Page 6 of The Forbidden Fling

Diana’s agent hadn’t been overly thrilled at the prospect of her taking three weeks off instead of working on her follow-up to Bridging the Gender Gap. It’d been the first of her books to really take off, landing her interviews, inviting her to speak at prestigious conferences, and unlocking doors to teaching at the best universities in the world. Leanne was always her biggest cheerleader, but Diana found it hard to articulate why she’d been so far behind on her manuscript. Whenever she sat down to write, nothing came out. It was as though she had nothing of interest left to say.

Leanne: I need something substantial to work with by the end of the month. Can you do that?

Diana sighed, letting her gaze wander until it landed on the pretty woman in the corner. She was scribbling something in a small book. What is she writing? Her presence stood out like a sore thumb—as she imagined she did too, in her orange pantsuit. She assumed the storm had something to do with the woman’s late arrival.

She sucked in a deep breath and exhaled, trying to dislodge some of the pressure building in her skull. If she couldn’t shake this writer’s block, she was going to get left behind. Selena taking over Diana’s classes wasn’t an act of altruism. It was competition. And there was no way she’d allow Selena to be the lion eating her sorry carcass.

Diana: Give me these three weeks to write. I’ll sort it

Leanne: That’s more like it. Agent mode, signing off. As your friend, I do hope this course brings you and Molly closer together

Diana: Me too. Speak soon

She placed her phone down and rubbed her temples. Hopefully, the change of environment and interaction with different people would spark something. These next few weeks were going to be challenging. But if she could put together a decent proposal, everything would be fine. She could write while Molly attended the guidance sessions on the island. It wasn’t as if Diana needed a self-help course.

Something small and shiny caught her eye, and she bent to pluck it from the wooden floor. A debit card belonging to a Faye Donovan. Diana smiled to herself, the name playing on her lips. It suited her. She must have dropped it earlier.

Raul had pulled up a seat to join the noisy men, so Diana had to be a good Samaritan and give the card back to Faye. Hopefully, the distraction would keep her from rechecking her emails or glancing at Selena’s Facebook page to see if she’d made an announcement about taking over her position. That woman didn’t need any excuse to gloat.

She sipped from her glass, letting the alcohol give her a boost and push her to her feet. Twining her fingers around the wine-glass stem, she glided across the room.

“I think this might belong to you,” she said, holding the card up between two fingers.

Faye glanced up at her from under thick black lashes. “Oh, god. Thank you.”

Diana gave her the card. “You’re welcome.”

“I can’t believe I did that.” She shook her head. “This has been such a disaster.”

Diana observed her for a beat, the sleek, straight hair and the impeccable make-up. She hardly embodied a walking disaster. “Did the storm ruin your plans, too?”

“You could say that. So far, Portugal hasn’t exactly welcomed me with open arms.”

Diana nudged her chin at the book in front of Faye. “And sudoku doesn’t help?”

Faye let out a soft laugh, her fingers brushing the page. “Not really. I’m stuck on this one.”

“I’d offer my assistance, but sudoku isn’t in my wheelhouse.”

She shrugged. “That’s alright. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea.”

“But it’s yours?” Diana eyed the pencil markings in the margins and couldn’t stop the edges of her lips from lifting. What twenty-something-year-old spent their time doing extra-hard sudoku at a bar?

Faye gave a sheepish smile. “That probably sounds quite sad to admit.”

“Not at all. I find that rather endearing.”

Those blue-green eyes met hers carefully. Like she was trying to decipher the truth behind her statement. Something simmered low in Diana’s chest, but before she could touch on it, a roar from the men behind them broke their gaze. Diana turned to the group, rolling her eyes as they tried to fit as many pretzels into their mouths as possible, spitting crumbs over the table.

“You can sit if you want,” Faye said quietly, casting a glance at the table.

Diana needed to head to bed. She had to catch the boat in the morning, and that proposal for Leanne wouldn’t draft itself, but something about the woman intrigued her. So she sat in the yellow chair opposite, crossing one leg in front of the other.

Faye flipped the sudoku book shut and tucked it into her rucksack.

“So,” Diana began, “is this your first visit to Portugal?”

Faye dipped her head, hiding behind those thick lashes. “Yeah. You?”