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Alec audibly swallowed behind me, and the need for levity weighed on the conversation.
‘Plus, you fuck like an absolute beast. That trumps in-laws any day.’
His throaty chuckle soothed me as he wrapped his arms around me, idly running his fingers over my chest as I tipped my head back against his shoulder.
‘You’re something else, Esther.’
‘In a good way, I hope?’ I teased.
‘In the best way.’
TWENTY-EIGHT
ALEC
The library we’d found had a computer. A frustratingly slow, entirely in-Spanish computer. Eventually, I logged into my bank account to get my card details and then manoeuvred around a site for flights. There was one that left for Barcelona the following morning. I could use the last of my cash to get us bus tickets and have us home by suppertime. There were multiple flights with seats available for each day, if I was honest. Glancing over at Esther, where she was browsing a small section of English books, flipping between them and smiling to herself, I chose one three days out.
I had to take her home. But selfishly, I wanted more time with her first. As soon as we were home, she’d be off limits. The thought of Harold claiming her made me want to vomit. She wasn’t the spoiled mafia princess I’d believed her to be at all. She was sweet, sassy, passionate, and no-nonsense. And I wanted to keep her with every fibre of my being. If only I’d realised before she knew she had to return, and before her sister had to fill her spot. Then we could have disappeared together, spent our days wrapped up in one another, and forgotten that our world back in Scotland ever existed.
Three days.
It wasn’t enough. Nothing short of forever would be.
I waded through more sites, trying to find somewhere that I could purchase a phone in the town using my details online. No luck.
Esther had tucked herself in a chair, reading a book as she twirled a dark strand of hair around her finger. Adorable.
Pretending to keep battling the internet, I stayed quiet about being finished and spent the next hour basking in her. Soaking up every moment from my spot across the room. Like an absolute creep. I’d spent months watching her from afar, and never dreaming she’d be mine, even if only for a few days.
She flicked from page to page, her cheeks reddening every now and again. Eventually, she looked up and blushed furiously.
‘You’re just flicking through and reading the dirty bits, aren’t you?’
She stammered and quickly shut the book. Her face was beetroot as I laughed. ‘Don’t worry, baby. I don’t mind you doing a little research.’
‘Research?’ she said.
‘For later.’ I smirked as she squirmed in her seat.
We walked through the town, spending the afternoon looking every bit like a pair of tourists. At some point, she’d slipped her hand into mine to drag me toward a shop window. My heart had skipped about twenty beats, leaving me breathless as I looked down at our entangled fingers. The gentle intimacy shook me far more than any of the sexual connections we’d had. When she’d noticed me staring at our hands, she’d blushed and tried to pull her fingers away. I took them right back, gripping her hand in my own and leading us down the street, enjoying every second of her touch.
For the rest of the lazy afternoon, I let myself imagine we were the sweet, love-struck tourists the rest of the world could perceive us as instead of the perverse situation we actually found ourselves in.
Using the last of our money, other than the bus fare I’d set aside, we shared a large portion of Patatas Bravas at a tiny café as the street flowed with people around us. Esther moaned as she bit into one of the crisp potato bites, catching a drop of the spicy tomato sauce that threatened to fall from her fork.
‘Oh, my god. It’s so good.’
I tucked in, the savoury flavours exploding in my mouth. ‘It puts chips, cheese, and gravy to shame.’
Her laugh filled me with a honeyed warmth. ‘Let’s not get hasty.’
‘You’ve had chips, cheese, and gravy? With your chefs on board, I wouldn’t have thought you would have stooped so low on the culinary ladder.’
‘I may have had chefs, but I didn’t live under a rock. I still went to Uni, and I still had drunken nights out with pals. We just had men with guns tailing us while we ate the takeout.’
People watching always made me both curious and lonely, seeing the lovers, the families, and the joy surrounding me as I sat alone. That day it felt different. Esther’s thigh pressed up against mine as she chatted away, smiling as though there wasn’t a problem in the world. It was glorious to be one of the happy people, even if it was only long enough to get a glimpse of what could be.
‘Man, I’m going to reek of garlic from this sauce. You’ll not want to kiss me after this,’ Esther said with a grin.
