In the Name of Love (6 page)

‘I suppose you’re used to this kind of luxury, Mr Five Star,’ Charlie teased as she took a seat opposite him, her gaze taking in the swanky beach bar, the bottles of
champagne
lined up behind it, the ever-attentive bar staff … and coming to rest on him, as if daring him to deny it.

Felipe shrugged. ‘I admit I’ve stayed in many luxurious hotels. But, believe it or not, I don’t take any of it for granted.’

Charlie arched an eyebrow; she was somewhat doubtful of that, given his initial dismissive treatment of the waiter.

‘The web business must be going very well if you can afford to stay in places like this. So you haven’t been affected by the recession?’ she commented.

For some reason Felipe looked slightly awkward as he replied, ‘Not too badly. It’s tough for everyone, of course, but we’re doing okay. So have you ever been somewhere like this before?’

‘I haven’t had a holiday for three years.’ Shit! What did she say that for? Now her story about working at Zoe’s boutique was going to sound even more lame; she never should have lied in the first place.

‘Zoe must be a slave driver if she never lets you take time off. Is this holiday to make up for it?’

Charlie hated lying, and knew that she was hopeless at it, so garbled the story about Nathan forgetting Zoe’s birthday and footing the bill for the luxury trip, adding that she had been helping her friend get the boutique off the ground and therefore couldn’t take any holiday until now. A line her mum was fond of quoting whenever she discovered any lies popped into her head then: ‘O, what a tangled web we weave when we tell great fat
porky
pies.’ Charlie was going to get into a proper tangle if she wasn’t careful. She would say as little as possible about the boutique.

‘Generous boyfriend,’ Felipe commented. ‘But I imagine Zoe is the kind of girl who always gets what she wants when it comes to men. She has that look about her.’

He’d got the measure of Zoe all right. ‘Always,’ Charlie agreed.

‘And your boyfriend didn’t mind you coming away without him?’

Charlie had the feeling that they were weighing each other up, acting out a ritual dance of attraction. She took a sip of her frozen strawberry Mojito before replying, ‘As Zoe told you last night, I’m single.’ The words seemed to hang in the air between them.

Felipe smiled, showing off white, even teeth. ‘Good,’ he said softly. ‘I just wanted to make sure.’ He paused. ‘So am I. Just to be clear.’

And Charlie wanted to come out with a feisty reply about how she was perfectly happy being single, thank you very much, but found that she couldn’t. Sitting opposite Felipe she was aware only of the pressing reasons why she wasn’t happy being single, of how attractive she found him, of how much she wanted him. And suddenly she felt reckless. She could have a holiday fling with him, couldn’t she? She had nothing to lose. She wondered what it would be like to kiss him, to feel that powerful body … It was surely the cocktail going straight to her head. And then just as suddenly she thought back to last night,
and
the panic attack, and felt some of her confidence desert her.

Felipe seemed to sense her change of mood. He reached out and put his hand over hers. She felt a flicker of desire at his touch.

‘I know you must still be upset because of the accident. Six months ago I had to have one of my horses put down. I’d had him for twelve years. And, yes, I know you can’t compare that with what happened to you, but it broke my heart all the same.’

Quite unexpectedly Charlie’s eyes filled with tears. She never usually let her guard down like this, especially in front of people she hardly knew, but there was something about Felipe that invited her confidence and made her feel that she could open up.

He gently brushed away the tears. ‘So, you see,’ he said gently, ‘I do understand.’

He gazed at her and Charlie found that she couldn’t tear her eyes away from his. At that moment it seemed anything could happen.

‘Will you have dinner with me tonight?’ A beat. ‘I could arrange for room service in my suite.’

Charlie hesitated, tempting as the offer was; it sounded as if Felipe had all the moves mapped out. Dinner, then they would inevitably go to bed. Then he would most likely make a move on the next girl at the resort who caught his eye.

‘Actually, I’d rather eat out, and we must ask Luis and Zoe, too. I don’t want to exclude them.’

Felipe frowned, and again she got the sense that this was a man who was used to getting his own way. ‘Luis
won’t
mind. I’m sure he and Zoe will find something to occupy themselves with. Maybe Zoe can give him some fashion advice, to stop him dressing like a prawn. He looked like a prawn, didn’t he?’

‘A little,’ Charlie admitted. ‘But it’s dinner with the prawn and Zoe or I can’t make it.’

Felipe looked set to argue, then seemed to think better of it. ‘Very well, the four of us it is. I’ll make a reservation at Bajan Blue. If you’re sure that’s what you want?’

Charlie stood up. ‘It is. I’ll see you and Luis later.’

Felipe also stood up and lightly kissed her on the mouth. His lips tasted deliciously of rum and salt from his margarita. Charlie tried not to think about how good they felt on hers and how that briefest of kisses had sparked a chain reaction of lust inside her …

‘I’ll look forward to it,’ he murmured and, chancing his luck, kissed her again.

Charlie was the first to break away. The cocktail, the sun and Felipe had definitely gone to her head.

Chapter 4

‘SO HOW DID
you get on?’ Zoe asked some time later when she’d nipped into Charlie’s room for a chat. She sat cross-legged on the bed, eagerly waiting to hear the juicy details.

‘Okay.’ Charlie wasn’t sure exactly how she felt. She was torn between thinking that she should have a holiday fling with Felipe and seize the moment … and his gorgeous body … and the feeling that if she did she would only end up getting hurt.

‘That’s all you’ve got to say!’ Zoe exclaimed. ‘Come on, you have to give me more than that, girlfriend! He is
so
good-looking, and he’s got a bit of an edge to him. If I were you, I’d definitely be saying “
hola
” to him and not “
adios”
.’

‘Hmm, I guess. Anyway you’ll be seeing him again later, so you can say “
hola
” to him then yourself.’

‘Oh? I thought the two of you would be having a romantic dinner together … and the rest.’ Zoe grinned.

‘Nope, there’s going to be the four of us – you, me, Luis and Felipe.’

‘Great, I’ll go and get ready. What are you going to wear?’

Charlie shrugged; she hadn’t given it any thought. But Zoe had already shot off the bed and was flipping through the clothes in her wardrobe.

‘No, no, no, no, no,’ she commented after each garment she considered. ‘You can borrow something of mine. Back in five.’ She whisked out of the room, a woman on a fashion mission. Charlie touched up the red nail varnish on her toes (Chanel’s Rouge Fatal – Zoe had given it her seal of approval) and wondered what Felipe was doing. Somehow she doubted that Luis was putting him under the same pressure as Zoe – not that Felipe would ever take advice from a man who dressed like a prawn …

Zoe returned holding up a silk mini-dress with a racer back, in block colours of black, coral and red. It was bold and stylish and suited Charlie down to the ground. ‘Gotcha!’ Zoe declared, holding it up against her friend.

‘Isn’t it a bit short?’ Charlie protested. She’d been thinking more along the lines of her black maxi-dress.

‘You’ve got the legs for it. One day you’ll have cellulite, your knees will be wrinkled, you’ll have varicose veins, your arse will be saggy, and you’ll look back and think: “Why didn’t I wear that mini-dress when I had the chance?”’

Zoe was a persuasive saleswoman, and the picture
she
painted was so disturbing Charlie didn’t resist any more.

After Zoe returned to her own suite, Charlie spent a very happy hour getting ready, taking a leisurely bath, spending longer over her make-up than usual, and all the while feeling a growing sense of excitement at the prospect of seeing Felipe. She took one last look in the mirror. The racer-back dress gave a glimpse of her shoulders and its short skirt flaunted her long brown legs. All dressed up with somewhere to go. Good enough for Mr Five Star?

She knocked on Zoe’s door, fully expecting to be kept waiting for the next half-hour while her friend finished straightening her hair, curling her lashes, or doing any one of the many beautifying rituals she deemed it essential to perform before a night out. But Zoe was even further behind than usual as she opened the door in her white towelling robe, without a scrap of make-up on. It would be a miracle if they got to the restaurant before midnight. Charlie was about to tell Zoe to pull her finger out when her friend groaned and said, ‘I’m not going to be able to make it, I’ve got terrible period pain.’ She really did look awful.

‘Oh, babes,’ Charlie exclaimed, ‘I won’t go then. I’ll stay with you and we’ll watch a film.’ She sounded sympathetic but actually she was thinking,
Bugger! I really want to see Felipe!

‘No, I’ve taken some strong painkillers and I’m going to crash.’

‘Are you sure? Maybe I should stay in case you need anything.’

‘For Godsake, it’s period pain, not a life-threatening illness! Go to dinner.’ Zoe hobbled over to the bed and lay down. ‘Dress looks good … I knew you’d rock it. It’s designer so I will kill you if you spill anything on it. Now get out of here!’

Charlie blew her friend a kiss as she left.

She took a deep breath before she walked into the beach-front restaurant. It had been a long time since she’d been out on a date. TFB had made it hard for her to trust men. There is nothing so crushing to the self-esteem as being cheated on, but meeting Felipe made Charlie feel that it was definitely time for her to move on. Immediately the attentive maitre d’ led her to the table where Felipe was sitting alone. As Charlie walked over she was suddenly gripped with self-doubt. Was the dress too short? Would Felipe think it slutty? Did she
want
him to think it was slutty? And where was Luis?

‘You look beautiful,’ Felipe told her as he kissed her twice in greeting.

So did he, in a long-sleeved white linen shirt and black cotton jeans.

‘Where’s Luis?’ asked Charlie as she took her seat, tugging down the dress as far as it would go.

‘He has some urgent work to attend to. He sends his apologies.’ Felipe paused. ‘And where’s Zoe?’

‘She’s not feeling very well.’

Felipe seemed to be trying not to smile and Charlie got the distinct impression that she had been set up. She bet Zoe had just pretended to be ill! She glared at him.

‘What?’ he asked. ‘Is it so very bad that it is just you and me?’ He poured her a glass of champagne.

‘No,’ Charlie conceded. ‘It’s not. It’s just that I’m out of practice at all this.’

‘This?’

‘Going out for dinner with a man.’ She hesitated. ‘The whole flirting thing.’ Shit! She could actually feel herself blushing!

Felipe raised his eyebrows. ‘So you are flirting with me then? And there I was thinking we were just friends.’

‘Don’t tease me!’

At that Felipe reached for her hand and lightly kissed it. ‘For you, anything. But tell me why are you out of practice? You must have men falling over themselves to be with you.’

Charlie sighed, reluctant to bring up the subject of TFB, but if she didn’t her attitude would appear odd. ‘My ex cheated on me. It was humiliating and hurtful.’ She bit her lip. ‘I thought I was in love with him. Apparently he didn’t feel the same way. And since then … I haven’t met anyone I even wanted to go out with.’
Until now
, she thought.

‘Ah, Charlie, not all men are like that. And he was an idiot to do that to you.’

‘Yeah, I know.’ And she smiled at him.

Felipe took the smile as a sign that she wasn’t going to run away from him – not just yet anyway. He could see such strength and resolve in her character, and yet he had also glimpsed a vulnerability that intrigued him. Paloma, his ex-girlfriend, had been supremely confident, breezing through life as if nothing affected her. Their
relationship
had been frustratingly one-dimensional, but with Charlie he could sense hidden depths. He longed to be alone with her, away from other people, but knew that he had to be patient and let her take things at her own pace.

The waiter came over for their order and Felipe realised that food was the last thing on his mind. He got the impression that Charlie felt the same as she skipped ordering a starter and went for a light choice of miso-roasted black cod. Usually Felipe would have had a ribeye steak from the grill but now he went for salmon.

‘I noticed your tattoo on the beach this afternoon. Whose are the initials? Not your ex’s, I hope?’

‘No, thank God!’ Charlie turned in her chair and showed off her left shoulder where there was a small tattoo. ‘It’s my twin brother’s initials and mine. We both had them done for our eighteenth birthday. My mum went mad. She hates tattoos, thinks they’re dead common and that we’ll regret it. I haven’t so far.’

Felipe felt a tug of desire. All he could think of was how much he wanted to kiss the skin that she had revealed, but he managed to say, ‘You must be very close to him then.’

‘I am but I don’t see much of him as he’s in Manchester and I’m in London.’ She seemed reluctant to say any more, and Felipe didn’t want to push it.

The waiter approached their table and re-filled their champagne flutes.

‘So, have you upset any more waiters lately?’ Charlie asked.

‘I have been on my best behaviour and treated everyone with respect, whatever they do. Everyone deserves respect, Charlie, didn’t you know that?’ He repeated her words to him. She looked faintly embarrassed.

‘Sorry, I guess I’m extra-sensitive. I worked as a chambermaid in a hotel when I was a student and was treated like shit by so many of the guests.’

‘A chambermaid? What kind of uniform did you have? Let me guess – a short black dress? A frilly white apron? Stockings?’ Felipe teased her.