She nudged him with her elbow again. ‘I pray not. Do you know what the most humiliating thing was?’ The bleakness in her tone stopped him from replying.
‘Will took one look at the pretty, petite, teeny tiny fairy sitting beside him in a frilly dress with perfect hair, make-up and nails, spent all night talking to her and then he took her home.’
Felipe felt a spike of anger on Rebecca’s behalf. He’d not known her for long and already gleaned that she was honest and transparent, forthright and direct. How could this guy not have known how she felt?
‘The man’s an idiot.’
He put an arm around her and drew her in for a kiss, pausing just long enough for her to push him away if she chose. She didn’t. Instead, she stared at him, into his eyes.
‘I like you, Felipe.’
‘I like you too, Rebecca.’
His lips lowered to hers and he felt a fierce punch of satisfaction when her mouth opened beneath his and she kissed him back. Neither of them noticed the sun go down, and when it was time to walk back to the hotel, he slung his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in close.
Chapter Seven
Rebecca stretched her arms above her head.
‘And deep breath, one last circle.’ She watched as the class followed her final movements. ‘And thank you.’ She stepped back, feeling the calm sink over her body as it always did after a Pilates session. There was nothing quite like it for soothing the mind and easing the tension in the body. She always found she was so busy thinking about her breathing and checking her position that there wasn’t room for anything else in her head; teaching was the same– keeping an eye on everyone and checking each person was in the correct position or that they weren’t struggling with the exercises.
‘Thank you so much. That was brilliant,’ said the woman who’d clearly been doing Pilates for a long time. ‘You’re an excellent teacher. I’ve been doing classes for fifteen years and you’re one of the best teachers I’ve ever had.’
‘Thank you so much,’ said Rebecca, feeling a hot rush of pleasure and hoping that stern-faced Inês was taking this in. It was the end of her first full week and very intimidating to realise that halfway through the first class of the day, Inês was standingjust outside the shaded sun terrace watching her every move.Better late than never, thought Rebecca, who’d been wondering why her boss hadn’t observed a class before. If she were running the place, she’d have been there on the first day.
‘That’s really kind of you to say.’ Aside from hopefully gaining Inês’s approval, it gave Rebecca a huge amount of satisfaction when someone said they’d got a lot out of her class. It made her feel like she was doing something really positive. ‘If you wouldn’t mind, it would be great if you could leave a review on the hotel website. Plus word of mouth is always appreciated, so please do tell other people.’
‘You bet. Thanks again. I’ll be back tomorrow and I think I’ll bring my husband.’
Inês gave the barest of approving nods before turning and walking away without a word. Rebecca decided there and then that she’d do her absolute best to get the woman to crack a smile.
Gathering up all the mats, she stacked them away and decided to hunt down some breakfast. Maria had told her last night that breakfast was very informal and everyone came and went as they pleased and helped themselves.
She checked her rota on her phone, using the app that Inês had told her to download. For all its rustic charm, she’d already realised that everything in the hotel ran very smoothly. This morning, as every day, there was time for breakfast before starting in the spa at nine, where she’d be on reception and light cleaning duties for the morning before helping service bedrooms from twelve, and then today she had a final class at four o’clock.
Her stomach rumbled as she entered the kitchen.
‘Hey, Rebecca,’ called Cristina with all the bouncy enthusiasm of a twelve-year-old. ‘Did you have many people turn up?’ She glanced at her sister and Rebecca got the impression she was missing something.
‘Four, which is okay.’ She wasn’t expecting a huge turnout. Not every guest would be interested in taking part. She’d have liked more participants, but it was early days.
‘Ha! Inês said no one would go.’
‘Did she?’ Rebecca straightened, wondering why she’d been employed if that was the case.
‘Yes,’ said Katerina with a smile reminiscent of Felipe, and the two girls high-fived each other. ‘Inês is cross. Felipe made her do it. She said it was a waste of time and that he was making a big mistake.’
‘Well, she was wrong.’ And Rebecca would prove her wrong. Although she still didn’t know what to make of the news that it was Felipe who had insisted on offering Pilates. Clearly, he wasn’t above throwing his weight around the place.
‘Why don’t you come along sometime? Give it a try?’
The two of them looked a little dubious.
‘I’d like to try one day,’ said Ana, coming into the kitchen carrying a plate of pastries that smelled so amazing, Rebecca almost groaned out loud. ‘But I’ve never done it before.’
At her diffidence, Rebecca was quick to reassure her. ‘That’s no problem. I tailor the exercises according to people’s experience. Come try it.’ She winked. ‘If you don’t like it, I’ll give you your money back.’
‘But we don’t have to pay,’ Cristina pointed out.
