Chapter 7
7
JASMINE
Thank goodness for business class , I said to myself as I slid off my sleep mask, then selected another film to watch.
The door on the fancy suite, plus the seat that reclined into a bed, provided me with the perfect way to avoid engaging with Alejandro more than was necessary.
And judging by the way I’d shamefully flirted when he made a joke about it being his ‘first time’, the less I interacted with him, the better.
I couldn’t believe I’d said out loud that I’d be gentle with him. At first, I was impressed that I’d even remembered how to flirt with a guy; after all, I’d been single for three years and I hadn’t been on the dating scene since I was in my early twenties. But then I realised I was flirting with a colleague and was mortified.
Thankfully, Alejandro was okay with it, but I was lucky. Imagine how creepy it’d be if a male boss said to a female employee that they’d go gentle with them. Ugh . I had to do better.
That was why the minute we’d finished eating, I’d put on my headphones and watched a film, then slid on the sleep mask and pretended to doze off.
If I’d dozed off for more than a couple of hours, I’d be surprised. My mind was too busy replaying every moment with Alejandro since we’d met up earlier. How good he looked when I first saw him today, our conversation whilst we queued, the look of awe when he walked into business class, the way his biceps bulged as he lifted my suitcase in the overhead locker. And the way he seemed genuinely interested when I told him a bit about my past.
I could be wrong, but I got the impression that he thought I’d grown up in the lap of luxury.
Yes, I’d flown business class before, but this was actually only my second time.
You’d think that, considering we worked in luxury travel, I would’ve experienced it a lot more than that, but whenever there was an opportunity for that kind of travel, Kane always took it.
We’d met when I was working at a local travel agents in London. He was one of my customers. When he first asked me out, I was in awe. He was nine years older than me and seemed so sophisticated.
He wore a fancy suit and his shoes were so shiny, you could do your make-up in them. For our first date, he took me to a posh restaurant in central London. At the beginning, he wined and dined me and treated me like a princess.
When I told him how well the travel agency I worked at was doing, he became very interested. He explained that he was a successful businessman with his fingers in many pies and said that he was interested in breaking into the travel industry. He asked, if he set up a luxury travel agency, whether I’d like to come and work there and help him out.
Naively, I thought it was the opportunity of a lifetime, so I agreed. I thought that he’d be there, working with me, side by side, that we’d do it together. But instead, he left me to do all the work.
I worked my arse off whilst he swanned in and out, going to business meetings. It was only when it started to really take off a few years later that he became interested. Especially when there was an opportunity for free travel.
When it eventually became a successful business and I started to hire staff, I thought that after a decade of slaving away, I’d finally be able to take my foot off the pedal a bit and start to enjoy the fruits of my labour, but then he betrayed me and I lost everything.
I felt a tap on my shoulder and took off my headphones. It was Alejandro. I was sure he hadn’t even gone to sleep and yet he still looked gorgeous.
‘Hi,’ I said, trying not to stare at him for too long.
‘Just checking you are good?’
‘Yeah, fine, thanks. You?’
‘I am good. What are you watching?’
‘A romcom.’
‘Which one?’
‘ Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy .’
The fact that I knew this film was about Bridget dating a younger man in no way influenced my decision to watch it. Honest .
‘I like those films.’ He smiled and my stomach flipped.
‘You’ve watched them?’ I frowned.
‘ Sí . Why are you surprised? You are not one of these people who believes that a man cannot enjoy a romantic comedy, are you?’
Busted .
‘Truthfully? Maybe I am. My ex, he…’ I paused. It probably wasn’t a good idea to talk about my ex with a colleague.
‘Your ex did not like romcoms?’ He folded his arms, his face crumpled.
‘Not really,’ I said, thinking I couldn’t avoid answering the question.
‘Now I understand why he is your ex.’ He smiled. ‘How can anyone dislike a romantic movie?’
‘He said they were too predictable.’
‘ Madre mía !’ He rolled his eyes. I liked when he said that. Sounded much sexier than just saying oh my God , even though I think the literal translation was my mother . ‘Why? Because we know that the couple will be together at the end?’
‘I think so.’
‘But then all films are predictable! Does the superhero not always save the world? Does the good guy not always beat the bad guy in an action film? Knowing that two people will fall in love is not predictable . It is something wonderful to look forward to. How they fall in love, their journey, their love story: that is the fun part.’
I stared at Alejandro, stunned into silence. I couldn’t have said it better myself.
‘Wow. You’re full of surprises.’
‘You have no idea. I think there is a lot about me that would surprise you.’ His eyes darkened.
I bit my lip as my mind thought about just how much I’d like to find out.
Then again, maybe the less I knew, the better.
So far, I’d discovered that Alejandro was sweet, very easy to talk to, ridiculously gorgeous, an amazing cook and to top off all of this, he loved romcoms.
He was dangerously close to sounding like my dream man.
This mythical creature I occasionally allowed myself to fantasise about would also be committed, loyal and a stallion in the sheets.
Judging by how committed Alejandro seemed to be to his work, there was a chance that extended to his personal relationships too. Same with his loyalty.
Which meant the only other box that would be left to tick from that list was how good he was in bed.
Something told me he’d be committed to giving a woman pleasure. That he’d take his time and want to make sure whoever he was with was satisfied.
It was just such a shame I’d never get to find out…