does not like roses in the house,’ she said in a clipped tone.
Emelia felt her shoulders slump. ‘Oh…sorry, I didn’t realise…’
The housekeeper shot her another hateful glare as she carried the roses out of the room. The look seemed to suggest that, in Aldana’s opinion, Emelia had never known her husband’s likes and dislikes like a proper loving wife should do.
Emelia let out a sigh once she was alone. There was a baby grand piano at one end of la sala, positioned out of the direct sunlight from the windows. She went over to it and sat down and after a moment she opened the lid and ran her fingers over the keys, trying to remember what song she had played the night she had met Javier, but it was like trying to play a new piece without the musical score. She played several pieces, hoping that one would unlock her mind, but none did. She closed the lid in frustration and left the room to make her way down to the stables.
Pedro had Callida saddled for her when she arrived but he looked disgruntled. ‘Señor Mélendez will not be happy about this,’ he said. ‘He told all the staff to watch out for you, to make sure you do not come to any harm while he is away.’
‘Señor Mélendez is several thousand kilometres away,’ Emelia said as she swung up into the saddle. ‘While the cat’s away this little mouse is going to do what she wants.’
Pedro stepped back from the horse with a disapproving frown. ‘He sometimes comes back early from his trips abroad,’ he said. ‘He expects his staff to act the same whether he is here or not. He trusts us.’
But not me, Emelia thought resentfully as she rode off. No doubt he had only put his staff on watch over her to see that she didn’t stray too far from the boundaries of the villa. His solicitous care had nothing to do with any deep feelings on his part. He wanted to keep her a virtual prisoner until the press interest died down. After that, who knew what he planned to do? All she knew was his plans would probably not include her being in his life for the long term.
As enjoyable as the ride was, it didn’t unearth any clues to her past. She came back to the stables an hour and a half later, fighting off a weighty despondency. The olive grove today had simply been an olive grove. No further memories surfaced. Nothing struck a chord of familiarity.
Disappointment and frustration continued to sour her mood as she walked back to the villa through the gardens. She felt hot and sticky so when she came across a secluded section of the garden where an infinity pool was situated, she decided to take advantage of the sparkling blue water and the warmth of the afternoon.
Rummaging through the walk-in wardrobe in search of swimwear was another revelation to her. Naturally modest, she found it hard to believe she wore any of the skimpy bikinis she found in one of the drawers. There were pink ones and red ones and yellow ones and ones with polka dots, a black one with silver diamantés and a white one with gold circles in between the triangles of fabric that would barely cover her breasts, let alone her lower body. In the end she chose the red one as it was the least revealing, although once she had it on and checked her appearance in the full length mirrors she was glad Javier was not expected home. She might as well have been naked.
The water was warmed by the sun but still refreshing enough to make Emelia swim length after length without exhaustion. She wondered how many times she had done this, stroking her way through the water, perhaps with Javier swimming alongside her, or his long legs tangling with hers as he kissed or caressed her. In spite of the warmth of the pool and the sun, Emelia felt her skin lift in little goosebumps the more she let her mind wander about what had occurred in the past.
As she surfaced at the end of the pool she saw a long pair of trouser-clad legs, the large male feet encased in expensive-looking leather shoes. Her heart gave a stopstart as her eyes moved upwards to meet the coal-black gaze of Javier.
‘I thought I might find you here,’ he said.
Emelia pushed her hair out of her face, conscious of her barely clad breasts just at the water’s level. ‘I didn’t realise you would be back. I thought you were coming home tomorrow.’
He tugged at his tie as his gaze held hers. ‘I managed to get through the work and flew back ahead of schedule.’
Emelia swallowed as she saw him toss his tie to one of the sun loungers. His fingers began undoing the buttons of his business shirt, one by one, each opening revealing a little more of his muscular chest. ‘Um…what are you doing?’ she said.
‘I thought I might join you,’ he said, shrugging himself out of his shirt, tossing it in the same direction as his tie, his dark eyes still tethering hers.
She watched in a spellbound stasis as his hands went to his belt, slipping it through the waistband of his trousers, casting it on top of his shirt and tie. The sound of his zip going down jolted her out of her trance. ‘Y-you’re surely not going to swim without bathers…are you?’
A corner of his mouth lifted. ‘Do you have any objection, querida?’ he asked.
Emelia could think of several but she couldn’t seem to get her voice to work. She stood in the water as he heeled himself out of his shoes and purposefully pulled off his socks. Her heart started thumping irregularly as he stepped out of his trousers, leaving him in close-fitting black briefs that left almost nothing to her imagination. She felt a stirring deep and low in her belly. He was so potently male, so powerfully built, lean but muscular at the same time, hair in all the right places, marking him as different from her as could be. His skin was a deep olive, tanned by the sun, each rippling ridge of his abdomen like coils of steel. Her fingertips suddenly itched to explore every hard contour of him, to feel the satin quality of his skin and unleash the latent power of his body. She wondered if her attraction was a new thing or an old thing. Was her body remembering what her mind could or would not? How else could she explain this unbelievable tension she felt when he was near her? She had never felt like this with anyone before. It was as if he awakened everything that was female in her body, making her long to discover the power of the passion his glittering dark gaze promised.
Being at the shallower end, he didn’t dive into the water; instead, he slipped in with an agility that made Emelia aware of every plane of his body as the water his entry displaced washed against her. It was as if he had touched her; the water felt just like an intimate caress: smooth, gentle, cajoling, tempting. Her eyes were still locked with his; she couldn’t seem to move out of the magnetic range of his dark-as-night eyes. They burned, they seared and they smouldered as he closed the distance between their bodies, stopping just in front of her, not quite touching but close enough for her to feel the pull of his body through the weight of the water.
‘Why so shy?’ he asked.
Emelia licked a droplet of water off her lips. ‘Um…I know this is probably something you…I mean we have done lots of times but I…I…feel too exposed.’
His lips slanted in a smile. ‘You got rid of your timidity a long time ago, Emelia. We skinny-dipped together all the time.’
She felt the pit of her stomach tilt. ‘But surely someone could have seen us?’
He gave a little couldn’t-care-less shrug. ‘The pool area is private. In any case, what would it matter if someone had seen us? We are married and this is private property. It is not as if we were doing anything wrong.’
Emelia chewed at her lip, wishing she could download all her memories so she wasn’t feeling so lost and uncertain. While she had been dressing in the bikini earlier she had seen from her lightly tanned skin that she had been in the
