Page 42 of The Wedding Pact

Restart the level.

* * *

Once I’ve done just that and got dressed again, I wander back into the living area of the villa to find Raffa already in there, also freshly showered and dressed in shorts and a loose, white cotton T-shirt.

The guy makes everything he wears look like a million dollars. Or maybe that should be a billion.

‘Hey,’ he says, a little distractedly as I walk towards where he’s set his laptop up on the dining table and is tapping away on the keyboard.

I sit down opposite him and stare out at the beautiful view while I wait for him to finish what he’s doing.

After another minute or so, he presses the last key with a flourish and looks up at me, his eyes still a little hazy from concentrating on what he was doing.

‘How would you feel about eating here tonight? I could do with carrying on with this.’ He waves his hand at the laptop screen. ‘Obviously, feel free to go over to the main hotel and have dinner there with everyone else if you’d rather.’

‘Nah,’ I say, thinking about how difficult it would be to have a quiet dinner without Raffa acting as my shield. I’m pretty sure I’d be bombarded with questions from teenagers about my show without him, which I’m not in the mood for right now. ‘I’m happy to eat here tonight,’ I say with vehemence.

‘Great,’ Raffa says, running his hand through his hair, only making it look even more sexily dishevelled.

Ah, hell. Why does he have to be so bloody attractive?

‘Take a look at the menu,’ he says, pushing a piece of card towards me. ‘Ahmed will be over in a minute to take our order and arrange to have whatever we want brought here.’

‘Thanks,’ I say, looking over the menu and feeling my taste buds immediately activate at the descriptions of the delicious-sounding meals on offer.

I’ve just made my decision when Ahmed knocks on the door and at Raffa’s wave of welcome, he walks in and comes to take our orders.

Raffa has obviously already made his decision because he asks for what he wants without consulting the menu.

I watch him as he speaks, impressed with his mix of cordiality and quiet authority. I can imagine him being a good boss. I bet his employees like him.

He turns to look at me and, aware that I’ve been staring at him, I snap my attention back to the task in hand and let Ahmed know my choices before handing the menu back to him.

He gives us both a polite nod then excuses himself, promising to be back with our meals as soon as possible.

After watching him let himself out, I turn back to find Raffa still looking at me with some intensity.

For a second I’m worried he noticed me spacing out while watching him, but my fears are dispelled when he says, ‘Sorry for being rude, but would you mind if I finished what I’m doing here before the food arrives? I want to get everything that’s spinning round my head down before I forget it.’

‘Sure!’ I say, more loudly than I intended, feeling my cheeks rush with a self-conscious warmth. ‘I’ll go and sit on the deck and read for a bit and let you do what you need to do.’ I get up awkwardly and head over to the coffee table where I’ve left my paperback.

I’ve deliberately brought a physical book so I’m not picking up my phone all the time while I’m here, determined to have a digital detox for a few days.

Goodness knows how many messages and alerts I’ll get when I go to upload the reels I’ve recorded here to my HelSkel account once I’m back. That’s the trouble with being so accessible online. The internet never sleeps.

I’m not going to even think about that right now though.

It’s healthy to have a proper break from working. Not that Raffa appears to agree with me on that score.

Stretching out on one of the plush loungers positioned under a wide parasol, I gaze out to sea, the brilliance of the turquoise glow sending thrills of pleasure through me.

God, it’s so exquisitely beautiful here. Like a dream come true.

It almost seems a crime to bury my nose in a book when there’s this view to look at.

I do though, after a few more minutes of staring out at the horizon. My mind is whirring with wayward thoughts about Raffa and I need to distract myself from them for a while.

It’s a good book too, a murder mystery, which is my favourite genre, so I’m totally engrossed in it when I hear a gentle ‘Uh-hum’ and turn to see Ahmed is standing behind me.