"Good morning to you, too," Daniel drawled.
Laura glared at him. "I have a headache," she snapped.
"So I see. Have you been speaking to all your guests like this, or were you reserving that special tone just for me?"
"Just you," she said curtly. "Everyone else has been dealt with as politely as usual, even though I do feel like a wound-down parrot."
Daniel gave her a sympathetic look. "Ah, so that's it. You've been giving out health bulletins?"
Laura nodded stiffly, as though even the movement hurt. "Was it anything in particular you wanted? If not, it's ten thirty and I'm closing, if you don't mind."
"Oh, but I do mind." Daniel's tone was still mild, but there was a coolly dangerous edge to it. Her frosty hostility wasn't one of her better qualities, no matter how little sleep she'd had or how much her head hurt. He'd barely had any sleep either. "And I did come in for a reason. With an invitation, actually. I want you to drive up to Valença with me and have lunch."
She shook her head, then winced. "No, thank you. I'm too tired and my head hurts. I just need to catch up on my sleep."
Daniel stood. "That's not a problem. The pills will kick in soon, and you can sleep in the car while I drive." He wanted her to come with him. He needed her to. After last night, they had things to discuss, and getting away from the hotel would make it easier.
Laura rose too. "No, it's not possible. I didn't want to wake Mrs. Hurst this morning, but I'm sure when she does get up, she'll want someone to give her a lift to the hospital. I need to call on her to see how she is and be around when she wants to go."
"No, you don't," Daniel shook his head firmly. "She's already there. I took her about an hour ago. She wanted to drive but I advised her not to—I don't think she'd had much sleep. She's going to get a taxi back when she's done."
It seemed Laura didn't like him taking away her excuse. "I'm sorry, Daniel, but I don't want to go out today. Thank you anyway."
She made for the door, but he stood in her way and didn't budge.
"Hang on a minute. We have unfinished business to discuss, remember?" His eyes burned into hers until she turned away.
"I don't think we have," she said. "What happened last night was just one of those things. I would prefer to forget it."
"Forget it?" Daniel couldn't believe what he was hearing. He'd had too little sleep to cope with this on-one-minute, off-the-next game she seemed so fond of. And he was happy to tell her so. "Are you in the habit of leading men to the point of distraction and then blithely changing your mind? Because I'm warning you, Laura, I don't like those sorts of games."
"And I don't like your tone of voice!" she shot back, clearly incensed. "What I do and don't do with other men is none of your business, but for the record, I'm not in the habit of leading men on—far from it. In fact, I usually prefer to stay as far away from them as possible, and it's times like these that remind me why!"
"You weren't so bothered about staying away last night!" Daniel retorted. Realising how nasty the conversation was becoming, he rubbed an agitated hand across his face. "Alright, if that's the way you want it, forget last night. Forget talking it through like two grown people."
His phone's ringtone cut through the fraught atmosphere. With an impatient sigh, he grabbed it from his pocket, glanced at the display, and answered.
"Hello, Ben. What's up?"
"Hi. Are you okay? You sound a bit rough."
"No, I'm fine." He shot a glare at Laura to make it clear he most certainly wasn't.
"I'll take your word for it," Ben said drily. "I heard something yesterday I thought you might want to know—about that hotel you're staying at."
"Oh?" Daniel moved off a few paces. "What about it?"
"The company Senhor Silva lets some of his rooms to is pulling out."
Daniel's brows knitted together. "What on earth for?" He lowered his voice. "It's fantastic here!"
"Maybe, but it's also not cheap. They're cutting costs and cutting out the whole of Northern Portugal while they're at it. They're sticking with the tried-and-tested Algarve from now on. If it's as good as you say, you might be able to negotiate a good rate for us to give it a trial run. What's this Senhor Silva like?"
Daniel rolled his eyes. "I don't know, I haven't met him. He's away."
"Away?" Ben sounded as startled at that fact as Daniel initially had been.
"It's a long story," he said wearily. "I've been dealing with his representative so far . . ." He turned to look calculatingly at Laura, his mind racing. "When did the company pull out? Do you know?"
"Absolutely," Ben told him. "I spoke to a friend of a friend of a contact. It's been a rumour for a few weeks, but the actual decision was made yesterday, apparently."
Daniel's jaw set in a hard, tense line. "Okay, thanks for the heads up. See you later."
He ended the call. Laura was standing with her arms folded across her chest, her foot tapping in that irritated way she had. His heart didn't want to believe what he was now thinking, but his sleep-deprived head was more than happy to. It was as
