"You've been so good to us, Laura," Mrs. Hurst said. "And your young man, too. He said you weren't well yourself, yesterday. I hope you're feeling much better today?"
"Er—yes, thanks," Laura blustered.
"It's a shame you missed coming out for a meal with us. Daniel took us to a lovely restaurant." Mrs. Hurst winked. "You're a lucky lady. You hang on to that one!"
They carried on to their room, leaving Laura to settle herself by the pool, somewhat bewildered by the conversation. Clearly Daniel had taken them to dinner last night, which was kind of him, but why they thought he was her young man, she couldn't imagine. Surely it couldn't be anything Daniel had said to them? And then she remembered the night when Mr. Hurst was taken so ill. Daniel had been at her side the whole time. Of course they would assume they were dating!
Laura sighed. Her initial shock that she had so blindly fallen in love with him had gradually worn off, leaving a despondent cloud to settle over her. What was the point of mooning over him when there could be no future in doing so? And if Daniel hadn't made that abundantly plain, then Natalie already had.
"I saw your Daniel Stone just now," Teresa declared as she bounced over and dropped her towel on the grass. "Did you have a nice morning?"
"Yes, we had a nice morning, thank you. But he's not my Daniel Stone, Teresa," Laura said a little sharply. If only!
The girl shrugged her shoulders. "Anyway, I finally plucked up the courage to have a proper conversation with him." She blushed. "So far I've only managed hello and goodbye—and what to do about you fainting!"
And accepting room keys, Laura thought, then couldn't help but smile. Teresa was obviously so infatuated with the man that her nerves got the better of her tongue every time.
"What do you mean by a 'proper' conversation?"
"I asked him when he was leaving," Teresa said proudly. "He said tomorrow. Do you know he's leaving tomorrow?"
"Yes, I know." Laura tried to ignore the way her heart sank at the prospect.
Teresa nodded. "He said he had some business meetings in Porto."
Laura glanced at her with trepidation. She'd already told Maria and Teresa he was a businessman, but . . . "What else did he say?" she asked as casually as she could.
"That he was looking forward to speaking to Paulo when he got back home. I didn't understand, because he's leaving tomorrow and Paulo won't be here until the day after. I tried to tell him, but he seemed to give up. He said he had to go."
Teresa was comically forlorn at the breakdown in communications with her idol, but Laura shifted uncomfortably, wondering what Daniel had made of their little chat.
Had he assumed she'd filled the family in? Had he wondered why Teresa didn't seem to know what was going on? Or would he have just put it down to language difficulties, as Teresa had? Fervently, she hoped for the latter. She hadn't bargained on Teresa practising her English on him to such an extent.
Laura could have kicked herself. She'd been so busy protecting Maria from worry, it had never even occurred to her to wonder whether Daniel might have expected her to tell them about him. She'd already told him Maria didn't deal with that side of things, and he'd seemed happy to wait to speak to Paulo.
Still tired from their morning out, she put him out of her mind as best she could, closed her eyes, and slipped into a light doze, lulled by the warmth of the sun and the gentle lapping of the water against the sides of the pool as Teresa swam. But her peace was soon broken.
"I'd like a word. In private."
Daniel's deep voice cut across her hazy sleep, and Laura knew he was angry before she even opened her eyes. He was standing above her, legs planted apart and arms folded in a confrontational stance. Laura felt at a distinct disadvantage as she lay on the grass. Squinting against the sun, she sat up.
"I assume you're talking to me," she said stiffly, not wanting to rile him further but not liking his tone of voice either.
He ignored her. "Perhaps we can talk in your office?"
Laura protested, but he'd already marched off up the path. Shrugging her shoulders in answer to Teresa's mystified expression, she pushed her feet into her sandals, grabbed her bag, and strode after him. What on earth had got into him now?
As she came fully awake, a sinking feeling came over her as she remembered what Teresa had said earlier . . . but surely he couldn't be so cross about a young girl's misunderstanding? Whatever it was, he wasn't happy, waiting impatiently as she unlocked the door. It was days since they'd had a confrontation like this.
"What game do you think you're playing?" he asked, closing the door with a bang.
Chapter Twenty
"I don't have any idea what you're talking about." Laura replied cautiously, not quite sure where this was going yet.
He took a sharp breath. "I'm talking about the Silvas' total ignorance as to why I'm here. Why haven't you told them about me?" He paced the room like a caged panther. "Are you so much in charge here that you don't even need to tell the owners of the hotel that they might have a business deal in the offing? Or have you so little faith in me and my company that you didn't think it worth mentioning?"
Laura watched aghast as he paced and her heart sank in her chest like a stone. She'd never seen him so mad. There was nothing more behind this than her not seeing the need to raise false hopes, and not thinking to check with him exactly what he wanted. How could he think she had no confidence in him or his business? She loved him!
Of course that was the last thing
