In the Name of Love (5 page)

It took a good few minutes for Charlie to regulate her breathing. ‘Okay now?’ Zoe asked, as she finally took the bag away from her face.

She nodded. ‘I’m so sorry. I bet you’re wishing you’d brought Amber away instead of me.’ Amber was Zoe’s sister.

‘Don’t be mad! She’s even more high-maintenance than me! She’d still be getting ready for dinner now.’

Charlie managed a small smile. She felt completely wiped out. She got up to wash her face, and nearly collapsed back on the bed as her legs felt so wobbly. When she reached the bathroom mirror she saw that crying had smudged her mascara and her eyes were blood-shot. She splashed water on to her face, then called out, ‘Wonder what Felipe would think of me now?’

Her friend came into the bathroom. ‘He told me to tell you how sorry he was, and I think it was genuine.’

‘Hah! He was probably thinking that he’d blown any chance of a shag.’ Charlie sniffed. ‘Not that I was going to anyway. He’s far too full of himself. He’s probably lined up the next girl as we speak. Promising them a ride on his big boat.’

Zoe shook her head. ‘Don’t be so cynical! I’m going to text him that you’re okay now.’

‘Really? You’ve got his number?’

‘Yes, why? Do you want it?’ Zoe teased her.

‘Nope.’

Whatever Zoe said, Charlie was pretty sure that Felipe would have moved on to someone else. She felt a flash of regret at the prospect. In spite of him bringing up such a painful subject, he intrigued her.

Another knock at the door interrupted her thoughts. Surely that wasn’t Felipe? There was no way she was up to seeing him in this state.

‘Relax, it’s just the waiter with our dinner,’ Zoe said, going to answer the door.

‘I don’t think I can face anything rich right now,’ Charlie replied, the thought of fish making her feel queasy.

‘D’you want me to order you a cheese and tomato toasted sandwich?’

Charlie nodded gratefully. Her friend knew her so well, suggesting her favourite comfort food. ‘Oh, and a hot chocolate.’

‘In this heat! You must be the only woman in Barbados who wants to drink that,’ Zoe commented. She hesitated and added, ‘Don’t you think you should see your GP about having therapy when we get home? I mean, Felipe only mentioned riding and you had a panic attack.’

Charlie shook her head. ‘No way, it won’t help.’ She’d had one disastrous session with a therapist a few weeks after the accident, but instead of helping, it had only made things worse. The therapist had suggested that Ace dying symbolised something from her childhood and had implied that she might have been abused then – a ludicrous idea, as if being involved in a terrifying accident wasn’t significant enough in itself! Charlie had
found
the so-called therapy session so traumatic that now she was resistant to the whole idea of therapy. She insisted to her family and close friends that she would get better by herself.

‘And I haven’t had a panic attack in a while.’ She didn’t say anything about the recurrent nightmares she had about the accident. She hadn’t told anyone about those.

Zoe looked as if she had more to say, but Charlie added, ‘Please, Zoe, let’s forget this happened.’

Felipe paced the polished wooden floor of his penthouse suite, the phone clamped to his ear, as he listened to his mother Vittoria. As usual it was a fairly one-sided conversation. He had barely had a chance to ask his mother how she was before she launched into a series of complaints, starting with asking him why he hadn’t been home for ages? His reply that it was only four weeks fell on deaf ears.

And then, why hadn’t he taken Paloma away with him?

‘Because she’s my ex-girlfriend!’ Felipe protested. ‘It’s over between us. Remember?’

‘She is the best thing that ever happened to you. Are you crazy!’

Felipe gritted his teeth. This was precisely why he hadn’t been home for a month. His mother had adored Paloma and been devastated when Felipe broke up with her. She had already married him off in her own head, and was welcoming the thought of grandchildren. Felipe’s elder brother was gay, so Vittoria
had
few expectations that he would provide her with a grandchild, and even if he did it wouldn’t be from any conventional marriage. Their spoilt younger sister, Gisela, was too busy living the life of a jet-setter and had declared she had no intention of having children until she was in her late-thirties. She was only twenty-five.

Felipe held the phone away from his ear as Vittoria continued to nag. He wandered out to the balcony, from where he could look out over beautifully maintained gardens and beyond to the sea. He wondered what Charlie was doing now, and if there was anything he could do to make amends for having upset her so much.

‘And I hope you are behaving yourself on this holiday …’ His mother’s acid tone dragged him back to the present. ‘Your father and I don’t want to read any more stories about your antics. You’re thirty now, Felipe, not a teenager. It is most unbecoming and reflects so badly on the family name.’

He gave a rueful smile; his mother was referring to a recent story in which a certain soap-star actress he’d had a brief affair with, post-Paloma, had decided to tell all to the press … It had been one more in a very long line of kiss-and-tells. Felipe had come to loathe journalists with a vengeance. It was true that he had been wild in his early-twenties but in the last two years he had become more settled, give or take the odd fling. But the press were a little too attached to his playboy label and wouldn’t let him forget his colourful past, relishing every opportunity to bring it up. ‘I’m behaving
myself
perfectly. In fact, I am about to play cards with Luis. Just the two of us and a bottle of wine. Can you picture a more innocent scene?’

Vittoria let out a sigh of exasperation. ‘Let’s hope you spend all your evenings like that while you’re away.’

Felipe thought of the beautiful Charlie and sincerely hoped not.

Charlie woke up the following morning determined to put the panic attack behind her. It helped that Zoe had booked them in at the luxurious spa for a morning of pampering treatments – a pedicure that left her with baby-soft feet, and an Indian head massage that seemed to ease away the painful memories. While Zoe was having further treatments Charlie wandered down to the beach. She couldn’t get enough of the breathtaking view of the ocean before her. She loved living in London and feeling part of such a vibrant and exciting city, but she also loved the feeling of space that being by the sea gave her.

She half wondered if she might see Felipe, but most likely he was on a yacht, giving some other girl the benefit of his intense brown eyes. Charlie didn’t like the flash of jealousy such an image aroused in her.
Stop thinking about him!
she ordered herself, not wanting to waste her precious holiday pining after a man she barely knew. Instead she swam, sunbathed, then ordered a Caeser salad and tropical fruit smoothie for lunch, savouring every delicious mouthful and sip. Back at work she would be bolting down a sandwich at her desk washed down with a Diet Coke as she never had time for proper lunch breaks.

The hotel had laid on a boat to take people out snorkelling and on the spur of the moment Charlie decided to go on the trip. As she walked along the wooden jetty to the gleaming white speedboat, she saw Luis was already sitting in it, cutting a colourful figure in pink board shorts with a floral pattern and a pink-and-white-striped polo shirt. Her stomach flipped in anticipation. Did that mean Felipe was also going to be here? Suddenly Charlie wished she’d made more of an effort with her appearance. She was wearing her white bikini, with faded denim shorts, a black vest, and the barest minimum of make-up.

Luis smiled warmly at her as she stepped aboard.

‘How nice to see you, Charlie. Are you feeling okay now?’ He held out his hand to steady her.

‘I’m fine, thanks, Luis. I’m sorry about running out like that last night.’ She sat down next to him.

‘And so is Felipe, he never meant to upset you.’ Luis paused. ‘He’ll also be very sorry that he turned down my suggestion of snorkelling.’

‘Oh, and why’s that?’ Charlie could guess but she wanted to hear Luis say it.

‘He is very taken with you, of course! You have captivated him with your bewitching green eyes.’ Luis’s formal English made Charlie smile.

‘You mean he’s after a holiday shag,’ she whispered cheekily.

Luis put his hand over his heart. ‘Charlie, where is your sense of romance? Felipe really likes you.’

‘And I’m sure he really liked the girl he met up with last night after Zoe and I left.’ She couldn’t help herself;
she
wanted to know, even if the truth would sting a little. No girl wanted to be forgotten that quickly.

Luis tutted. ‘What a horribly low opinion of men you have, young lady. Felipe played cards with me – which reminds me that he lost and owes me money.’ He beamed at Charlie. ‘And he talked about you non-stop, which is undoubtedly why I won.’ He glanced down at his outfit. ‘By the way, is this combination a bit too much? Felipe told me I looked like a prawn.’

Charlie tried not to smile, as Luis probably had OD-ed on the pink. ‘I think you look very stylish. A little on the pink side, but why not? You’re on holiday.’

‘I look like a prawn, don’t I?’ he said ruefully.

‘I like prawns,’ Charlie replied, giving him an affectionate pat on the shoulder. She wasn’t usually so open with people she didn’t know, but Luis was so easygoing and friendly that she felt completely relaxed with him.

And then the speedboat’s engine roared into action and the boat shot out to sea, cutting through the clear water and leaving a gentle swell in its wake. ‘I’ll have to bring my wife here,’ Luis commented as they looked back at the white sand beaches and the lush green vegetation beyond. ‘She would love it.’

‘She doesn’t mind that you came away with Felipe?’

‘Not at all, she needs to focus on the wedding plans – her sister is very demanding, and she knew that I would only get in the way. Besides, Felipe needed a break from …’ Luis hesitated slightly ‘… work.’

‘It’s funny,’ mused Charlie, thinking of Felipe’s exceptionally fit, athletic body, ‘he doesn’t have the look of a web designer.’

‘No? Well, he works out a lot. Quite obsessively actually.’ Luis patted his own slight paunch. ‘As you can see, I could do better. In fact, I promised Mariana I would go to the gym while I was here. I haven’t been yet. How about you?’

‘Yep, I do the gym thing. Have to because of work. Do you know how much weight the …’ Shit! She’d been about to say ‘the camera puts on’. ‘I mean, working in a boutique, you get to see yourself in the mirror all day and so if you have a fat day there’s no getting away from it.’ She was starting to regret ever having coming out with her lie.

The comment raised a smile from Luis. ‘Charlie, you have no reason to be insecure. You must know that you are a beautiful woman. A little too slim for my liking, but perfect for Felipe.’

‘Who says I want to be perfect for him?’ she bantered back, not wanting to give away how much the compliment had pleased her.

‘And you seem just as strong-willed as him too. I think you are very well matched. How about having a drink with us tonight, to show that there are no hard feelings about what happened?’

‘I’ll think about it,’ Charlie replied. ‘But I’m not promising anything.’

It was only when they were returning after a blissful couple of hours spent snorkelling amongst tropical fish of every colour that Luis brought the subject up again. ‘So have you decided about the drink?’

It was just one drink and she did want to see Felipe again …

‘Okay,’ Charlie replied. Then she added impulsively, ‘I’m going to swim to shore, will you take my things?’

She stripped down to her bikini and dived gracefully off the side of the boat. As she stepped out of the waves, water cascading from her body, she heard a loud wolf whistle, and someone shouted, ‘All right, darling! You look like one of them Bond girls in that white bikini!’

It was Zoe, taking the piss as usual. Charlie flipped her the middle finger and only then noticed Felipe lying beside her friend, staring intently at her.

Instantly she felt self-conscious. She tried to smooth her hair back. It was stiff with salt. God knows what she looked like after swimming in the sea for the last two hours! She was bound to have red marks on her cheekbones from wearing the snorkel mask. And Felipe looked male-model beautiful in a pair of white shorts, accentuating his darkly tanned olive skin. He really must work out all the time – his body looked as if it had been sculpted, it was so perfectly muscled and so perfectly in proportion. Her gaze lingered on his strong forearms, tightly defined biceps, taut six-pack, the line of dark hairs running from his navel into his shorts. Lucky,
lucky
Zoe being treated to such a vision for the afternoon.

As soon as she reached the lounger Felipe sprang up and greeted her with a kiss. ‘I know Zoe has already apologised for me, but let me say it in person. I am so very sorry for upsetting you last night. It was the very last thing I wanted to do.’

‘Thank you, but you could hardly have known about
what
happened to me,’ Charlie replied, suddenly feeling a little shy.

‘How about we have a drink now? We could go to the beach bar.’

Charlie looked across at Zoe and Luis. ‘Are you going to join us?’

‘Nope. I’m heading back to the room to Skype Nathan,’ Zoe replied, getting up from the lounger and slipping on her flip-flops.

‘And that reminds me, I need to make an urgent work call, I’ll come with you,’ Luis added. He handed Charlie her bag and then he and Zoe practically jogged off the beach in their eagerness to leave Charlie and Felipe alone. Charlie gave a rueful smile at their complete lack of subtlety.

‘Can I meet you at the bar?’ she asked Felipe. ‘I need to dry off and get dressed.’

She waited until he had put on a tee-shirt and walked away before she quickly dried off and slipped on a cute purple mini-dress over her bikini. She combed out her wet hair and tied it into a ponytail, then dabbed on some lip balm. That would have to do, though it didn’t seem nearly enough given that she was having a drink with the most handsome man at the resort. Scrap that – one of the most handsome men she had ever met!