Page 29 of Midnight Surrender to the Spaniard

Anna shook her head. ‘I’m going to need to find somewhere a little more...’Or rather, a lot less.

But Sebastián was having none of it, and he told her so before she got out of the car.

‘Don’t be ridiculous. Nobody’s expecting you to pay. We are—’

‘I amnotsharing a room with you.’

‘Believe me, I wasn’t offering,’ he said.

Well, that told her!

‘We are close to the hospital here,’ Sebastián said, ‘and for now that’s the only concern.’

‘I don’t want you paying for me.’

‘I’ll charge it to my brother, then. Don’t make an issue when there isn’t one,’ he said. ‘But feel free to wander off in the heat and find a hostel, just to make your point.’

She moved to get out of the car, but suddenly it all caught up with her. Emily must be so scared, and the baby was at risk, and Willow would be in Scotland for a whole week... And then there was the shock of being met byhim.

Anna did the last thing she wanted to do and leant back in the car seat and started to cry...

She saw him wave away the approaching bellboy and he remained seated beside her and did nothing, for which Anna was actually grateful. Because she knew that if he touched her arm again—or, heaven forbid,held her—she’d howl.

‘I have no handkerchief to offer,’ he finally said, as she rummaged in her bag.

Somehow he managed to force a smile, and Anna knew she had to swallow both her tears and her pride. She found a tissue to mop her tears and nodded. ‘I’ll stay tonight...until we know more about Emily.’

‘Good.’ Sebastián nodded.

He too was struggling. Tears usually didn’t move him in the least, yet he sensed hers were rare, and it killed him just to sit there and do nothing. He’d heard the anger in her tone, though, and doubted any attempt to comfort her would be welcome.

As well as that, he did not docomfort.

‘Why don’t we get checked in?’ Sebastián suggested. ‘And then we can get the hell away from each other...’

‘Yes, okay. Good idea.’

They entered a very cool air-conditioned lobby. So cool that the receptionist wore a smart blazer and full make-up and looked as if she’d stepped off the cover of a glossy magazine.

‘Señor Romano.’ She smiled and welcomed him.‘Bienvenido de vuelta!’

The admin was all speedily dealt with, but something the receptionist said caused him to respond with a very blunt,‘No.’

He explained it to Anna as they walked past a sign indicatinghabitaciones contiguas. ‘She asked if we wanted adjoining villas.’

‘No!’ Anna repeated with the same blunt edge to her voice.

They walked beneath palm trees and he told her to order whatever she wanted to the villa, then added, ‘Breakfast on the terrace is nice here, though. It’s down that way.’

‘Okay...’

‘This is you,’ he said, and handed her a folder that held a card to open the door to her villa.

‘Where are you?’

‘Down there.’ He pointed to another path. ‘I’ll call you if I hear anything from the hospital.’

‘Likewise.’ She nodded.

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