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He stopped her outside a nondescript door which no one would ever have realised was the entrance to the restaurant of a world-renowned chef if they hadn’t known it was there, and tried not to think about the fact that ‘Little Doc Isla’ was the only woman he’d ever brought here, in all these years.
It meant nothing, he told himself as he opened the door and waited for her to step in ahead of him. And if he believed that, well...he was in more trouble than he’d realised.
* * *
‘Nikhil!’ A man, clearly the maître d’, even though he was dressed far more casually than Isla might have expected, made his way across the tightly packed room to embrace Nikhil in a back-slapping hug, the moment they entered. His accent was so strong that Isla could only just understand the words spoken in Chilean Spanish.
‘Is good to see you back, my friend.’
‘It’s good to be back,’ Nikhil responded in Spanish, slightly clearer to Isla, but still so full of Chilean slang that she couldn’t follow as they plunged into conversation.
And then, suddenly, the chef turned to her with an unexpectedly assessing look, his English almost as heavily accented as his native language.
‘You are bringing company, Nikhil?’
‘Isla, this is Hernandez. Hernandez, this is Isla. A...colleague.’
‘Encantada de conocerte.’
‘Encantado.’ He took her hand and kissed it, but Isla didn’t miss the unfathomable look that passed between the two men. ‘Come, I sit you both here. Best table in the housing.’
As Isla followed Hernandez, all too aware of Nikhil right behind her, she took in some of the people at the tables. And then, as she glanced into the open kitchen beyond the pass, she startled.
‘That’s Chef Miguel.’
‘It is,’ Nikhil confirmed, with a casualness that she couldn’t quite have said why she didn’t believe.
‘I heard his restaurants are always booked up months in advance?’
Nikhil watched her for a moment before answering. ‘Six months in advance, yes. I’ve been coming here for seven years, every time I’m in port. So maybe two or three times a year.’
‘And the Captain gives you shore leave each time?’
‘In the beginning, when I was more junior, it was the only one I ever actually asked for. Otherwise, I’d take any others people didn’t want.’
‘Then you became First Officer and got the prime choices?’
* * *
There was something about her tone that made him pause, just for a fraction of a moment. As though she was expecting the worst. As though she expected people to be selfish.
It was the way he’d felt almost his entire life but somehow, on her, it didn’t seem to fit.
‘I get more choice now, it’s true, but I still try to play fair.’
And what did it say about her that she believed him?
‘Impressive place to bring all your dates.’ She tried to keep her tone light, but it was still an attempt to counter any gullibility on her part.
‘I thought we weren’t on a date?’
She flushed prettily, and he liked it rather too much.
‘We aren’t...of course not... I meant...’
‘Relax.’ He grinned. ‘You’re the first date-but-not-a-date I’ve ever brought here.’
Cobalt-blue eyes slid away, narrowed, then slid back to his.
