by Dawn Tamayo
Helen turned back to the kitchen counter to get the basket of fresh bread she had cut up and she could hear the whispers between the group of men. She wasn’t totally sure what was being said, it was hard to make it all out as they spoke far too quickly, but she had a feeling they were talking about her. Then she heard Romero agreeing with them quietly - she assumed they knew who she was now by the hushed discussion.
“Here’s some bread too, and there’s olive oil and chilli sauce in those little pots.” She said pretending she hadn’t heard them as she put the basket of bread on the table and pointed to the little pots.
“She can come and stay at my house any day.” One of the men said in English for her benefit, before Romero shot him a dark look which definitely meant for him to shut up. “Well Romero we are lucky if we get crisps with our beer when we play cards, and look, she has served up a feast!” He said justifying himself.
“Sí, and she is a feast for my eyes too.” Another friend laughed, which obviously wound Romero up a little bit more.
Helen laughed as Romero scowled. She wasn’t sure why he was scowling in the first place, but the friendly banter was infectious and she was enjoying playing along.
“It’s not really a feast, just a few things to soak up those beers.” She said pointing to the armful of beers two men were holding. “And you’ll need this too.” She said reaching for the bottle opener and put it down on the table.
“Que un ángel! Romero, you lucky man.” Another friend joked.
“Oh, can we keep her Romero?” His friend Alonso playfully joked.
“She is not a pet!” Romero said giving Alonso a clip around the top of his head.
Helen smiled good naturedly and said goodbye to them.
“Gracias.” Romero said as he watched Helen walk off, looking perfectly comfortable as if she belonged there padding around his house in her little pink flip-flops. His friends sat down at the table and started to open the beers, popping bits of food into their mouths.
“Romero.” Miguel handed him the cards, it was tradition for the host to deal the first hand.
“Sí sí.” Romero took the cards and sat down in the empty seat, but he couldn’t get his mind off Helen as he dealt. When the cards were on the table he stood up, “Esperan un momento,” he told his friends and walked out the room leaving a bunch of wolf whistles and jokes behind him.
Romero found Helen in the living room reading a book. She stopped reading when she heard him come in.
“Do you need something?” She said getting up off her seat.
“No, nothing.” Romero stood looking at her for a moment; in the short time she had been there she continuously seemed to amaze him. He had tried to push the thoughts away, and he didn’t want to admit it to himself because he knew he shouldn’t feel the way he did. But then again it wasn’t a crime! He was a red blooded single man so he was allowed to have these crazy thoughts, and he thought that’s exactly what they were – crazy! But now he couldn’t deny it any longer - he thought Helen was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Tonight Helen’s blue eyes seemed greener, and her caramel hair shone from the light of the evening sunset through the window. He liked the way her little tops moulded themselves to the swell of her breasts and her slender waist, and he like the way her trousers curved around her hips. He couldn’t even begin to think about how beautifully long and toned her legs had shown themselves to be today in her tiny shorts! Romero cleared his throat, aware he was probably staring, and Helen was looking at him quizzically.
“Romero?”
“I just wanted to say thank you.” He said nodding towards the rowdy kitchen.
“It’s your home, I should be thanking you for not throwing me out tonight.” She laughed, meaning it sincerely.
“I meant for the food. Thank you for doing that, you didn’t have to.” He looked at her not wanting to move, not wanting to leave the beautiful picture in front of him.
“That’s okay, I wanted to do it.” Helen stood looking at him, not quite sure what else he wanted, but there was obviously something because he didn’t seem to be going anywhere fast. She watched as his dark eyes looked at her intensely. His mouth was sloping upwards just slightly, not quite a smile but somewhere near there. She could see his chest rising up and down but he made no sound. Romero stood there silently, then he took a step towards her, closing the gap between them. Helen felt Romero’s closeness and she reminded herself to breathe or she would be fainting at his feet again, and that wouldn’t be a good thing - she hadn’t realised she had been holding her breath unable to think of anything apart from the sexiest and most intoxicating man standing right there in front of her!
Romero leaned in a little closer to her and ran his finger along the edge of her short-sleeved t-shirt. “Pink suits you.”
She leaned in a little closer too, “Thank you.”
Again there was a moment of silence, a pause heavy with electricity flowing between their two bodies as they stood barely more than a foot apart. Helen looked into Romero’s eyes and then to his full-bodied lips, wondering what they would feel like beneath the touch of her fingers. Romero let his hand slide down her bare arm and rested near her elbow.
“Romero!” A loud voice called from the kitchen making them both jump a little, and then their spell was broken.
Romero let his arm drop and stepped back. He smiled at Helen, and then without another word he turned and walked out of the room and back to the kitchen.
Helen let out a huge breath and sat down heavily on the chair. She picked up her book but she couldn’t focus on it, when she looked at the pages all she could think about was how handsome Romero was, and how happy and relaxed he seemed. Helen wondered how thick his hair really was - it looked like she would be able to run her fingers through it and they would be lost in there forever. And his eyes were hypnotic, she hadn’t been able to pull her eyes away from his as butterflies fluttered around manically in her stomach. She tried to pull herself together, she told herself she couldn’t think about Romero like that - he was Sergeant Romero Sanchez, the officer who had rescued her and given her a place to stay. Nothing more, and nothing less than that. She must not see him as some Spanish love-god who could liven her soul and no doubt take her body to places she could only imagine right now, and boy could she imagine! She shook herself and forced her mind back into the book Cathy had given her, it wasn’t great but it would do for tonight. Helen smiled to herself as she read whilst listening to the laughter and banter coming from the kitchen. She was pleased Romero was having a good time.
Romero closed the front door behind his friends, it hadn’t been a bad evening. He had lost a few hands but won a few too - playing cards with his friends was never about money but it was always good if he came out better off. He put the bottles of beer into the bin and set off to bed expecting Helen to have done the same a long time ago since it was nearly three in the morning. As he passed by the living room door he stopped seeing the little light on and was surprised to see Helen still in there, curled up asleep on the armchair with her book lying on her lap. Romero walked into the room and reached out to wake her, then he paused for a moment. Kneeling down beside her he let his hand wander to her hair and ran his fingers through it - it was soft and felt like liquid gold. He carefully removed the clip from her head and let the rest of her hair fall down over his hand. He closed his eyes and let the sensation of her hair fill him, he sighed as he smelt the sweet scent of soap escaping from it. Opening his eyes again he stood up and reached down to scoop Helen up into his arms trying not to wake her since she was sleeping so peacefully.
Helen stirred as she felt herself be lifted up and then snuggled against Romero’s neck as he carried her from the living room to her bedroom.
“Mmmm I could get used to this. I like being in your arms.” Helen murmured sleepily.
Romero stopped in his tracks trying to calm down the feeling those words had on him, but his body wouldn’t respond to his brain and his trouse
rs felt uncomfortably tight. He looked at Helen’s sleeping face and wondered if she had any idea what she had said, and then he hoped she knew exactly who’s arms she was in, and that dampened his spirits somewhat.
Romero lay Helen down on her bed and removed her flip-flops, noticing her delicate red painted toe nails and smiled as he pulled the duvet cover up over her sleeping body. He bent down to kiss her on her forehead, but stopped as he realised what he was doing. As he looked down at her asleep in his spare bed he told himself this wasn’t real – she had only felt like that because she was half asleep, and each time he had taken her in his arms he had been rescuing her. Of course anyone would feel like that, he was her rescuer - it was only natural and it was nothing personal! Romero turned around and walked out of the door thinking he needed a very cold shower before he got into bed if he had any hope of getting some sleep tonight!
CHAPTER SIX
Helen sat perched on a high stool next to Juan’s bar watching the sun set across the sea as she slowly sipped the glass of red wine Cathy had put in front of her. Romero had left her there an hour or so earlier and gone to work for the night patrolling his usual stretch of the coast between Alicante and Benidorm. He had squeezed her hand as he said goodbye, telling her he would be back later that night during his break to pick her up and take her home. Helen was in no hurry to go back home, she was enjoying her glass of wine whilst listening to the random conversation of the holiday makers around her and looking out to the sea, watching the ships go by in the distance.
Juan and Cathy were both working the bar tonight, expertly moving from one customer to the next, whilst their children were being looked after by her parents. Helen watched them out the corner of her eye as she still tried to digest some insights which Cathy had shared with her about an hour or so ago:
“Romero called me this morning to ask about you.” Cathy had said casually, watching Romero drive off as she wiped down the bar in front of Helen.
“Asking about me?” Helen asked surprised, what could Cathy know about her that both he or she didn’t already know?
“Yes, he wondered if I had any clues about where you may be from in England, that sort of thing.” Helen listened intently, “I told him that you don’t have any real regional accent so it is hard to know where you are from. You’re quite well spoken so you probably went to a good school, and we both agreed that you seem intelligent so you probably have a good job somewhere. There wasn’t much I could tell him, I wasn’t that much help, but there is something I didn’t mention to him that I think you should know.” Cathy said as she waited to see that Helen was ready to hear what she had to say.
“Why, what is it?” Helen wondered why Cathy had hidden something from Romero.
“I think you may be engaged to someone.”
Helen was struck silent for a moment. She looked shocked at Cathy, what would make her think that? “Why would you think that?”
“Well I noticed yesterday you keep playing with your engagement-ring finger on your left hand, but there’s no ring mark, no white line, nothing. So, I think you have been wearing a ring on that finger, but not for very long. You see it’s a subconscious thing; when we girls put a ring on a finger where we don’t usually wear one, like an engagement or wedding ring, then we feel something on there which we are not used to and we tend to fiddle with it until we get used to it. Either that or you are used to having a ring on there and your subconscious is missing it. Either way I have noticed you fiddle with that finger, a lot.”
Helen looked down at her left hand and realised that indeed she was rubbing the area where a ring would be and she hadn’t even been aware of it. She took this major piece of information in, not really knowing how to deal with it. She wasn’t sure how she was supposed to feel about that. “So why didn’t you tell Romero?”
“You being engaged will make no difference to Romero’s investigation.” She said nonchalantly.
“But still, he should know.”
Cathy looked Helen straight in the eye, “Look, Romero is a really lovely guy, one of the nicest guys I know next to my gorgeous Juan, and I can tell that he likes you a lot.”
“Oh no you’re mistaken. He is just being kind, very kind. But that is all there is to it, there’s nothing more than that.” Helen thought Cathy was obviously mistaken.
“Maybe there’s not more for you, but I know Romero, and he really likes you. Besides you never know, if you don’t get your memory back, who knows what will happen between the two of you. I have watched you two together and there is definitely something there. You might stay around here and maybe you and he will……” She trailed off smiling whilst wiping a little mark off the bar, she liked the idea of her new friend and Romero together, she thought they would make a great couple. “But Romero is an honourable guy, old fashion if you like. If he thought you are engaged to someone it would stop him from doing anything about it. He would never tread on another man’s toes, and he wouldn’t take advantage of your lack of memory of that man either. But, who knows what will happen.” she said shrugging.
Helen thought about what Cathy said. She and Romero had been getting on really well, but she assumed he was like that with everyone. Yet she remembered what he had been like with her at the hospital, so reserved and distant, but she had assumed he was like that because he was on official business and he didn’t know her as a person then. Helen couldn’t imagine Romero being anything other than the way he was with her right now - kind, generous and caring, and not to mention good looking, funny, and sexy as hell! The idea that Romero was this way with her because he thought her special sent heat searing through her body, and she liked it. She definitely couldn’t deny the chemistry between them, it had been electrifying last night. But what about this fiancé, her fiancé?
Helen wondered if it could really be true that she had a fiancé waiting for her somewhere. And if so, where was he right now and where did he think she was? Hadn’t he noticed she had been missing for days now? What kind of fiancé was he if he hadn’t noticed or reported her missing by now? It was a strange thought and she didn’t know what to do with it, so she decided there was nothing she could do until she could actually remember who she was and where she came from. So Helen decided to put it to the back of her mind for now, and who knows maybe that would help jog it, even force it in some way. If she loved this fiancé so much then surely she would remember him, surely this would bring her memories back, because nothing was coming yet.
“So, how do you feel about Romero?” Cathy called back as she started to walk away to serve a customer.
Helen didn’t say anything, she just gave Cathy a smile and took a sip of her wine. She wasn’t sure what she could say to that.
Helen looked back to the sunset, it was beautiful and barely noticeable now in the darkening sky. The bar was getting busier and Helen sat on her stool listening to the noise of the music from the bars clashing against each other. She liked Juan and Cathy’s bar; it was more traditional, no big neon lights advertising it, just a nice simple Spanish sign advertising their local beers and wines and snack bar menu. Just then a loud crash came from the doorway behind the bar and the sound of a child’s scream. Juan and Cathy looked at each other with panic on their faces and Helen froze. Cathy ran back inside to see what had happened, then reappeared with a small child in her arms sobbing against her neck.
“It’s okay, just a little bump. She wanted me and sneaked past Grandma and Grandpa.” Cathy said stroking the little girl’s hair.
“Take her inside, don’t worry, I’ll handle it.” Juan said not sure how he was going to handle the increasing number of people who were coming into the bar, but some things were more important and his baby girl needed Cathy more than he did. He would just have to make do and customers would just have to wait.
“That’s okay, I’ll help out.” Helen piped up as she jumped down from her seat and headed to the opening for the bar, “That’s if you don’t mind and want me to help.”
&nb
sp; “That’s okay, you don’t need to, I’ll manage.” Juan said as he turned to the next customer to take their order.
“Let me help, if I’m no good you can kick me out of here in five minutes.” She said wanting to repay Cathy since she had been so good to her. Helen looked across the bar to the customers and asked who was next.
A man with no hair and a big belly waved his hand and then shouted out his order, “Two San Miguels and a bottle of house red.”
Helen turned away reaching for the beers, opening the tops she put them on the counter in front of him and then placed two glasses next to them with the bottle of red wine.
“How many glasses would you like for the wine?” She asked smiling at the man.
“Two.”
“There you go.” She said putting them down for the man and reaching for the calculator at the same time as grabbing the price list from Juan as he served his own customer. Quickly she calculated the total and took the money from the man, giving him his change. Then she smiled at the next person in the queue and took their order. When she had finished with the next customer she moved onto the next, and then the next, and so the evening went on.
The evening had flown by and Helen had enjoyed herself more than she could have imagined. She thrived on the contact she was having with the customers and her cheeks ached from smiling so much, but she didn’t care, she was having fun. She joked with each customer as she served them and quickly moved onto the next, eager to get everyone served as soon as possible. Halfway through the night Cathy returned but Helen and Juan both ushered her back inside to spend more time with her parents, they had everything under control. When Juan took a phone call from Romero he called across to Helen and asked if she was ready to go home, but Helen just waved her hand in the air signalling she was fine right where she was, in the middle of serving another customer. So Juan told Romero not to worry about her and to come by when he finished his shift instead. He was still laughing at Romero’s response when he put the phone down.