"But we've shared a room before." Natalie's voice dropped a notch, adding a sultry undertone.
"That was a long time ago, and it's over and done with. It's time you got the message and left me alone."
Since the sultry tone hadn't worked, Natalie resorted to tears. Laura winced at the sound of dramatic sobs, and glanced impatiently at her watch. She needed to get to reception and open up.
"There's no need to be cruel," Natalie whimpered.
"It seems to me there's every need," he shot back, "because you're obviously taking no notice. You've gone too far this time. I have too much work to do here."
At that, Laura frowned. What did he mean he had too much work to do here? He'd said something about business to Natalie last night, too. And Paulo thought he didn't seem like a tourist. Perhaps he was here on a business trip rather than a holiday? But if so, why stay in a hotel several miles from town, way out on a country road?
"But I can help you with that, don't you see?" Natalie whined.
"No, thanks. I work alone—and sleep alone."
"But Daniel…"
"No buts. I'm going down to the breakfast bar for a very strong cup of coffee, then up to reception to beg for some very strong painkillers. And by the time I get back, I expect you to have sorted this mess out."
With a start, Laura realised he was about to leave his room. She twisted her key in the lock and shot back inside, leaning against the door and listening until his footsteps faded away. She waited an extra couple of minutes, then let herself back out, shaking her head in disbelief. This was like being an extra in some third-rate spy movie!
As she walked up the path, she couldn't help but glance at room eleven's door, which had been left ajar. When she caught a glimpse of crumpled sheets on the floor, she hurried on past. If they wanted to fight with the bedding as well as each other, who was she to judge?
****
Reception was busy that morning. Yesterday's new arrivals needed street maps of Viana do Castelo, and advice on where to go, what to see, and where to eat. Several guests who were already in the middle of their stay popped in for something or other, so she had a chance to introduce herself and get to know them. The day was warming up, but the small, whitewashed reception building, originally a lodge to the main estate, stayed comfortably cool inside, and Laura dealt with everyone in an efficient and friendly manner.
She enjoyed helping people get the most from their holiday in an area she was so fond of. It was a delight to pass on her knowledge to interested adults instead of reluctant teenagers. Laura dearly loved her teaching job, but by the time summer rolled around, that old saying "A change is as good as a rest" could not be more apt.
Laura guessed it was Natalie Hartman the minute she came in. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched her enter the room, every piece of clothing a designer label, every perfect glossy brunette spiral curl in place—putting her own plain ponytail to shame. The woman was wearing large sunglasses, which Laura suspected were more to hide the fact she'd been crying than a fashion accessory. Sensing irritable impatience, she finished with her current customer as quickly as possible, grateful there was no one else waiting.
Natalie stepped forward, her chin set in a stubborn line.
"Good morning," Laura said politely, knowing it was a redundant greeting. From what she'd overheard, Natalie wouldn't class her morning so far as anything like good.
"I need another room," the other woman said, with no attempt at polite formalities.
"I'm afraid we're completely full at the moment."
Natalie pursed her lips. "You must have something. I know you people always hold something back for emergencies."
Laura bit her lip at the patronising tone. "I'm sorry, but that's simply not the case. This is a small hotel. All our rooms are currently occupied, as I told Mr. Stone last night."
Natalie's cheeks flushed red. She obviously didn't know Mr. Stone had already tried to get another room, and for a brief moment Laura almost felt sorry for her. She must be embarrassed about demanding to share his room and now having to ask to move out. Laura's pity faded rapidly, however, with the barefaced cheek of the woman's next gambit.
"I would have thought you would want to be more helpful, since this is all your fault in the first place!"
Laura's mouth gaped open. "In what way, exactly, is this the hotel's fault, Miss Hartman?"
"Messing up my reservation, of course!"
Laura took a deep breath. "You asked to be added to Mr. Stone's booking. We simply followed your instructions."
"I meant in a separate room," Natalie snapped. "If you had no more rooms, you shouldn't have accepted my booking. Your customer service here is appalling."
Laura shook her head. She wasn't going to let this hateful woman blame her own idiotic schemes on the hotel. She didn't know how she had the nerve! Reaching into Paulo's reservations file, she pulled out the copy of Natalie's e-mail and handed it to her.
"I'm afraid you're mistaken. Your e-mail definitely asked to be added to the booking and to share Mr. Stone's room. As for customer service, the hotel followed your request to the letter—at extremely short notice, I might add."
Natalie lifted her sunglasses to read, her mouth twisted and her eyes hard. Laura couldn't understand why she'd tried to call her bluff like this. She must have hoped they hadn't kept a copy of her e-mail, or that her wording had been ambiguous enough for her to argue her case.
"So you're not prepared to help me in any way?" was all she could come back with.
"I didn't say that. I'm happy to help in any way I can, but I can't conjure a room out of nowhere. If you like, I could …"
"Forget it." Screwing up the copy of the e-mail in her manicured fist, Natalie swirled around and stalked through the door without a backward glance.
Laura immediately called up Paulo's reservations folder on the computer and printed off another hard copy to file away, before she could forget. If Miss Hartman thought she'd destroyed the only evidence of her faux pas, she could think again. Ah, well, she thought, I don't suppose it can get any worse.
The minute the thought entered her brain, she knew she'd asked for trouble.
****
Shored up with a strong espresso served by a pretty young woman in the breakfast room, Daniel made for the reception building. The caffeine had got the blood going in his veins but unfortunately made no inroad on his backache or headache, and since he couldn't face driving until he'd eased both a little, he had no option but to scrounge something from the hotel.
As he headed up the path, he steeled himself to be polite. Miss Matheson may be incompetent when it came to luggage and hire cars, but he had to give her the benefit of the doubt and assume she could at least procure him some painkillers. Besides, she couldn't be that hopeless, or surely the owners wouldn't leave her in charge.
Guilt stabbed at him alongside his headache as he remembered how terse he'd been yesterday. It wasn't Miss Matheson's fault that Natalie had rolled up out of the blue to make his life a misery. Then again, it certainly was Natalie's fault he had a backache. He hadn't paid good money for a luxury hotel only to sleep on the floor, but that was exactly what he'd had to resort to. The floor tiles had been cold even under the thick rug he'd used as a mattress; he'd half expected Natalie to jump his bones despite his warnings, and even with his ex-girlfriend in the room, it had been surprisingly hard work to banish Laura Matheson's strangely coloured eyes from his mind.
Stooping to enter without banging his already pounding head on the low doorframe, Daniel resolved to be courteous, but as he glanced across to the desk, his stomach flipped an unexpected somersault, stopping him in his tracks.
He'd considered Laura Matheson attractive yesterday despite her ineptitude and officious demeanour, but he'd been happy to put that down to some kind of travel-weary delirium. Now, in the bright light of day, there was still no doubt he found her a striking woman, and the unexpected rush of attraction arrowing deep into his gut to
ok him by surprise.
Daniel didn't like surprises. In his line of work, it paid to remain in control of a situation. And that was what this was, he reminded himself—work.
"Good morning, Mr. Stone," Laura greeted him politely. "I trust you slept well?" When he only stared at her, speculating as to whether or not she was mocking him, she added sweetly, "You seemed so tired last night."
"Actually, I didn't—not that it's any fault of the hotel," he said.
"I'm glad to hear it—that it's not our fault, I mean, not that you didn't sleep well."
Daniel detected relief in her voice and tension in her stance. Had he behaved so badly last night?
"What can I do for you?" she asked him.
He pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm not sure it's in your remit, but do you have any painkillers? By the time I drive off and find somewhere that sells them, my head may have exploded."
She raised an eyebrow. "We certainly wouldn't want that. There should be some here somewhere." When a search of the drawers came up empty, she lifted her handbag onto the desk and rummaged through it, finally pulling out a small package of pills and handing them across to him. "Would you like a glass of water?"
"Please." Touched that she would offer him pills of her own, Daniel accepted the plastic cup she poured him from the water cooler in the corner and swallowed two. He closed his eyes a moment, then handed the package back to her. "Thanks. I hope I haven't depleted your supplies too much."
"I can always get some more."
"You might need them by the time I've finished here." He cast her a rueful smile. Turn the charm up a notch, Daniel, he told himself. You need her cooperation.
"Oh?" Her tone was distinctly cautious. He supposed he couldn't blame her.
"I need you to phone around the hotels in town, preferably ones you could personally recommend, and find a room. Probably just for a few days, I don't know yet."
Her eyebrows shot up. "You're leaving us already?"
He shook his head, wincing at the movement. "Not me. Miss Hartman."
"Ah. I see."
Daniel scowled. The idea was to keep a low profile here, not to make himself as noticeable as possible by playing out an entertaining soap drama for this temporary employee.
"I'm sure you don't see, Miss Matheson. My private life is none of your concern, and I'd prefer not to go into details, if you don't mind." There it was again, that terse tone. He closed his eyes in exasperation.
"I didn't ask you to," she replied stiffly, pulling a street map from the shelf behind her. "Are you sure you want a hotel in Viana? It's a good few miles away."
"More than a few would be better," he muttered, then shook his head. "It'll be fine for now. What do you suggest?"
Laura made her recommendations and got started on the phone, speaking rapidly and confidently in Portuguese, then translating the hotels' responses almost simultaneously to him. Daniel's mouth dropped open, and he had to make a conscious effort to close it. Who would have thought?
Ten minutes later, with his approval, she'd booked a room for Natalie in one of the central hotels. "It will be ready any time after two o'clock," she told him. "Is there anything else I can do for you?"
He glanced at his watch. "Quite a few things, I'm afraid, but I haven't time now. When will you be here this evening?"
"Six o'clock 'til eight."
Daniel hoisted himself out of the chair he'd settled in while she made the calls, and winced. His hand shot to his back.
"Are you alright?" she asked him solicitously.
"Fine," he grumbled. "Just a little backache. Too much driving. Thanks for your help."
He sincerely hoped he was only imagining the knowing look she gave him as he left.
Chapter Four
Laura watched him clutch his lower back as he strode away. Remembering the heap of sheets and bedcovers in his room, she grinned as she and put two and two together. From the look of it, Daniel Stone had slept on the floor last night. No wonder Natalie was so bad-tempered this morning!
Still smiling, she locked up and headed back down to her room. At least she hadn't behaved like a complete idiot today. No doubt he'd been expecting her to set fire to the desk or blow up the photocopier or something. Instead, she thought she'd made quite an impression with her fluent phone calls to all those hotels—she'd noted his startled expression with more than a little satisfaction.
Changing into her swimsuit, she went down to the pool to lie in the shade, book in hand. Everything was peacefully deserted and she sighed with pleasure. No doubt the new arrivals were eagerly exploring. Experience told her the pool would get busier in the late afternoon, when people came to relax and cool off after sightseeing.
She dozed off halfway through the first chapter, only waking when Teresa came to invite her to lunch. Stopping off at her room to change back into her trousers and top, she went up to the house to spend a pleasant couple of hours listening to Teresa's tales of school and her plans for university next year. Maria also brought Laura up to speed on the thousand and one details for a wedding reception to be held at the Quinta the following weekend.
Yet beneath the warm chatter, Laura sensed the same unease she'd felt at dinner last night. Maria, usually so animated with the local gossip she loved to indulge in, seemed subdued, and there was a constant crease across her forehead that spoke of worry. Laura wondered whether to risk broaching it but couldn't find an appropriate point in the conversation.
Over coffee, they were telling her what a nice bunch of guests they'd had this year when Teresa asked with youthful exuberance, "Don't you think he's gorgeous?"
"Who?" Laura played for time, suspecting she knew very well who.
"Mr. Stone, of course! I served him coffee in the breakfast bar this morning. Don't you think so, Laura?"
"Yes, I suppose he is," she answered truthfully. Tall, broad-shouldered, eyes so blue you could drown in them…There was no point denying it. Any female with breath in her body would find Daniel Stone attractive.
"Now, Teresa, that's enough of that. Go and do the dishes," Maria admonished gently, making Laura laugh and forget for now that she wanted to know what was worrying the older woman.
With her offer of help firmly declined, she walked back across the lawns to her room, noticing too late that Daniel was standing with Natalie in the car park. Unable to alter her course without being obvious, all she could do was stare at her feet and keep going.
"I've booked you a room in town for a few days for now," Daniel was saying, "but if you have any sense, you'll go back to where you are wanted and leave me alone."
"But now I'm out here, I might as well stay to help!"
"Ben might not be able to manage without you, Natalie, but I certainly can."
"I don't see why you have to bring Ben into this." Natalie sounded sulky. "You and I would make a good team."
"No. You and Ben make a good team. That's the only reason I've put up with this for so long, and don't you forget it."
Laura took the widest route she could around the edge of the car park and didn't look up once. If she caught anybody's eye, they would all be acutely embarrassed. As she neared her room, she heard a squeal of tyres and a spray of gravel. Glancing up, she saw Natalie's car speeding through the gateway. Good riddance, she thought. Maybe now we can get a bit of peace!
Unsettled by all the melodrama, she decided a walk might do her good, so she carried on through the hotel grounds, out onto the path that wound its way between fields to the river. She couldn't help but marvel at the way every scrap of farmland was used, with vines trained to climb and hang above carpets of green vegetables.
But even when she reached the riverbank and began to stroll alongside it, her restless feeling remained—something she was more than happy to blame on Daniel Stone and his clingy companion. Despite telling herself it was nothing to do with her, she couldn't help puzzling over it. Daniel might have slept on the floor last night, but Natalie had intimated they'd shared a r
oom before, so they must have had some sort of relationship in the past. If he was so keen on avoiding her, how had she known all his booking details? And why had he insisted on staying at the Quinta himself and sent her packing? Wouldn't it have been less stressful for him to leave?
Then there was this Ben character, the man Daniel wanted her to go back to. It sounded like he might be Natalie's boyfriend or husband. That idea sent a chill up Laura's spine. She knew firsthand how destructive affairs could be. Her father had left her mother for another woman when Laura was just fourteen. For the first couple of years, her mother was barely able to function, and it was left to Laura and her brother to pick up the pieces. She wasn't convinced they'd ever managed to fully put them back together.
Blanking out the unwanted memory, she chose somewhere to sit and gaze out across the river. To her delight, she spotted a kingfisher flying along the bank to join its mate, while a group of sand martins fussed nearby. The kingfishers' bright colours glimmered in the afternoon sun, making the martins seem dull in comparison.
As she watched, transfixed, she heard footsteps thudding down the path behind her. Laura jumped up, her finger to her lips in a shushing motion.
****
Startled, Daniel slowed his running pace, then pulled up short as Laura pointed silently across the river. Striding quietly to her side, he swiped at his damp forehead with the back of his hand and followed her gaze.
"Wow. They're beautiful, aren't they?" he murmured quietly.
They watched in silence for a while. When the kingfishers flew further down the river, Daniel shifted his gaze back to the woman beside him. He might have been out of sorts on this trip so far, but that hadn't made him blind. He allowed his gaze to encompass her narrow waist and long legs in loose linen trousers, her tight vest tee showing creamy skin…and belatedly realised she was bristling under his stare.
"What?" she snapped, those violet eyes bright and challenging.
Holding Back Page 3