Page 53 of His Innocent for One Spanish Night

‘What?’ She frowned. ‘Why?’

‘Like I said, I was thinking about you today.’

She realised the white box he had been carrying was actually for her.

‘Open it,’ he said.

She peeled open the edge and then pulled back handfuls of tissue paper. Atop some layers of red fabric was a pair of black leather flamenco shoes. Turning them over, she saw that the nails were already banged in. These were serious shoes...more beautiful than she would have ever chosen for herself.

‘Alejandro, they’re for a professional.’

‘They make an amazing noise.’

‘But how did you know my size?’

‘Eva can be discreet when required.’

‘You told her!’

‘I said I wanted to get you some shoes and asked which ones you practised in.’ He shrugged. ‘I said you were trying to find out more about flamenco for the website.’

‘Do you think she believed you?’

‘I don’t know about that. I just know she would never say anything.’

She could not quite contemplate that Alejandro had left her looking at the church spire and gone to Eva, and then gone shopping with her in mind.

‘Why would you do this?’ she asked.

‘Why not?’ He sounded bemused. ‘I wanted to get you something nice. You deserve it. Maybe I wanted to treat the strongest woman I know.’

‘Please...’ She rolled her eyes. ‘Don’t go too over the top.’

‘But you are. I cannot imagine living my life without family. Yet you do.’

‘Alejandro, for years I hid behind a man who didn’t want me.’

‘Yet here you are, taking dance classes in a foreign country...starting your own business. Emily, I thought my mother was strong, but she always had her parents behind her, or my father, or a lover.’

She’d never been called strong before. It was almost laughable, and yet his eyes were serious.

She looked at the box of gifts. There was also a gold tube of lipstick, and beneath the shoes something in a sheer, silky fabric that intrigued her...

‘What’s this?’

‘It’s a flamenco dress,’ he said. ‘Modern flamenco,’ he added.

‘I’ve never seen one like this.’

‘They are not in most stores,’ he said. ‘It’s not something you’d wear to the studio.’

‘Then where?’

She touched the silk as if it were hot coals, sharply pulling her hand back.

‘You want to dance? Dance forme, then.’

She stared at him.

---