Page 65 of What Happens in Paradise

‘Mary J. Blige, Lauryn Hill, Destiny’s Child…’

‘No way!’ My eyes widened. ‘Mary and Lauryn are two of my favourites!’

‘They are amazing,’ he agreed. ‘My sister used to listen to them a lot, so I started to enjoy their songs.’

I had no idea.

‘And I love Lucy Pearl too,’ I added, expecting him to ask who they were like some people did whenever I used to mention them, even at the height of their fame.

‘Sí.’ He nodded. ‘It was a shame that they only did one album.’

My jaw dropped.

Alejandro reallydidknow and like the same kind of music.

A lot of people could have named Destiny’s Child. I mean,hello: that was Queen Beyoncé’s group, so there probably weren’t many people who didn’t know about them.

Lauryn Hill and Mary J. Blige were also pretty successful. But like he’d just said, Lucy Pearl only did one album, which I played to death and I was also sad that they didn’t do more music together.

‘It really was a shame. What was your favourite track?’ I said. It wasn’t a test question. I genuinely wanted to know.

‘That is difficult.’ He rubbed his hand over his jaw. ‘Obviously, the popular ones like “Dance Tonight”, but I also liked “Good Love” very much.’

This was insane.

Was this man in my head right now? Had he hacked my playlist? I adored that song and the way it spoke about finding everlasting love.

‘That’salsoone ofmyfavourites!’ I smiled and our eyes locked.

We stared at each other in silence. Never in a million years had I imagined that a man who was so much younger than me, grew up in another country and spoke a completely different language would share the same taste in music that I did.

His eyes really were beautiful. I loved how sometimes they were brown, but then other times they turned lighter, almost verging on green. How was that even possible?

I bit my lip and the sensation snapped me out of my trance. I shouldn’t be staring into his eyes like this. It was making me think about things that I shouldn’t.

Like how amazing he was.

Like how he wasn’t just beautiful on the outside; he was also so kind and considerate. Making me breakfast on the first morning. Encouraging me to see my grandad. Bringing food to me after I walked out of the restaurant.

And looking into his gorgeous eyes was also making me think about things like how good that accidental kiss was and how much I wanted to do it again…

‘“Don’t Mess With My Man”!’ I blurted out, then winced. It sounded as if I was warning another woman not to try anything with Alejandro. But that was ridiculous because he wasn’t my man. And it didn’t matter if maybe a part of me wished that in some other universe, it could be possible, because it was never going to happen. ‘The song!’ I corrected myself. ‘I like that song too.’

‘I understood what you meant.’ He smiled and my traitorous stomach fluttered. ‘I like it too. I have a playlist with a lot of their songs, Mary J. and other great artists. I can share it with you if you want?’

‘I’d love that!’ I beamed.

‘Have you heard of ¿Téo?’ he asked.

‘No.’

‘He is American with Columbian heritage and sings in Spanish and English. I like his songs. I can send those too.’

‘That’d be great! I really like discovering new artists. Can’t wait to listen! Maybe I’ll send you some links to songs I like too?’

‘Sí!Great idea.’

A warm feeling flooded my belly. Right now, I felt like I was one of the guests staying at the Love Hotel because sharing a playlist was one of the daily tasks we asked them to do.

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