A Scandalous Midnight in Madrid

Thumbing his sharp black stubble as he regarded her through narrowed eyes, Alejandro observed, ‘You were staggering with shock only minutes ago, so go to bed and give yourself chance to recover.’

Her fantasies about the Gypsy King and the innocent chef were truly misguided, Sadie reasoned as Alejandro took her by the arm to steer her towards Marissa’s caravan. He had zero tolerance, and while she found his decisive nature attractive, it put him firmly in the ‘Don’t go there’ category. She couldn’t guarantee that she wouldn’t make a few more blunders before her work was finished in the mountains, and she could only prove a disappointment to such a connoisseur of women.

And she had more sense, Sadie reassured herself as Alejandro, having handed her over to Marissa, returned to his group of friends and slipped easily into conversation, as if nothing unusual had occurred on the tranquil, starry night.

CHAPTER SEVEN

MARISSA WAS MORE than happy for Sadie to spend the night in her caravan and was careful not to ask questions unless Sadie offered the information...such as why she had disappeared in the middle of the party.

‘I went exploring and got myself into a spot of bother. Luckily, your brother found me before I took the shortcut to the village.’

‘Over the cliff?’ Marissa’s hand shot to her mouth. ‘Never wander around here in the dark. I know it all looks so homey and safe, but that’s only because the camp is located on a plateau. There are dangers all around. If you stray far, any one of us could get into trouble.’

‘Don’t I know it,’ Sadie agreed as she sipped her late-night drink of hot milk, which Marissa had insisted would help her to sleep.

‘Did my brother upset you?’ Marissa asked as she plonked herself down on the narrow twin bed next to Sadie’s. ‘Is that why you left?’

‘No. I managed this all by myself,’ Sadie admitted, pulling a face. ‘I was just lucky that Alejandro realised I was heading into trouble, and decided to follow me—’

‘Wait a minute...didn’t my brother find you on the trail the first time around? Weren’t you hooked onto a tree? This is becoming a dangerous habit, and one you must break. He might not always be around to save you.’

‘I don’t expect him to be around. I should think he’s had enough of me by now.’

Marissa laughed. ‘I’ve known Alejandro all his life, and if he spends any time with you at all, he’s interested.’

‘I think he tolerates me, and then only barely,’ Sadie admitted.

‘Well, next time, let me show you around. I would have liked to join you.’

‘In jumping over a cliff?’ Sadie suggested wryly. They both laughed, and then she added, ‘And as for your brother? He’s a lot more than I could handle.’

‘Would you like to? Handle him, I mean,’ Marissa teased.

When they had finished laughing, Marissa gutsily, and Sadie pretending she was taking all this in her stride, Marissa insisted, ‘You do like him. You’re just not ready to admit it yet...maybe not even to yourself.’

‘Are you trying to set me up with him?’

‘Me?’ Marissa widened her eyes. ‘Whatever makes you think that?’

‘The circumstantial evidence is overwhelming?’ Sadie suggested with a grin.

‘So, I like you,’ Marissa admitted with a smile and a shrug. ‘What are you going to do about it?’

‘You like me, and your way of showing this is to throw me in your brother’s path?’

‘He’s not so bad. Don’t believe everything you hear about him. And from what you say, you threw yourself in his path. As for my feelings on the subject?’ Marissa pulled a comic face. ‘Alejandro needs bringing into line, and you’re the best hope I’ve got.’

Sadie couldn’t pretend she wasn’t thrilled to have Marissa’s approval, but she had to tell her the truth. ‘I’m not sure I’m qualified. My experience of men is practically nil.’

‘Yes, you are,’ Marissa insisted with more force than Sadie expected. ‘You’re a gutsy woman who knows exactly what’s going on.’

‘I wish—’

‘Don’t tell me you can’t see what’s happening between you and Alejandro,’ Marissa insisted. ‘If you walk away from him now, you might regret it for the rest of your life.’

Sadie sighed and shook her head. ‘How can you know that?’

Flicking her hair back, Marissa fixed an intent stare on Sadie’s face. ‘Forget what you think you know about our people reading tarot cards, tea leaves and crystal balls, because nothing on this earth can ever come close to a woman’s intuition.’

* * *

The night after rescuing Sadie felt like the longest night of his life. He was up at dawn to go riding, and when he cantered back into camp and saw Sadie with some of the older members of the community gathered around her, he reined in, transfixed. She looked so fresh and natural, friendly and warm, as if nothing untoward had happened last night to rattle her professional persona. She was as adept at switching between professional and personal as he was.

Having watched for a while, he sprang down from the saddle. Not once had she glanced across, and a very primal part of him wanted her as acutely conscious of him as he was of her. He led his horse over to the group, where he discovered they were sharing family recipes. How long would that take? After a restless night, staring out of his caravan window at stars that seemed close enough to grab hold of, he was impatient to be alone with Sadie.

‘Good morning,’ Sadie said politely, glancing up at last.

A happy chorus of ‘Buenos días, Don Alegon,’ chimed out from people he loved, all of whom he acknowledged warmly, while wanting Sadie to stop what she was doing and pay attention to him. But that would not be Sadie, and he admired her dedication even when it led to delay. Just as she had in the kitchen of El Gato Feroz, she was concentrating on the current situation, which, in this case, included the people around her. If she included him in the discussion, it was in the same interested and informative manner that she spoke to everyone else. He couldn’t help but smile inwardly as he watched and waited. What he had really wanted when he arrived back from his ride, he conceded, was for Sadie to rush over and throw her arms around him. What she did was pass around a tray of freshly baked lemon cakes for everyone to try.

‘These magdalenas are good,’ he commented.

‘Top-quality ingredients and careful preparation,’ Sadie informed him in her no-nonsense cook’s voice.

‘Preparation is vital to any task,’ he replied straight-faced.

He saw by a flicker in her eyes that she knew exactly what he was talking about, but she continued on with her class unfazed.

‘Each and every dish deserves to be developed to its full potential,’ she told the group surrounding her, but her gaze lingered on him. ‘Don’t you agree, Don Alegon?’

‘Absolutely,’ he said.

The staring standoff lasted a few moments more, and then she carried on, until eventually the class ended and her students drifted away.

‘You seem to have made yourself at home here,’ he remarked.

‘I can’t help myself. I love it here. Apart from El Gato Feroz, I’ve never truly felt that I belonged.’

‘And before that?’

‘Before that, I was like tumbleweed, going wherever life took me. A fairly restricted life as a child should have warned me that life on a super-yacht wasn’t for me, but I tried it, and it was there that I did my first professional cooking, so no experience is ever truly wasted. I love the freedom here, and I love the open-mindedness of the people.’ Her shoulders lifted and fell as she admitted, ‘I’m happy.’

‘And you seem to have made quite an impression,’ he observed, seeing the knots of people chatting together and shooting admiring glances at Sadie.

‘I just love to share,’ she said, ‘and so do your people. I really enjoy my work, and I enjoy learning

from them.’

He couldn’t imagine Sadie ever being selfish with her knowledge. Her natural warmth wouldn’t allow it.

‘Sadie?’ he prompted when she felt silent.

‘I haven’t always been able to share,’ she admitted. ‘When I lived at home my opinions were considered worthless.’

‘So you kept it all in, and saved it for us,’ he said gently. He could see from her face this was going too fast, and that she hadn’t meant to mention her childhood, so he backed off. ‘Have you eaten anything yet?’

‘No,’ she admitted. ‘Have you?’