Feigning a double take, she stepped up to Laura's table. "Well, hello there! Aren't you the woman from the Quinta Maria?"
Great. This was all she needed. As she took another gulp of coffee to soften the moment, Laura hoped Natalie never tried to audition for drama school. She was the worst actress she'd ever seen.
"Yes, that's right," she managed. "How are you? Is your new hotel up to scratch?"
"Fine, thank you. Not as pretty as the Quinta, of course, but . . ." She shrugged. "Mind if I join you?" When Laura hesitated, she added sweetly, "I owe you an apology."
Defeated by the dictates of courtesy, Laura indicated the seat opposite. "Of course, be my guest."
The waiter came over, sealing Laura's fate. Flirting outrageously with him, Natalie ordered and then turned back to her. Her smile was sickly sweet, but it didn't reach her eyes.
"So, as I was saying, I'd like to apologise. I was unforgivably rude with you the other day."
Laura managed a tight smile. "Don't worry, we all have our bad days." And this is definitely turning into one of mine.
The waiter brought Natalie's coffee. She took a sip, then grimaced. "Bitter." She reached for the sugar and fiddled around with adding it to the coffee and stirring, as though playing for time.
"The thing is, Miss . . . I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name the other morning."
No, because you were too busy being absolutely horrible. "Matheson. Laura Matheson."
"Well, Laura—can I call you Laura?" She didn't wait for a reply before continuing. "It's quite fortuitous that I've bumped into you like this."
Laura wasn't sure she believed it was a coincidence, but since Natalie was staying in a hotel nearby, she had no evidence to the contrary.
"Fortuitous in what way?"
"Two things. Firstly, as I said, to apologise for the other day. Daniel and I are going through a bad patch at the moment . . ."
Bad patch? Is that what she'd call it? "Miss Hartman, there's no need to explain," Laura said hastily.
"Oh, but there is. I wouldn't want you to think I usually behave that way. I'm sure you can imagine how distraught I was to go to all the trouble of planning my little . . . surprise . . . only for Daniel to be so cross. He's been working too hard lately, and I think tiredness got the better of him. That's why I'm giving him some space."
Laura shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Natalie seemed to have put her own spin on events. Daniel had been adamant his relationship with her was finished, but Natalie seemed to be suggesting it was still ongoing. Was she embroidering the truth? Or was Daniel simply having a little fun during their "bad patch" and lying to Laura into the bargain about the relationship being over? Whatever the truth, Laura was keen to finish this conversation.
She drained her coffee. "Well, I hope it all works out, Miss Hartman." She made a move to rise, but Natalie stopped her.
"I did say there were two reasons I was glad I bumped into you," she said. "I'd like to give you a little advice, if I may."
"Oh?"
"I spotted you with Daniel as the boat came back in."
Ah, so now they were getting down to it. "He asked me to accompany him," Laura said carefully, not sure how much Natalie had seen. "I speak Portuguese and he wanted me to interpret."
Natalie gave her a knowing look. "I don't think that's all he wants, do you?"
When Laura opened her mouth to object, Natalie stopped her with a hand gesture. "You can't kid a kidder, Laura. You two were rather close at that railing."
Laura could find no reply to that, but unfortunately Natalie still had plenty left to say.
"Daniel has many charms—I should know." Her giggle was a brittle tinkle. "But if I were you, I'd think twice before falling for them."
"And why is that?" Not that Laura had any intention of falling for them, but she certainly didn't like Natalie's patronising tone.
"Daniel isn't cut out to hold down a relationship. His job and his family commitments don't allow it. His previous girlfriend couldn't handle it. I can. I'm in the same business, so I understand. That's why we got together in the first place."
Not together at the moment, though, are you? "Look, Miss Hartman . . ."
"What I'm trying to say is, there could never be any future in it for you. Daniel's married to his job and he always will be. His brother's made sure of that." She looked directly into Laura's eyes. "And then there's the little matter of muscling in on another woman's territory. We both know that's not nice . . ."
Laura stood abruptly, her temper reined in by a fine thread. "Let's end this conversation there, Miss Hartman, shall we?" She pulled cash from her purse and thrust it at a startled passing waiter. "There is nothing between Daniel and myself. However, if there was, I believe that would be my business and his—not yours!"
Seething with rage, she stormed away from the café, adrenaline mixing unhappily with the alcohol and caffeine in her bloodstream. The busy streets felt claustrophobic, so she headed blindly back to the waterfront to sit on a bench and gulp air.
How had Natalie seen them on the boat? Was it a coincidence? Pretty unlikely. In which case she must have known they were on the trip and waited at the quay. But how? And how dare she speak to her that way?
Laura closed her eyes and willed herself to calm down. She might have a right to be indignant, but Natalie's general gist was another
