Chapter Seventeen
Seventeen
I woke up with a smile on my face, and my first thought was of Leo.
That kiss had been something else, and it had taken every ounce of willpower I’d had not to drag him back to my room.
His lips had drawn me in somehow and I’d been helpless to resist as he’d kissed me, his arms wrapped tight around my waist, holding me close.
Or had I kissed him? I shivered in pleasure at the memory then ran into the shower to remember it some more.
We’d talked our way through cocktails, dinner, coffee and port and it was only when the clock chimed one that we’d realised the time.
I didn’t want to go back to Esmeralda. I wanted to stay here with my pretend husband and enjoy our pretend anniversary break.
I’d forgotten how funny and interesting Leo could be.
And cute of course. So, so cute. I’d done my best to ignore all that when we worked together, to try and stay professional, but it was proving impossible on this trip.
I squirted the tiny toiletries onto the pouffe, lathering them up one by one, and luxuriated in the space one last time.
I scrubbed my body, washed my hair, shaved my legs again and slathered myself in mini moisturisers.
It was back to the peacock dress today; yesterday’s outfit was still full of shale and festering in a carrier bag.
The cotton layers filled with air as I skipped down to breakfast and I felt light as a ballerina.
These dresses were gorgeous – I shouldn’t have resisted buying one in every colour; a rainbow of puffball dresses was exactly what I needed to brighten my wardrobe up.
Although the carefree vibe wouldn’t have been quite the same back in London; fighting against the December wind as I sloshed my way into the office.
Leo wasn’t up yet – ha! – I’d finally beaten him at something.
I poured us both an apple juice and ordered two espressos, then filled a plate with pineapple slices, apricots and a selection of mini pastries.
He liked his fruit in the morning, and I wanted to do something nice for him to show my appreciation.
The poor man had booked me into a hotel, paid for my flight and taken me for dinner, and I’d accused him of being a nepo-baby snob.
I heard a whistle behind me and turned to find Leo looking spick and span in a dark green shirt and matching shorts. His quiff perfectly gelled to one side.
‘What time do you call this?’ I teased.
‘Mid-morning? I’ve already been up an hour.’ He eyed up my breakfast display. ‘Expecting someone?’
‘Just you.’ I gestured to the empty chair opposite. ‘And me. Obviously.’
‘Oh. Right. Thought you might be having a double breakfast for the hangover.’
‘Now there’s an idea. Perfect conditions for it – an all-you-can-eat buffet and plenty of time to kill.’
‘Not masses,’ he said, checking his watch. ‘I’m an anxious traveller so I like to get to the airport early. Missing the boat yesterday was my idea of hell, especially running for it in front of all those people. Chris has booked us a cab for ten.’
‘Cool, no worries. I’m ready to go when you are,’ I said, even though I had the opposite philosophy when it came to travel and liked to leave everything to the very last second. Life was too short to wait around in airports.
We sat and ate our breakfast like an old married couple, passing each other the milk and sharing the jams and honey.
It was the first time I’d had a holiday husband, and it was kind of nice.
I only ever went away with the girls, but one by one they’d paired off: first my sisters, then Abi with Tony and Sara with Henrik.
I was running out of single girls to go away with.
There was nothing worse than seeing couples on holiday sitting in silence.
Staring past each other into space or gorging on their phones, desperate for attention from anyone but their ‘significant’ other.
I liked to gossip with the girls and fill in the blanks from the night before.
It was all I’d ever really known. But being with a man abroad was quite an interesting experiment, and there was something strangely comforting about Leo topping up my juice and ordering us more coffee.
He was looking after me in a different kind of way to my girlies; he was taking charge of our breakfast experience, and I liked it.
‘You’ll be pleased to hear I’m already packed,’ I said. ‘One handbag and two carrier bags.’
‘Very chic. Minimalist.’
‘Cruising through life.’
‘Nice pitch. Cruising for a bruising is our latest line.’ We both laughed. ‘It’s a shame we can’t all work on it together,’ Leo said, with a smile. ‘That would throw them. If we did a joint presentation and suggested they double the fee.’
‘Heidi isn’t very good at sharing. Stranger danger and all that.’
‘You and I are hardly strangers,’ he said with a wink. I felt my cheeks burn and didn’t know where to look as his phone started ringing. ‘Cab’s here,’ he said, turning the alarm off. ‘Time to shoot.’
I wanted to soak up every last second of our fake minibreak, but Leo had already stood up and was eager to leave.
He had such a commanding presence that I didn’t bother trying to wangle another five minutes, downing my coffee and wrapping a blueberry muffin in a napkin for later.
We left the beautiful, marbled reception of the Harbour Club, where Leo had already settled the bill, and a spotless Mercedes had us outside Lajes Airport in less than ten minutes.
‘Is it even open?’ I peered out the window at the tiny building. ‘I hope the planes are normal-sized and not those toy ones.’
Leo leapt out and held the door, as I went to pay the driver.
‘It’s already sorted,’ he said, offering me his hand. ‘All part of the Amplify service.’
‘Oh, right. Thanks.’ Not again! He was exasperating!
Every time I thought to do something, he’d already done it.
Maybe he would run the Excalibur account more efficiently than we did – he was giving me a masterclass in client service, that was for sure.
Unless this was how real men treated women?
It certainly hadn’t been my experience up to now; I barely got offered a drink these days – but then, maybe my lack of enthusiasm was showing.
Too many bad dates to mention. Audition after audition until they all blended into one.
We had nearly two hours to kill and only a coffee hatch and a duty-free kiosk for entertainment. I wasn’t really in need of a litre of vodka or a sack of M&Ms, so I settled into one of the plastic seats and sent Heidi a quick text.
Me: We’re on our way – should be with you around 4 p.m.
Heidi: Hurry up. Doing both our jobs is exhausting.
As if. She was probably writing that from the spa while having her toenails painted.
‘How are you at cards?’ Leo asked, pulling a fresh pack out of his pocket and ripping off the cellophane.
‘What are we talking? Texas hold ’em? Blackjack?’
‘Er… Old Maid? Snap?’ He turned the cards to show me the pictures and I laughed.
‘You’ve found my level… I’m excellent at both.’
‘It was all they had,’ he said, deftly dealing them into two piles. ‘But for the record, I’m a card shark in the casino.’
‘Oh really? Casinos make me feel sick.’ I tidied my cards into a neat pile.
‘Why’s that?’
‘I just hate everything about them. The lights, the noise, everyone either off-their-face drunk or sober and desperate, slinging around money they can’t afford to lose.
The one and only time I’ve been, I stood at the roulette table for an hour and watched the croupier sweep up piles and piles of losing chips, while the punters mindlessly doubled down to try and win their money back.
Money’s too hard earnt to throw it away like that. ’
‘What about the people who win?’ Leo asked.
‘Does anyone really win? Don’t they just gather up their chips and bet them all away again. Like kids on the two-pence machines, pushing coins into the slots, until they’ve all gone.’
‘Keeps them quiet though, no?’
‘Keeps them numb, handing all the money back to the only real winner – the big casino owner in the sky.’
‘Interesting metaphor for the Almighty.’
‘No, not God. The mafia or the mob.’
‘Ready?’ Leo fixed me with a competitive stare. I wasn’t sure if I’d distracted him enough with my blathering to get the upper hand, but I gave him a solid nod and we started putting cards down one after the other, gathering pace. Monkey, lion, panda, snake, dog, dog…
‘Snap!’ we both shouted, Leo’s hand on top of mine, as the lady sitting opposite jumped.
‘Too slow,’ I said, sliding the cards towards me.
‘I let you have that one,’ he said, with a devilish grin.
We played again and he ‘let me’ win again, and again, and again.
‘Winner, Kat Brennan!’ He chuckled as I snatched up the last few cards with glee. He was far too slow. ‘Very impressive play. I can see you have a passion for the game. I’m more of a slow and steady wins the race type.’
‘No room for that attitude in Snap,’ I said, solemnly. ‘Another game?’
‘Go on then,’ he said, with a cheeky smile. ‘You’re still as much fun as you always were, you know.’
‘Am I?’
‘I was dreading the pair of us being stranded on our own for the night and now I wish we could stay for a week.’
As if I was going to fall for such an obvious distraction technique as the cards started flipping. Lion, penguin, tiger, flamingo…
‘And about that goodnight kiss,’ Leo continued, as I watched the cards. ‘I’m not sure who kissed who in the end, but we should probably keep it under wraps as far as telling the others.’
Cat, giraffe, giraffe…
‘Snap!’ I shouted, far too enthusiastically.
‘Is that OK?’ Leo asked, keeping his hand on mine until I met his gaze.
‘I’m nothing if not professional,’ I said, moving my hand and the cards out from under his. ‘What goes on tour, stays on tour, right?’
‘I didn’t mean it like that. It’s not some dirty little secret, we can still…’
Bing bong. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, we will shortly start boarding flight 4765 to Funchal. If you are travelling business class with us today, please make your way to the front of the queue.’
Leo jumped up and grabbed our bags. ‘That’s us.’
‘We’re flying business?’
‘Absolutely,’ he said, with a frown. ‘This is a business trip, isn’t it?’
That told me, then. In case I got any funny ideas.
The Amplify expenses bill was going to be HUGE whether Brooke paid it all or not.
I’d barely ordered a milkshake outside of the official allowance, but Leo clearly couldn’t care less about indulging in excessive incidentals.
His confidence was a lesson in taking up space.
We boarded the plane and settled into our enormous seats with a glass of champagne each.
‘Pleasure doing business with you,’ I said, then pressed the button to raise the privacy glass between us. Leo knocked and I sniggered into my drink, then lowered it slightly. ‘Yes?’
‘Hi. I was wondering if…’
‘Not today, thanks,’ I said, zipping it back up.
He knocked again and I slid it all the way down, revealing his cheeky grin an inch at a time.
‘It’s been fun,’ he said, staring into my eyes and making me giggle with nervous energy. ‘Here’s to the rest of our business trip, eh?’
I put my feet up and clinked his outstretched glass. This was the life. ‘You said it, mister. Back to the bunk-bed battleground we go.’