A silence fell.
‘Bianca—’ he began, his voice harsh, and she had to stop him, could not let him finish that sentence.
In a stiffly polite voice she interrupted, ‘Thank you for asking me, but I have taken to having a siesta in the afternoon.’ Then she went on with barely a pause, ‘Why are you building a new hotel? Are you bored with this one?’
‘No, not at all, but I have got this place running very smoothly; it can almost run itself now, so I want the challenge of a new project.’
Was that the way he lived? Moving from one challenge to another? Hadn’t Freddie said something along those lines? That Gil was restless, always moving on... was that the way he ran his private life too? Did he move on from woman to woman?
She hadn’t thought he was that sort of man, but what did she know about him?
‘My new place is going to be a sports complex as well as a hotel,’ he was saying with obvious excitement. This was a subject close to his heart, she could see. ‘The hotel will be surrounded by a competition-size golf course, I’m building a series of tennis courts, and an Olympic-sized swimming-pool—and I shall have a staff of top professionals in all the sports to coach visitors.’
‘Won’t all that cost a lot of money?’ she said, taken aback.
‘Millions,’ he agreed cheerfully, and she looked up, eyes wide. He must be far richer than she had suspected!
He smiled wryly at her. ‘I’m not risking all my own money—I have a partner—an American hotel chain which is keen to invest in this part of Spain. They are putting up a large chunk of the money, I am supervising the project here, and when the hotel complex is finished I’ll be managing it for the first two years. Meanwhile, I’m training my assistant manager to take over here full time.’
‘It sounds fascinating—and it’s just the sort of hotel my son would love—Tom is very keen on sport of any kind.’
Gil’s eyes were intent. ‘He’s the fifteen-year-old? Have you talked to your children lately? How are they coping?’
She relaxed now that they were on such safe ground. She was always happy to talk about her children. ‘Fine, they claim, but I suspect they’re living on take-aways and junk food. Goodness knows what the house looks like, too; I only hope they’ll make some effort to tidy up before I get home.’
Gil gave her a quick, narrowed glance. ‘You’re here for another three days, though, aren’t you? You booked for a fortnight, and you’re on a special flight back; it can’t be changed.’
She nodded, fighting to keep all expression out of her face, not wanting him to guess what was in her mind. Knowing that he was going to be out all afternoon tomorrow had given her an idea. She would ring the airport later and see if she could book herself on to a scheduled flight back to England, then she could pack her case, order a taxi and check out of the hotel without Gil knowing anything about it. She would leave a letter for Freddie apologising about dinner tomorrow night.
Freddie ran back, flushed and out of breath after a vigorous swim. ‘It’s wonderful in the sea today, Gil! The water is perfect; it’s warming up nicely now, but it’s so refreshing!’ She threw herself down on her mattress and towelled herself, put a fresh application of suntan oil on her smoothly tanned skin, and lay down in the sun with a sigh.
Bianca lay down too, and picked up her book rather pointedly.
‘Well, I’ll go and have a swim myself, then,’ Gil said, watching her. ‘I’ll see you both later.’
Bianca watched him run down to the sea, his tall, lean figure attracting a lot of attention—she saw other women lifting their heads to stare openly, their eyes skimming over that golden-skinned body in the brief black swimming-trunks.
‘Gorgeous, isn’t he?’ Freddie said softly, and Bianca gave her a startled look, flushing.
‘What? Oh...’
Freddie grinned at her, refusing to let her deny it. ‘You know he is! And he’s a very nice man, too; he’s terrific company, but he’s also thoughtful and kind-hearted. You can trust Gil, Bianca. If I weren’t so fond of my husband, I’d jump at Gil myself.’
Bianca forced a laugh. ‘I won’t tell Karl you said so!’
‘Oh, Karl knows how fond of Gil I am—and he’s fond of him, too. He was my brother-in-law, but for years now I’ve thought of him more like a brother.’
Bianca was touched by the sincerity in her voice and sighed. ‘That’s nice, Freddie. I know he’s fond of you too.’
Freddie gave her a hesitant, uncertain glance. ‘My sister didn’t make Gil happy; I know the failure of his marriage upset him for years. He is the sort of man who should be happily married; he has a lot to give any woman... I wouldn’t want him to get hurt again.’
Bianca flinched and didn’t know how to answer. A silence fell, and then Freddie put on her headphones and began listening to music, and Bianca could give her attention to her book, but she couldn’t concentrate on it; the story and characters simply didn’t hold her.
Freddie certainly knew Gil. Had known him for years. If she was so fond of him, he had to be as nice as he seemed. The thought did not make Bianca any happier. She didn’t want to hurt him. But she couldn’t trust the powerful instincts that worked in her every time she set eyes on him. It was a madness, this terrible desire; it wasn’t love—it wasn’t anything she had ever known before. She was afraid of it.
She kept sneaking a look down the beach, seeing Gil’s sleek black head bobbing like a seal’s in the sunlit blue sea. He was a vigorous swimmer; his brown arms cutting through the waves effortlessly.
She watched him as he came out of the sea, a glittering, wet, golden figure, the sun striking refractions from his skin so that he almost seemed to have an auriole, a radiance, surrounding him. He walked back up the beach, running a hand over his wet hair to rake it back from his face, picked up his white towelling robe from a chair where he had left it, pulled it on with an elegant shrugging movement and tied the belt around his waist, slid his long, narrow feet into a pair of beach sandals.