Part of her thought that was the decent, chivalrous thing to do, but another part wondered why he wasn’t itching to take her clothes off. Will was a good man, not the sort to take advantage of her in this slightly tipsy state. But then neither would Felipe; he was a good man, too. He was a very good man. They were both good men. She blinked, trying to keep things straight in her head and then decided that perhaps thinking wasn’t working too well for her at the moment. She needed to close her eyes and sleep.
Rebecca woke to a raging thirst. She drained a glass of water and realised she needed more to down the headache pills she had in her handbag. The corridor to the stairs was well lit by the moonand she headed quickly down the stairs. When she reached the kitchen, she stopped, surprised by the smell of fresh coffee, and when she felt the pot on the side she found it was still warm. Who else was up at this time? It was 3:10 am. Coffee, however, was very appealing. She poured herself a cup and was about to go back upstairs when a glow of light coming through the doorway of the main lounge made her pause. Peeping through the gap, she saw that the room itself was in darkness but there was a light on in a room just off the other side. She’d noticed the door before but never been inside. Not sure why she was doing it other than to perhaps switch off the light, she slipped inside and crossed over to the other room.
It was clearly a study. There was a large, old-fashioned desk dominating the wall in front of the window, upon which sat two large computer monitors, a laptop and Felipe’s dark head resting on top of a pile of paper, a half-drunk cup of coffee by his right hand. There was a flutter in her chest as she gazed at him. He looked uncharacteristically young and vulnerable, and more relaxed than she’d ever seen him. It occurred to her in that moment that he always kept up a slight guard, as if holding part of himself back. Now, the happy-go-lucky, super-confident facade had been peeled away. Studying him, she could see that his skin was taut over his cheekbones and there were dark circles under his eyes.
‘Felipe,’ she said, moving the coffee out of reach before gently reaching out to touch him, not wanting to startle him.
Those ink-black eyelashes fluttered against his cheek and he lifted his hand, blinking in surprise.
‘Rebecca,’ he mumbled, frowning. He screwed up his eyes, closing them and then opening them. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘I came down to get some water and saw the light on.’
He sat up and stretched, putting his hands to the small of his back and wincing. ‘What time is it?’
‘Must be about twenty past three.’
He blinked at his screen and then rubbed his eyes. ‘Merda.’
‘What were you doing?’ Her initial assumption was that he’d been playing a video game or something, because it was something her brothers did and then they ended up sleeping on the sofa, having kept everyone awake with their shouts and insults at each other, at the screen and at other players online.
‘Working,’ he said with a sigh. He scowled. ‘I didn’t mean to fall asleep.’ With a twist of his wrist, he checked the time. ‘Thanks for waking me.’ She could tell he was forcing his eyes to stay open.
‘I think you might need to go to bed,’ she said.
‘Thanks. I just need to finish something,’ he said and she realised he was waiting for her to leave.
‘Felipe, you’re knackered. Why don’t you wait until the morning? It’ll still be there.’
‘Yes,’ he said with a world-weariness she’d not seen before, ‘but there will also be a load of other stuff. It’s best if I get this finished.’
She shook her head. ‘Seriously, you’ll be able to function much better once you’ve had some sleep.’
‘Thanks, but I really need to keep going.’
Rebecca put her hands on her hips. ‘Well, at least take a ten-minute break. Honestly, you’ll feel better for it and it’s not like you’re breaking the flow at the moment. Bring your coffee, we’ll go outside and get some fresh air.’
‘You going to time me?’ he asked, his lips curving with faint amusement that she was relieved to see.
‘Absolutely.’
She picked up his coffee cup and led the way out of the room, put the drink into the microwave and zapped it for a minute.
Giving him the steaming cup, she opened the door that led out to the pool area. Like a toddler promised a biscuit, hefollowed her without a word and she realised that his whole body drooped with exhaustion.
‘How long have you been working?’ she asked.
A mulish expression took hold of Felipe’s face and it was so unexpected and so out of character that Rebecca laughed. ‘Put that pet lip away. Sit down and take a few deep breaths before you drink your coffee, although caffeine is not the answer.’
She was quite taken aback when he obediently did as he was told before taking a long grateful slug of coffee.
‘Thanks, that’s better already.’ His eyes were sharper and he gave her a tight smile.
‘So what’s so important?’ she asked.
Felipe sighed. ‘Believe it or not, running this place takes quite a lot of time and effort. There’s always something that needs doing. There aren’t enough hours in the day to do all the paperwork and manage the emails. It’s easier to do in the evenings when I’m not going to be interrupted. I can get more done.’
‘But don’t you have a manager to take care of all that?’ asked Rebecca, perplexed.
