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"Why are you here?" Alex asks. "You still haven't explained that."
Gloria grins, but again, it doesn't seem like a pleasant expression. "I'm here to see you, of course. Have you considered my offer?"
Alex huffs. "Offer? You demanded I shag you."
She laughs. "Honestly, Alex, you're being melodramatic. Yes, I want to have sex with you. But I don't mind at all if you still want to screw Catriona. We could even have a threesome."
"Nothing that you just suggested will ever happen."
"Really?" Gloria moves closer to him. "I have friends in high places, hon. Might not be the smartest idea to tick me off."
"Please. As if I'm frightened of you, the twenty-six-year-old slag who offers herself to any stranger who happens along."
Gloria snaps ramrod straight and puckers her lips. "You'll regret this."
Then she whirls around and stomps away from us.
I look up at Alex. "How did that woman ever find you in the first place? Do you believe the story she told us before about how she accidentally wound up in this town and saw us?"
"Yes, I think I do believe that. Or maybe it's fate punishing me for being a chancer."
"Alex, you are a good man who made mistakes. Donnae take all the blame. Gloria wanted to sleep with you."
"I know. But… Well, let's just forget we ever saw her."
"What if she comes back again?"
He lays a hand over mine on his arm. "Don't worry about Gloria. She likes to stir up trouble, that's all. She will give up once she realizes it's no fun harassing us when we don't give her what she wants."
If Alex believes Gloria will give up soon, then I believe it too.
Once we get home, Alex starts doing things on his laptop computer again, like he's done often lately. I guess his lesson plans have become more of a burden, which makes me wonder if his TA is doing anything at all to help him. Cannae see any other reason why he would need to work so hard every evening.
I go into the bedroom and ring my sister Fiona. We talk for a while and laugh quite a bit because she tells me all the barmy things our siblings and cousins have done lately. Our conversation turns more serious when she tells me that our cousin Logan has been deployed to Iraq in his capacity as a military intelligence officer. That means he might go on dangerous missions, though neither Fiona nor I fully understand what his job entails. I hope he doesn't get deployed for more tours after this, like other people I know back home.
Alex ambles into the bedroom just as I'm saying goodbye to Fiona. I hang up, but I stay in the same position—knees drawn up to my chest, one arm around them.
He sits down beside me on the bed's edge. "What's wrong, love? You look worried."
"I am worried. My cousin Logan, the one who's in the army, has been sent to Iraq."
Alex pulls me against his side and holds me. "I'm sorry, Cat. Can't imagine how stressful that must be, for your cousin or for you. I imagine your whole clan is anxious about it."
"We are. My cousin Magnus is in the army too, but he hasn't been deployed to a war zone yet. That might happen any day, though."
He strokes my hair, which always soothes me. "From the way you described those two blokes, I think they can handle themselves. Try not to worry overmuch."
I wrap my arms around him, snuggling my cheek into the hollow of his shoulder. "As long as I'm with you, I know everything will be all right."
Alex picks me up and cradles me with one arm while he pulls the covers back. Then he lays me down gently and crawls over me to lie down too. I cuddle up to him. He tugs the covers over us both, and soon, I drift off to sleep.
When I wake in the morning, Alex has already made breakfast for us. We don't discuss last night, but instead focus on today and what we plan to do since it's Saturday. Alex wants to go for a drive to explore the areas around Ballesteros that we haven't seen yet. We enjoy our day trip so much that I almost don't want to go home, but I know we have to do that. Though Alex might have a lot of money, I don't want to waste it all today. Could I do that in one day? He never has told me exactly how big his bank account is, only that he's wealthier than most people and that it's family money.
I don't need to know more. Not unless we get married.
But he hasn't asked me that question—or said he loves me.
"What's wrong?" Alex asks. "You look melancholy, which isn't like you. Are you still worried about your cousin?"
