"Not for long, you weren't!" Just the memory of their dance and their kiss sent his pulse rate soaring and brought a flush to his own cheeks. He covered the moment by stopping a passing waiter to ask for the bill.
"Anyway, that's not the point," she said sulkily.
"So what is the point?" he asked her, confused now.
"Exactly!" Her vehemence made him jump. "What is the point? You've just said yourself that you can't commit to anyone. That your work and your family prevent it. I've told you I don't want to commit to anyone. Nor do I believe in meaningless holiday flings."
Daniel's heart sank like a stone. He'd led himself right into this . . . this dead end. He had no smart comeback, no smooth way out.
"So what are you saying?" he asked her dully.
"I'm asking you to leave it alone, Daniel. For both our sakes."
He scrubbed at his tired eyes with his hand and swallowed his disappointment. "Maybe you're right. Maybe we should start again. As friends. Just friends. What do you think?" He was trying to go along with her wishes by offering her the only thing left to them. And yet friendship—appealing though it was—seemed so tame all of a sudden.
"I think that's . . . a sensible idea," she said.
Their gaze locked, and each of them smiled their agreement. But the smiles didn't reach their eyes.
****
While Daniel paid, Laura excused herself and headed off to the ladies' room, her heart heavy—which was ridiculous. She had what she wanted. Daniel had agreed to stop pushing the buttons on their mutual attraction. And yet the idea that she wouldn't feel his lips on hers again was a barren prospect she'd rather not think about.
Natalie walked into the sink area just as she was about to leave and, if her heart could have sunk any lower, it would have.
"Did you enjoy your lunch?" Natalie asked politely.
"Yes, thanks. And you?"
Natalie shrugged. "The food was okay. The company was better." She gave Laura a knowing look.
Laura gave her one right back. "A little young for you, isn't he?" It was out before she could stop it, but she'd had about as much of Natalie as she was going to take.
Natalie didn't blink at the jibe. "Maybe. But the advantage of youth is that Tony hasn't had time to build up a stack of unwanted baggage. Unlike Daniel."
Since Natalie made up a good part of Daniel's "baggage," Laura couldn't fail to be impressed by the woman's nerve.
"Well, I'd better be getting back to him, baggage and all," she said.
But Natalie was blocking the exit and didn't move. "You'll no doubt be pleased to hear I'm flying back tomorrow," she announced, much to Laura's surprise.
"Oh?"
Natalie gave a small shrug of her shoulders. "Despite what you may think, I do know when to quit—for now. But you see, I have an advantage you don't have. I know Daniel. I know why he thinks he can't commit. I work with him, I work with his brother. I can influence and I can manipulate, which is exactly what I intend to do. I'm regrouping, not retreating. Daniel will come back to me. With his lifestyle, he has no choice. No other woman wants that. His fiancée proved it." She gave Laura a sly look. "I expect you have no idea Daniel was once engaged, do you?"
"Actually, I know all about it." Laura enjoyed watching the smugness disappear from her unwanted companion's expression. "I've said this before and I'll say it again—there is nothing between Daniel and myself other than friendship. As such, you're welcome to him if you want him. But I think you should ask yourself whether he wants you. A relationship isn't a business deal built on manipulation and fizzled-out desire, a battle to be planned and fought and to gain victory over. It's a two-way thing, a meeting of minds and trust and mutual want."
Startled by her own outburst, she pushed roughly past Natalie to get through the doorway. "Don't miss your flight!"
As she walked back to Daniel, she fought to contain her temper and slow down her breathing. Where on earth had that speech come from? Since when had she been such a staunch advocate of love and relationships?
Laura rolled her eyes. This holiday was getting weirder by the minute. For once, she would be glad to be back at school.
Chapter Sixteen
As Laura and Daniel strolled back to the car, they reached an open grass slope where the wall had crumbled away to leave a fantastic view over the river. Daniel sat down, pulling Laura with him. He leaned back on his elbows and Laura followed suit. Everything was so peaceful and calm, and there was a pleasantly cool breeze. Daniel had been suitably gratified when she'd informed him Natalie would soon be out of his hair and back in Ben's. And they had cleared up any misunderstandings and agreed to be friends.
Without the worry he might take it the wrong way, it seemed natural for Laura to allow her head to rest against him as she closed her eyes against the bright sun.
"Laura, I've been thinking," he murmured, his deep voice reverberating in his chest next to her ear.
She groaned. "Don't. Life's a lot easier when you don't."
"Very funny," Daniel said drily. "I have a proposition for you."
"Even worse!" But Laura's stomach flipped a somersault as her mind dreamt up a number of propositions her body would struggle to say no to.
"Don't you want to hear what it is?"
"Do I get a choice?"
"I have a week of sightseeing and meetings ahead," he said. "And the truth is, I don't want to do it on my own."
Another somersault. "Get Natalie to delay her flight. I'm sure she'd be happy to tag along."
"Again, very funny," Daniel said. "I'm serious. I'll get so much more out of it if you're with me. You could recommend where to go for the sightseeing and help with my meetings at hotels."
Laura harrumphed. "I wouldn't know where to start with business meetings!"
"A pretty face and a fluent Portuguese tongue won't go amiss though, will they?"
When she glared at him, he laughed, and she closed her eyes again. He was so handsome, it made her heart ache. Ruffling her hair in an affectionate way, he loosened her ribbon, then pulled it off completely so the waves tumbled loosely against his shirt. His hand remained, resting in her hair.
Laura's pulse raced. Friendship, she told herself sternly. That's all.
"I have my duties at the Quinta," she reminded him.
"I know. But most days I could adjust things so we get everything done between your stints in reception."
Laura thought about it. Spending more time with Daniel was such a dangerous game. She'd already told him to put aside their attraction for each other. Wouldn't spending their days together simply be tempting temptation?
"Please." The one word held a world of weariness and longing, and Laura was lost. If he wanted her company that much, how could she say no? It was no hardship being with him. And of course she had that whole keeping-him-sweet-for-Paulo thing still going on.
"Okay."
"Okay, you will?"
She nodded drowsily against his chest. "Okay, I will."
She felt him relax beneath her. "Great! Thanks. Okay, so, I did Braga, Guimarães, and Póvoa de Varzim last week. Tomorrow, I have a meeting in Ponte de Lima at eleven, so we'd need to get our skates on as soon as you finish in reception. Then in the afternoon . . ."
"Mmmm," Laura murmured. Exhausted at the thought of him zooming around like that, her mind drifted in the warmth of the sun. She felt so sleepy. The grass was soft underneath her, she could hear the strong, steady beat of Daniel's heart at her ear, and his hand had started to stroke her hair, soothing and rhythmic. Laura drifted into a much-needed sleep.
****
A loud shout from a passing group of children startled her awake. She struggled to sit up, but Daniel's arm was clamped around her like a vice. Reluctantly he let go, and Laura stood and stretched. Daniel watched her lazily from where he sat on the grass, his long legs extended in front of him.
"Did you have to move?" he protested groggily, and Laura realised he must have been asleep as well.
>
"We've been here an hour!" she exclaimed as she glanced at her watch.
"But it's done us good." He grinned. "And you're lucky I don't take offence easily."
"Why's that?"
"Many men would take it personally if an attractive woman fell asleep when they were in the middle of what they thought was a scintillating conversation."
"I didn't, did I?"
He chuckled. "Afraid so. Mid-sentence, actually."
"I'm sorry."
Daniel stood and stretched too. "That's alright. You needed your beauty sleep." He reached out and tousled her hair. "Time's getting on. We should go."
Laura nodded and reluctantly trailed behind him to the car. After all the fuss she'd made about coming, now she was sad to be leaving. The day was ending so differently from how it had started.
On the drive back, Daniel told her more about his itinerary for the week. It made her tired just thinking about it, but at least she managed to stay awake this time.
When they arrived back at the Quinta, he didn't even switch the engine off. "I have a meeting in town at six," he explained.
With a jolt, Laura remembered her own duties. "And I need to open up reception soon."
Daniel reached across, putting a hand on her cheek. "Thank you for coming. It was a nice day."
"That's okay. I enjoyed it, too, in the end." She climbed out and walked down the path, throwing a wave behind her when she heard his car move away.
He'd said it had been a nice day. Nice was such an indifferent word. Was that all it had been to him? Not that she could expect anything more. Nice was better than the way their day had started, and she'd already told him she didn't want fireworks.
****
His late meeting over, Daniel couldn't face dinner. Instead, he drove back to the hotel, ordered a sandwich from the bar, and took it back to his room. Propping himself up with pillows in the bed, he ate as he reviewed his schedule for the next few days. The only things that were set in stone were meetings at hotels, which were effectively viewings as well. Sightseeing could be slotted in and around them.
As he riffled through his papers and juggled with distances and estimated driving times, Daniel cursed the Quinta Maria for its enchantment. Why he'd been so fixated on the one hotel when he had dozens to go to, he had no idea. It was a novelty to become familiar with his room, to stroll or jog through the grounds, maybe take a quick swim in the odd quiet patch of time he had, but it also made him feel like he should be on holiday, relaxing. He wasn't and he couldn't.
He looked again at his schedule. It was a push to make it fit around Laura's stints in reception, but he could do it. He wanted to do it. The idea of her keeping him company over the next few days buoyed his spirits more than he cared to admit. His only worry was whether he would be able to stick to his side of their friendship-only pact. She was right in insisting on it, he knew she was—a holiday fling would be stupid and pointless for both of them—but it wouldn't be easy.
It wasn't only a question of keeping his hands to himself, although goodness knew that was a challenge in itself. Daniel was also beginning to listen to his inner voice, and that small whisper was telling him he was lonely; that he might be ready for a relationship again. The problem was, he didn't see how he could possibly sustain one with his current lifestyle. Fliss and Natalie had both proved that to him in different ways. And Laura had made it plain she had no intention of getting involved with anyone for the time being.
With a sigh, Daniel brushed crumbs from the bedspread and picked up his phone to ring Ben. Might as well cheer his brother up with the good news that Natalie would soon be back at work.
****
In the end, Daniel decided Laura probably knew better than him how to make his schedule for the next few days work, so he wrote out a rough version and pushed it under the reception door before going for an early morning jog, hoping she might find a spare few minutes to tweak and pummel it into shape.
When he called for her just after ten to see if she could get away a little early, she'd done just that, and she'd ordered two coffees to be brought up from the breakfast bar so they could go through the schedule together before they set off.
"I hope I'm dressed okay," she said anxiously as they stood to leave. "I can change if not, but I didn't bring anything suitable for business meetings."
Daniel was in his lightweight summer suit again, but Laura seemed uncomfortable about her own neat sundress. He couldn't have cared less if she wore a bin bag, but as it was, her dress was just fine; and if the hotel managers they dealt with were male, he didn't imagine they would see much beyond her startling eyes and sun-kissed cheekbones. If they did, well, tanned skin contrasting against turquoise cotton and slim ankles leading to low-heeled sandals were hardly going to offend. With a start, he realised his heart was pumping too fast—and he hadn't answered her yet.
"You look fine," he said gruffly. "More than fine." He headed to the car while she locked up, willing his pulse to behave itself over the next few hours.
"So how does this work?" she asked him on the drive inland.
"It has something called an engine. You feed it petrol."
She punched him on the arm. "I meant the visits to the hotels. Are they to look around, so you can recommend them? Or do you negotiate rates, or what?"
"Stone Brothers only recommends a small number of select hotels in each area," he explained, "and I would never book a client into a hotel I haven't personally visited and preferably stayed in. Usually I try to stay in each place incognito, as it were, and then arrange a meeting with the manager or owner."
When she gave him a puzzled frown, he shot her a sheepish glance. "In a moment of madness, I decided not to this time, but it hasn't worked. It means I have to be shown around, which substantially lengthens each meeting, and of course they're not going to show me bad service or inferior-quality bed linen—the sort of thing you find out when you actually stay somewhere." He shrugged. "But I have a pretty good gut instinct nowadays, and I'll have to come back again soon anyway."
"But you don't just recommend them, you book everything as well?"
Daniel nodded. "Which is why I like to meet face-to-face with the owner or manager. It gives me a personal connection in case my clients encounter any problems, and I need to negotiate a rate, obviously. We may be a small company, but we're exclusive. We recommend few hotels, so the ones we do send our clients to get a steady trickle of business they're happy to see."
Approaching Ponte de Lima, they concentrated on finding the hotel. He could tell the manager was instantly charmed by Laura—despite or because of her sundress? he wondered—and when she greeted him in Portuguese, it was like she was his long-lost cousin. As Daniel negotiated his way through the tour and the meeting, he was impressed with her instinct as to when to remain quiet and when to ask questions, and presumed it was a skill she'd learned as a teacher.
The manager insisted on taking them out to lunch in the town centre, a generous gesture Daniel could have done without. He would have preferred to be alone with Laura, to find out more about her: her career, her family, her childhood. Instead, he settled for watching her laugh and smile with their host, listening to her insightful chatter . . . and somehow he felt lonelier than ever.
****
After lunch, they strolled down to the river to admire the Roman bridge that gave the town its name, and then walked along the shaded riverside path. Daniel slipped his hand into Laura's without saying anything, and she seemed happy to let it be. Her palm felt good in his, their fingers lightly twined. To other strollers, they must have looked like any smart couple out for a post-lunch walk. The notion gave him a small pang.
When ten minutes had passed, he glanced regretfully at his watch. "Okay, time's up."
"I know somewhere interesting you might want to stop on the way back from your next meeting," she told him as they headed back to the car. "It wouldn't be much of a detour, but we'd have to be sure we have time, since I need to g
et back." She looked at him uncomfortably. "I can't help thinking I'm cramping your style. Coming with you is making your day much shorter than it needs to be. Wouldn't you be better off on your own?"
"No," he said gruffly. "You're not cramping my style—far from it. My days are long enough as it is. And I wouldn't be better off alone. Now shut up and navigate."
They drove further inland to his next meeting at a hotel on the edge of the Peneda-Gerês National Park. The surrounding countryside was stunning. Daniel was courteous and polite, but found himself trying to limit the length of their visit so they could squeeze in the one bit of sightseeing Laura had suggested that day. He wanted to please her, and he also wondered what she would choose to show him.
Never in a million years would he have dreamed up the place she took him to. With half an eye on the time, she directed him to her mystery destination. They parked and walked towards . . .
"What on earth are those?" he asked her, dumbfounded.
"They're called espigueiros. Come on." She led him nearer to the large outcrop of granite, upon which were built a sizeable huddle of . . . well, he didn't know what. They looked like rectangular stone sarcophagi on stilts, with wooden doors, narrow slits in the sides, and some had crosses on top.
"Espi-what?" He got closer, trying to work out what they were.
Laura laughed. "They're grain stores. Nowadays they tend to hold corn more than anything. They were . . ."
"Bom dia!" An old lady dressed in black hobbled towards them, a large and relatively toothless smile on her face.
"Bom dia!" Laura replied, pointing at the espigueiros and beginning a conversation Daniel couldn't hope to understand. The old lady spoke at a hundred miles an hour, but Laura kept up, translating for him while the lady patiently waited her turn again.
"She says they're built on pillars to keep the rats out, and they're made of stone because it doesn't get damp." The old woman pointed out the features as she talked on. "The slits in the sides are so narrow to allow air to circulate but not let rats, mice, or birds in. They've been here for generations."
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