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‘I have many beautiful dresses that will fit you,’ Ana countered. ‘And I need you there, because both my brothers will ignore me, and without you there I will die of boredom.And…’ She paused to take a breath and grab a spicy pastry from the picnic hamper, brandishing it as she continued. ‘Very soon all your memory will be returned…’ She took a hefty bite, but then her face fell as she swallowed. ‘Will you leave? When you know who you are again?’
‘I don’t want to—I’d love to stay the rest of the summer if I can. Assuming, of course, there isn’t anyone waiting for me back home.’ But even as she voiced the thought, the shimmer of loneliness told her that, wherever her home was, there was nothing for her there. The fact that no one had contacted the Barcelona police or the British consulate looking for her in the past three weeks surely confirmed that.
Ana’s eyes darkened with concern. ‘I wish you to stay too, which is why—even if you do not wish to marry Santiago—youmustshow him how valuable you are.’ She dumped the half-eaten pastry in the basket and jumped off her rock to grasp Cerys’s hands in hers. ‘Come to the Fiesta with me. If I don’t cause any trouble, he will want to keep you here, I know it. And you will enjoy the party. Especially once the dancing starts.’
‘I’m sorry, Ana,’ Cerys said, calmer now that at least Ana had stopped talking about marriage. ‘I really don’t think that would be appropriate.’
Especially as being anywhere near Santiago makes all my brain cells melt. And a few other things beside.
But Ana clung on, the wide-eyed expression becoming desperate.
‘Please, Cerys, without you there I will be so bored I will be forced to flirt with all the boy waiters—which will make Santiago super mad with us both. Then neither of us will be able to stay for the rest of the summer.’
‘That’s blackmail, Ana,’ Cerys said, trying to remain immune to the girl’s pleading, and not smile at her outrageous antics.
‘You know I can’t help myself when I’m bored. Or lonely,’ she replied. And Cerys felt her heart break for the girl. ‘Por favor, Cerys,please. The Fiesta is the best event of the season. The courtyard will be full of lights, there will be flamenco and then dancing in the orchard, the food is always superb and Santiago will serve Cantada’s finest wines and cava. And we will be invisible if you want. No one will even know we’re there.’
‘Ana, stop…!’ She dragged her hands free but knew she had lost the battle. The girl was just too persuasive. And a part of her was so tempted at the prospect of attending the event.
Would it really be so wrong to give in to the urge to accompany Ana? Santiago would be unlikely to notice her after all, he’d be far too busy hosting the event. And stopping Ana from flirting with the waiters was totally part of her job description.
‘Por favor, Cerys. It will be such fun.’
Cerys sighed. ‘Okay, I’ll go. But I’m not talking to Santiago…’ Especially as he would surely be there with a date and he wouldn’t want her there, if he noticed her at all, which she was sure he wouldn’t, especially if she kept a low profile.
Ana jumped up and whooped with glee. ‘We will find you an amazing gown this afternoon. And I will tell Alejandro to escort you as soon as he arrives tomorrow.’
‘No, you mustn’t! I’m not going with Alejandro,’ Cerys said, panic making her pulse race again.
‘But everyone wants to date Alejandro, he is very handsome and charming. Even if he is alsouno chico muy malo,’ Ana said, undeterred.
‘No,’ Cerys said forcefully. ‘I’m not confident with bad boys.’ In fact, she was fairly sure she had never had a proper boyfriend—which explained why she found Santiago so overwhelming. He was, after all, incredibly handsome, and commanding and forceful and, from what Ana had said, also very experienced with women. ‘We’re going to blend into the background, okay? I don’t want Santiago to notice me.’
Ana plopped back down, her brow furrowing. ‘But this is silly. How will we make Santiago jealous if you have no date?’
Precisely.
‘Promise me, Ana. I’m only going if you agree to my terms. No Alejandro, no tricks, no jokes, no wild schemes, no flirting with the waiters and no daft attempts to attract Santiago’s attention.’
Ana threw up her arms. ‘Bueno, but you won’t have as much fun,’ she said, disappointment weighing down every word.
Cerys smiled, relieved. ‘Of course I will, I’m going to my first ever Catalan fiesta,’ she said, pleased she had managed to corral Ana—while also prising another nugget of information about her past out of her brain. Not only had she never been to a Catalan fiesta, she was sure she had never been to a party as exclusive as this one promised to be—because she had a vague recollection of serving people, rather than being served.
As they packed up the picnic and Ana began to rattle off the selection of dresses they could choose from for Cerys’s debut, anticipation began to build in her chest.
After everything that had happened in the past three weeks, maybe she deserved this moment. Santiago wouldn’t even notice her, so it would be a chance to observe him again, without putting herself in the spotlight. Or risking her employment. After the deeply distressing things Ana had told her about his past, she couldn’t stop the deep well of sympathy for him taking hold too. And watching him with the woman he might be planning to marry—because he would surely have a date at the Fiesta—would also stop Ana getting any more ridiculous ideas, and cure Cerys too of the silly schoolgirl crush she seemed to have developed after two fleeting encounters.
Not to mention the inappropriate hum.
By nine o’clock the following evening though, Cerys realised she had totally underestimated her new best friend’s ability to cause absolute chaos…
CHAPTER FIVE
‘I may haveto murder your little sister,’ Cerys muttered under her breath, so embarrassed she wanted to die.
The stupidly handsome man beside her chuckled, his green eyes a different shade to his siblings, but filled with the same mischievous twinkle as his younger sister.
‘Trusting my sister was your first mistake, Cerys,’ he said easily. ‘The only thing you can rely on is that Ana nevereverdoes what she is told.’