Page 50 of Midnight Surrender to the Spaniard

Then she’d found a café where they’dstillbeen serving lunch. She’d sat under an umbrella at a table in gorgeous Orange Square, the very heart of the old town, and had ordered what she’d thought was a steak sandwich and a beer, because that had sounded very normal.

Nothing felt normal, though, she’d thought as she’d sipped on the tall, cool glass of beer and tried to tell herself that she was proud for resisting his charms.

But Anna had known she lied.

‘Your veal,’ the waitress had said, putting down her plate.‘Buen provecho!’Which Anna knew meantEnjoy your meal.

She would never have eaten veal at home. Not just because she couldn’t afford it, but it was the principle of the thing.

And yet it would seem veal had been ordered and served, so what was she to have done?

It had been delicious!

And it was her principles that had kept her alone in her villa last night, embroidering and sewing the blanket when she could have been making reckless love.

Yes, she regretted it—especially now, when she heard a knock at the door and opened it to the stunning sight of him in a deep navy suit, but no tie, looking too sexy for words.

Clearly he was about to head for Jerez.

‘Do you want to get something to eat?’ he offered. ‘Before I go back?’

‘I’m fine,’ Anna said, closing the door a little to block the view of her sewing that was laid out on the floor.

‘You don’t want to go to the restaurant, do you?’

‘Not particularly,’ Anna admitted.

‘Then we can go to the marina instead.’

‘Sebastián, please.’ She took a breath. ‘It’s hard enough as it is.’

Sebastián looked at this difficult, proud woman, shutting herself away on a bright sunny day, and wondered how to make this right.

People here could be shallow sometimes, and he loathed how she’d been treated yesterday.

He thought of a way to fix things.

Of course one that might benefit him too.

‘I need a favour,’ he said.

‘Ask away.’

‘Are you going to let me in?’

‘I honestly can’t...’

Anna closed her eyes and knew she must sound ridiculous. ‘Wait there.’

She left him at the door and hurriedly cleared the blanket she was amending away, then headed back to let him in.

‘Sorry about that...’

‘It’s no problem.’

He came into the lounge and looked at the iced tea by the chair. He must have guessed that was where she had been sitting, so he took a seat on the sofa.

‘I need a feminine perspective,’ he said.

---