‘Fasten these cuff-links for me, honey.’ She did, smiling slightly at the ‘honey’. Raul spoke perfect English but with an endearing trace of an American accent.
‘Thanks, Penny; I don’t know what I would do without you.’ He smiled down at her, his golden eyes glowing, and like a magician presenting a rabbit from a hat he slid his hand into his jacket pocket and withdrew a square velvet box. ‘I was going to give you this over a candlelit dinner at your favourite restaurant by the Thames, but under the circumstances you’d better have it now. Something for you to gloat over while I’m gone.’
Penny’s lashes lowered to hide the sudden disappointment in her eyes. She had been hoping against hope that her birthday present would be a ring, but one glance at the box and she knew how wrong she was. Hiding her disappointment behind a bright smile, she took the box from Raul’s outstretched hand and opened it.
A gasp of amazement escaped her. Inside was an exquisite diamond bracelet fit for a queen.
‘Happy birthday, darling. Do you like it?’
‘What’s not to like? It is magnificent. Thank you,’ she said softly, and, holding it out to him, murmured, ‘Put it on for me.’ She kept her head bent as he fastened the exquisite jewels around her wrist, supposedly admiring it. ‘It must have cost you a fortune; you’re spoiling me.’ She tried to smile but she could not look at him in case he saw the moisture glazing her eyes.
A long finger tilted her chin up. ‘That’s another of the things I adore about you, Penny; you’re such an emotional little thing and you’re not afraid to show it.’ And with his other hand he wiped the solitary tear from her cheek. ‘Hey, you deserve it, darling—you’re so good for me.’
But was he good for her? Penny wondered, and then hated herself for the disloyal thought, simply because he had given her a bracelet when she longed for a ring and had completely misread the cause of her tears. Raul was not an insensitive man, he simply saw only what suited himself and his high-powered, workaholic lifestyle.
She glanced at him as his hand fell from her face, and abruptly he straightened up. But he was not looking at her. He had already left, if not in body then certainly in spirit. She knew the signs.
A frown marring his broad brow, he checked the flat gold Rolex on his wrist. ‘I have to go. You rest, and if I’m not back by eight this evening order dinner in the suite,’ he commanded briskly. Turning, he strode across the room and, with a careless backward wave of his hand and a casual ‘see you later’ he left, Penny forgotten and his whole attention on the meeting ahead.
Rest. She didn’t feel like resting. She stood up, the glitter of diamonds on her wrist catching her eye, and with a soft sigh she removed the bracelet from her arm and dropped it on the bedside table before walking into the bathroom.
The scent of Raul hung in the air and she breathed in greedily as she discarded her clothes. She loved Raul and she was sure that he loved her, even if he never said so in as many words. He showed it in a hundred ways. He was unfailingly generous—as a man and, more importantly, as a lover—he looked after her every need, he protected her. And also himself, a devilish imp of mischief echoed in her brain. He never forgot birth control; he was taking no chances on being trapped into marriage, that was for sure.
Penny shook her head to dispel the unsettling thought. She was ungrateful, she told herself firmly. Simply because he had given her a bracelet worth a fortune rather than the ring she had secretly hoped for.
She was about to step into the shower, and then changed her mind. Instead she picked up a bottle of bath oil and, tipping half of it into the tub, leant over the huge white marble bath and turned on the taps. Why not luxuriate in a scented tub for a change? She certainly had the time...
God! What was the matter with her today? She wasn’t usually restless, and it was so childish to be upset over a damned birthday.
Straightening to her full height of five feet five inches, she surveyed herself in the mirrored wall of the bathroom. Months spent mostly in a warm climate had streaked her long ash-blonde hair almost white in places. Usually she wore it in a twist or braid but today, at Raul’s insistence, she had worn it loose, simply brushed behind her ears and falling in soft waves down past her shoulder blades. Her breasts were high and firm, with a few rosy marks left by Raul last night. Her waist was narrow, her stomach flat and her hips gently curved. Her legs were long in comparison to her height, and well shaped.
Running her hands through her hair, she lifted it up in a bunch, revealing the long line of her throat, the firm chin. She had a wide, generous mouth—maybe a bit too wide—a small, straight nose, and large deep blue eyes.
Her skin glowed with health and a light golden tan; she was not one for sunbathing excessively—she was too fair in any case. But all in all she was not bad for twenty-two—No, twenty-three, she reminded herself, as of today, and with determined cheerfulness she turned off the taps and stepped into the tub.
She sank down beneath the soothing water and laid her head back, closed her eyes and willed her mind to go blank—something she was becoming remarkably adept at doing. But that wasn’t so surprising because, while at college studying pharmacy, she had also taken a course in yoga to help her to relax. Whether one was supposed to use the technique in the bath, she didn’t really know, and didn’t much care as long as it worked.
Half an hour later she opened her eyes, the rapidly cooling water making her shiver. Quickly she stepped out of the bath and into the shower. Minutes later, with her long hair freshly washed, she took a towel from the towel-rail and wrapped it around her head. She reached out for a larger one and, unfolding it, read the name embossed in the thick, fluffy fabric: Hyatt Regency. So that was where they were staying.
Penny paused in the process of wrapping the towel around her naked body, and slowly shook her head. There was something terribly depressing, she realised sadly, about being reduced to reading the hotel towels to remind herself where she was... How and when had the thrill of foreign travel and luxury hotels faded into simply waiting for Raul?
She didn’t try to answer the question—she didn’t dare—and in a flurry of activity she dried her hair, brushing it until it hung like a soft curtain of silk over her shoulders.
She lingered over applying her make-up, but as she only used a moisturiser and a touch of eyeshadow and mascara, the finishing touch being a natural lip-gloss, she was ready by seven. She slipped into a straight, halter-necked dress of soft ivory crêpe-deceptively simple but cunningly cut to curve around her breasts without needing a bra, and leaving her back bare, with the skirt ending just over her knees.
Raul had objected to her wearing miniskirts, which, considering they were popular these days, was endearingly old-fashioned of him. Or was it? she found herself questioning again, and shook her head irritably. Apart from her shoes, she was ready.
Idly she strolled into the sitting room of the suite and, crossing to the French doors, flung them back and stepped onto the balcony. After the air-conditioned comfort of indoors the heat hit her like a blowtorch, but the view took her breath away.
This was her first visit to an Arab country, and the landscape was alien but magnificent. Dubai lay before her, sparkling white, pristine clean, with towering buildings, fantastically delicate minarets and, in the distance, the blue of the Gulf.
After drinking in the sight, she walked back into the room and picked up the information provided by the hotel. Dropping into a comfortable, soft leather chair, she read with interest of the restaurants and bars of the shopping arcade incorporated in the building. Better yet, situated close to the city centre as the hotel was, it was only five minutes’ walk to the gold souk...
Eight o’clock came, but Raul didn’t. Penny, with a determined glint in her blue eyes, picked up her small ivory clutch bag, slipped her feet in matching fabric strappy sandals and without a second thought walked out of the room and across the corridor into the elevator.
It was her