Page 19 of An Island Promise

‘You like living here then?’

Diego shrugged. ‘It is what I know.’ He drifted a hand towards the bar filled with happy sun-kissed people, hands in the air as they danced, Gem and Laurie among them. ‘And it is a good life.’

‘I bet it is.’ Belle sighed.

‘My family have a restaurant in a village inland. Traditional with a very good reputation. Home cooked food made with love. Maybe one day I work there but I like this life. I like having fun while I’m young. I work hard but it is very different to being a waiter.’

‘You mean you can flirt outrageously with every woman you meet.’

‘I can do that working in a restaurant as well.’ He flashed a sly grin. ‘But I don’t have my papa watching over me here.’

Belle matched his grin, her thoughts drifting to the kind of fun he was insinuating. ‘You don’t live with your parents then?’

‘No, not in the summer season. I share with a few others. It’s easier to be close to the bars and beaches to work these hours.’

‘How do your parents manage running their restaurant without you?’

Diego tapped his chest, making Belle’s eyes drop to his open shirt and the glimpse of his smooth, tanned pecs. ‘I’m the youngest of six. They have much help.’

‘Wow, that’s a big family.’

‘And always getting bigger,’ he said. ‘Two brothers are already married with children and my sister is getting married later this week.’

‘She is? So a big celebration for your family.’

‘She’s my only sister so it is special.’

Belle whistled. ‘Five boys and one girl. Your parents had their hands full.’

‘Your family is not big?’

Belle shook her head. ‘Nope, I’m an only child.’

‘So you get all the attention.’

‘Trust me, it can be suffocating – at least it is as an adult. They were too busy to pay much attention to me when I was growing up.’

‘I had to fight for attention.’

‘But I bet you had a lot more freedom than I did.’

‘Maybe, but we grow up in different countries; it is probably different for different reasons.’

Belle snorted. ‘How many times do you want to say different?’

‘I like the word.’ He laughed. ‘I learn lots of English talking to women like you…’

Flirting with women like me, Belle thought.No doubt seducing them too…

‘I like being the youngest. The baby of the family looked after and spoiled by my older brothers and sister.’

‘Sounds like it has its perks.’

‘Until my nieces and nephews came along,sí.’ He slid his arm along the back of her chair, the brush of his fingers against her bare skin turning her stomach over in the nicest way possible. ‘I’m no longer the youngest or, how you say in English… cute?’

‘The cutest.’ Belle’s focus drifted across his face to the dimples half-hidden by dark stubble and his heartbeat pulsing in the hollow of his neck. She met his eyes. ‘You’re pretty damn cute to me.’

‘You think so?’ Diego said smoothly as he shifted closer. ‘Because you are very beautiful.’

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