Chapter 11
11
JULY 2013, TEN YEARS AGO
Belle locked eyes with Diego, the sexily confident guy who’d spoken to them earlier that day when he’d sold them tickets to Ministry of Sound at Eden. It was quite the existence trawling the beaches and bars drumming up business for the club, when chatting up girls and socialising seemed to be a huge part of the job. Lots of the people doing PR for the clubs were Brits, all young, but this guy had caught her eye for his Spanish good looks and ridiculously sexy accent. He was smooth as hell and she’d needed little persuading when he’d handed her a flyer, his fingers brushing hers. He’d flirted outrageously with all three of them, but when Laurie had put her arm across Gem’s shoulders and told him ‘us two are taken’, he’d focused his attention on Belle, giving her all the feels .
Belle lost sight of him across the crowded beachfront bar and her attention was stolen away by Gem and Laurie. They were living the dream, the freedom as intoxicating as the plentiful alcohol.
An arm slid around her waist. She rolled her eyes at her friends, knowing that yet another bloke would try to chat her up the second she turned round, but Laurie’s wide eyes and massive grin made her look instead of wriggle away.
Deep brown eyes and chiselled cheekbones danced in front of her eyes. So he had come over. Or perhaps he’d made his way across the bar trying it on with every girl before deciding to try his luck with her…
He leaned close, his breath hot against her ear as he shouted to be heard over the thumping music. ‘I’m Diego.’
‘I know, you told me earlier.’
‘I wasn’t sure you’d remember.’ His arm remained on her waist, his fingers brushing the patch of bare skin between her skirt and crop top.
‘Because you don’t remember mine?’ she challenged.
‘I meet many people every day.’ He tugged her tight to his chest. ‘It is much harder for me to remember your name…’ His grin widened. ‘ Belle .’
Her heart dipped with an unexpected thrill. Perhaps she had made an impact and wasn’t a last resort after all.
‘You’ve finished working?’ Belle tried to sound nonchalant despite a dizzying excitement ricocheting through her body.
‘For tonight, sí .’
Belle caught Gem’s raised eyebrow as Diego led her away from where she’d been dancing with her friends and ordered them a drink at the bar. She liked the assured confidence he exuded. The bartender finished making their drinks and Diego handed Belle a pornstar martini. She’d been on those all evening.
She looked at him in surprise. ‘Now that is smooth.’
‘I’ve been watching you.’ He shrugged. ‘I take notice.’
It could have sounded creepy, yet it was anything but. Actually, it was hot as hell. He’d noticed her . Belle tempered the heat rushing through her with a sip of the sweet yet tangy cocktail.
Diego found them seats at a free table at the edge of the bar where it was a little quieter. The view went past the palm trees to the bay, but she could still see Laurie and Gem dancing. They were fine and together, their drunken smiles suggesting they were having the best time, exactly as she was. She turned her full focus to Diego and the conversation flowed about his job and the places he suggested they should go on Ibiza. Belle talked about university and studying Business Management and Marketing, about how she, Gem and Laurie had been friends since they were little, and about the marketing job at an events company in London she’d be starting in September.
Diego swigged from his bottle of San Miguel. ‘You have big dreams.’
‘It’s good to have something to work towards.’ He was as easy on the eye as he was to talk to, not to mention focused and interested in her. Or at least he portrayed himself that way; perhaps this was all a ruse and he was biding his time before he went in for the kill – the bit of the night she was actually longing for. She turned her thoughts from Diego seducing her to the conversation. ‘The truth is I feel utterly trapped in a small town where nothing happens and I know if I stay there my life will be boring and miserable. I went to university in Sheffield because I wanted to escape. Getting a job in London is the natural next step up. It’s everything I want; the excitement and opportunities of a big city coupled with a dream career in events.’
‘I went to London once with my family. We had a summer holiday in England when it rained every day. Our one and only holiday away from the Mediterranean.’ The dimples in his stubbled cheeks deepened as he grinned. ‘I was eleven or twelve, a difficult age to know the history of museums and old buildings, if you understand what I mean?’
‘You mean you didn’t appreciate those things.’
‘Not one bit.’ He laughed. ‘I wanted beaches and to swim in the sea.’
‘I imagine living on Ibiza is like a permanent holiday, apart from having to work.’
‘Ah, but work is fun.’ He winked.
‘You like living here then?’
Diego shrugged. ‘It is what I know.’ He drifted a hand towards the bar filled with happy sun-kissed people, hands in the air as they danced, Gem and Laurie among them. ‘And it is a good life.’
‘I bet it is.’ Belle sighed.
‘My family have a restaurant in a village inland. Traditional with a very good reputation. Home cooked food made with love. Maybe one day I work there but I like this life. I like having fun while I’m young. I work hard but it is very different to being a waiter.’
‘You mean you can flirt outrageously with every woman you meet.’
‘I can do that working in a restaurant as well.’ He flashed a sly grin. ‘But I don’t have my papa watching over me here.’
Belle matched his grin, her thoughts drifting to the kind of fun he was insinuating. ‘You don’t live with your parents then?’
‘No, not in the summer season. I share with a few others. It’s easier to be close to the bars and beaches to work these hours.’
‘How do your parents manage running their restaurant without you?’
Diego tapped his chest, making Belle’s eyes drop to his open shirt and the glimpse of his smooth, tanned pecs. ‘I’m the youngest of six. They have much help.’
‘Wow, that’s a big family.’
‘And always getting bigger,’ he said. ‘Two brothers are already married with children and my sister is getting married later this week.’
‘She is? So a big celebration for your family.’
‘She’s my only sister so it is special.’
Belle whistled. ‘Five boys and one girl. Your parents had their hands full.’
‘Your family is not big?’
Belle shook her head. ‘Nope, I’m an only child.’
‘So you get all the attention.’
‘Trust me, it can be suffocating – at least it is as an adult. They were too busy to pay much attention to me when I was growing up.’
‘I had to fight for attention.’
‘But I bet you had a lot more freedom than I did.’
‘Maybe, but we grow up in different countries; it is probably different for different reasons.’
Belle snorted. ‘How many times do you want to say different?’
‘I like the word.’ He laughed. ‘I learn lots of English talking to women like you…’
Flirting with women like me , Belle thought. No doubt seducing them too…
‘I like being the youngest. The baby of the family looked after and spoiled by my older brothers and sister.’
‘Sounds like it has its perks.’
‘Until my nieces and nephews came along, sí .’ He slid his arm along the back of her chair, the brush of his fingers against her bare skin turning her stomach over in the nicest way possible. ‘I’m no longer the youngest or, how you say in English… cute?’
‘The cutest.’ Belle’s focus drifted across his face to the dimples half-hidden by dark stubble and his heartbeat pulsing in the hollow of his neck. She met his eyes. ‘You’re pretty damn cute to me.’
‘You think so?’ Diego said smoothly as he shifted closer. ‘Because you are very beautiful.’
Their lips were tantalisingly close, the heat of his body just inches from hers. Then he closed the distance and kissed her. Everything else melted away until she was only vaguely aware of the people sitting at the tables next to them, of Laurie and Gem still dancing. Her whole being was consumed by Diego: the taste, the feel, the sensation of him, and the desire as their tongues clashed and their hands explored as far as they could in public.
God is he hot , Belle thought. And when he eventually said, ‘Want to come back with me?’ she didn’t hesitate to reply, ‘Yes.’
Belle briefly returned to her friends to let them know she was leaving and where she was going. Laurie hugged her tight and firmly said, ‘Make sure you use protection.’ She was always the sensible one, which made Belle smile. Gem made a crude gesture with her fingers and waved her away with a booming, ‘Go get fucking laid!’
The easy conversation that had flowed at the bar ground to a halt during the short taxi ride to Diego’s. It felt exciting and a little bit reckless to be going home with him even if her friends knew. With their hands entwined, heat pulsed through Belle. She was unable to even look at him without wanting to rip his clothes off.
They’d chosen Ibiza for its nightlife and hedonism, a place where they could forget about reality and soak up the sunshine, the beach vibes, the club nights, while making the most of being young and, in Belle’s case, single. Real life would start soon enough with work, bills and worries, but there would be excitement and new opportunities too, even if there was no longer the safety net of living at home or with her university friends, plus she’d be a long way from Laurie and Gem. Next month everything would change, but right now there was nothing she needed to think about besides being with Diego and having a good time.
The taxi driver dropped them off outside a non-descript white building somewhere towards the outskirts of San Antonio. Chatter drifted into the night along with the beat of dance music. With his hand in hers, Diego led her inside and along a brightly lit corridor that made her squint. He unlocked a door that led into another hallway with rooms off it. Belle had completely lost her bearings by the time Diego pushed open a door to a small stuffy bedroom.
Her skin prickled with heat. Diego switched on the air-conditioning unit above the bed.
‘We will die otherwise,’ he said, dropping the control on the bedside table and moving towards her.
Diego wasted little time; conversation and flirting was officially over. She hadn’t been wearing much to begin with, but it was a relief to get rid of her clothes and a thrill to see Diego without his. Sex with him was hot and urgent, yet he was as attentive and focused as he’d been when they’d talked, leaving Belle breathless for all the right reasons.
Belle stirred in the darkness and oppressive heat. At some point the air-con must have switched off. Sweat slicked her skin and the air was heavy with perfume, sweat and sex. A brief stab of guilt that she wasn’t waking up in the hotel room with Gem and Laurie was quickly replaced by joy when she turned her head and took in Diego asleep next to her. The sight of his broad shoulders and muscled back made her want to smooth her hands over his skin.
The room was private but compact, just a place to sleep or bring a girl back to… The box of condoms was still lying on the bedside table. A pack of twelve that had already been opened when Diego had reached for them last night. Belle tried to push away the thought about how many other women he’d brought back here. He was twenty-four and an incredibly good-looking promoter on Ibiza; sleeping with a different woman every week probably came with the territory.
Diego yawned, shuffled and rolled over. As he stretched, his stomach muscles tightened and the sheet slipped further down his body.
‘ Buen dia ,’ he said groggily, his eyes only half open.
‘Morning,’ Belle whispered, half afraid to disturb the magic of the night before. She didn’t want a hangover and the reality of the morning after to erase their ease with each other or the intimacy that had felt so natural.
Diego reached for the air-con control and switched it on. ‘See, I say we die with heat.’
Belle’s whole body felt on fire, but that might have had more to do with feasting on the sight of a naked Diego than the sweat-inducing stuffiness of the room.
He stretched again and tucked his hands behind his head. ‘What are you doing today?’ he asked.
Keeping the sheet covering herself, Belle shifted on her side to look at him. ‘You don’t remember selling us tickets for a beach cruise to Cala Bass something?’
‘Cala Bassa.’ He grinned. ‘I’m good at my job.’
‘You made commission out of the three of us then slept with me,’ Belle said with laughter in her voice. ‘I’d call you a bloody genius.’
Diego shrugged. ‘As I said, I’m good at what I do.’
‘That’s not the only thing you’re good at.’
Diego’s eyes widened in surprise. ‘I can show you again how good I am…’
‘Ooh, I’m not sure there’s time before the boat trip,’ she teased.
‘I can be quick.’ He scooted his hand beneath the sheet and teased his fingers up the inside of her thigh. ‘Unless of course you need to get back to your friends right now?’ His teasing fingers stopped. His lips were ridiculously close, his body hovering ready to slide onto hers.
‘Well maybe that’ll depend if I get to see you again tonight?’ She hoped she was asking in a way that didn’t sound utterly desperate because, God, did she want to see him again. It would be torture to only have one night with him. Plus one morning, depending on how the next few minutes played out.
‘I work first, but later yes, I’ll be somewhere along The Strip.’ His fingers continued up the inside of her thigh. ‘I’ll give you my number.’
Belle’s heart flipped and skipped as she pulled him down on top of her. ‘Then yes, I have time now.’