Bitter Memories
Margaret Mayo
Table of Contents
Cover Page (#uf1e3808c-a45f-53a6-b263-761ff6093fee)
Excerpt (#u9a56c873-66f3-58f2-ac50-9d503336e510)
About the Author (#u4be370e8-53df-5cc3-8dca-2a2c62e107e7)
Title Page (#u254d7538-79bb-54dd-ab5b-f50cd6622c1a)
Chapter One (#u18813ef3-9ed8-58e4-8233-f03f78b61de5)
Chapter Two (#ufe452e60-2838-5620-baa5-8d3433f27a03)
Chapter Three (#u1016adf8-9a00-5528-abe1-fb969db6ec2b)
Chapter Four (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
It was bliss. Sheer, sweet heaven.
The party went on around them but neither was aware of it, and when Alejandro’s mouth left hers to burn a trail down the arch of her throat, Tanya could not stop him. It was a mutual hungering of like souls; it was the sweetest torture imaginable, setting her body on fire, pulses pounding, desire coursing through each and every one of her veins.
Born in the industrial heart of England, MARGARET MAYO now lives with her husband in a pretty Staffordshire canal-side village. Once a secretary, she turned her hand to writing her books both at home and in exotic locations, combining her hobby of photography with her research.
Bitter Memories
Margaret Mayo
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
CHAPTER ONE (#ulink_6b60d5ee-84c1-5845-9908-04f5e7d50e4e)
TANYA could not believe her bad luck. The reason she had consistently put off visiting her sister in Tenerife was because she was afraid of bumping into Alejandro. And now, almost before she had set foot on foreign soil, he was here at the airport, instantly recognisable, instantly causing her heart to quicken its beats, instantly causing confusion in her mind.
He was as devastatingly handsome as she remembered, taller than most of his compatriots, his shiny black hair cut well above the collarline, his eyes—— those soul-searching brown eyes which had frequently reduced her to jelly——enviably large and thickly fringed, his lips full and sensual. She would have lied had she said she did not feel anything, but her pain over the way they had parted, and the subsequent news that had filtered through to her that he was married, was a much more dominant emotion.
‘Tanya! Tanya! Over here.’
Her sister’s excited voice reached Tanya above the noise and general confusion of exiting passengers. She was not the only one to hear it. Alejandro turned his head and looked in Charlene’s direction, and then from her to Tanya. It all happened in a split second; their eyes met and she saw the sudden narrowing in his before his attention was taken up by the beautiful woman who threw herself into his arms, a woman with jet-black hair piled on top of her head, perfectly applied make-up, elegantly dressed. Tanya’s bitterness deepened. She had wondered what his wife looked like. Now she knew. And she would have given any-thing to be able to turn right round and catch the same plane back to England.
By this time Charlene had pushed her way to Tanya’s side and was welcoming her sister enthusiastically. When Tanya next looked in Alejandro’s direction he had gone. Maybe she had even imagined him? Although she knew she hadn’t. It was all wishful thinking. She ought to have followed her instincts and never let Charlene persuade her to come here. The holiday was going to be a disaster. The next instant a card was being pushed into her hand and a well-remembered voice growled low in her ear, ‘I would like to talk with you. Give me a ring.’
He disappeared as quickly as he had approached. Charlene looked at her sister in amazement. ‘Was that who I thought it was?’
Tanya nodded. ‘The very same.’
‘I cannot believe it. In the two years I’ve been out here I’ve never seen him, not once.’
‘I know, you told me,’ muttered Tanya unhappily. ‘It was what finally persuaded me to come. Hell, I wish I hadn’t; he’s going to ruin my holiday.’
‘Rubbish, you won’t see him again.’ Charlene’s tone was positive, her arm protectively around her younger sister. ‘What did he want anyway?’
‘He said he wanted to talk to me.’
‘What a nerve.’ Charlene was incensed. ‘Is this his address?’ She plucked the card from Tanya’s hand and tore it into pieces, throwing them into the air where they fell like confetti.
Charlene was the elder of the two sisters, taller and heavier, and had always had more to say for herself. Not that Tanya was lacking in confidence; far from it. Having lost both their parents at a very tender age, they had been brought up separately by a succession of foster-parents, some not always happy experiences, and they had frequently needed to stand up for themselves.
Tanya’s shoulder-length hair was a soft honey-gold, in complete contrast to Charlene’s raven darkness. The only things they had in common were their eyes, sloe-shaped and a beautiful azure-blue.
‘Come along.’ Charlene picked up Tanya’s case. ‘My car’s in the car park. Let’s forget we ever saw that man; he’s bad news without a doubt.’
Tanya followed her sister through the line of people waiting for taxis and over the road to the busy car park. The warmth of the day after England’s freezing winter temperatures was blissful, and she shrugged off her jacket as she walked. Seeing Alejandro at the airport had put a damper on her spirits, but she was determined not to let it get her down. Charlene was probably right; they wouldn’t see him again.
‘Here we are.’ Her sister’s voice cut into her thoughts. She opened the boot of a smart white car and threw Tanya’s case inside. ‘Let’s go.’
Alejandro was forgotten as they left the airport and hit the motorway. Tanya gazed with interest at her surroundings; the bare, jagged mountains in the distance, their tops draped in mist; the brown, barren countryside with just the odd shrub or clump of prickly pear growing tenaciously in the dry earth; the occasional flush of buildings, some industrial, some purpose-built holiday developments close to the shore.
It was all new and exciting, and she did not want to miss a thing. Charlene had recently moved in with a family whose daughter worked in the same hotel as Charlene, and they had become good friends. The girl’s mother had agreed to Tanya’s spending her holiday with them as well. Tanya found it difficult to believe the woman’s generosity to a complete stranger.
They soon left the motorway and headed up into the hills, the road curving and climbing, bushes of white daisy-like flowers and clumps of spiny cactus adorning the roadside. They passed through a dusty village where old men sat outside bars and children kicked balls or rode BMXs, and passed several isolated houses on the outskirts; square, box-like dwellings built out of blocks. Some had been whitewashed, some were still bare concrete, looking, to Tanya’s English eyes, as though they were not finished. One or two had pantiled roofs and looked more attractive, but when Charlene turned off the road and pulled up beside one of the unpainted buildings Tanya looked at her with a frown. ‘Is this where you’re living?’
Charlene smiled and nodded. ‘It’s not like it looks, I assure you. It’s heavenly inside; most of them are. You can’t go by external appearances. I was once told that it was because the Canarians didn’t care what a house looked like on the outside, as we do—but I later learned that the real reason is that they don’t have to pay taxes on unfinished buildings. The government run campaigns sometimes to try to get people to paint their walls white, but they’re always a failure.’
Still looking doubtful, Tanya followed her sister. The single-storey building was an odd shape, as though it had had further rooms built on as and when the need arose. There was a wall, built yet again out of grey blocks, denoting the boundary of the property, but there was no garden as such, just a few straggly plants growing and a dog foraging. Coming from her smart semi-detached house on the outskirts of Sheffield, with its tidy green and abundant garden, Tanya found it difficult to feel happy about spending a month here.
All the windows were shuttered—wooden, varnished shutters—and the front door was wooden too. In fact it was an ornately carved, expensive-looking door which looked oddly out of place with its surroundings. And once inside Tanya could see what Charlene meant. The cool, clean hallway boasted a tiled floor, a polished chair in the corner and a profusion of healthy plants which hung and sat and filled every corner. It was like an oasis m the desert.
In the shadowy living-room Charlene’s friend’s mother waited to greet her. The tiny woman was dressed all in black, her greying hair secured in a neat bun. She smiled warmly as Charlene made the introductions in fluent Spanish and held out her hand. Tanya smiled back. ‘It’s very kind of you to let me stay here.’ she said.
Through her sister she established that Señora Guerra was very pleased to welcome her into their-house and she was to treat it as her home and come and go as she pleased and not to worry about disturbing them.
Tanya was grateful her sister spoke the language—it had actually been a prerequisite of her job at the hotel. In fact Charlene spoke several languages. Tanya, on the other hand, spoke no more than schoolgirl French.
‘She’s a wonderful lady,’ Charlene told her. ‘Señor Guerra died a few years ago, but she has coped admirably. Maribel is her only child left at home. She has three sons, but they are all married now, though they frequently visit. She’s delighted about it. The house almost bursts at the seams when they all come.’
‘I hope I won’t be in the way,’ said Tanya worriedly.
‘Of course not. It was Señora Guerra’s idea that you stay here.’ She turned and said something to the older woman, who instantly smiled, speaking rapidly, gesturing eloquently, reassuring Tanya that she was not putting them out in the least.
The room they were in amazed Tanya. It was like going back a hundred years; it was like photographs she had seen of days gone by. The furniture looked like oak, big and solid, and the dresser packed with plates and cups and saucers. There was a settee and rocking-chairs with hand-embroidered cushions, pieces of pottery, photographs and pictures on the walls and more plants standing in big pots on the tiled floor or hanging from the ceiling. Every inch of space was used. It was cluttered but beautiful, and Tanya loved it.
She suddenly realised that her host was watching her, and she gave an apologetic smile. ‘I was admiring your house. It’s lovely.’
Charlene translated and the woman beamed, and then Tanya was taken to her room, which was next to Charlene’s. Again, heavy oak furniture was dominant. The walls were painted a simple white, only the patch-work bedcover providing a bright splash of colour.
The first thing she did was open the windows and push back the shutters, allowing the bright sunlight to flood the room. The jagged outline of the mountains was up above them, the earlier mist having completely disappeared, the sky a clear, intense blue. Tanya was anxious to explore—so long as she did not bump into Alejandro! The thought of him being somewhere out there still festered in the back of her mind.
Her sister helped her unpack, and by the time she had freshened up and changed into a cotton sundress Señora Guerra had lunch waiting. A white cloth had been spread on the table in the living-room, and as soon as Tanya sat down her meal was set in front of her—white fish, potatoes cooked in their skins, carrots and peas.
‘Bacalao,’ confirmed Charlene with a smile, ‘or codfish to you and me, and these——’ indicating the potatoes, ‘—are papas arrugadas, which, translated literally, means wrinkled potatoes. They’re cooked in very salty water and allowed to boil dry, leaving a salty coating on their skins. The Canarians always cook them this way. I love them.’
Tanya’s verdict later was one of approval too. It was a simple meal, yet filling and tasty, and when she was offered fresh fruit for dessert she had to refuse. They drank wine also, a sweet, local wine that was not really to Tanya’s taste, though she was too polite to say so. Señora Guerra was a marvellous hostess, even with the language barrier, her actions and expressions when she was trying to get something across making Tanya laugh wholeheartedly.
After lunch Charlene took her for a short drive; once back she met Señora Guerra’s daughter, ate another excellent meal—thinking she would be as fat as a pig when she went home if she went on like this—and now she lay in bed, her head sunk into a soft, sweet-smelling pillow. One way and another it had been quite a day, and she was desperately tired, yet thoughts of Alejandro kept her wide awake.
He had duped her all right. She had never dreamt that he was using her, that it was an affair he was after, a passionate fling before he went back to Tenerife to marry his childhood sweetheart. What a gullible fool she had been. He had even talked about bringing her here, had spoken of the pleasure he would get in showing her his beloved country—and she had believed him! What a silver-tongued swine he was. All the anger she had felt nine years ago came back with a vengeance, boiling, enraging, making her wish desperately and deeply that she had not let Charlene persuade her to come.
And why should he want to talk to her? What was there to say? Nothing! Not a thing. He had hurt her feelings immeasurably; she had given him all of her love, and for what? He was the last person she wanted to talk to now, and she hoped and prayed that she would never see him again.
Inevitably her thoughts went back to their first meeting. She had been eighteen at the time, and they had met at a friend’s wedding. He had been working as a waiter in the hotel restaurant in which the reception was held, and there had been an instant mutual attraction. They had not spoken, Alejandro refusing to put his job in jeopardy by chatting to one of the guests, but the suggestion had been there in his eyes that he would like to see her again.
How he had found out where she worked Tanya did not know, but two days later he had been waiting outside the office block when she finished at five. For a few seconds all she could do was stare in amazement.
‘Do forgive me,’ he said, in heavily accented English, ‘but I wanted to see you.’ His teeth were white and even, his smile cautious.
‘How did you know where to find me?’ Her heart began to hammer and her blue eyes were wide as she looked at him. He was dressed in jeans and a black leather jacket with a roll-collared blue sweater beneath. He was fantastically handsome and a whole head taller than herself, which made him over six feet. He was a few years older as well, and she found him tremendously exciting.
‘I have seen you many times as I live not far away from here, but I did not have the courage to speak,’ he told her honestly. ‘Then at the wedding I knew I had to make the effort. I hope you are not offended.’
Tanya shook her head, completely mesmerised by this fascinating stranger. She could not quite make up her mind from which part of the world he came—Spain or Italy, perhaps, judging by his colouring.
He held out his hand. ‘My name is Alejandro Vazquez Herrera, and I believe you are Tanya? A beautiful name for a beautiful girl.’
‘Tanya Elliott,’ she confirmed, putting her slim hand into his, liking the feel of his firm handshake. ‘How did you know?’
‘By keeping my ears open at the wedding reception,’ he confessed with an engaging smile. ‘May I take you for a drink?’
‘Perhaps a coffee?’ she murmured. She felt a sudden shyness which was alien to her, and put it down to the fact that he wasn’t English. He was really quite the most exciting person she had met in a long time.
She walked along at his side, aware of the curious glances of her colleagues. There would be plenty of questions tomorrow. ‘Are you living in England permanently?’ she ventured after they had walked a few yards in silence.
‘No,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘I am here to study English. I am taking classes and doing a job at the same time to help pay for both them and my accommodation.’
‘Your English sounds very good to me,’ she said, hiding her disappointment that he would one day return to his home country.
‘It has improved,’ he agreed, lifting his shoulders in a modest gesture. ‘I have been here twelve months now. I have enjoyed it very much.’
‘How much longer do you plan to stay?’ She waited with bated breath for his answer. It would be just her luck if he was planning to go home very shortly.
‘I am in no hurry,’ he told her.
Tanya’s face broke into an involuntary smile of relief. ‘Where do you come from?’
’The Canary Islands—Tenerife, to be exact. Have you ever been there?’
Tanya shook her head.
‘Then you must; they are beautiful. Politically we belong to Spain, but we prefer to think of ourselves as independent.’
Tanya showed her ignorance. ‘I’m not even sure where they are.’
He gave a slow, tolerant smile. ‘In the Atlantic Ocean, just off the coast of Africa. The climate is superb. Ask a Canarian what the islands are unique for, and he will say the weather. It is our blessing. It encourages tourism and prospers our economy.’
‘So what do you think of England?’
A grimace took the place of his smile. ‘What do I think? I am used to it now, but it was so cold when I first came. I wondered how you put up with it. Now I think England is beautiful—not so much as Tenerife, of course, but…’ He broke off and laughed. ‘I am joking. Your country is—how do you say it?—on a par. Each has its own—advantages. Is that right?’
Tanya nodded, laughing also. He was being very diplomatic.
‘Shall we take our coffee here?’ He halted outside a tearoom which had a good reputation and was not very busy at this time of day.
Afterwards Tanya had no idea what they talked about. She remembered him saying that his mother was no longer alive, that he had several brothers and sisters, all younger than himself, but apart from that she recalled nothing. She knew only that she had had a wonderful time and that Alejandro was no longer a stranger but a warm, humorous man who had kept her amused and happy and wormed his way just a little into her heart—even in that short space of time.
She could not sleep that night for thinking about him, and could not wait for their next date. He had only one evening free a week, he told her ruefully, but this week he had all day Sunday off and he would very much like to see her then.
Tanya lived in a small bed-sitter on the top floor of a converted Victorian house on the outskirts of Birmingham, found for her by the local council when she became of age and no longer qualified for foster care. Charlene had wanted her to move in to her much bigger and comfortable apartment, but Tanya craved her independence. She wanted to lead her own life.
In the weeks that followed Tanya saw as much of Alejandro as was possible, given that he worked unsociable hours and still took English lessons in his spare time. It was a passionate, intense affair, both feeling as though they had known each other forever, hating the hours they were forced to spend apart, never able to get enough of each other.
When her sister met him she was equally impressed. ‘Lucky you,’ she said, ‘but be careful. Don’t forget he’ll be going home one day.’
‘Yes, but he’ll take me with him,’ said Tanya confidently. ‘He’s already spoken about it.’
Charlene looked sceptical. ‘Isn’t that what they all say? I’ve lived longer than you, Tan; I know what men are like.’
But Tanya would listen to nothing detrimental about her beloved Alejandro, and for three months the affair raged. She grew more and more confident in her love for him, never actually declaring her feelings—and nor did he—but they both knew that it was there, and as far as Tanya was concerned she was happier than she had ever been in her life.
He showed his love in a dozen different ways; in his caring attitude, in the intense physical pleasure of their lovemaking, in the little gifts he bought her—nothing expensive—a single rose, chocolates, a glossy magazine, bath oils. None cost more than a pound or two, and yet they meant as much to Tanya as if he had bought her diamonds or gold.
Always he came to the flat for her; sometimes they went out, sometimes they stayed in, and once he had taken her back to his room at the hotel. Employees were actually not allowed to have members of the opposite sex in their rooms, but she had said so many times that she wanted to see where he lived, that in the end he had given in.
How many times since had she wished she had never gone there? It was as small and cramped as her own room, but far more untidy, and when she offered to make them a cup of coffee she could not help noticing the letter that had been left lying on the cupboard where the kettle stood.
Her eyes flicked over the boldly written page before she realised what she was doing, and once she had started she could not stop. It was from Alejandro’s father, and surprisingly written in English—probably as a concession to his son’s improving his knowledge of the language. Although his father’s mastery of English was not very good, Tanya managed to make out that he was asking Alejandro when he was coming home, because Juanita was growing impatient. It was time he came back and made arrangements for his wedding, which had been put off long enough.
His wedding! Tanya felt the colour drain out of her face, and without stopping to think she picked up the letter and thrust it under Alejandro’s nose. ‘What the hell is this all about?’
‘You should not have read that, Tanya,’ he said quietly.
‘But I have,’ she cried, ‘and I want to know about this girl, this Juanita. Why have you never told me about her? Why have you let me assume that it’s me you love? Hell, if I’d known all you were interested in was an affair I——’
‘That is not the case,’ he interjected sharply.
‘No?’ Her eyes widened, full of scepticism. ‘It looks very much like that to me. Do you deny that there’s another girl in your life?’
‘Yes, I do,’ he announced strongly.
‘So who is Juanita?’
‘A lifelong friend, a family friend; we virtually grew up together.’
‘A friend?’ Tanya’s tone filled with disbelief. ‘It doesn’t sound as though she’s just a friend to me.’
‘Maybe there was more in it once,’ he admitted, ‘but that was over a long time ago. I have already written and told her about you.’
Tanya shook her head, wanting to believe him, but unable to. If he had written Juanita would surely have told his father, especially if the families were close. ‘You’re lying,’ she whispered. ‘You’re trying to get out of it. Well, don’t bother; it’s over. I want nothing more to do with you. You’re nothing but a two-timing snake in the grass. Juanita is welcome to you.’ She picked up her jacket and headed for the door.
’Tanya, stop!’ Alejandro’s voice came after her. ‘Let me explain; do not walk out on me like this.’
‘What is there to explain?’ she tossed over her shoulder. ‘Everything is as clear as tap water. You’ve been using me; it’s as simple as that. You’ve wanted a girl to satisfy your basic male urges until you get back to your true love. I feel sorry for her, do you know that? I wonder if she knows what type of man it is she’s going to marry.’
‘Do you really think I would behave so badly?’ His dark eyes were cold, his whole body rigid.
‘Yes, I do,’ she yelled. ‘I not only think it, there’s proof in your father’s letter. Goodbye, Alejandro.’ She slammed the door and marched along the corridor, running down the steps and through the hotel grounds to the street. Not until she was long out of sight of the building did she slow down, but it was not until she reached the refuge of her bed-sitter that she let her tears fall.
Never had she felt so humiliated. She really had thought that she meant something to him. Her sister had been right. If only she had listened, if only she hadn’t let herself get so deeply emotionally involved.
For two days Tanya did not leave her flat. Her face was so swollen by crying that she was too embarrassed to go to work, and she didn’t even care whether she lost her job. Life was hell all of a sudden.
To begin with she had thought that Alejandro would contact her, that he would come round and explain everything, declare his love, say his father was mistaken, but she heard nothing, and the two days turned into a week, a week of intense misery. When she could stand it no longer she swallowed her pride and marched round to the hotel. It couldn’t just end like this; she wouldn’t let it. Maybe he had been right and she wrong. Maybe he had written to Juanita. Maybe she ought to give him the benefit of the doubt.
The news that he had gone back to Tenerife paralysed her, the shock of it almost greater than discovering that he had another girl. He had gone without a word, without trying to patch things up between them. It was over, all over, and when her sister announced that she had accepted a job as under-manager in a new, though relatively small hotel in Sheffield, Tanya readily accepted the invitation to go and live with her.
Several months went by, during which time Tanya gradually came back to life, settled down in a new job as a junior secretary with a computer software company, and resolutely pushed Alejandro out of her mind.
Until the day Charlene came home with the news that she had heard Alejandro was married. Tanya’s mouth fell open and she felt as though someone had kicked her legs from beneath her. She dropped on to the nearest chair. ‘To Juanita?’ she managed to whisper.
Charlene nodded. ‘I’m so sorry, Tan. But I thought it best you knew. Now you’ll be able to get on with your life, accept some of those dates that you keep refusing.’
‘But how—how did you find out?’ Tanya’s blue eyes were wide and troubled, her face pale.
‘I got talking to one of the guests who hailed from Tenerife. I happened to mention Alejandro, and strangely enough he knew him—or at least he knew of him.’
Tanya swallowed hard. ‘How long ago did he get married?’
Charlene shrugged. ‘I don’t know; he didn’t say.’
So that definitely was the end of it, thought Tanya, as she lay in bed that night. Not even to herself had she admitted that she always hoped he might come back, that he would trace her and declare his love for her. Now there was no chance, none at all. It was definitely the end.
She still found it difficult to believe that he had been so warm and loving towards her when all the time there had been another girl in the background. She really had thought he was genuinely in love with her; she had never dreamt that it was all a game to him.
After this further blow to her pride Tanya decided that she had stayed in long enough. She would go out on dates, enjoy male company, but she would never, ever, let herself become involved again. She would be like her sister, a dedicated career woman.
All went well until two years later when she met Peter. He was warm and wonderful and kind, and she fell in love. It was nothing like her love for Alejandro; this was a much gentler relationship, with none of the passion and hunger that had so inflamed her body, sent her soaring with the stars and flying with the eagles. But nevertheless she was content, and twelve months later they were married. Three years after that Peter died from a long and serious illness. Tanya was devastated. At the age of twenty-four she had suffered two terrible losses.
It took her time to pull herself together, but she managed it, and when she applied for promotion, and got the job of PA to the managing director of the software company, she put her heart and soul into her work, not minding that John Drake asked her to work long hours, that sometimes she dropped into bed so exhausted that she was sure she wouldn’t wake with the alarm the next morning. But always she did, and somehow she survived.
When Charlene announced that she’d been offered a job running a large hotel in Tenerife Tanya could not believe the irony of it. Mention of Alejandro’s native country brought painful memories back, and wild horses wouldn’t drag her out there with her sister, although Charlene had done her best to persuade her.
‘I have my own house now. I’m settled here; I like it,’ Tanya insisted.
‘And I suppose you’re trying to tell me it has nothing to do with Alejandro Vazquez,’ taunted Charlene.
‘No, I’m not; it has everything to do with him. There’s no way I want to meet that man again.’
‘You’re still hung up over him?’ Charlene frowned. ‘I thought all that had died when you married Peter. You haven’t mentioned him for years.’
‘He was my first love,’ announced Tanya quietly. ‘I’ll never forget him.’
CHAPTER TWO (#ulink_cd769c2c-c4d9-5306-82bd-fd2f7afa2c8f)
CHARLENE took a few days off work to show Tanya around, and there was far too much to see and enthuse over to worry herself about Alejandro, although she privately wished her sister hadn’t torn up his card. Even though she would never, ever get in touch with him she was curious to know where he lived.
Señora Guerra was a dressmaker, with the reputation of being the finest one on the island, and with the start of Tenerife’s annual carnaval only two weeks away she was busy finishing off the many costumes she had been asked to make. There was a constant stream of visitors to the house, all eagerly trying on and picking up their costumes. One room had been set aside for this purpose, and it was like an Aladdin’s cave, filled with richly coloured fabrics, beads, sequins, feathers, each costume taking hours and hours of painstaking work to complete.
Tanya liked dressmaking herself and took a keen interest in all that was going on, and very often Señora Guerra—or Matilde, as she asked to be called—invited Tanya to see the dresses actually being tried on.
When a dark red, open-topped Mercedes pulled up outside one afternoon Tanya thought nothing of it, until she recognised the driver and his companion. Alejandro and his wife! It could not be! And yet it was. She could hardly believe her bad luck. Already she had told Matilde that she would like to see this particular dress tried on. There was no escape.
Her heart began to race at double-quick time, but as she watched from her window she saw Alejandro drive away, leaving his wife to walk alone into the house. It was a bitter sort of relief.
It took her all of five minutes to go down to Matilde’s sewing-room, five minutes to calm her racing thoughts and still her trembling body. Although a confrontation with Alejandro had been avoided, meeting his wife would be as much of a trauma. How could she be civil to the woman who had married the man she, Tanya, loved?
Matilde smiled as she walked in and made introductions in her very rapid Spanish, as always speaking so quickly that one word ran into another and Tanya had no real idea what she had said the woman’s name was—not that she needed to be told!
As Tanya watched the dress being pinned and adjusted she covertly studied Juanita. It was no wonder Alejandro loved her; she was beautiful. All the girls in Tenerife were beautiful, she had noticed, but this woman had a serene sort of beauty that came from within, that came with the confidence of being loved and in love. She stood tall and proud, and the purple and silver dress enhanced her dark Latin features, and Tanya hated her.
‘You are English?’ she said to Tanya, looking at her through the mirror, her smile wide, her teeth even and very white, and when Tanya nodded, ‘My husband— he teach me a little English, but I do not use it often. I have never been to England. My husband—he say it is very cold there?’
Tanya smiled and nodded. ‘Sometimes. It’s our winter now, and it was snowing when I left.’
‘It is our winter too.’ Juanita laughed. ‘It is not so warm, do you think?’
’To me it’s very warm,’ Tanya returned. ‘You’re so lucky to live in a place with such a wonderful climate.’ And if it hadn’t been for this attractive woman she might have been living here herself! Her mouth tightened at the thought.
The woman frowned and turned from the mirror to look directly at Tanya. ‘Something is wrong?’
Tanya shook her head and forced a smile. ‘It was just a thought, nothing important. I’m sorry. Your dress is so beautiful. Do you take part in the carnaval every year?’
‘Yes—and sometimes my husband too, but this year he say he is too busy, too much work.’
Which accounted for the fact that he had dropped her off and not come in while the fitting took place. But he would be back, and Tanya was determined that she would not be here; she would shut herself away in her room until he had safely gone.
‘You will come and see the coso? The coso is—how do you say it? The grand parade? Everything stops; even my husband, he take that day off. You can join him, if you like.’
An attack of panic quickened Tanya’s heart, but somehow she managed to keep a smile pinned to her lips. ‘You’re very kind, but I expect I shall go with my sister.’
‘Ah, your sister, yes. Matilde, she mentioned her. She lives here, is that right? She works in a hotel?’
Tanya nodded.
‘She has been here in Tenerife a long time?’
’Two years, yes.’
‘And you have not visited before. Why is that?’
Because the man I loved married you! The words were there inside her, aching to get out, but they would never be spoken. Surprisingly Tanya found herself liking this woman, liking her as a person in her own right, hating her only because of her association with Alejandro. ‘I’ve been too busy,’ she managed, and it was in part the truth—even if it was of her own making.
‘And do you like Tenerife?’
‘Very much, what little I’ve seen of it so far.’
‘You must come and visit us. My husband and I, we will be very pleased.’
Tanya’s smile grew weaker. ‘You’re very kind, thank you, but I’m not sure that I’ll have the time. There is so much to see and do.’
To her relief Matilde spoke, successfully putting an end to the conversation, and Juanita went behind a screen to take off the dress. Tanya wanted to make her escape, but Matilde indicated that she was going to make some coffee and would like her to join them.
For the next fifteen minutes Tanya was on tenterhooks, and just as she thought she could successfully make her excuses she heard Alejandro’s car outside and his firm rap on the door.
Matilde went to open it and Juanita spoke, though Tanya had no idea what she said. All she could think of was that any second now she was going to come face to face with Alejandro. At least she was forewarned— he would have no idea that the girl he had once had a passionate affair with was sitting talking to his wife. It would be interesting to see his reaction.
To give him his due, there was little more than a sudden jerking muscle in his jaw to give away his surprise, and probably neither of the others even noticed.
His shoulders were broader than Tanya remembered, his black hair slightly longer, and, although he wore an open-necked shirt and plain grey trousers, they looked designer-made, his leather shoes too. In fact everything about him screamed money. He had told her that his father was a farmer, owning huge areas of land where he grew bananas and tomatoes, and that it was his ambition to follow in his footsteps. Was this from where his wealth came?
Matilde began to make introductions, but Alejandro stopped her and presumably announced that they were already acquainted. Certainly there was surprise in the woman’s eyes as she looked briefly at Tanya and back to Alejandro.
But his attention was now on Tanya, and her heart began to panic as she looked at him—as she discovered that the attraction was still there! She had never expected to feel this kind of emotion; she had been filled with hate and disillusionment for so long that she had thought all other feelings dead. It was a shock to discover that he still had some sort of power over her.
‘So we meet again, Tanya.’ There was no warmth in his voice, no hint of pleasure. He was aloof, distancing himself from her, which was odd, considering that at the airport he had insisted that he wanted to talk to her.
She looked into the coldness of his eyes, matching the chill with her own. ‘Unfortunately, yes, and if you’ll excuse me I was just about to return to my room.’
A frown appeared. ‘You’re staying here—with Matilde?’
‘That’s right,’ she answered sharply, ‘And so is Charlene.’
‘For how long?’ It was almost an accusation.
‘I’m here for a month—it’s my holiday. Charlene lives here permanently.’
A slight pause. ‘I didn’t know. Matilde’s never mentioned it.’
‘There’s no reason why she should.’ Tanya lifted her hand to remove a stray strand of hair from her face, and as she did so Alejandro’s eyes went to the wedding-ring that she still wore. There was a sudden narrowing, a start of surprise, though why he should be astonished she did not know. Nine years was a long time to remain single, to hold a torch for the man she had once loved. ‘Goodbye, Alejandro,’ she said quietly, coolly, and with a nod to his wife and to Matilde she left the room.
To her amazement he followed. ‘I think after all there is much to be said, Tanya.’
She lifted her brows. ‘Really?’
His snort of anger shocked her. ‘I know you no longer have any feelings for me, but—’
‘But nothing,’ she cut in swiftly. ‘It’s the whole point, isn’t it? Neither of us have any feelings; it was all over a long time ago, so what is there to say? I’m not the sort of person who harbours feelings about the past, at least not when we parted on such bad terms. I’d rather leave things as they are.’
‘I’d like to know what you’ve been doing.’
‘Really?’ Her fine, well-shaped brows rose.
‘You’re married!’ It was a statement rather than a question, almost an accusation.
Tanya was tempted to let him go on thinking it, but an innate sense of honesty made her say quietly, ‘I was.’
A quick frown. ‘You’re divorced?’
‘I’m a widow.’ she replied flatly.
‘Oh—I’m sorry.’ His face shadowed. ‘You have my condolences.’
Tanya was not sure that he meant it, and she looked at him coldly. ‘Thank you.’
‘And I’d still like to talk to you.’
She shook her head firmly. ‘There’s no point. It would be a complete waste of time. Goodbye, Alejandro.’
She did not expect him to let her go, but he did, though she was conscious of him watching her as she moved down the narrow enclosed corridor to her room.
Not until she closed the door behind her did Tanya realise that she was holding her breath, and now she dragged a deep gulp of air into her tortured lungs. It was worse than she had imagined. Over the years her anger had faded. Peter had restored her sanity, made her see that she couldn’t dwell on the past forever. But what she hadn’t remembered was the physical attraction. None of that had faded—he still had the power to turn her limbs to jelly whether she liked it or not.
It really would be disastrous if she saw him again. Notwithstanding the fact that he was married and unavailable, it would be torture; her body wouldn’t be able to cope. Not even with Peter had she reached the heights she had scaled with Alejandro—could again if she dared let it happen. Oh, no, she must never, ever let herself be coerced into any sort of one-to-one situation.
It actually amazed her that she still felt this magnetism, this strong pull towards him. It was unreal. Everything had been killed stone-dead nine years ago—or so she had thought!
She stood at the window, and less than five minutes later saw him opening the car door for his wife, pausing a moment before he got in himself, looking back at the house, almost as though he was aware of her there behind the shutters. Tanya knew he could not see her, but instinctively stepped back, and when he had gone she gave a sigh of relief and sat down on the edge of the bed.
Later, when Charlene came home, Tanya told her all about her meeting with Alejandro. ‘I could not believe it when I saw him.’
‘A cruel twist of fate, I agree,’ said her sister. ‘And what a nerve, wanting to see you again after the way he behaved. I hope you told him where to get off.’
Tanya nodded. ‘I think I made myself clear.’
‘And you say the dress isn’t quite ready. Dò you think he’ll come again?’
‘Goodness, I hope not,’ said Tanya. ‘I’m hoping his wife will pick it up herself.’
‘Perhaps she doesn’t drive.’
Tanya closed her eyes. ‘Whatever happens, I’m going to keep well out of his way.’
But it didn’t turn out like that. A few days later Matilde’s daughter-in-law went into labour, complications set in, and Matilde was off like a shot to be with her family. And the very same afternoon Alejandro arrived to pick up his wife’s dress.
Tanya opened the door without even thinking that it might be him, and when their eyes met her jaw sagged. ‘I’m sorry; Señora Guerra’s not at home.’ She looked at him coldly, her tone distant. ‘You’ll have to come back some other time; I don’t know whether the dress is ready or not.’
‘Fate moves in mysterious ways.’
Her brows rose characteristically. ‘You think it’s fate that’s throwing us together?’
‘It would seem that way.’
She let out a little cry of fury. ‘It seems more like a curse to me. I’ll tell Matilde you called.’
But his foot was inside the door before she could stop him. ‘Matilde wouldn’t be very pleased if she knew you were shutting me out of her house.’ His jaw was taut, his eyes glacial.
‘Matilde doesn’t know the circumstances.’
‘I was compelled to tell her a little; she was puzzled as to how we knew each other.’
And your wife, she wanted to ask, did she hear your explanation too? Has she found out that I’m the girl you once had an affair with? The one you wrote to her about? Not that she had ever truly believed him. Her mouth was tight, her eyes mutinous. ‘I don’t care what Matilde might think. I don’t want you here; I have nothing to say to you.’
‘Were you happy in your marriage?’
The question took her by surprise, and she relaxed her grip on the door. Instantly Alejandro pushed his way inside. Tanya followed, leaving the door open, feeling that at least she had an escape route should she need it.
‘You haven’t answered my question.’ His abrupt tone made her look at him sharply.
‘Of course I was happy. I was very much in love with Peter.’
‘More than you loved me?’
The directness of his question made her gasp. ‘I never loved you.’
His eyes narrowed. ‘You gave a very good imitation of it.’
‘Did I?’ she asked coldly. ‘You must have been mistaken. As far as I was concerned all we were having was a brief affair, fun while it lasted. I always knew you’d be coming back here.’ Lies, all lies. Goodness, how could she say such a thing?
‘So it meant nothing to you.’
‘No.’ The obsidian darkness of his eyes unnerved her, and her answer came out in a husky whisper. She covered her embarrassment by turning it into a cough.
‘And the moment my back was turned you found yourself another man and got married?’
He made it sound as though she had done it the very next day, but she wasn’t going to deny it. ‘Something like that.’
He shook his head, looking at her with an intentness that cut right through her. ‘I never thought you were that kind of girl.’
And she hadn’t thought he was the sort of man who would use a girl and then let her down with no compunction whatsoever. ‘It looks as though we never really knew each other.’
He nodded. ‘It certainly does.’
‘And now we’ve sorted that out perhaps you’ll go. You’ll have to call again for the dress.’
‘What’s the hurry?’ He smiled faintly, grimly, and sat in Matilde’s rocking-chair.
Alarm bells rang in Tanya’s head. ‘Aren’t you a busy man?’
‘Not so much that I can’t spare the odd hour to talk to an old—flame.’
He said the word sneeringly, and Tanya bridled. At the same time she could not help noticing how much better his command of the English language was. He had scarcely an accent now, and she wondered whether he had been back to England or whether he had English friends here. Whatever, he was certainly very good.
‘Perhaps the “old flame” doesn’t want to talk to you,’ she returned acidly.
‘You have other plans? You’re going out, is that it? Sightseeing all by yourself. What a pity your sister is working while You’re here on holiday. It cannot be much fun.’
His derogatory tone needled Tanya, and she looked at him hotly. ‘Charlene has already taken one week off. I’m not complaining; I have several trips organised and——’
‘But none for today?’ he cut in swiftly. ‘Why don’t you sit down?’
Tanya sat, not because she wanted to, but because she needed to. The effect of seeing Alejandro, talking to him, trying to ignore the very real sensations that churned inside, was very debilitating.
‘Is your sister still in the hotel trade?’
‘Indeed. She’s managing a hotel in Playa de las Americas; that’s why she came out here. It was too good an offer to miss, the first time she’s been in complete charge. She loves it.’ He confused her by flitting from subject to subject, although she knew she would far rather talk about Charlene than herself.
‘And she has not married? Her career is more important to her?’
‘Let’s say she’s never found the right man,’ said Tanya, and at the age of thirty her sister was becoming more and more choosy. Tanya sometimes wondered if she would ever find anyone who would put up with her bossy, dominating nature and her strong, independent streak.
‘Had you found the right man in Peter?’
Tanya swallowed hard. His questions were certainly hard-hitting, and always unexpected. ‘I wouldn’t have married him otherwise.’ She looked at him as she spoke, trying to convince him, hiding the fact that Peter had been second-best. She hadn’t admitted that at the time, but it was true. Not that she hadn’t been happy—she had, very much so; he was a wonderful man—but the excitement of a strong physical relation-ship had been missing. If she hadn’t met Alejandro she would never have known what she was capable of, what she needed, what her body needed. As it was, he had spoiled her for anyone else. She gave a tiny sigh, and Alejandro’s mouth tightened, and she guessed he thought she was sighing for Peter.
‘I thought I was seeing a ghost when I spotted you at the airport,’ he said, with another complete turn in the conversation.
‘I wasn’t too happy about seeing you either,’ she retorted.
‘I didn’t say I didn’t want to see you.’ The frown was there, grooving his brow, narrowing his eyes. ‘It had been so long, I’d given up the idea that we’d ever meet again.’
And whose fault was that? she wanted to ask. You were the one who went away without a word; you were the one who ended it all. She lifted her shoulders in a tiny careless gesture. ‘It’s a small world. Would you like a cup of coffee?’ She had to get out of the room, away from the stifling atmosphere. She had never known it would be like this.
‘No, thank you,’ he answered. I’d much prefer to sit and talk to you.’
Tanya groaned inwardly. ‘About what? What is there to say? I’m sure You’re not interested in every single little detail of my life since we parted, and neither do I want to hear about yours.’
Her bitter tone caused a further tightening of his features. ‘You’re making it pretty plain what you think about me.’
‘There’s no point in pretending.’
‘I really misjudged you, Tanya.’ He stood up suddenly, abruptly.
Good, he was going. Tanya rose too, but somehow they bumped into each other, and the next moment she was in his arms, his mouth on hers, and the years in between might never have been.
She was conscious of nothing except a rising hunger inside her, a desire that had lain buried for so many years. Nothing had changed. It was sheer insanity, she knew, but as her mouth clung to his the rights and wrongs of the situation did not seem to matter.
And she sensed in him the same voracity, felt him trembling slightly, felt the hammer beats of his heart, the urgency of his kisses. She began to soar, to forget the empty years. This was now, this was Alejandro, this was the man she…
Her thoughts tailed away. She had almost said ‘loved’, and that wasn’t right. She did not love him. She desired him, that was all. It was a fatal attraction. Knowing him had brought her nothing but unhappiness. The trouble was she could not stop these feelings that overwhelmed her.
She had never thought of herself as being highly sexed; in fact it was only this man she responded to in such a way. Even as her thoughts ran along these lines her lips parted and their tongues entwined and she felt a powerful emotion tighten the pit of her stomach. She urged her body against his and found him equally excited, and the thought struck her that if they weren’t careful they would end up making love.
It was enough to bring her to her senses, but almost as though the thought had hit him at the same time Alejandro let her go, pushing her away, and when she saw the harshness on his face she reeled back.
‘What the hell’s this all about, Tanya?’ His voice rasped into the silence of the room. ‘You declare you feel nothing for me, that you never have, and yet you kiss me like a thirsty woman who’s found water in the desert. I’d like an explanation.’
Tanya closed her eyes. What could she say? She was horrified, mortified, totally ashamed of herself. What had come over her? How could she have been so wanton?
His hands snapped over her shoulders, fingers hurting, bruising. ‘Look at me, Tanya. I want the truth.’
There was fire in his eyes, but ice also, a dangerous brilliance that sent a quiver of fear through her limbs. But she had no intention of letting him see that he intimidated her. ‘I might ask the same of you,’ she said fiercely, jerking herself free. Goodness, he was a married man; didn’t that mean anything to him?
‘I’ve always found you irresistible.’
‘So that’s what it was all those years ago?’ she snapped. ‘Sheer lust! The taking of a body that was only too willing!’
A shadow crossed his eyes, as though she had touched a raw nerve, gone in an instant, the accusation back. ‘And how about you? Are you as guilty of the same feelings that you accuse me of? Is that why you responded now, why you responded to me when I was in England?’
‘Unfortunately, yes,’ she rasped, deciding honesty was the best policy. ‘But it’s not something I’m proud of, and I certainly have no intention of letting it happen again.’
‘We might not be able to help ourselves.’
‘You speak as though we’re likely to meet again. I can assure you we will not; I shall make very certain of that.’
Again that narrowing of his eyes, an intent look that pierced right through her, a muscle jerking in his jaw. He shook his head slowly. ‘You’ve changed, Tanya.’
‘Doesn’t life change us all? It deals some bitter blows; it’s impossible to remain the same. My values have definitely changed.’
‘It’s sad to be widowed so young, certainly, but you shouldn’t let it affect you forever. Life has to go on; you have to enjoy yourself again.’ There was a sudden, surprising softness to his tone.
Tanya was glad he had misconstrued her words; no way did she want him to think that he was the one who had hurt her when he left England so suddenly and unexpectedly. ‘I intend to,’ she said, ‘But in my own way—and that does not involve you. I’m not interested in rekindling our affair.’
The telephone ringing cut short their conversation.
‘You’d better answer it,’ said Tanya. ‘I can’t cope with the language.’
In the event it turned out to be Charlene. Tanya heard Alejandro explaining who he was and what he was doing there, and then Charlene must have given him a piece of her mind, because his face was grim when he turned back to Tanya and handed her the receiver. ‘Your sister.’ And when she had finished her conversation he said tightly, ‘Is this a mutual hatred society? I was told in no uncertain terms to keep clear of you. What have you said to poison her mind against me?’
‘I didn’t have to say anything,’ replied Tanya, her chin lifting haughtily. ‘My sister is naturally very protective of me.’
His brows rose. ‘I can assure you you need no protection; You’re more than capable of looking after yourself.’
‘I agree,’ she said. ‘And as a person who is very much in charge of her life, I’d like to ask you to leave.’
‘What if I say I’d like that coffee now?’
‘I’d say you were too late; the offer’s withdrawn.’
‘In that case,’ he said with a shrug of his wide shoulders, ‘I appear to have no choice, but this won’t be the last time we meet, Tanya; I can guarantee that.’
CHAPTER THREE (#ulink_9d61b88d-52ed-59e8-9726-5972f65b6a13)
IN THE days that followed Tanya was on tenterhooks. She did not want to see Alejandro again, but she did not see how she could avoid him if he came to the house. Matilde still had not returned, staying to look after her new grandchild while her daughter-in-law recovered from her ordeal, although Charlene had said that Matilde was using this as an excuse. The truth was she loved babies.
Tanya could have gone out every single moment of every single day, but she did not want to feel pushed into doing something simply because of Alejandro. When she had first said she was coming out here Charlene had said she would try and get the whole month off, but Carlos, her under-manager, had gone off sick and no one else was capable of taking over, and so Tanya was left to her own devices. She could have hired a car, but decided it wouldn’t be very exciting driving around by herself.
It was a pity in one way that Charlene had chosen to live so far away from the beaches and the lively tourist areas. On the other hand, she saw the real Tenerife; she could wander into the village, where the pace of life was slow, watch the men talking over their drinks outside the local bar, the children playing, the dogs scavenging. Her disadvantage was the language barrier. The children could say hello and goodbye; their parents spoke no English at all.
Charlene had taken her into Playa de las Americas and Los Cristianos, and she had seen how the concrete jungle of tourism skirted the southern shore, and had experienced for herself the frenetic pace, even though people were supposed to be on holiday. At heart, Tanya was a country lover and wanted to explore the unspoilt parts of the island, but not on her own.
One night Charlene drove her to a restaurant in the mountains high on the west coast, close to Masca. Tanya had been looking forward to it all day, but when their route took them along a series of extremely narrow and tight hairpin bends winding through the mountain like goat tracks, she began to wonder whether it was a good idea. And upon arrival she was horrified to discover Alejandro’s dark red Mercedes parked outside. She wanted to turn right round and go home.
‘Not on your life,’ exclaimed Charlene. ‘Not after I’ve driven all this way. Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.’
‘I don’t need your protection,’ retorted Tanya. ‘I’m twenty-seven, not seven. But this place is so out of the way; I cannot believe I’m about to bump into him again.’
‘It has a good reputation,’ informed her sister, ‘And, judging by the number of cars, it’s already busy. Perhaps with a bit of luck he won’t even see us.’
But luck wasn’t with them. The second they walked out on to the purple and red bougainvillaea-covered terrace perched on the mountainside Tanya saw Alejandro. Her heartbeats quickened, her throat tightened, and she looked across at his companion, giving a start of surprise when she discovered that it was not his wife.
The woman had black hair, the same, but it was short and thick and cut on a level with her chin. She wore a white low-cut dress and a chunky green necklace and was beautiful in a different sort of way to Juanita. She had eyes only for her companion, her hand touching his arm across the table in a proprietorial, familiar gesture.
Tanya felt her blood begin to boil. He was two-timing his wife again! Although he hadn’t been married when he was in England, it amounted to the same thing. What a swine, what a cheat, what a bastard! How many other women had he had affairs with? At that moment he looked up and saw her.
If looks could kill he should have dropped dead; instead he offered her a surprised smile. Tanya glared icily and turned to her sister, who had been frantically looking for an empty table. ‘There don’t seem to be any,’ she muttered. ‘We ought to have booked.’
Then let’s get out of here,’ hissed Tanya. ‘I’ve just seen Alejandro—and he’s with another woman.’
‘Where?’ Charlene scanned the room, and at the same time Alejandro rose from his table and came over to them.
His easy smile belied the fact that he had been caught deceiving his wife. ‘As there are no tables perhaps you’d care to join us.’
‘Like hell we would,’ hurled Tanya. ‘We’ll find somewhere else to eat. It would be criminal to spoil your pleasure.’
Her deliberate emphasis on the last word caused a swift frown of annoyance. ‘You’re being extremely childish, Tanya. Inocente and I would be more than pleased to have your company.’
Inocente! Tanya glanced across at the black-haired girl and thought, Who are you trying to fool? This girl in no way wanted their presence at the table; it was there in her expression, in the hostility in her eyes, and Tanya could not believe it when Charlene accepted gracefully.
‘Thank you, Alejandro. I really did want Tanya to experience this place.’
He gave a pleased smile and led the way back to their corner table. ‘What did you do that for?’ Tanya whispered fiercely to her sister as she trailed behind. ‘This is the last thing I want.’
Charlene grinned. ‘I thought it would be fun to ruin his evening.’
And ruin mine too, thought Tanya, though she relaxed a mite. Charlene’s evil pleasure was infectious.
Introductions were made and the dark-haired girl smiled, though it was a surface smile only. She clearly wished them a thousand miles away, and must have wondered why her companion had insisted on inviting them to their table.
Inocente’s English was good, and she listened attentively while Alejandro explained how he had met Tanya and Charlene, though her eyes were sharp as she looked from one sister to the other, evidently wondering whether either of them had been his lover.
A waiter came and set their places, handing each of them a menu, enquiring whether they would like an aperitif. Charlene declined, and Alejandro offered Tanya some of their wine. It was an excellent Marqués de Cáceres red, and Tanya drank half of it straight away, needing the courage it would give her to get through the rest of the evening. Alejandro raised an eyebrow and topped up her glass.
It was not easy to concentrate on the menu; she was far too aware of Alejandro at her side. She and her sister had effectively split him and his companion up. Inocente remained opposite him, while she and Charlene were opposite each other. Tanya knew that Alejandro always liked his girlfriend to sit facing him so that he could look at her while they ate and talked, but the way it had turned out this evening Tanya wished she hadn’t been forced to sit so close.
‘I certainly never expected to see you two here tonight,’ said Alejandro.
I bet you didn’t, she wanted to scream. I bet you thought you’d be nice and safe here in this out-of-the-way place. Her eyes flashed daggers, but somehow she managed to keep her tone even. ‘We seem to be meeting a lot in unexpected circumstances.’
‘Indeed we do.’
His leg brushed hers as he spoke, maybe accidentally, maybe not. Tanya quickly tucked her feet beneath her chair. He was the world’s worst louse, she decided, and yet, despite her adverse feelings, she could not ignore the very real triggers of sensation that chased through her. Even knowing he was deceiving his wife, she still felt an incredible awareness. She was no better than the girl sitting next to her, she concluded angrily. ‘It’s strange that Charlene’s been here for two years and you’ve not met, and now I’ve come we seem to be bumping into each other all the time.’
‘Very strange,’ he admitted, and then in a voice so low neither of the others heard, ‘Or kismet.’
Tanya wanted to yell at him, to ask him what the devil he thought he was doing. Casanova had nothing on him. But she did not want to cause a scene in the restaurant and so she pretended not to have heard, and when the waiter came for their order she turned to him with relief.
It was a very long, tense next few hours. Inocente kept trying to dominate Alejandro’s attention, but he insisted on bringing Tanya and Charlene into the conversation, and in the end the Tinerfeño girl lapsed into sullen silence.
Charlene insisted on talking about Tanya’s husband, Peter. ‘They were so much in love,’ she concluded.
Tanya had tried to tell her sister to shut up by flashing her messages with her eyes, but Charlene either did not see or did not want to see, and by the end of the evening tempers were beginning to get short all round—except for Charlene’s; she was thoroughly enjoying the situation. She could see by the tightening of Alejandro’s face that he did not want to hear about Peter, but deliberately went on stressing his and Tanya’s perfect relationship.
Tanya was glad when it was all over, when they pushed back their chairs and stood up to leave, though not so happy when Alejandro insisted on settling their bill. It made her feel indebted to him, and she did not want that; she did not want to feel any obligation whatsoever.
‘I wish you hadn’t said anything about Peter,’ she said crossly to her sister as they made their way back down the mountain. Alejandro had sped off in front of them and was already well out of sight.
Charlene grimaced cheerfully. ‘It’s what he deserves. I hope it put him strictly in his place; the man’s dissolute. I wonder if Inocente knows he’s married. I felt like telling her, except that I didn’t want to cause a scene, and I’m certainly glad that it all ended between you two. Imagine if you’d married him and he carried on like this.’
Tanya had already thought of that. The person she felt sorry for was Juanita. ‘I guess that was never on the cards. I was just one of many.’
There must have been something in her voice that gave her away, because Charlene looked at her sharply. ‘Hey, You’re not still carrying a torch for him?’
‘Charlene! Keep your eyes on the road,’ screeched Tanya as they veered dangerously close towards the edge. The mountainside dropped sharply away and there were no barriers.
‘Whoops!’ exclaimed her sister, correcting the car. ‘But if you do feel something for Alejandro, then you’d better get rid of it straight away. That man is bad news without a doubt.’
‘You don’t have to tell me,’ replied Tanya, ‘I know exactly what he’s like, and don’t worry, I have no intention of getting involved with him again. I learned my lesson a long time ago.’ She closed her eyes as Charlene negotiated another sharp bend. This wasn’t her idea of fun at all. She hadn’t enjoyed it coming up, but it was even more scary going down, especially when all they had to guide them was the moon and the stars. Charlene seemed to have no qualms, but as far as she was concerned it was distinctly perilous.
They lapsed into silence, and she could not get Alejandro out of her mind. She kept thinking of him with Inocente while his wife sat unsuspectingly at home. There was no doubt that he was having an affair with the girl; it was there in the way she looked at him, the way he spoke to her, the way they had walked out to his car with their arms around each other. Tanya felt quite sick at the thought.
When they got back home she feigned tiredness and went straight to her room. It had been bad enough discovering that she had meant nothing to Alejandro all those years ago, but to find out that he was still two-timing Juanita was devastating in the extreme. She had never thought in those early days that Alejandro was a womaniser. It was hard to believe that he had set out on this treacherous path of deceit at the early age of twenty-three. The saying that a leopard never changed its spots was certainly true where he was concerned. She wondered how many other girls there had been.
The next day Matilde came home and Alejandro turned up to collect the dress. This time Tanya had been half expecting him, knowing that he would want to make some sort of excuse for the night before.
She was outside when he came, sitting on a chair in the tiny square of back garden, soaking up the sun-shine, Matilde’s tan and white dog keeping her company, although he lay in the shade of the wall. She was out of sight of the front door, and although she had heard Alejandro’s car had thought herself relatively safe. Until she heard him call her name.
Ought she to pretend not to hear? Her stomach muscles clenched involuntarily, pulses jerked, and she knew there was no way she could ignore him. Like him or hate him, it was all the same; the animal magnetism was there—getting stronger by the day!
Slowly she turned her head. ‘Señora Guerra’s in the house.’ Her tone was hard, belying her tumultuous feelings.
‘I’d like a word with you first.’ He pushed open the gate and strode the few feet to her side.
‘If it’s about last night I don’t want to hear.’ There was irritation in her tone, and her sloe-shaped blue eyes were cold and distant. ‘You’ll never change, will you, Alejandro?’ He loomed over her, tall and somehow threatening, putting her at a distinct disadvantage. She jumped to her feet and faced him.
He frowned. ‘What are you talking about?’
‘Don’t come the innocent with me,’ she cried. ‘How many other women have there been?’
‘Other women?’
‘Yes, affairs on the side. It’s a good job you didn’t bring your wife along today or I might have been tempted to tell her.’ Fury added strength to her words, and she was speaking much more loudly than she intended. Matilde popped her head out of the door, frowned in their direction, and disappeared again.
Tanya was so uptight that she missed the shadow that crossed Alejandro’s face, saw only the tightening of his jaw, the suppression of his anger. ‘My words have struck home, have they?’
‘You don’t know what You’re talking about, Tanya.’ His normally generous lips were clamped thinly, his dark eyes as hard as polished jet.
‘Don’t I?’ She lifted her fine brows and eyed him coldly. ‘How can I not know when you flaunt your girlfriends under everyone’s nose?’
‘You’re talking about Inocente?’
‘That’s right.’
‘And Beatriz, I presume?’
Tanya frowned. ‘Beatriz? Who’s she?’
‘You seem to think that she’s my girlfriend too,’ he rasped coldly. ‘Can you tell me what gave you that idea?’
‘If You’re talking about the woman whose dress Matilde’s making, I didn’t think she was your girlfriend,’ snapped Tanya. ‘I thought she was your wife, but if she isn’t then You’re simply confirming my already rock-bottom opinion of you.’
He looked at her sharply, questioningly. ‘You’d heard I was married?’
‘Yes, I had.’ Tanya’s tone was bitter. ‘And I think what You’re doing to her is diabolical. You want stringing up.’
‘When did you hear? How did you hear?’ He seemed not to notice her harsh words.
‘Is it important?’ she snapped.
‘I’d like to know.’ His eyes were narrowed on hers, his expression unreadable.
Tanya lifted her shoulders in a careless gesture. ‘Someone Charlene met in the hotel told her. He came from Tenerife, knew you, apparently.’
‘Was this before or after you’d married Peter?’
Suddenly she could see the way his mind was working. ‘Heavens,’ she cried sharply, ‘I didn’t marry him on the rebound, if that’s what You’re thinking. I didn’t marry him because I’d heard you’d got married; it was a long time afterwards. And as Charlene said last night, we were extremely happy together. I would never have dreamt of seeing another man behind his back.’
She was so indignant that she was out of breath, her chest heaving as she looked at him belligerently and coldly, her fingers curled into her palms so tightly that her nails dug in and hurt, but she did nothing about it; in fact she welcomed the pain.
His eyes glittered with a cold light that Tanya had never seen before; his nostrils dilated. ‘After all we had going for us, Tanya, I would never have believed that you could think so harshly of me.’
‘All we had going for us?’ she echoed loudly. ‘We had nothing. It was a brief, glorious fling that was over the moment you left England.’ And she was lying again! But what the hell—she refused to succumb to the indignity of confessing that she had spent hours and hours crying, pining, longing, wondering.
‘You forgot me so instantly?’
His expression was so incredulous that she almost laughed. ‘Indeed I did. What did you expect? It was fun while it lasted, I admit, but once you were out of sight, Alejandro, you were out of mind. And why am I telling you all this when it’s your wife who’s the person I feel sorry for? You really are a swine, aren’t you? What do you tell her—that it’s business keeping you away from home? Or have you some other fancy excuses?’
Alejandro looked at her long and hard. ‘I hardly feel you deserve the truth.’
‘Truth?’ Tanya’s brows slid up. ‘You mean a pack of lies? Some way of attempting to absolve yourself? I don’t think I want to hear it.’ He had lied by omission nine years ago, proving he wasn’t a man of integrity. Why should she believe anything he tried to tell her now? And lord, she wished he would move. Her hostility was mixed with an awareness that was proving a very real threat to her sanity.
‘In that case there is nothing else I have to say.’ He turned abruptly and marched towards the house, and perversely Tanya wished she hadn’t been so sharp. It would have been interesting to hear what sort of an excuse he came up with. It was too late now, though. Matilde had appeared in the doorway and was beaming a smile of welcome. He was obviously a great favourite of hers.
Tanya sat down again and closed her eyes. She looked completely relaxed, as though she hadn’t a care in the world, no hint on her face of her rioting body and mind. Not only was she battling with a desire to know what he had been going to say, but she was struggling with feelings that set her on fire, feelings she had thought long since dead. Why, when she knew only too well how immoral he was, did she respond like this? What was there about him that drew her like a moth to a flame?
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