Playing for Keeps: Harford Scarlet Series

by Toria Lyons

  ‘We could’ve stayed in the first room, you know. It was perfectly all right,’ Sarah spluttered between giggles. ‘Now they think we’re the couple from hell.’

  ‘Oh, it’ll be nice to have the extra room. Besides, with both of us working, we need more table space. And –’ he wiggled an eyebrow salaciously ‘– there’s more surfaces for us to christen.’

  The temperature in the room shot up in milliseconds. Sarah coyly licked her lips and Tom’s eyes were intent on her pink tongue. He leant towards her and captured her mouth. Their clothes went flying across the room as they fought their way out of them, then giggles were followed by sighs as, with Sarah straddling Tom, they came together on the sofa.

  ‘Let’s freshen up and go to see some of the city,’ suggested Tom. ‘I don’t know Lisbon that well but I’ve heard there’s some real gems to be found.’

  ‘I do. It’s a great idea. Last time I was here, it was too hot to spend time in the centre. Today’s glorious. If you can spare the time.’

  ‘No problem – my meetings don’t start until tomorrow anyway.’ Tom dismissed work with a grin. ‘And all work and no play makes Tom and Sarah very dull.’

  ‘You call this dull?’ Sarah started giggling again, continuing as she got up, grabbed her bag, and headed for the bathroom. ‘I’ll be back in five.’

  They spent the afternoon meandering around the twisty, cobbled streets of Lisbon, taking in the beautiful main square, and popping into many quaint shops. They took the funicular up to the high, hilly region by the river and strolled back down to the riverside. A late lunch was eaten in a café bustling with locals, then afterwards, walking and riding trams took them westwards, alongside the Tagus running into the Atlantic.

  In the Belem area, they ran up the steps to the top of the tower guarding the entrance to the bay and mimicked the poses of the explorers immortalised in stone. When they weren’t fooling around or taking a multitude of photos, Tom made sure they walked hand in hand or with his arm around her shoulders. Every time anyone gave Sarah an appraising look, he would drag her closer to ensure the stranger got the message that she wasn’t available.

  He would plant slow, possessive kisses on her whenever the streets around them were quiet. Sarah became so dazzled by the sun and the fun, and by Tom’s overwhelming need to be close to her that she didn’t resist, her arms going around him. They returned to the hotel and to the fresh sheets of their hotel bed, a mutual seduction ending in them blissfully coming together again.

  Sarah arched and stretched on the sheets like a sleek, purring cat. She watched Tom get up and wander to the bathroom.

  ‘We’ll have to eat in the hotel tonight,’ Sarah called out. ‘I need to check out their chef and service.’

  ‘Not a problem – that’s fine with me. I’ll need to sit down to do some work later; I have an early meeting tomorrow and I’ll have to meet you at the next hotel in the evening. Are we eating in or out tomorrow night?’

  Sarah felt a momentary pang of disappointment that he couldn’t spend more time with her but she told herself that she was lucky to have had that day. ‘Out, if you want. I’ll have already eaten twice in the hotel. We could go to the Estoril Casino for the evening?’

  ‘Only if you’ll be Miss Moneypenny.’ Tom affected a Sean Connery accent.

  Sarah rolled over laughing again. ‘Any excuse to buy a dress. Come on, I’m starving and I’m hoping that chef can do something spectacular.’

  They returned to their room after a pleasant meal and a fair bit of wine for Sarah. While Tom stayed up working, she went to bed and fell asleep contentedly listening to the tapping of his keyboard.

  She also woke to the tapping, and occasionally the sound of his low voice wandered into the living area. She yawned. ‘I can see you’ve been to bed because your pillow’s dented but I’ve no idea when. And it’s only seven. Room service for breakfast?’

  Tom nodded and Sarah belatedly realised he was still on his mobile phone. ‘Oops, sorry.’ She placed a call on the suite’s phone to order breakfast: a huge amount for Tom but just fruit and cereal for herself as she’d be eating again mid-morning.

  After showering, packing, and eating alone, Sarah brushed a kiss on Tom’s cheek and departed, leaving him still on the phone with his cooked breakfast cooling in the background.

  She had a hectic day of work, writing notes at any spare moment; the staff at both hotels humoured her interference in their routines. Between visiting the two establishments, she also had a chance to nip into one of Lisbon’s department stores and splurged on a dramatic red, knee-length silk dress with a flared skirt. It was sleeveless and the halter-neck top displayed a couple of inches of her generous cleavage, clinging to her rounded breasts and narrow waist. Spindly heeled, strappy black shoes plus a matching clutch and shrug cardigan finished off the outfit. When the assistant rang up the total, Sarah tried not to flinch before handing over her credit card.

  By eight, when Tom dashed in with his case and an exclusive-looking garment bag, she was dressed up and ready for dinner and dancing. He took one hot look at her glamorous outfit and smiled appreciatively. ‘Great minds think alike. Give me 15 minutes and I’ll be with you. I hope you don’t mind, but one of my business colleagues and his wife are meeting us in the restaurant; they offered to show us around.’ He disappeared into the bathroom with his items.

  When he emerged again, he was clad in a formal dinner jacket and trousers. The stark black suit, its fine cut obviously expensive, and white shirt over his tall, muscular frame suited his dark looks perfectly. Sarah was momentarily dumbstruck by how utterly, gorgeously male he was and couldn’t resist placing a kiss on his freshly shaved cheek. He smelled good too. His arms went around her while he captured her lips and slowly relished her.

  He lifted his head. ‘As much as I’d love to strip this flimsy bit of silk off you, we’d better get going before we get distracted.’ His teeth were gritted against his obvious arousal. She ran a hand over his muscular behind and whirled away before he could catch her again, darting out of the door laughing while he cursed vociferously.

  Tom caught up with her waiting for the lift. ‘I should have had a cold shower; the sight of you in that dress is enough to set anyone’s blood on fire.’ He slid a hand under her shrug and ran a finger down her bared spine.

  Sarah shivered at his touch. ‘I could say the same about you; you’re a gorgeous hunk of man-flesh in formal wear. Makes me want to lick, bite and swallow you up.’

  The lift pinged its arrival, half covering Tom’s groan. He followed her into the compartment, ensuring that Sarah stood facing him, between him and the other occupants. ‘This’d better be the slow one: I need some time to recover,’ he whispered in her ear.

  Luckily, it was nearly a minute before the lift disgorged them into the reception area.

  They caught a taxi to take them to the restaurant. It passed along the attractive, palm-lined main road highlighted by the last rays from the setting sun.

  The seafood restaurant was very close to the main drag, just far enough away for the traffic sounds to be muted by the entrance, and completely silenced by the time the heavy glass doors were closed by the doormen. Tom gave his name to the maître d’ and they were ushered to a dim corner table. A couple were waiting for them there and the grey-haired gentleman stood when he saw them coming.

  ‘Senhor Murray, how good to see you again.’ He shook hands with Tom. ‘And who is your beautiful companion?’

  ‘Please call me Tom – and this is Sarah, my … girlfriend.’

  ‘Sarah, I am Luis Oliveira. How lovely to meet you. Please call me Luis.’ He embraced her, kissing her on both cheeks. ‘And this is my lovely wife, Maria.’

  The other half of the couple, a substantially younger, slim, ebony-haired woman, stood to embrace Sarah and Tom.

  ‘It’s a pleasure to meet you.’ Maria’s voice was accented and sultry, matching the chic black dress covering her skeletal frame. She lingered on the last of
her cheek-kisses with Tom, and Sarah felt some stirrings of unease.

  ‘And now that we are all here, I will order some of our fabulous Portuguese wines,’ said Luis. He signalled for the waiter and spoke in quick Portuguese. A few moments later, bottles of red and white appeared by the table.

  The meal passed in a whirl of dishes. They tried all the bottles of wine that Luis suggested, interspersed with refreshing chilled water. Luis was charmingly ingratiating, obviously wanting Sarah and Tom to appreciate the food and wine and extolling the virtues that Portugal had to offer. Maria subtly ignored Sarah, addressing all her frothy comments to Luis and Tom alone.

  Before dessert came along, Sarah excused herself to go to the ladies’. The wine had gone to her head and she took several minutes to freshen up and tidy her hair and make-up, using the facilities provided in the luxuriously appointed rooms. As she was about to leave, Maria entered. Sarah smiled guardedly at her.

  Maria dabbed at her make-up lightly. ‘You are enjoying the restaurant, yes? It must be different to what you are used to.’

  Sarah was puzzled. ‘No, not entirely.’

  ‘But you are so different to Tom’s usual women. They are usually much –’ Maria cast critical eyes down Sarah’s dress ‘– slimmer, I believe. And more attractive.’ Her tone turned poisonous. ‘He must have been so desperate to find another woman after Natasha that he let his standards slip.’

  Sarah was stunned by this unexpected attack. She took a few moments to gather her wits and calm herself, intent on concealing her inner turmoil. ‘Jealous are you, Maria? That I’m going home with a hunk and you’re off with a doddering old man? Not that a gentleman like Luis deserves a bitch like you anyway.’ With that, she swept out of the room.

  When Sarah returned to the table, some of her confusion must have shown on her face as Tom gave her a concerned look. She smiled tightly back at him and turned to Luis. ‘Luis, tell me more about the delicious Portuguese cakes you have.’

  Luis went into rhapsodies over the pastries made in the area and insisted on ordering a selection for Sarah and Tom to try. She purposefully ate more than a mouthful of each, savouring them slowly, playfully batting spoons with Tom for the good bits. She spied Maria’s disgruntled face.

  ‘Maria, are you not having any dessert?’ Sarah wickedly dug her spoon into a rich, creamy topping.

  ‘No thank you, I don’t want to get fat like a cow,’ Maria said sniffily. ‘You must do a lot of exercise to justify eating cakes.’

  ‘Tom makes sure I take just enough exercise,’ responded a smug Sarah, catching the man in question’s inquiring eyes. ‘And a little bit of what you fancy doesn’t hurt. Besides, I don’t worry about my weight at all.’

  ‘I adore her curves. Sarah is perfectly proportioned,’ confirmed Tom. He caught her free hand and gave it a squeeze. Sarah turned towards him and he placed a lingering kiss on her lips.

  ‘Well, so much for the British being afraid to show their emotions. I think that we’ll pay the bill and leave these lovebirds in peace,’ joked Luis.

  Tom spoke. ‘Don’t worry, the bill has already been settled. As thanks for your assistance and excellent company tonight.’ He addressed Luis only, having picked up the atmosphere between the two women.

  The four exited the restaurant and split after much polite air-kissing and effusive goodbyes from Luis. Tom walked with Sarah down to the seafront.

  ‘So, what did she say to you to bring your claws out?’ asked a bemused Tom, once they were out of earshot.

  ‘In short, she called me fat and ugly and not like your usual, beautiful partners,’ answered Sarah lightly, even as repeating Maria’s words stung.

  Tom frowned, his anger evident. ‘What a lying bitch. I thought she looked familiar but I didn’t recognise the name.’ He suddenly snapped his fingers. ‘Got it – Maria Belleza. Useful to know. I’ll be extra-cautious with Luis’ judgement on matters; for him to have got himself tangled up with her shows some exceedingly poor taste.’ He placed an arm over Sarah’s waist and lifted her chin so she looked directly at him. ‘Are you OK? She didn’t hurt you with her bile?’

  Sarah dismissed it with a laugh. ‘How fragile do you think I am? I’ve met her kind and much worse before now. Now, let’s go and throw some money at the roulette tables, I feel like being spoiled unmercifully.’

  ‘I can do that, my dazzling, gorgeous star.’

  They recovered their earlier, playful mood in the casino, Sarah winding Tom up with sultry looks and sly gropes. She was on the receiving end of some jealous looks but so was Tom: there were many men attracted by Sarah’s vivacious beauty and curves that were generously sensual in comparison to so many of the ultra-thin women present.

  Tom gave her some tokens which she bet with outwardly carefree arrogance on various tables. He watched in some puzzlement as her pile of chips steadily grew while his dwindled. Sarah glanced over but refrained from commenting, and Tom detected a hint of smugness.

  ‘Not a betting man, are you?’ she remarked drily.

  ‘I prefer better odds. And doing groundwork first.’

  ‘You can’t have made a mint being cautious?’

  Tom laughed. ‘I took some risks when I was younger. Some worked out, some didn’t. I wouldn’t do the same now.’

  ‘Miss Evans, how lovely to see you again!’ A tall, handsome man with dark, Latin features had approached from behind.

  Sarah swung around, her poker face of a moment ago changing to one of pure delight. ‘Marcos! ¿Cómo estás? What are you doing in Portugal?’ She exchanged effusive kisses with him and, without a pause, swung into fluent Spanish.

  They spoke for several minutes while Tom watched, his temper bristling. Finally, Sarah turned back to him. ‘Tom, may I present the Conde Marcos del Rey Calvete. Tom Murray, Marcos.’

  They shook hands, the two males sizing each other up. Marcos switched to English too. ‘So, you are the lucky man who has the pleasure of this lady’s company? Sarah is, for me, how you say, “the one that got away”. She turned down my proposal three times. Three times! But with so much grace I could never hold it against her.’ Marcos kissed the back of her hand.

  Tom stepped in and placed his hand firmly around Sarah’s waist. ‘Bad luck,’ he commiserated insincerely. ‘And now I have her I don’t intend to let her go.’

  ‘You are a very fortunate man to have captured her. I hope you haven’t bet against this lady. Last time I did, I lost 50,000 Euros. Which she gave to charity anyway.’

  ‘Not earned, not gained,’ said Sarah. ‘I didn’t feel right spending something I’d won from someone else. I may put this lot towards expenses for this trip, though.’ She gestured towards her pile. She had let her stake stand and in the meantime, it had been added to by the croupier.

  ‘Sarah, you surprise and delight me every time.’ Marcos kissed her hand again. ‘Now I must take my leave. My men –’ he gestured towards two hefty bodyguards ‘– will be worrying that I’ve outstayed my welcome. Come to see me the next time you are in my country and we will catch up. Buenas noches.’

  The Spaniard departed quickly, his men flanking him closely.

  Tom frowned. ‘I think I’ve heard of him before: made a fortune in wine and also has a few hotels. He really proposed marriage to you?’

  Sarah shrugged. ‘A few times.’

  ‘But you turned him down?’

  ‘I didn’t love him, and he didn’t love me,’ she answered simply. ‘A marriage of convenience wouldn’t have been right.’

  Tom released Sarah’s waist and signalled to the waiter for another round of drinks. He watched and drank while Sarah increased her pile of chips further, until she turned to him. ‘Had enough?’

  ‘It’s been a long day. I’m surprised you’re still going. Let’s walk back to the hotel; it’s a dry, cool evening.’

  They cashed in their chips and departed, Sarah several thousands of pounds the richer.

  Tom stayed quiet for only a few minutes, then words c
ame spilling out. ‘I don’t know you at all, do I? First you stand your ground against an unexpected verbal assault, and you recover with such aplomb that it makes her look petty. You show an aptitude for gambling, and a generous nature that disgraces everyone around you. And you have Spanish counts in your pocket.’

  ‘I told you that I spent a lot of time overseas. And working in hotels, you have to be prepared for anything.’ Sarah shrugged.

  Tom grabbed her hand and swung her to face him. ‘I love you. And the way you handle everything that’s thrown at you. I love you.’ The words came easily from Tom.

  ‘And I love you too,’ Sarah returned lightly, although her heart thundered in her chest at his declaration.

  He brushed a light kiss to her lips and smiled. ‘Good.’

  On the steps of the hotel, Tom pulled her towards him again and held her close. ‘I meant that, you know. About loving you. And earlier about not letting you go.’

  ‘Of course you did,’ agreed Sarah calmly, although her heart thumped in her ears. She returned the kiss, dropping it onto his cheek. ‘Now take me to bed and appreciate my curves.’

  Tom laughed and hoisted her into his arms.

  ‘Tom, your knee!’

  ‘You’re as light as a feather.’ He carried her past the surprised hotel staff, into the lift and to the room where he placed her gently on the bed and slowly, patiently stripped her dress away, followed by her inhibitions.

  She woke gently at first light, the events of the previous night coming back to her. Tom’s arm was wrapped securely around her again. For a moment, she luxuriated in the warmth and security as she remembered his words.

  With a dropping stomach, she recalled the events from earlier in the evening, and wondered if he had held the mysterious Natasha that way. The malicious words of Maria that she had ruthlessly smothered from her thoughts last night now echoed around her brain. She felt, she admitted to herself, a certain curiosity about his ex, but that would have to be suppressed. Theirs was supposed to be only a short- term relationship, up to the end of the season or until the attraction burned out, whichever came first. His long-term plans didn’t concern her, she told herself. Despite their mutual declarations of love.