‘There should be a law against him,’ Annalisa muttered as she viewed the devastation. ‘So,’ she said, ‘having organised this chaos, how do you intend to put it right?’
Levelling a hooded stare at her, he hummed in consideration. ‘Dinner?’ he suggested, raising his upswept ebony eyebrows a fraction.
‘Dinner!’ It would take more than a meal to make up for this, Annalisa thought as her glance swept over the orchard again.
He threw her a challenging look. ‘Would you rather I got some glue and we spent the evening sticking branches back on?’
‘It’s not funny, Ramon!’
‘The hungrier I am the less funny I become,’ he warned.
Dusk was falling quickly. Annalisa glanced impatiently at her wristwatch. ‘What time are we expected at the restaurant?’ It made her mad to admit it, but Ramon was right; the damage was already done. If she went ahead with dinner she could pin him down over some form of reparation for the damage.
‘We can eat whenever we want to,’ he said.
Did that mean dinner on his boat? She felt herself heating up. Of course it did. He wouldn’t want to risk being seen with her in public, would he?
‘Plenty of time for you to take that bath,’ he said, allowing his gaze to track over her slowly.
She felt her body responding as his perceptive stare lingered on her breasts, where mud streaks drew attention to her generous cleavage. ‘Why don’t we just call it off?’ she suggested huskily, remembering that he didn’t want to be with her in private either unless she made herself presentable for him.
‘No chance,’ he said, shaking his head very slowly as he continued his leisurely appraisal. ‘I’d like to cover all your grievances while they’re still fresh in your mind.’
The orchard was the least of those right now, Annalisa acknowledged as she fought to control her breathing.
‘The bath will give you time to calm down,’ he went on, but the dark humour in his eyes told her he knew how unlikely that was. ‘You don’t want to miss the chance to get everything off your chest, do you, Annalisa?’
His gently chiding tone was far too provocative, Annalisa realised as she fought to keep her mind on her battle plan. ‘All right,’ she agreed. ‘That suits me fine. But I’ll make supper.’ That fixed him! On Ramon’s boat she was subject to his will. In her own home she dictated the terms.
‘Sounds good,’ he murmured. ‘I’ll even soap your back.’
‘This is purely a business meeting,’ she reminded him quickly. ‘And I have a perfectly good loofah.’
His knowing look slid effortlessly into something approaching innocence. ‘If you change your mind—’
If she prepared a simple meal she could say what she had to say and be safely tucked up in bed before midnight, Annalisa thought, holding his stare.
‘Shall we go?’ Ramon suggested.
‘I’m ready,’ she said. ‘The sooner we start, the sooner we can sort out the problem.’
The corners of his mouth tugged down wryly. ‘I’m sure we can. Whether now is the right time—’
The bath at the finca was a marvellous cast iron affair that could comfortably accommodate a family of four. Having treated herself a selection of expensive products at the beauty salon, Annalisa added a good splash of scented bath oil before reaching across to turn off the taps. ‘Judged to perfection,’ she murmured. But while the flow of water from the hot tap responded at once, the cold tap wouldn’t budge. The choice was flood the floor or— ‘Ramon! Can you give me a hand here? Quickly!’
She had left him sprawled on the sofa in the front room, chilling out to some music, but he reached her in seconds, bursting through the door.
‘Are you all right?’ he said, anxiously scanning the room.
Annalisa stood back and pointed to the tap. ‘I can’t turn it off.’
‘The tap?’ Ramon said, as if he had been expecting a collapsed ceiling at least. Moving in front of her, he applied brute strength to the problem.
‘Brilliant!’ Annalisa exclaimed. ‘But your shirt’s all wet,’ she observed when he straightened up again.
‘Then I’d better take it off and you can dry it for me,’ he said with a grin.
Before she could argue he was stripped to the waist. Moving fast, he grabbed her arm and reached for the zip on the back of her dress. ‘Just in case this gets stuck too, I’d better see to it while I’m here,’ he whispered against her neck. His warm breath sent shivers round her shoulders that spread all too fast.
‘Are you cold, Annalisa?’ he demanded softly, knowingly.
‘Cold? No!’ she protested, trembling and laughing at the same time. But the touch of his naked chest against her arm was having a cataclysmic effect on her senses. ‘A little tired, maybe…’
‘You should take a good long soak in the bath,’ Ramon advised huskily, his warm hand lingering on the soft swell of her buttocks where the zip fastener ended.
But just as her will-power was faltering he pulled away.
‘Dios! You’re covered in scratches,’ he said. ‘Where’s your antiseptic?’
‘In that cupboard over the washbasin,’ Annalisa said, holding her dress together as best she could.
Fishing around, Ramon pulled out a small bottle and some cotton wool. Unscrewing the top, he sniffed and grimaced. ‘If you’re not stinking of this when you come down I’ll send you straight back again.’
‘Thank you,’ Annalisa said, snatching it out of his hand. Who said romance was dead?
Why didn’t it help that she had nothing to regret? Annalisa mused as she put away the last of the dishes. The meal had lasted for hours, and then they had talked on for hours after that. Ramon had been a revelation…even if the business issues had been somewhat overlooked. She hadn’t realised before just how badly she had been missing the simple art of conversation. Except that where Ramon was concerned of course, nothing was simple.
And now it was dawn and she was alone again. She had made him a hastily prepared breakfast—freshly laid eggs whipped up with melted butter and lightly cooked…
She swerved from the sink to dash away some tears, her emotions at odds with the mundane household tasks. Taking a few steadying breaths, she went back to finish the chores. There was no comfort in them, but at least there was some semblance of normality in the routine. But when that was done there was nowhere left to go but back to the moment when the dream that perhaps they could be friends after all had been laid bare for the sham it was. The hammering on the front door had been the start of it—she had already been halfway off her chair when Ramon stopped her.
‘It’s four o’ clock in the morning,’ he cautioned. ‘You stay here. I’ll go and see who it is.’
In the end they both went. But when he opened the front door, and she peered around his back, Ramon’s chauffeur was standing on the doorstep. And the expression on his face made it clear what he thought they had been doing. His eyes were flint-hard as they flicked over her, then he cut her out, speaking to Ramon in rapid Spanish. Annalisa could not grasp every word. But she felt sure he wanted her to pick up the name Margarita, as well as the Spanish word for airport.
After a clipped response Ramon shut the door and, turning towards her, said, ‘I’m sorry, Annalisa. I have to go.’
‘Go?’ Of course he had to go. What a fool she was! What right did she have to keep him? Ramon was a married man. His wife needed him. It was that simple.
He glanced at his wristwatch and frowned. ‘Would you mind if I took a quick shower?’
‘No…no, that’s fine. You’ll find some clean towels in the bathroom cupboard.’
He caught hold of her arms. ‘I need one more favour.’
‘Which is?’
‘Could you rustle up some breakfast?’
He took her fixed stare for agreement, and as she watched him sprint up the stairs she knew that in his own mind Ramon had already left. He couldn’t wait to get back to his real life…to Margarita.
An
d so she had made him breakfast, squeezing oranges in silence, cooking eggs, brewing coffee… But she had got a peck on the cheek, as well as a swift kiss on both hands for payment, Annalisa reminded herself wryly. Wrecked by a rushed, ‘Sorry. Have to go. Plane lands in fifteen minutes.’
‘You mustn’t be late,’ she had agreed, holding the door open.
The last she’d seen of him was a brief wave, almost a salute, as the sleek limousine swept out of her yard, heading at speed towards the highway.
Was this what she wanted? Stolen time? She thought about her mother’s plight and reason answered the question for her. Though how she would harden her heart sufficiently to think of Ramon only in terms of business she had no idea.
CHAPTER FIVE
I WILL drown if I stay here, Annalisa thought, trying to shake herself out of the doldrums as she stepped out of the front door of the finca later that morning. And it won’t be the sea that kills me… Ramon wasn’t her friend and couldn’t be her lover. The sooner she got those facts through her head the better.
But just because she felt bad that didn’t mean the animals’ routine could be disrupted. And at least Fudge was his usual carefree self. Even while she went through the motions of feeding chickens and setting things straight in the yard he sprang around her feet like a puppy, trying to look as cute as his lopsided face would allow. He could do everything but speak, she thought, dredging up a thin smile as she watched him dash to the path that led to the beach and then race back again to bark excitedly at her.
‘All right. I give in,’ she said finally. ‘But you will have to wait until I get changed.’
Running upstairs to her room, she quickly crossed to the chest underneath the window where she kept her swimwear. As she dragged off her top it grazed her nipples. Just thinking about Ramon had plunged her into a state of arousal, she realised with a bitter half-laugh. Some joke! Her mind on one track, her body on a detour. It seemed as if each erotic zone had Ramon’s personal brand on it whether she liked it or not. An early-morning swim in the freezing cold water would sort that out, she decided, impatiently snatching up a bikini and wrap from the drawer.
Fudge was waiting for her when she arrived in the yard, his excitement evident in the tense way he held himself and the erect set of his tail. As soon as Annalisa called out he scampered off down the path in front of her, yapping with triumph. Scooping up the bright red ball she had bought for him in the village, she broke into an easy jog behind him. Ramon’s warning about swimming alone did briefly cross her mind when she was forced to slow at the cliff-edge. But Ramon wasn’t here. And this was still her beach…her life.
Scrambling down to the shore, she threw the ball as hard as she could, her tension easing into a smile as she watched the old dog race after it. When he caught up at last he executed an exaggerated pounce and then looked back at her for approval, wagging his tail furiously before trotting back with his head held high.
The game could have gone on much longer, but Annalisa was growing restless. ‘That’s it,’ she said finally, untying her wrap. The sea beckoned. Palest sage edged with a white lace frill, it was mirror-flat except for the treacherous spine between the two properties where the rocks broke the surface. It promised a cooling swim…a soothing swim. And she had learned her lesson. She would stay away from the point. Shading her eyes with her hand, she plotted her course.
The faithful old dog scampered after her as far as the shallows, but the breaking waves soon provided him with an alternative playmate and he made no attempt to follow her when she continued out to sea.
Swimming warily, she trod water occasionally to test the current. If she stayed well away from the rocks it was quite possible to swim over to Ramon’s beach in complete safety. There was no logic in doing so, but some inner demon drove her on. She had no idea what she meant to do when she got there… Sneak up to the house? Spy on him?
She had barely rounded the point when her feet hit the bottom. Standing up, she waded the last few yards to the shore. She was just smoothing her hair back from her face when she heard voices. They seemed to be coming closer. A kind of fearful excitement gripped her as she looked around for somewhere to hide. A little way up the cliff and away from the path that led from Ramon’s house there was a jumble of huge boulders. They offered the perfect cover.
Taking care to swish sand over her footprints, she turned and ran quickly through the shallows. Scrambling up the rocks as fast as she could, she slid into a deep crevasse from where she had a perfect view of the beach.
At first she saw only the child. A chubby toddler tanned the colour of nutmeg, wearing a vivid green bandanna on her halo of black curls. She couldn’t have been more than three years old. A smile softened Annalisa’s face as she watched the little girl skip along the beach. But a couple followed close on her heels.
They walked along arm in arm, moulded into each other and chatting with the easy familiarity of long acquaintance. She felt sure her heart would stop. The woman was almost as tall as Ramon, slender and with masses of wavy black hair caught up in a style that managed to be both casual and chic. She wore a sleeveless calf-length dress in cream-coloured linen and trailed a large-brimmed straw hat in her free hand. Her feet were bare and—
Annalisa turned away, unable to watch any longer. Margarita, she thought. Shame lodged in her throat like a fist. And Ramon had a daughter too… The pain was unendurable. For a moment she just shut her eyes, hoping it was all a bad dream. But then she heard the child call out and instinctively looked up again. Ramon had the little girl’s arms locked in his hands and was swinging her off the ground… Round and round she went, her shrill laughter bouncing off the rocks, while Margarita stood by watching her with her hands clasped together in pleasure.
The happy tableau was like a dagger in Annalisa’s heart. She would never consign Ramon’s child to the same fate she had endured—a mother grown bitter from neglect and a father she hardly knew… And if Ramon chose to stay with Margarita…? If? He would. She only had to look at the two of them together to know that.
She sucked in a deep breath, as if she was trying to store the salty tang of the seashore in her memory, and took a last look around at the fine white sand and the gently lapping sea, already turning a deeper shade of jade. It was all so beautiful, and she had almost called it home. But that had been a fantasy, a hopeless dream that was already in the past. Home was a small town in England. She would put the finca on the market in the morning.
As experiments went, her time in Menorca had been a disaster, Annalisa thought, putting the phone down. And now she could not even make a success of rehoming Fudge and the rest of her menagerie.
The only bright spot in the whole nightmarish fiasco was the estate agent. He had nearly bitten her hand off when she’d rung him to tell him the finca was for sale. And Don Alfonso had endorsed her decision with exactly the level of enthusiasm that she had anticipated. It had been clear from the start that Ramon and his legal team had completely overwhelmed him. He was glad to be out of it. She had never really stood a chance.
Oblivious to the storm clouds brewing on his own horizon, Fudge was busy worrying the loose strap on her sandals. He cocked an ear and looked up at her expectantly.
‘Sorry, Fudge. I’ll take you to the village tomorrow and see if I can tempt anyone.’ Annalisa’s mouth turned down as she petted him. Looking at it brutally, who would want to take on an elderly, ugly dog? Another idea occurred to her and she smiled into his rheumy brown eyes. ‘OK, so how do you fancy exchanging fenceposts for lampposts?’ It would take some time to sort out a pet passport for him. But if she could find someone trustworthy to take him on…someone she could liase with to make sure that his transfer complied with the regulations…to see he got all his jabs and tests and the microchip…why not? When the finca was sold she would be able to afford to fly Fudge back to live with her in England.
She jumped at the sound of hammering on the front door. It sounded like every raid she had ever seen o
n a screen. She half expected a call of, Open up! Police!
‘All right, I’m coming,’ she yelled as the thunderous attack continued.
Flinging open the door, she gasped, ‘Ramon!’ and tried to shut it in his face.
But he was too quick for her and held it firm with the heel of his fist. Hoisting her half off the ground, he slammed the door shut behind them.
‘What do you think you’re doing?’ she demanded, squirming frantically as she struggled to free herself.
‘What do I think I’m doing?’ Ramon grated, backing her up against the wall. ‘What the hell do you think you’re doing, don’t you mean?’
The look on his face was enough to send anyone running for cover, but after seeing him with Margarita, Annalisa was determined to stand her ground. ‘Get out!’ she raged, with every bit of venom she could muster.
‘I can see that would suit you,’ he snapped, holding her upper arms fast. ‘But I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on.’
‘Meaning?’
‘Meaning I received a very interesting phone call when I got back home.’
‘Really?’ she said, turning her face away from a pair of blazing eyes.
‘Yes,’ he snarled, snatching hold of her chin and turning her back to face him. ‘An agent in town tried to sell me finca Fuego Montoya.’
Annalisa made a bitter sound. ‘Well, excuse me, Ramon! But wasn’t that exactly what you wanted?’ She saw a muscle in his jaw work as he held his temper in check.
‘What?’ he rapped incredulously. ‘You think I want some random salesman calling to tell me that you want to sell the finca? Are you mad? You didn’t think to speak to me about it first?’
‘It’s my property,’ she pointed out sharply. ‘I can do what I like with it.’
His glare lanced through her. ‘I’m really sorry you feel like that,’ he said steadily. ‘And I’m also disappointed that it doesn’t seem to matter to you that I had to learn about this from a complete stranger.’
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