Page 82 of What Happens in Paradise

The price was eyewatering, so there was no way I could expense that without raising questions. Just as I was about to reach for my credit card, Alejandro handed over his.

‘I will take care of this,’ he said.

‘We can go halves,’ I insisted.

‘No.’ He lifted my hand off the reception desk gently. ‘Let me spoil you. You deserve it.’

Someone better bring a mop and bucket because I just melted into a puddle. The receptionist also swooned.

After my experiences with my ex, I’d vowed to be firmly independent, but somehow, I knew that Alejandro hadn’t offered to pay to show off or because he wanted to ‘own’ me. He was doing it because he genuinely wanted to treat me.

Once everything was arranged, Alejandro offered to take the box of breakfast goodies to Bob, then get the ‘supplies’ we needed whilst I went back to have a nap.

But just as I stepped inside the room, I felt my phone buzzing.

When I pulled it out, I saw I’d had five missed calls. Three from Hazel and two from Stella.

A message flashed up from Hazel.

I’ve been trying to call you! How was the café yesterday?

I saw there was a charge on the company credit card last night for a hotel. Did you stay over?

Good news: the management will be back at the hotel from Monday.

Looking forward to receiving a full report on your findings ASAP!

My stomach sunk. This wasn’t good. I should reply straightaway but my mind was spiralling, so instead, I dialled Stella’s number. I’d noticed earlier that she’d called yesterday too, but obviously, I’d been busy…

Thankfully, she answered on the first ring.

‘Hi! Everything okay?’ she said. ‘Not sure what happened before when you called on Thursday, but after it cut out, I tried ringing back and tried again yesterday. You said something happened between you and Alejandro?’

‘Yeah.’ I sighed and flopped onto the bed. ‘On Thursday, I was calling because I needed to tell someone we’d kissed because I thought we were going to die.’

‘What?’ she gasped.

‘Long story. Anyway, I thought the kiss was bad enough but since then, we… fucked.’

‘Finally!’ Stella squealed.

‘That’sall you have to say?’ My jaw dropped.

‘I’ve been telling you foragesthat I knew it was going to happen! It was never a question ofif, but more likewhen. Congrats! So? How was it? Was it just as good as you’d imagined?’

‘Better.’ I laughed, my shoulders relaxing as I replayed all the many delicious moments. ‘The man is a sex god. I mean, his dick is magnificent. So is his tongue. And hishands. He made me come five times.’

‘Five?’ Stella shouted.

‘Yes! Five! And the crazy thing is, I don’t think it was even an effort for him. He could’ve gone all night and morning if we didn’t run out of condoms!’

‘That’s amazing! I’m so happy for you! I know you were worried about his age, but that just shows there are benefits to having a toy boy. I read somewhere that guys in their twenties have a quicker recovery time. So once you’ve finished one round, it doesn’t take them long to get their engine, or rather dick, revved up again!’ She cackled.

‘You’re not wrong!’ I grinned, then remembered Hazel’s text and my stomach twisted again. ‘But I’m worried my boss is going to find out. She’s already messaged to ask about the hotel charge on the credit card. She must get alerts every time there’s an expense.’

‘Oh…’ I heard the concern in Stella’s voice.

‘I mean, itisa valid expense,’ I added, as if already trying to plead my case. ‘The taxi driver was off his head and couldn’t drive, so we thought it’d be safer to stay overnight rather than trying to find an authorised taxi to drive us three hours back. I didn’t think we’d end up having to share a room where there was only one bed.’

---