God, she fancied him.
She could have left it there, just walked off and it would have been over. No games, no pretense, just his question, which she answered honestly. 'Dinner away from the hotel sounds great,' she said. 'I will just...' She held up her bags and was about to suggest that she take them up and meet him back here in...half an hour, or however long it took to get showered and dressed.
But by then she'd have changed her mind, she knew.
Half an hour from now she'd be calling the Receptionist to pass on a message to him.
Or she could just go with how she felt now.
'I will just ask the Reception if they can take my bags up.'
The street were noisy and he navigated them easily and took her to a place that kylie would never have found had she explored on her own— a few streets along the strip the hotel was on. They walked down a stone stairwell and to an asado restaurant that was noisy and smoky, even with an open area out the back.
'So are you pleased your talk is over?' He asked when they were tucked away at a table.
'Very,' Kylie replied. Now, I can relax.'
And relax she did, admitting she had no clue about Spanish wine and letting him choose.
'Are you staying till Monday?' He asked, and she shook her head.
'No, I have a flight till tomorrow evening, Then back to work on Monday. I wish...'
'Wish what?'
'Well, I was really only thinking of my talk when I booked the flights. I like Madrid so much, if I knew I was going to like this place, I should have tagged on a couple of day's annual leave and done a bit of exploring.'
'You always could.'
It sounded very tempting but it was a little too late for that now. 'We are pretty short on staff at the moment. My colleague Andrew is going on leave and Hamish, he's the other consultant...' She rolled her eyes. 'I'm sure you know how it is.'
'Please, remind me,' he said.
'Remind you?' She checked. 'Where do you work?'
'Scotland.'
She waited for him to elaborate, which he did but it was fragile rather than specific. 'I work a little bit here and a longer bit there,' Ken said, and Kylie then felt the scrutiny of his gaze and the message behind his words as he spoke on. 'I don't like being tied to a place,' And then he elaborated properly. ' Or a person.'
Well, that certainly told her.
In part, Kylie was tempted to simply get up and leave.
It wasn't a meal, they both knew that. This wasn't two like—minded colleagues sharing a dinner after a busy day at a conference.
This was exactly what the dear Dr Alora had ordered.
Kylie was old enough to know what he is talking about.
Their knees were nudging and suddenly her lips felt too big for her face without the resting place of his mouth.
She felt his eyes glance down as she reached for her drink and from the sudden weight in her breasts she knew where his glance had been. Only, it wasn't sleazy. Or if it was, it came from both of them because she'd been doing the same to his bum a little earlier as he'd walked down the stairs.
No, this wasn't just dinner.
'Do you have a problem with that?' he said, and she blinked as she tried to remember the conversation. Oh,.yes, the not to tied to one person thing, he was asking if she had a problem with that.
Did she?
Yes, a part of her did.
Very much so.
A part of her wanted to tell him where he could shove his arrogant, offer made on the basis of a supposition and head back to her hotel room and Bury herself in the grief of today.
Yet the other part of cat thrummed in suspense. Could she simply let loose and enjoy a night of a passion with a very beauitful man with the cast iron guarantee of no future?
It was refreshingly tempting.
He was seriously beauitful. Far more so than she was used to.
He was also rather more brusque and arrogant than she would choose, just rather too alpha for her.
She was tired, so tired of the inevitable let down in relationships, the starting gun of hope, the numerous false starts and then the sprint that turned into an exhausting jog, and then standing bent, hands on thighs, and admitting defeat, because the two of you were just not going to make it to the finish line.
She was surprised at the ease of her decision.
'No.' Kylie finally smiled. 'I have no problem with that.'
'Good.'
Housekeeping sorted, she tried to focus on the menu but, at thirty-three, she felt she'd just passed her driving test and had been given the keys but was far from skilled enough to drive.
'Estan listos para ordenar?'
The waiter came over and presumably asked if they were ready to order.
'I will have paella.' She handed back the menu.
'The chicken here,' Ken said, 'is the best you will ever taste...'
Her eyes narrowed. Usually she'd say that she'd like the paella, thank you for interfering. She certainly didn't need a man choosing her food and yet as she glanced around, sure enough, the locals were eating the chicken.
Oh, he was so far from her usual fare but, no, he didn't need to be perfect tonight.
'When in Spain...' She shrugged.
She had the chicken and,.as had promised, it was amazing.
'Lemony, herby, and so fat and juicy,' Kylie commented on her second mouthful.
'And salty,' Ken said. 'We will be up all night, guzzling water...'
He was presumptuous.
She knew, though, that he was right.
The rest of the world, the past, the future, was like rain as they huddled, as if under some imaginary umbrella, and enjoyed the spectacular food, the music that filled the restaurant.
They barely talked about work. She said something being the only the female consultant and how they gave every gynae patient to her. He mentioned how he'd lived in London till a couple years ago, just half an hour or so away from her.
But then work got left behind and she found out how he loved the architecture in Edinburgh but was fast falling in love with Spain.
And she told him about her passion for renovation, and her obsession with wallpaper, how she could spend hours leafing through sample books but, even then, you could never quite know how it would look once up.
Usually she never got to that part as eyed had long since glazed over with boredom.
His glazed with lust.
'Do you put it up yourself?' Ken asked.
'I do,' She smiled.
'I feel emasculated.'
'Oh, I doubt you could ever be that.'
It was Ken who then smiled.
Was it wrong? She wondered as they danced.
Was it wrong to be dancing and happy on his birthday?
Tonight it felt right.
A sexy flamenco dancer was kicking his heels and strumming away and then, when he slowed things down, Kylie felt her cheeks blaze with fire for sins not yet committed as Ken pulled her into him.
His fingers ran lightly down her bare back and it felt utterly blissful.
Fourteen hours later than I'd have preferred,' Ken said into her ear, because that was how long it had been since he'd first itched for the feel of that sexy spine beneath his fingers.
'Well, I'm glad for your sake that you waited,' she said, imagining her reaction had been so bold.
His touch didn't feel bold now; it felt right.
When the music ended they made it back to their table and when the bill came Kylie did her usual and put her card down.
'We can split it in halves,' she said as he picked up the card to hand it back to her.
'Don't do that, Kylie,'
'What?'
'Ruin a perfectly good night.'
If she was setting the ground rules for the future, she'd have insisted on paying her way.
Instead, they were setting the ground rules.fot tonight and she shivered in the warm night air as they headed for the hotel.
They walked back along the beach. It was after eleven but not really dark thanks to a near full moon and, despite the hour, the beach was far from deserted.
'There are some gorgeous beaches not far from here,' he said. 'Are you still determined to head back without seeing the place?'
'I am, though I wish I'd known just how much I'd like it,' she admitted. 'I'm going to come again but next time for a holiday. You're here a lot, then?
'Quite a bit,' Ken said. 'My family lives here.'
'Oh.'
She ached to know more about him but Reticent was possibly his middle name, apart from long conversations about everything and nothing, he gave away little.
The only thing she was sure of was their attraction.
'Which is why,' he continued, 'when I saw the conference was being held this year in Madrid I decided to combine them both. I'm very glad now that I did.' He turned her around and she looked into his dark eyes and his face. He was unreadable. 'I wish you had got here on Thursday.'
'Why?' She asked, her brain a bit sluggish with his mouth so close. She was far too used to focusing on work and she assumed that she must have missed some spectacular talk, or some cutting edge revelation. The answer was far more basic than that.
'We could have had three nights instead of one.'
Still, he didn't kiss her, though she ached, ached for him to do so, but he just smiled in the dark like a beauitful devil and then they walked on.
Back at the hotel Kylie was breathless, though not from walking, as they stepped into the foyer. They went through Reception and there was a lot of noise coming from the bar from their fellow attendees.
'Did you want to go to the bar?' Ken offered.
'Yes.'
'Again,' he said, 'he said, 'she lies.'
Kylie smiled. 'She does.'
They headed for the elevators.
No, he didn't ask her for her floor.
He pressed his.
They stood backs against opposite walls facing each other as the lift groaned it's way up, letting people in, letting people out.
And his eyes never left her face.
With three floors remaining they were finally alone and still he did not beckon.
Stay, Kylie told herself, though she felt like a Labrador waiting for Christmas Dinner.
Ping!
She walked slowly only because he did.
And his steady hand swiped the card and opened the door to his room.
Would he offer her a drink? Kylie wondered as she looked around.
She was Nervous?
And this is not her first time, having sex but he had this aura around that makes Kylie want him so bad.