In the Name of Love (3 page)

‘It didn’t hurt,’ Zoe replied, lovingly touching the diamond star pendant round her neck. ‘But this,’ she held out her arms wide to take in the breathtaking view, ‘is the business!’

‘And now,’ Charlie declared, ‘I have to get on that beach before the sun sets.’

Typically Zoe took ages getting ready. Charlie had showered and changed into her bikini, tied her long hair into a ponytail, put on sunscreen, lip balm and a
flick
of mascara. She’d finished off with a pair of black Chanel sunglasses, tiny denim shorts and gold flip-flops before Zoe had even decided which of her many new bikinis to wear.

‘I’ll meet you out there, babes,’ Zoe told her, still in her white towelling robe when Charlie knocked on the door of her suite.

She quickly agreed, not wanting to waste another moment of her holiday.

Outside she had to stop herself from bursting into song. Everywhere was just so perfect: the elegant Colonial-style buildings, the gardens with their brightly coloured tropical flowers and palm trees, the irresistible flash of blue ocean she kept glimpsing. All the hotel staff she passed smiled warmly at her and said, ‘Good afternoon, Miss Porter.’

How on earth did they remember all the guests’ names? she wondered. Was there a list of names next to a photograph of each guest that they had to memorise?

‘Call me Charlie,’ she kept telling them, but they just smiled and she was pretty sure they wouldn’t.

She was just walking past the stunning swimming pool, which even had a bar set at one side, so you could sip cocktails while you were in it, and a miniature waterfall, when her attention was captured by the tall, dark-haired man sprinting towards her. Check him out! she thought, admiring his broad shoulders, muscular physique and very handsome face. He was so focused on running that he failed to notice a waiter carrying a tray of drinks, and knocked straight into him. There was a resounding crash
as
the tray slipped out of the waiter’s hands and the cocktail glasses shattered on the marble tiles. Charlie was shocked when the handsome man simply muttered ‘Sorry’ to the waiter, who was already apologising profusely, and carried on running towards her. Incensed by such bad manners, Charlie barred his way, hands on her hips.

He came to an abrupt halt, towering over her. He could have stepped out of a men’s style magazine in his turquoise board shorts as blue as the swimming pool and white shirt, unbuttoned to show off his tanned skin and ripped abs. It was hard not to stare. Very hard.

‘Excuse me, señorita.’ He spoke in slightly accented English, and looked Spanish with his dark brown hair, strong chiselled features and high cheekbones. She was aware of his gaze burning into her. He might be male-model gorgeous but he seemed arrogant and that was not a quality to endear him to Charlie.

‘Is that it?’

He looked puzzled. ‘Sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about?’

‘You barely apologised after charging into that poor guy!’

He seemed slightly taken aback by the criticism. ‘I’m sorry, I had an important call to take in my suite.’

‘Of course you did,’ she said sarcastically.

Charlie had once worked as a chambermaid and remembered only too well what it felt like being on the receiving end of such dismissive behaviour. There was plenty more she could say on that subject. But instead she took a deep breath. She was on holiday; she would
let
it go. And so, throwing him her most disdainful
You’re not worth it!
look, she moved out of his way and went over to the waiter who was on his knees, picking up shards of glass with his hands. ‘Here, let me help you,’ she said, kneeling down next to him.

‘Oh, no, Miss Porter, please, do not trouble yourself.’

‘But you’ve cut your hand!’ She turned round and gave handsome arrogant man a filthy look. He seemed to be in two minds about how to react, then walked over decisively and said to the waiter, ‘I must apologise for bumping into you. I wasn’t looking where I was going.’

‘Oh, please, Señor Castillo, it was entirely my fault …’

Charlie was about to pipe up that of course it bloody wasn’t when another waiter joined them, armed with a dustpan and brush, and set to work sweeping up the fragments of glass.

‘I feel that we got off on the wrong foot. May I buy you a drink to show that there are no hard feelings?’ handsome arrogant man asked Charlie. He held out his hand to help her up. She ignored the gesture and stood up unassisted, shaking her head. ‘No, thanks. Just make sure you don’t treat anyone else like that. Everyone deserves respect, whatever they do.’ Oops – she sounded pompous! He had said sorry, she should have left it there. The never-ending supply of in-flight champagne from William and his lovely eyebrows had taken its toll on her.

There was another moment when he seemed to be taken aback but then he smiled broadly at her, giving her the full benefit of his brown-eyed gaze. Was he
checking
her out? Cheeky bastard! He wasn’t her type, even if he was ridiculously handsome. And muttering something about meeting a friend at the beach, she turned on her flip-flopped heels and continued on her way. She could feel his eyes on her as she walked off, so added an extra swing to her hips for good measure.

Charlie took a moment to take in the glittering sapphire-blue ocean. A member of staff greeted her, asked her where she would like to sit and then proceeded to arrange a sun lounger, parasol and table just for her, adding that that if she wanted anything, anything at all, she should stick a flag into the sand and someone would come and take her order. Charlie thanked him. All she wanted to do right now was hit the water that looked so inviting. She slipped off her shorts and ran into the ocean. Diving under the clear blue water, she swam out to sea. The water was blissfully warm, crystal clear and as calm as a swimming pool. She lay on her back, floating. This was paradise. She felt as if all the stresses of her life were drifting away. She half wondered whether she would see handsome arrogant man again … maybe, maybe not.

She looked back to the beach where she saw that Zoe was finally putting in an appearance and looking fabulous in a bronze metallic bikini and bejewelled sandals, her hair looking as if she had just stepped out of the salon. Zoe was not a woman who ever did understated. Charlie waved at her and then swam back to shore.

For the next two hours the girls sunbathed, swam
and
chatted until a spectacular orange-and-red sunset blazed across the sky.

‘We should get ready for dinner,’ Zoe commented.

‘I can’t move, I’m so relaxed,’ Charlie protested from her lounger. ‘Then again, I bet you need to spend the next three hours getting ready, so come on, let’s make a move.’

Chapter 2

CHARLIE BREEZED INTO
her suite. Her skin had that lovely tingly feeling from swimming in the ocean, and as she checked out her appearance in the mirror she noticed that she already had a glow about her from being in the sun. She turned on the shower and was about to step under the powerful jet of water when there was a knock at the door. She grabbed a fluffy white robe and slipped it on. It was bound to be Zoe. Instead, it was one of the hotel’s clerks, holding a huge bouquet of flowers, almost bigger than he was. ‘Sorry to disturb you, Miss Porter, but Señor Castillo asked us to deliver these to you. Where would you like them?’

For a second Charlie wondered who on earth they could mean, then she remembered. Señor Castillo was the handsome arrogant man.

‘Oh, put them wherever you can, thank you …’ she checked out his name-tag … ‘Benson.’

He smiled and handed her an envelope on his way out.

Charlie ripped open the thick paper and pulled out a note:
Dear Ms Porter, I would like to apologise for the earlier incident and to invite you to have dinner with me tonight. Shall we say 8.30 at L’Acajou? Yours, Felipe Castillo
.

The cheek of the guy, assuming that (a) she would want to go out for dinner with him, and (b) she would drop everything to go out with him tonight! Señor Castillo was in for a surprise because she had no intention of joining him at L’Acajou. Or anywhere else. For all he knew she was here with her boyfriend. He must be used to women falling over themselves to be with him and his ripped abs. Well, not Charlie, however tempted she was. And, yes, she was prepared to admit that she was tempted … But he would have to try much harder than a bunch of flowers and a dinner invitation if he wanted to impress her.

She phoned up Reception and asked them to pass on a message, thanking him for the flowers and the invitation but declining as she had other plans for dinner. There were advantages to having other people to do whatever you asked them, she decided.

Then Charlie hit the shower. She knew that Zoe would still be ages getting ready, so she took her time as well. She blow-dried her long brunette hair so that it fell in glossy waves over her shoulders instead of being tied back as normal. She went for a smoky sultry-eyed look with bronze eye shadow that accentuated her green eyes and a sheer caramel lip-gloss that gave her the perfect pout. It was far too hot for her usual skinny jeans, so she went for a short flared white skirt and emerald green silk vest. Knowing that Zoe would have
a
go at her if she wore flip-flops, she put on a pair of tan sandals that made her long legs look even longer. A spritz of her favourite perfume, Chanel’s Coco, and she was good to go.

Miraculously, when she knocked on Zoe’s door her friend was actually ready, looking gorgeous in a white maxi-dress with brightly beaded straps.

‘I’ve booked us a table at L’Acajou,’ Zoe told her. ‘But let’s have cocktails first at the Monkey Bar. It’s so chic – all old-school colonial. I always feel like such a lady there.’

Damn, that might be awkward if handsome arrogant man saw them. ‘Does it have to be that restaurant?’

‘It’s fab. You’ll love it, I promise.’ Zoe noticed the frown on Charlie’s face. ‘What’s the problem?’

‘It’s just that someone asked me out for dinner there tonight.’ Charlie hadn’t so far mentioned the incident with Señor Castillo. It was a matter of pride to her that she hadn’t accepted his offer of a drink. That she could resist his charms perfectly well, even though she had thought of him more than once while she sunbathed on the beach. Now she quickly related her chance encounter with him.

‘You should have said yes!’ Zoe exclaimed. ‘That would be such a result, copping off with someone in the first hour of arriving on holiday! Was he fit?’

Charlie thought of those dark brown eyes, so dark they were almost black, the powerful, muscular body …

She shrugged. ‘He was okay, if you like that sort of thing. But the point is, I’m not here to have dinner or anything else with some random bloke, least of all a
random
arrogant bloke.’ She linked arms with Zoe. ‘I’m here with you. Now come on, it must be cocktail hour.’

The Monkey Bar was every bit as chic as Zoe had said, and the hotel had certainly gone all out for the monkey theme – there were monkey artefacts and sculptures everywhere and even a monkey-themed mural. Charlie nearly got the giggles when Zoe whispered that one of the elderly male guests had a scrunched-up face exactly like the monkey lamp base on their table.

‘I don’t think they do Sex On The Beach or Screaming Orgasm or Slippery Nipple,’ Charlie commented, flicking through the leather-bound cocktail menu.

Zoe rolled her eyes. ‘You can take the girl out of Manchester but you can’t take Manchester out of the girl.’

‘Don’t come all posh on me!’ Charlie shot back. ‘I know you’re dying for a Cock-sucking Cowboy.’

The waiter appeared at that point and both women quickly ordered Bellinis.

‘I wonder if your guy is going to be here,’ Zoe commented as they arrived at L’Acajou. The restaurant was open-air on the beachfront with stunning views of the ocean and star-lit sky. Out in the Caribbean, with no light pollution to obscure them, the stars were phenomenally bright. The maitre d’ led them to a table overlooking the sea, shimmering purple and silver in the moonlight. The gentle lulling sound of the waves could still be heard over the classical piano music.

Charlie shrugged. ‘He’s not my guy, and I’m not bothered.’

‘God, I am! I really want to see what he looks like! As I said before, it’s about time you saw some action.’

Charlie ignored the comment and considered the menu. ‘I am never going to be able to eat at Nando’s again,’ she joked. Everything looked absolutely delicious. ‘I’m going to have scallops, then yellow-tail snapper.’

‘I’m going to have the salmon, then the lobster tortellini, and I know I won’t be able to resist the dark chocolate soufflé. It’s so yum!’ Zoe groaned. ‘I’ll have to hit the gym big time tomorrow. I don’t think Nathan will appreciate me coming back a porker.’

‘I’ll come with you, I’ve got to stay in shape.’

That earned an eye roll from Zoe. ‘You’re in amazing shape. You can afford to ease off for a week.’

Charlie shook her head. ‘Don’t be mad! There are lots of thinner, younger girls out there, gagging for my job.’ Which was precisely why she ran four miles every day on the treadmill, and worked out with a personal trainer once a week.

The waiter approached carrying a silver ice bucket complete with a bottle of Cristal.

‘Oh, there must be a mistake, we didn’t order this,’ Zoe commented.

‘It is with the compliments of Señor Castillo. He is sitting over there.’ The waiter gestured to a table across the room. Charlie swivelled round and saw Felipe sitting with another man. He caught her eye and raised his glass. Bollocks, she couldn’t get away from him!

‘Is that him?’ Zoe exclaimed, craning her neck to
have
a good look. ‘He’s totally lush. What were you thinking of, saying no to dinner? He looks like that model, David Gandy.’

‘He’s not all that,’ Charlie lied. ‘I’d better go over and say thank you. In fact, I’ll return the champagne while I’m at it.’ She reached for the bottle, but Zoe stopped her.

‘Don’t be so ungrateful! Just smile sweetly and thank him. And fix up a date. In fact, why don’t you ask them both to join us for dinner? Go on, it’ll be fun.’