Lisa smiled. “You’re a great manager. I’ve watched you with your team; they like you.”
“I hope so. Because I like them.” Stella turned onto the main road and opened her window. “Are you ready to put up with me?”
“I think the question is, are you ready to put up withme?” Lisa retorted. Stella moved her hand further up her thigh, and it did all kinds of things to Lisa’s body. Just a simple touch was enough to send her libido into overdrive; that was what Stella did to her.
“Trust me; I couldn’t think of anything better.”
“So, what about your lovers?” Lisa asked. The question came out of nowhere and startled Stella. “I should probably have asked you about this a while back, but are you seeing other women?” Lisa asked in a more serious tone. “I need to know because I’ll get jealous if you do and…” Her voice trailed away, and she shook her head as if she already regretted bringing it up.
Stella glanced at her for a moment to gauge if she was serious and when she saw Lisa’s uncomfortable expression, she shook her head. “Hey, I wouldn’t do that. Why would you even think I’d do such a thing? Seeing other women while we’ve got this great thing going on?” Truth be told, perhaps it wasn’t such a strange question after all. She hadn’t been in a committed relationship in years, and Lisa knew that. Add to that the fact that Lisa was only here temporarily, it kind of made sense that it had crossed her mind. “I wouldn’t do that,” she repeated, shooting Lisa an earnest look.
“I’m sorry, but I had to ask. We never talked about it and I guess I just need to know what to expect if I’ll be living with you.”
“Well, I can tell you now that I haven’t even as much as looked at another woman since that morning you came for a coffee with me.”
“Really?” Lisa smiled.
“Yes. Have you been on dates with other women?”
“No, of course not.”
Stella pointed a finger between them. “I don’t want anyone else, Lisa. You’re all I think of.” She paused, wondering how honest she should really be right now, then decided to just fess up. “So that morning when you came out for a coffee with me…”
“What about that morning?”
“I didn’t realise it right away, but I think I fell for you then. I mean, I thought you were cute and sexy before that, but when you were in the car next to me, doing that thing with your hand… I watched your hair blow in the wind, and I had trouble keeping my eyes on the road. You’ve been on my mind ever since.”
Lisa looked at her hand that was dancing on the wind and let out a shy chuckle. “What? This?”
“Yes, you have no idea how cute you are when you do that.”
“Oh.” Lisa bit her lip and grinned. “Well, I also have a confession to make. I googled you right after I came back that day.”
Stella laughed. “Really? What did you find?”
“Not much. Just some information about you on the hotel’s website. It said that you liked cats and flamenco. And then I tried to find videos of you dancing,” she admitted.
Stella threw her head back and laughed. “I don’t dance, I just like to watch. So, you looked me up…”
“Yes. I didn’t want to admit that I’d been digging, but since we’re sharing…” Lisa paused. “You’ve been on my mind too, since that day.”
Stella turned into Altea and found a parking space close to the square. They should have had this conversation before today, and she was glad Lisa had brought it up. She turned off the engine but remained seated and shifted to face her. “Look, I’m not naive. I know you won’t stay here forever, but I also want you to know that I’m serious about you for as long as you’ll be here.”
Lisa swallowed hard and a rosy blush appeared on her cheeks. She nodded slowly, then looked down at her lap. “Me too,” she said in a soft whisper before lifting her chin to meet Stella’s eyes. “And thank you again, for letting me stay with you. Not just because my room in Paradise is small and basic, but because I like to be near you.”
“The pleasure’s all mine.” Stella’s core filled with warmth as she leaned in to kiss her. There was so much more she wanted to say, but at the same time, anything else seemed pointless. They were drifting in a weird place, a temporary place, but she didn’t want to think about that as it would only ruin the limited time they had. Forcing those thoughts away, she pulled away and smiled. “Welcome to Altea.”
36
“Mmm… I could get used to this.” Stella ran a hand up Lisa’s thigh and gave her that lustful stare that made Lisa ache with longing again, even though they’d just made love.
“Me too.” She shivered at Stella’s touch and the intensity in her gaze. She was immensely physical, and Lisa loved that. No one had ever looked at her the way Stella did, and their need to constantly be all over each other was mesmerising. “Aren’t you worried though?” she asked, then leaned in and kissed Stella’s shoulder up to her neck and her ear, making her moan softly. Wrapped in white sheets, they were sitting up in bed, drinking coffee with the windows wide open. She loved waking up like this, to the sound of birdsong, Stella’s cats and the Spanish music coming from the café on the square. A week in, and she hadn’t slept in the guest room once.
“Worried about what? That we’ll exhaust ourselves from having too much sex?” Stella chuckled. “Please specify.”
Lisa grinned. “What I meant was, aren’t you worried we’ll grow too close? Because I’ll have to return to London at some point. Even if I don’t find a job to go back to, I’ll run out of funds and besides, I can only stay in Spain for three months unless I work here.”
“I know.” Stella sighed as she turned to her, resting her temple against the headboard. “But I’d rather have you now than not have you at all. You British think too much.” She took Lisa’s hand and pressed it against her chest. “Feel my heart. You make it race, so why deny myself something good even if it might hurt down the line?”
