Page 24 of Love Bites
“But why do we need to take all that stuff?”
“Because we’re staying the night at the beach.” He flashed her an enormous smile.
Katheryn’s stomach churned. Ever since the night when he’d sung to her by the restaurant then taken her back to the hotel, they hadn’t kissed again. They’d held hands and hugged and pressed their bodies close to each other on occasion, but no more kisses had transpired between them.
She’d wanted to kiss him. Plenty of times, they almost had, but Ignacio always seemed to realize what he was doing and pulled away to cough or pretend to yawn or he’d change the subject. She supposed it shouldn’t be surprising. He had said he wanted to wait to make sure her scars had healed.
And they had.
It had been a quick fix, and no one was more surprised about it than Katheryn. She found she hadn’t thought about Hunter Francis at all during her time here. All he felt was now was a distant memory of something that had been.
There were no more tears, no more nights of tossing and turning or wondering who else he’d cheated with, or how many times he’d done it. Now, all that occupied her mind was Ignacio and the great times they shared together.
And now, he was telling her they were going to spend the night at the beach and Katheryn didn’t know what to make of it.
“Are we leaving right now?” Katheryn asked, a little surprised.
Ignacio chuckled. “Always so impatient, love,” he teased.
She shot him the finger and he bellowed with laughter. Over the weeks, they had developed an easygoing relationship. He would tease her and she would joke right back then they would laugh for a while before catching each other’s gaze. Silent communication would pass between them, and the urge to reach out to each other and kiss would be strong, but they’d ignore it.
“So, when are we going?”
“Tomorrow. Tonight, we’re going shopping.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Shopping?” she repeated, not believing it for a second. “Shopping for what, exactly?”
“A swimsuit, of course!”
She felt silly for a moment then recovered quickly to help him pack her items into a duffel bag. “I guess it’s best to do this now, so I’m not rushing tomorrow night, then.”
She placed each item in the bag, all too aware of Ignacio’s presence. In all their time together, he’d never been into her room, so close to a bed, much less handling her undergarments.
She found her gaze traveling to the comfortable bed more than once, wondering what it would be like to have him lying there with her, his body covering hers. She wondered what it would feel like to be skin-against-skin with him, to have his mouth on hers.
A blush creeped to her face at her erotic daydream. She shot a glance at him. If Ignacio noticed her change of color, he didn’t say anything about it. Instead, he hummed a tune as he folded her clothes and handed them to her.
When they were finished, they walked outside together into the night. Ignacio led her to some fashionable shops that were still lively, even at night. He walked her into one store with clothes that looked almost as expensive as her old house. She knew people in Spain were fashionable, but geez.
Colors, textures and fabrics of all sorts surrounded her. Silks, lace, wool, cotton, linen and more she couldn’t even name. The store was huge, with fluorescent lights illuminating the area. Mannequins were draped in clothes and shimmering scarves, dresses, jackets, and skirts. It was overwhelming and reminded her of the time when she had begun her transformation into high society.
Hunter had dragged her along with him to the most expensive stores, where she had been poked and prodded, measured, and forced to try on item after item. She’d been taken to a salon and been forced to cut her hair in waves. Then gel had been rubbed into it. She’d undergone a facial, manicure, pedicure and various other things she didn’t care to remember.
She hoped this wouldn’t be a similar situation.
Ignacio walked straight to the summer section where swimsuits were strewn in a big bucket and others hung neatly on racks. He looked through the men’s section for swim trunks. Katheryn did the same with the women’s suits, searching the piles first. The materials were flimsy in her fingers, and there were so many options to choose from—a camouflaged one-piece, a two-piece set that was all string and couldn’t possibly have covered anything. She picked up a metallic-blue two-piece that was somewhat decent but probably cost a fortune.
She turned abruptly to Ignacio. “This all seems so impractical.”
“What do you mean?” he asked, still sorting through the men’s options.
“I mean, this store is way too pricey. Can’t we go somewhere else? Like to a thrift shop?”
Ignacio stopped what he was doing and looked over at her. “A thrift shop?”
Katheryn bit her lip and nodded. This was all too familiar. Was she going to be assaulted with nonsense about how she deserved the best and most expensive clothing money could buy, no matter how unnecessary?
Instead of saying anything Hunter-like, Ignacio threw back his head and laughed.
