‘Where else do you plan on eating?’
‘Out! After work…after five…having a look around…’
‘Exploring an island on a crutch isn’t the cleverest of ideas, is it?’
‘It’s on the mend!’
‘And that’s exactly how we want to keep it! Don’t forget, you’re here to do a job, and that job is going to be considerably easier if you can walk comfortably on that foot of yours—and hours outside in the baking heat, trying to find places to eat while hobbling from one café to another, just isn’t going to do. I need you to be up and moving as fast as possible.’
Mia scowled.
‘You still haven’t explained…’
‘Here we are,’ he said with notable satisfaction.
It was a measure of how absorbed she was with him that she only belatedly registered that he was guiding her gently but firmly towards the bank of expensive shops nestled in the heart of the hotel.
Mia had no idea what was going on and she certainly wasn’t about to be led anywhere like a sheep. ‘Here where?’ she questioned politely. ‘I’m seeing a shop.’
‘You didn’t feel comfortable in the clothes you brought with you—’ he shrugged expansively ‘—so we’re going to change that.’
‘Please don’t tell me what I will and won’t be doing!’
‘A handful of outfits.’ He shrugged. ‘Pick what you like.’
‘I don’t need a handful of outfits!’
‘And I don’t need to be the object of avid curiosity because you’re making a scene.’
Mia’s eyes slid to where two elegant saleswomen were watching their antics, although they immediately averted their eyes when spotted.
Where Max could brush off that sort of thing, because he honestly didn’t give a damn, she couldn’t. She hadn’t been raised that way. Other people’s opinions mattered to her.
‘This is ridiculous.’ She tried to make her protest as cool and collected as possible. ‘Furthermore, I can’t afford anything from a place like this.’
‘Do you imagine for a single second that I would allow you to pay for anything from this place? You’re here because of me and I intend to cover all the costs.’
Their eyes met and held for a few seconds. There was no way she could express what she felt. How could she articulate that? That choosing clothes to have dinner with him felt dangerously intimate?
‘Don’t fight me on this, Mia.’
Mia glanced towards the elegant boutique and made a decision. ‘Fine.’ She shrugged and looked at him squarely. ‘If you think it’s necessary for me to have a new wardrobe, then I’ll get a new wardrobe, but I’m a big girl and perfectly capable of choosing my own clothes. So, if you want to arrange a time and a place to meet, I can join you later.’
She pulled out her phone to check the time, crisply arranged when to meet and watched as he raked his fingers through his hair before nodding wryly.
It was an experience, what could be done with a bottomless bank account in a very expensive boutique. Mia was hardly aware of what was being chosen because the eager shop owner, having marvelled at her figure, proceeded to turn her into a mannequin for the next hour. At last, dazed, Mia was standing in front of an array of black and gold bags, that conveniently would be sent to her room so she didn’t have the bother of carrying anything, and wondering what, exactly, she had purchased in the flurry of things being tried on.
‘How was the torture chamber?’ were Max’s first words when she met him at the designated place.
‘It was fine!’ Mia said. She knew that she had been dragged way out of her comfort zone. In her world of surfing, landscaping and working in the open air, she had been able to shun fancy, girly-girl clothes, faintly scorning the preoccupation of the prom queen types who only cared about how they looked.
She was forced to concede that she had actually enjoyed the experience, and even more so when she guiltily thought of him looking at her in her new-fangled get-ups. Surely she couldn’t be that shallow?
They settled into the back of the car he had commissioned for his personal use as and when. The scenery they looked at as they drove along the uncrowded roads was scenery that was in her blood. Overhanging trees, lush and in colours of every shade of green, over-sized bushes awash with purple and red flowers, fringing the road in bursts of vibrant colour. It rained a lot on this island, she explained, hence the lushness of the foliage.
The driver was an expert tour guide, who could name every tree and flower, and Mia found herself competing with him about who knew more, even though she was still so aware of Max sprawled beside her.
They crossed one-way bridges and they opened the windows, breathing in the warm breeze. He asked a lot of questions, and it was just as well, because it established a bit of normality between them after his earlier provocative remarks.
