by Lilac Mills
‘Right. Good. It’s late. Very late. I’m going back to bed. I think you’d better come too.’ She didn’t like the thought of him prowling around while she was asleep, even though he had more right to be here than she did.
Alex was smiling at her wryly, and she realised what she’d just said and how it had sounded. ‘I mean, go to your own bed,’ she amended, blushing furiously. ‘On your own. In the other room.’
His smile turned into a low, sexy chuckle and her insides did a flip. She bit her lip. This was not the time nor the place to have these kinds of feelings, and Alex was definitely not the man to have them for. He was too handsome for his own good for a start, plus he was Hugo’s nephew, plus the two of them were on their own in the middle of the night, and she was feeling lonely and vulnerable and in desperate need of comfort.
She suspected he’d give her more than comfort. And her stomach did that annoying flippy thing again at the thought.
Huffing out a sigh, Sophie strode into what she’d been calling the spare room, yanked open the top drawer of an old (but polished to within an inch of its life) chest, and dragged out a pair of clean sheets and a couple of pillowcases. As she proceeded to make the bed, she gave herself a good old telling off. She might be in the market for a little bit of romance (Dominic’s face popped into her mind), but she wasn’t prepared to get her heart broken on the way. And Alex was a definite heartbreaker, she could tell. Not that she’d had much experience of his type of man, but just by the way he made her feel, she knew she’d better keep her distance. She’d known him all of half an hour, and he was already making her feel distinctly un-Sophie-like.
Gradually she became aware of him leaning against the door frame, watching her.
‘Leave that,’ he said. ‘I’ll finish making the bed. You go get some sleep.’
‘What about you?’ she asked suspiciously.
‘I’m going to sleep too. As you said, it’s late.’
Reluctantly, she straightened up and moved away from the bed. ‘Good night, then.’
‘Good night. I’m sorry to have frightened you.’
‘You didn’t,’ she retorted, although he most definitely had.
‘Disturbed you, then,’ he said.
He most definitely had done that too, and she lay awake for a long time after he’d stopped pottering quietly around in the spare room, and long after silence had descended on the villa, unable to rid herself of the feeling that her life was about to be turned upside down. Again.
Chapter 14
Sophie’s first thought when she heard noises coming from the kitchen was that Hugo was up unaccustomedly early. Her second was to remember what had happened last night. Every single detail. For the first time since she’d moved into the villa, she wished she didn’t have to share a bathroom. She’d dearly like to have a quick shower, wash her hair, put on some make-up, and dig out her nicest pair of jeans.
Then she realised that Alex had already seen her bare-faced, messy-haired and wearing her fluffy pyjamas, so did it matter if she wandered into the kitchen looking the same as she had done last night?
Yes, yes, it did.
But the fact that she was so bothered at the thought of him seeing her au naturel perversely persuaded her to do nothing more than grab her bathrobe off the hook on the back of the door and saunter into the kitchen as though the most attractive man she’d ever set eyes on wasn’t already in there, peering at the contents of the fridge.
‘Morning,’ she muttered, envying him his fresh look. She felt as though she’d been run over by a steamroller. Twice.
‘Good morning. Have you looked outside?’
She hadn’t. The only thing she’d looked at was him. She noticed that he’d had a shower, and a shave too. His chin was bare and droplets of water clung to his wet hair. To distract herself, she hastily glanced out of the kitchen window, at the same time realising that something looked a little odd. Alex had opened all the shutters, but instead of the usual silver light preceding the sun rising over the mountains in the east, the sky was the same shade of pale orange-yellow that it had been last night.
‘It will soon disappear,’ Alex informed her. ‘The wind will be coming from the north by the end of the day and will blow it away.’
‘That’s good.’ Why were they talking about the weather again? In her limited experience the subject didn’t hold the same fascination for people living in Tenerife as it did for those in the UK – possibly because there wasn’t such variety on an almost hourly basis. Which made her wonder if Alex was feeling as awkward as she was. It couldn’t have been easy for him, expecting to slip into the villa for a quiet sleep before having breakfast with Hugo the following morning, only to discover a strange woman in his bed and his uncle alarmingly absent.
‘I’ll phone the hospital later,’ she said, ‘and see what sort of a night Hugo had. Then I’ll visit him this afternoon.’
‘What time?’
‘About three-ish.’
‘I’ll come with you. Do you mind if I take the car this morning? I need to go to INVOLCAN.’ He saw her bemused expression. ‘Volcanology Institute of the Canaries. It is the organisation for monitoring all seismic activity on the islands.’
She knew Mount Teide was a live volcano, but just how alive was it? And what was this talk of seismic activity? Was there anything she needed to be worried about? Was that why Alex was here?
‘Everything is all right, isn’t it?’ she ventured to ask.
‘Of course it is.’
Sophie squinted at him; he sounded far too bright and chirpy for a man who’d flown in from Iceland in the middle of the night to look at some ‘things’. What sort of things, she wanted to know. Was there any danger?
He smiled at her. ‘I promise to be back by three o’clock,’ he said. ‘Cross my heart and hope to die.’ He crossed his heart, his expression earnest.
Oh yes, she thought, there definitely was danger. She was in serious danger of developing a serious crush on this man.
‘Erm, what will you be doing for dinner tonight?’ She wanted to know whether she should cook for him or not. She wished Hugo had given her some notice of Alex’s arrival, and what, if anything, she was supposed to do with him. Was she expected to prepare meals for this man? It wouldn’t be a problem because she had to eat something anyway, but it would be handy to know.
‘Are you asking me to dinner?’ he chuckled, a teasing expression on his face, and she narrowed her eyes at him.
‘I cook for Hugo,’ she explained haughtily. ‘I just wondered if I was expected to cook for you too.’ Then she realised how grumpy and surly she sounded, and added, ‘I mean, it’s not a problem; I’d just like to know because it would affect what I cook.’ She’d been planning a simple salad because it would just be her, but now that it mightn’t be, she’d make something more substantial.
‘I’m easy,’ he said.
I bet you are, she thought. Easy to fall for…
‘Your English is very good,’ she blurted. He even knew phrases like ‘cross my heart’.
‘English is the international language of science. Everyone speaks English, and I’ve lived abroad since my early twenties. The more you speak it, the better at it you get. You, I suspect, are pretty good at it.’
‘So I should be, I’m—’ She stopped. ‘You’re teasing me.’
‘Yes, I am. I’m also late, so if you’ll excuse me, I’ll need the car keys.’
Sophie found them and handed them over. ‘Dinner?’ she reminded him.
‘Dinner,’ he agreed. ‘But I don’t expect you to cook. Let me take you out.’
Ooh, she hadn’t been expecting that, and a shiver of excitement shot through her before she managed to rein it in.
‘If it’s not too much trouble,’ she said doubtfully. Then, realising she was channelling her mum, she added ‘I mean, that would be lovely.’ Lordy, but she really was sounding more like a middle-aged woman every day. She finished off by saying, ‘Fab,’ in an attempt
to sound more ‘with-it’, although with what she wasn’t too sure.
Alex shot her an amused look as he headed for the door, and she knew she’d just made a total prat of herself.
‘See you later,’ she called after him, and he gave her a wave without looking back.
As soon as she heard the car pull off up the dirt track, Sophie slumped against the counter and groaned. He must think her terribly stuffy. To her own ears she now sounded like she had a plum in her mouth, and she guessed that if she said those words aloud it would have been with a cut-glass accent.
After breakfast and a good clean up all while listening to Dominic on the radio, she thought it wise to take Paco for a walk considering she mightn’t get a chance to do so later on, and she also thought she might pop into Mrs Tiggywinkle’s for some supplies for Hugo. She knew he was hoping he would be out of hospital in a day or so, but she wanted to make his stay there as comfortable as possible for him, so she’d pick up some grapes (naturally), a newspaper, and some of those weird chewy sweets he seemed to like which tasted of plastic and sugar and not much else.
‘Paco, stay,’ she commanded once they reached the shop, and Paco obediently sat. He really was a good dog, and she told him so before scratching him behind the ears and heading inside.
A familiar voice said, ‘Hello, again,’ and she saw that Dominic was manning the shop today.
She hadn’t thought to see him there, assuming he’d be at the radio station, but thinking about it, it was going on for one o’clock and his show finished at ten a.m.
‘Good show this morning,’ she said, and was surprised when a bashful expression stole over his face.
‘You caught it then?’
‘Yes. Although I didn’t realise it was you I was listening to on the radio when I spoke to you the other day.’
‘Not many people do. I don’t broadcast it. Broadcast it! Geddit?’ He chuckled at his own joke.
Sophie rolled her eyes. ‘I’m glad you don’t make jokes like that on air. You play some good music, though.’
‘Thanks. I tend to play the stuff I like, and it’s great that my listeners seem to like the same music – otherwise I’d be out of a job. One of them, anyway. As you can see, I work here when I’m needed.’ He waved an arm around the little shop. ‘Do you surf?’ he asked suddenly.
‘Um, no. I can’t say I do. It looks rather dangerous. I can see them on the little headland by the villa. Do you surf there?’ Hugo had told her as much but she didn’t want Dominic to know she’d been talking about him.
‘Yes – well, bodyboard, actually. That headland is called Punta Blanca, and when the waves are right you can’t beat it; short, foamy waves and powerful tubes.’
Now he was beginning to speak a different language. The waves bit she understood, but she had no idea what a tube was.
‘I also surf at El Médano, but it ranks high with professional surfers so it can get a bit busy, and the wind’s got to be offshore. It’s a lovely shallow beach, though, with great swells, but it can be hard on the knees if you’re not careful…’ He trailed off. ‘Your eyes have glazed over.’
‘Oh, have they? I’m sorry, you sort of lost me at “powerful tubes”. I don’t know what they are.’
‘Sometimes, under the right conditions, waves form a tube, or a cylinder, as they break, and you can—’ He stopped. ‘Tell you what, rather than me explaining it to you, why don’t I show you? Come surfing with me.’
She shook her head. ‘I already told you, I don’t surf. I wouldn’t know where to start and I’m not sure I want to find out.’ She shuddered. ‘That water looks pretty cold.’
‘It is,’ Dominic replied cheerfully. ‘But with a wetsuit on, you don’t really feel it. Besides, the adrenaline will keep you warm.’
‘Really, that’s very kind of you, but I don’t think so.’
‘Can you swim?’
‘Yes…?’
‘Then you’ll be fine. I’m a good teacher and I promise I’ll be gentle with you.’ He had a twinkle in his eye and Sophie didn’t think he was referring to just the surfing.
‘Can I think about it?’ She’d already thought, and the answer was a most definite no, but she wanted to let him down gently.
‘Of course. But I have got another idea. If the conditions are right, I’ll be bodyboarding near your villa tomorrow morning. How about if you come and watch, then we could go for a spot of lunch afterwards? My treat.’
Wow, two offers of meals out in less than a day. With two very different men.
‘Good compromise,’ she agreed.
‘Let me have your number, and if it’s too blowy we’ll go straight to lunch.’
They swapped numbers, and Sophie made her way back to the villa, reeling slightly. Yesterday she’d been quite comfortable in this new world she’d made for herself, and today she had dinner and lunch out to look forward to. She was pretty sure the lunch with Dominic was a real date. The whole conversation with him had had a date-like feel to it – not that she could remember what being asked out felt like, because the last time had been several years ago; but if she had to bet on it, she’d bet her right arm that lunch with Dominic was a date.
She wasn’t sure what tonight’s dinner with Alex was. She was pretty sure it was just a meal, nothing more. But the way he’d looked at her…? Or had she imagined it? She’d been so bowled over by the unexpected attraction she felt for him that she might be projecting her wishful thinking onto what was, on his part, a perfectly reasonable suggestion that they have dinner in a restaurant to save her the hassle of cooking for him.
Strolling slowly back to the villa, with the scent of the sea filling the air and the noise of the waves pounding on the rocky shoreline, she imagined being out there in the water, at the mercy of the sea and those imposing surges, and the currents which undoubtedly ran beneath them, and she shuddered.
No thanks. Nope. No way was she doing more than dipping a toe into that water. Dominic might be a good teacher and she probably would be perfectly safe in his hands, but she seriously didn’t fancy it.
She did fancy him, though. Not as much as she was attracted to Alex, but the two men were like chalk and cheese. Or rather, a domestic house cat compared to a leopard. The leopard was far more alluring, but at the same time far more dangerous.
But the leopard hadn’t asked her on a date. The pussycat had. And out of the pair of them, if she wanted a gentle reintroduction into the world of dating and romance without running the risk of having her heart shattered, Dominic was the logical choice. He was also the only choice.
Anyway, all this soul-searching might be hypothetical – she might find that she and Dominic had little in common. He might find her reluctance to surf a total turn-off. They might have lunch, then never see one another again.
Just enjoy it for what it is, she told herself, and stop trying to read too much into it.
Feeling better, she called Paco away from whatever it was he’d been sniffing so avidly (probably something disgusting) and upped the pace. She needed some lunch before Alex arrived to pick her up to see Hugo. And a shower, and to put on some make-up. Just because she was visiting someone in hospital, it didn’t mean she didn’t need to make an effort with her appearance.
At least that’s what she told herself…
Chapter 15
‘Alejandro?’ Hugo sounded surprised.
To Sophie’s amazement, he was sitting in a large armchair next to his bed and not actually in the bed when she and Alex walked into the ward. He’d spotted them immediately and the expression on his face when he saw his nephew was almost comical.
‘Alejandro?’ he repeated, followed by a rapid stream of Spanish.
Alex answered in kind, then switched to English. ‘I’m not sure,’ he said. ‘A couple of days, perhaps a week.’ He turned to Sophie. ‘Hugo asked me what I’m doing here and how long I’m staying. I don’t think he’s all that pleased to see me.’
‘I am.’ Hugo pulled a face. ‘But I
do not like for you to see me like this. I don’t want to be a…’ He looked at Alex. ‘Una carga?’
‘A burden,’ Alex translated. He put a hand on his uncle’s shoulder. ‘You can never be a burden. You should have told me you needed some help after your operation – I could have taken some time off work.’
Hugo chortled. ‘You never take time off. You will say you will look after me, but instead you will be on the volcano.’ He turned to Sophie. ‘He lives for the volcanoes. Lava hunters, they are called.’
‘That’s not fair, Hugo,’ Alex protested. ‘I haven’t seen any decent lava in ages.’ His face clouded over. ‘I hope I don’t see lava anytime soon either.’
‘Is that why you are—?’
‘Yes,’ Alex jumped in, cutting Hugo off. He shot Sophie a look, and she frowned at him.
What had Hugo been about to say? Whatever it was, Alex clearly didn’t want to talk about it – not in front of her anyway.
‘I didn’t expect to see you out of bed,’ Alex said, and Hugo shrugged.
‘They do not let you stay in bed. They make you get dressed and get up.’ He didn’t look happy about it, and Sophie guessed he was probably in quite a lot of discomfort.
Still, the medical staff must know what they were doing, and if getting a patient mobile so soon after such an operation was the best thing to do, then Hugo would simply have to put up with it.
‘I’ve brought you some grapes,’ she said, holding up a bag, ‘and a newspaper. Oh, and you forgot your sliders.’ She took the shoes out of the bag and popped them on the floor underneath his bed. She’d searched his room in vain for a pair of slippers but guessed that slipper-wearing was probably more of a British thing. Over here people tended to wear flip-flops or sliders. Sophie owned a couple of pairs, but she’d also brought her slippers with her, along with her fluffy PJs. Just in case.
Hugo grunted his thanks, adding grumpily, ‘There was no need to come. I am fine. You must have other things to do.’