‘Onetwothree,’ said Felipe very quickly, just as she’d done. ‘And normally you saygo.’
She took a cheerful slug of orange juice. ‘Snooze, you lose.’
‘Come out cycling with me and I’ll show you a proper workout.’
‘Think I can’t keep up?’
‘Oh, you two aren’t bickering again, are you?’ asked Ana, a touch exasperated, which, to be fair, thought Rebecca, she had grounds to be, because she and Felipe had pretty much the same sort of conversation every weekday morning at breakfast.
‘Healthy disagreement,’ said Rebecca, ‘with the emphasis on healthy.’
‘Talking of healthy, why don’t you come for a bike ride this afternoon with me?’
‘I’d love to. I haven’t been out in ages. Have you got a bike I can use? Although Kimberley said that would be a stupid question.’
‘I can fix you up, no problem. I’d like to talk to you about retreat plans and come up with a proposal to present to Inês. Why don’t you meet me at four-fifteen at the back of the spa? I have a bike shed there.’
‘You have a whole bike shed?’
‘It’s my man cave.’
‘It’s really his red room of pain,’ said Katerina. ‘We’re not allowed in there.’
‘Katerina Rebelo, how do you even know about such things?’ exclaimed Ana.
‘We saw theFifty Shadesfilm.’
Ana tried to look cross.
‘It’s a bike shed, nothing more,’ repeated Felipe, giving Katerina a quelling stare that she blithely ignored.
‘He used to sit in there for hours with bits of gear and chains and cogs and bike pedals. He was such a nerd when he was a boy,’ said Ana with a quick laugh.
Felipe shrugged but Rebecca remembered just how much he’d given up for his family. No wonder he wasn’t prepared to give up what little freedom he had left.
How ironic, thought Rebecca, unlocking the door to room 3, that today of all days she was cleaning Will’s room. Their talk, insteadof reassuring her, had actually left her more confused. He’d worked all day yesterday, so they’d not spent any more time together, but she couldn’t help contrasting Felipe’s enthusiasm for her body and the passion that had spilled between them to Will’s reticence; it had been preying on her mind for most of yesterday. They were very different men, she kept telling herself, as she knocked twice before entering the room in case Will was busy working. It would be so embarrassing if he was in there. She felt uncomfortable enough as it was, as if she were snooping. Removing the wet towels from his bathroom, she cleaned the sink, slightly irritated that he’d left his beard shavings all around the bowl. It was something her brothers had always done at home and it had driven her mad.
With the bathroom done, she glanced at her watch and moved on to the bedroom, praying that he didn’t come back and find her in here. It seemed a terrible invasion of privacy, especially with that picture of Alicia staring back at her from beside the bed. Would he have moved it from his bedside the night he took that other woman home with him? From the fairly desperate snogging going on, Rebecca was reasonably confident that bed had been their only destination. Tension flared along her jaw and she realised she was clenching her teeth.
It still hurt that he’d done that, even though he’d apologised. Like he said, what was done was done, but it still rubbed at her. He hadn’t demonstrated that throw-caution-to-the-winds, sensible-be-damned impatience to kiss her that he had with the woman at the ball.
Working quickly, she straightened his sheets and tried not to think of him lying here in bed, sleeping. It felt slightly creepy. Instead, an image of Felipe, his dark skin against crisp white cotton in Lisbon, popped into her head, his legs tangled in the sheets, his hair rumpled, and that amused, pleased-with-himself smile on his face. An odd ache tugged at her, almost like regret.Felipe had been fun. She hadn’t had to be on her best behaviour or worry about performance issues. Not like now. What would Will be like in bed? Gentle? Passionate? Would he compare her to Alicia?
She pushed back the top sheet and tugged the under sheet straight so that it was taut across the mattress. Just as she took the top sheet in her hands, she heard footsteps and looked up to see Will.
‘What are you doing in here?’ Cross lines fanned out from his eyes, as suspicion wreathed his face.
‘I-I’m c-cleaning,’ Rebecca stammered.
Will stared at her, his mouth a little petulant.
‘It’s part of my job here.’
‘Yes, but… my room? It doesn’t feel right.’ He glanced around as if she might have been going through his things.
‘I haven’t touched anything, I promise you. Would you prefer I come back later? Why don’t you let me know when would be a good time?’
‘No,’ he said. ‘Sorry, I’m being silly.’ He laughed awkwardly. ‘It’s a bit… You work here and you’re paid to be here and you’re in my bedroom. I don’t know, I can’t quite separate the two.’
