Page 70 of Be More Lucy

‘Weirdo!’ she laughed. ‘I’ll leave my bottle of shampoo for you to sniff when I leave.’

‘Don’t talk about leaving yet.’ He looked serious. Was he about to go in for a kiss? If he was, it looked like he thought better of it. He pulled away. ‘Give me your bag,’ he said, heading towards the exit.

The hour-long drive to Nerja was going to drag.

Mark had moved since she last visited him. Instead of a modern house, he was in a big apartment in the old town.

‘Bit of an upgrade after my last place,’ he said as he rolled her suitcase along the winding pedestrianised street. ‘Handier for the beach, and it has a pool.’

‘You’ve got your own pool?’

‘I share it with the three other apartments. But most of the time, I’m the only one here off-season. We can go for a dip later. None of the other flats are occupied this weekend.’

From the outside, number 8 looked like a traditional Spanish house. White painted walls, two-storey, heavy wooden shutters across the windows. But inside, it had a whole different vibe. White minimalist furniture, with a sleek modern kitchen to match. The only thing that wasn’t minimalist was the sofa. The huge squishy cushions looked very welcoming after a long day at work and the hard seats on the cheap flight.

‘Do you mind if I sit down?’ Lucy asked.

‘Be my guest.’

‘This is bliss.’ Lucy shut her eyes and sank back into the comfortable upholstery.

‘The sofa or being here?’ He smiled.

‘Both.’ She grinned mischievously back at him. This was heaven. It was too nice. What if he did just want to be friends? Now he was within touching distance, she realised it was going to be even more of a challenge sticking to the friends only rule than she originally thought.

‘You look worried,’ he said.

‘I’m just tired. I’ve had a full-on day at work. And I’m no good at snoozing on the plane.’ Her stomach rumbled loudly.

‘When did you last eat?’

‘I grabbed a sandwich at lunchtime.’

‘There’s a great bar three doors down. They serve traditional tapas until late. Do you want to get a bite there?’

‘That was delicious.’ Lucy finished the last mouthful of patates bravas.

Mark picked the wine bottle out of the ice bucket. ‘It’s empty. Fancy another?’

‘I really shouldn’t.’

‘Last year, you could drink me under the table.’

‘That was last year. I’m far more mature now.’

He didn’t look convinced.

The waiter appeared. ‘Can I get you anything else?’

‘It was lovely, but I’m full now, thanks,’ Lucy said.

Mark said something in Spanish. She suspected he’d asked for the bill.

‘Si señor,’ the waiter replied and walked away.

‘Impressive. Whenever I speak in my school girl Spanish, they look pityingly at me and respond in perfect English.’

‘When you’ve lived here a while, it starts to come naturally.’

---