Page 92 of Virgin's Stolen Nights with the Boss

‘I can’t cook...’

‘Neither can I!’ He laughed. ‘Nothing else?’ he checked.

What should she say? Did she dare to tell him she loved him?

‘Carmen, I know your flight’s at midnight...’

Carmen pressed her lips closed, relieved she hadn’t bared her heart...

‘So this is goodbye?’ he said.

She nodded.

‘Here.’ He went to the bench and picked up his wallet. ‘I was going to give you this later.’

He took out a dark stone and handed it to her.

‘Sea glass!’

‘Orangesea glass!’ he said.

‘Brown,’ Carmen corrected, and then realised how ungrateful that sounded. ‘But I love it. I really do...’ She fell silent as he turned on the overhead light. ‘Oh!’

It really was orange. Well, maybe...at a push. It was a dark, golden orange—a colour her beady eyes had scanned every beach for.

‘Do you know how rare this is?’

‘Yep.’

‘I mean it, Elias. This is seriously rare.’

‘Very,’ he agreed. ‘And so is this chance...’

He took her chin and looked right into her eyes, but if she couldn’t quite look back at him.

‘Whyareyou leaving tonight, Carmen?’

‘I have things to sort out at home.’

‘That’s an excuse.’

‘It’s my home,’ she attempted, but he would not let her hide. ‘I’ve got a family at home who loves me.’ She could hear her own plea for guarantees and hated her desperation. ‘If I stay here and we get closer, it will make it harder to leave...’

‘It’s the same for me.’

‘No...’

‘Yes.’

He picked up the sherry bottle and looked at the dark-haired woman on the label and the swirl of her orange flamenco dress. He took out his pen...

‘Don’t!’ she warned as he scribbled on it. ‘Don’t erase her.’

She went to reach for the bottle, angry at his disrespect, but he turned wide shoulders to her.

‘That’s mymamá!’

‘I know.’ He took a swig of sherry from the bottle and pulled a face. ‘You’re right. Maybe we could never work. That’s dreadful...’

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