‘I never said this was the finish line,’ he said, overtaking her and running across the road.
‘Grr,’ she said and ran after him. He had to dodge a pair of unsuspecting drunk guys, which slowed him down, and once again she weaved her way past him.
A second later he lunged and encircled his arms around her waist and pulled her flush against him to a stop. When she tried to wriggle out of his hold, the touch of his fingers tickled her bare waist, and made her giggle. ‘D-don’t do that!’ she gasped, squirming like a very animated worm.
Felipe’s eyes gleamed. ‘Ticklish?’
‘No,’ she squealed, giving away that the opposite was true.
‘You are!’ he said with delight, and for the next minute he showed no mercy, leaving her bent double, laughing and desperately trying to catch her breath.
‘S-stop!’ she gasped again, her hands on her knees, still giggling. ‘S-stop!’
‘You only had to say,’ he said and picked her up and tossed her over one shoulder, placing his hand on her bottom to balance her.
‘Put me down,’ she laughed, tapping at his back.
‘No, I’m getting you home without any more trouble.’
‘You started it.’
‘And you always have to have the last word.’
‘Always,’ she said with another giggle.
At the door to the house, he backed her up against the wall and slowly let her slide down the length of his body to her feet.
Penned in, she looked up at him, her blood singing at the look in his dark eyes as he caged her body. ‘Now what are you going to do with me?’ she asked, a quick thrill of anticipation thrumming in her veins as she laughed up at his gorgeous face.
‘Everything,’ he said before lowering his mouth to hers.
Chapter Fifteen
He’d done this journey so many times, he could do it on autopilot, which was just as well because he and Rebecca hadn’t stopped talking all day, not since they’d finally peeled themselves out of bed, sweaty and sticky, to shower together one last time. They still had plenty to say as they drove along the motorway back to the Algarve.
This morning, he’d taken her to the LX factory for lunch and they’d wandered arm in arm around the shops and bars of the old factory buildings, before taking the number 28 tram which did a full circuit of the city. Rebecca was a lot of fun. She didn’t take him seriously and never missed an opportunity to tease him, but her teasing didn’t have the competitive upmanship of his cousins and sisters, who were always hoping to score points.
Going on one of the old-fashioned, bright yellow trams was also something he hadn’t done in years. Usually, he avoided them unless he needed to be somewhere because it was a touristy thing to do, but the delight and excitement on Rebecca’s face had made it well worth it. He’d enjoyed pointing out familiar landmarks as they clung to the overhead straps andrattled along the rails up and down narrow streets and steep hills. How could he have forgotten what a good way it was to see the city? Rebecca had given him a new view of his own city and it was chastening as well as uplifting. Had he also forgotten to let himself go? Sure, he dated, but it was fleeting and he always had one foot out of the door, thinking about the next day and what he had to do.
After the tram ride, they’d taken the historic Elevador de Santa Justa, from Baixa to Carmo Square, and she’d marvelled at the Gothic structure before they’d walked back to the apartment to collect their things for the return journey home.
She was the first woman he’d taken there to stay, and as he locked the door, he felt a stab of something he couldn’t pinpoint but which could have been sadness.
‘Would you like to come back again?’ he asked, surprising himself.
‘Love to. I love Lisbon. It’s been so much fun– and don’t forget I didn’t try sardines.’ She pulled a face, indicating how much that had been a problem.
He felt familiar laughter bubbling up at her obvious distaste and couldn’t remember the last time he’d had this much light-hearted fun. She was easy company and her low expectations made him want to exceed them all the time. It troubled him that she thought she deserved so little. And the sex, the closeness, well, that had been a revelation and he was grateful that she wasn’t expecting any more because… he could have given more. The thought unsettled him as had the unexpectedly tender seed of something that had made him scoop her closer last night. Normally he was ready to move on straight after sex. He didn’t want to get caught up in emotions and feelings– he didn’t have the time, space or bandwidth for them. He had a business to run and a family to look after.
‘In fact, I don’t think I can do sardines.’ Jerked from his thoughts, he focused on her unimpressed expression. ‘They have faces. You can see their eyes looking at you. Spooky.’
‘You get over it,’ he told her. ‘And we have plenty of sardines. I’ll take you to the Sardine Fiesta in Olhos De Água in August.’
‘Sardine festival? Seriously?’
‘Yes. It’s lots of fun. A big occasion in the town. Everybody goes.’
‘I’ll take your word for it.’
