest.’

Luis rolled his eyes.

‘Anyway,’ Felipe continued, ‘I’m sure we’ll have plenty of other things to talk about. I think Charlie is someone with strong opinions on things. I’m very much looking forward to dinner.’ He looked up as Charlie and Zoe returned. Zoe was an exceptionally pretty woman, but Charlie was the one his eyes were drawn to. She was beautiful, a one-off, and incredibly sexy. She was very slim and yet had delicious curves and particularly fine breasts from what he
could
see … just the kind of figure he worshipped in a woman.

This week was supposed to be one of complete rest and relaxation. When he returned to Spain, training for the Olympics would kick off in earnest, as well as the start of the eventing season in February. Surely getting to know Charlie better counted as the very best kind of relaxation?

He wondered when would be the best moment to ask her to come back to his penthouse suite after dinner.
When
rather than
if
, because although Charlie seemed a little tense, he imagined her unwinding when they were alone together, imagined slipping off her clothes, showering kisses on her skin, sliding his hands between those long legs …

Charlie found herself sitting opposite Felipe at dinner. She was pretty certain that Zoe had engineered it.

‘So, is Charlie short for Charlotte?’ he asked her, crumbling his bread into pieces and never once taking his eyes off her.

People always assumed this. ‘Nope, it’s not short for anything. I’m a twin and my mum was told she was having two boys so she and my dad had already decided on Kris and Charlie for names. And when I was born they didn’t want to change that.’

Felipe treated her to his killer smile. ‘It suits you. I can’t imagine you as a Charlotte, you’ve got too much attitude.’

The compliment pleased Charlie, not that she was going to let on. ‘And is Felipe a Spanish name?’

He bowed his head. ‘Yes, I’m Spanish and so is Luis.’

‘Are you a couple?’ Zoe asked cheekily.

Luis gave a deep laugh. ‘He keeps asking me but I am very happily married to my beautiful wife who is up to her eyes organising her sister’s wedding, which is why we are here together.’

‘So you’re single?’ Zoe addressed Felipe. Charlie wondered why her friend had never considered a career in journalism with such an ability to ask direct questions.

‘Yes. And in case you were wondering, I am not gay.’

‘Didn’t think so.’ Zoe grinned. ‘I’ve got pretty good gaydar. I have a boyfriend myself but Charlie’s single. She’s not gay either.’ Charlie nearly choked on her scallops. And she couldn’t bring herself to look at Felipe. She would bloody kill Zoe later!

In fact, she felt unusually tongue-tied in front of the handsome man sitting opposite her. She was acutely aware of his gaze on her and couldn’t resist stealing glances at him from time to time when he thought he wasn’t looking. But then his eyes would lock with hers and she would find herself quickly looking away. Since TFB she felt as if she had lost her flirting mojo. However, meeting Felipe made her feel as if it might be coming back …

It was down to Luis and Zoe to keep the conversation flowing over dinner, and when the subject of work came up Zoe talked about her boutique and mentioned that Charlie worked with her – her friend was going to owe her for that one. Charlie made sure she quickly changed the subject, as she didn’t want to elaborate on the lie.
She
found out that Felipe and Luis owned their own web-design company, which surprised her as Felipe definitely didn’t have the look of someone with an office job. They both spoke exceptionally good English and Charlie felt slightly guilty that she only knew how to ask for ‘
dos cervezas por favor
’ in Spanish. Still, two beers were better than nothing …

‘So what do you most want to do while you are here?’ Felipe asked her.

She shrugged her slim shoulders. ‘Swim, maybe have some treatments, take a boat out. Just relax and enjoy myself.’

Felipe smiled. ‘I’d be very happy to help you enjoy yourself.’

Charlie suppressed a smile. He sounded way too smooth, as if delivering a line he had used many times in the past. No doubt he was expecting her to flutter her eyelashes at him and reply in her best flirtatious voice,
Why, thank you. Shall we go to your suite now?
In his dreams!

He seemed to realise his mistake and quickly added, ‘For instance, I could take you out on a boat or we could go riding.’

‘A boat trip maybe. Riding definitely not.’

She instantly felt herself tense up at the mention of riding. Any flirtatious thoughts went straight out of her head as she struggled to control the fear that was already taking over.

‘You don’t like horses? You can’t ride?’ Felipe continued. ‘I can teach you, and I guarantee you will love it.’

Charlie shook her head. She could already sense the onset of a panic attack. Her chest felt tight, she couldn’t breathe properly, couldn’t get enough oxygen into her lungs. She picked up her glass of water, but her hand was shaking so much she had to put it back down.

Felipe was looking at her in concern. ‘Charlie, what is it?’

Zoe and Luis had stopped talking and thankfully Zoe spoke up now. ‘Charlie was a brilliant rider but she had a bad fall last year. She doesn’t ride any more.’

‘Ah, but you should have got straight back on again!’ Felipe declared. ‘I ride myself and have lost count of the number of times I have fallen off. But I always get back on, I never let it defeat me.’

He had no idea … Charlie couldn’t even reply. Nightmare images were flooding her mind; her beloved Ace screaming in agony as she tried to reach him. Suddenly it was too much for her. She stood up and pushed her chair violently from the table, knocking it over in her haste to get away. Before anyone could stop her, she sprinted out of the restaurant.

Felipe made to follow her, appalled that he had upset this beautiful girl, but Zoe stopped him. ‘It’s best if you leave her. I’m not sure that she’ll want to see you.’

‘I had no idea that mentioning riding would cause such pain to her. Please could you tell me what happened?’

Zoe sighed, reluctant to re-tell the story of how she had nearly lost her best friend.

‘
Please
,’ Felipe urged her.

‘Just over a year ago Charlie was out riding. She was
on
a country lane when a car went by too fast and spooked her horse. He bolted and careered straight into an oncoming 4x4. It was a miracle that Charlie survived. The people in the car were okay but her horse died. It wasn’t her fault, but she’s never forgiven herself and has never ridden since. She can’t even talk about riding or horses. She still has panic attacks and flashbacks about what happened.’

Felipe ran his hands through his hair. How could he have been so insensitive! He had been so caught up with wanting to impress Charlie that he’d said the one thing guaranteed to push her away. He was an idiot. He looked back at Zoe. ‘When you see her, please tell her how very sorry I am. I never intended to upset her.’

‘Sure. In fact, I’m going to see how she is right now. I don’t like to leave her on her own.’

Felipe quickly scribbled down his mobile number on a piece of paper and held it out to Zoe. ‘Would you text me to let me know how she is?’

‘Of course, and I’m sorry about dinner,’ she replied. She smiled ruefully. ‘I guess it’s not quite the night you had in mind.’

‘It’s no problem,’ Luis said quickly. ‘In fact, why don’t we arrange to have the meal sent to your room?’

Zoe wasn’t at all sure that Charlie would have any appetite, but it was a kind offer so she accepted, then hurried back to check on her friend.

Luis looked at Felipe. ‘Of all the women here, you choose one with a phobia about riding. How ironic is that, my friend?’ He’d intended to raise a smile
from
Felipe, but his friend seemed to be lost in thought.

‘I wonder if she can possibly forgive me, and if she will ever want to see me again,’ Felipe replied. He couldn’t believe that he felt like this after such a brief time. All he knew was that he had to see Charlie.

Chapter 3

CHARLIE WAS CURLED
up on her bed. Even though it was a humid night she was shivering uncontrollably and in the grip of a major panic attack as she relived the terrible events of the accident in her head. Ace bolting, her own desperate struggle to control him, the terrifying impact with the 4x4 …

She wrapped her arms around herself now as sobs wracked her body. To see her beloved Ace dying in agony had been indescribably painful, the single worst experience of her life. There was an urgent knock at the door. ‘Charlie, it’s me, Zoe, can I come in?’

Charlie was too short of breath to answer, but she managed to drag herself over to the door and open it. As soon as Zoe saw the state of her friend she raced over to Charlie’s handbag and pulled out a paper bag – Charlie always carried one with her, breathing into it was the one sure cure for a panic attack. Zoe ran back to her friend and handed it to her. She sat down next to her on the bed, rubbing her back. ‘You’re
going
to be okay, Charlie. Breathe in and out slowly … remember what the doctor taught you. I’ll do it with you.’