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How thoughtful She alhed Real life was such a cruel spectator of vulnerable moments and now she was painfully conscious of her nakedness and quickly pulled up a sheet to cover herself

‘I shouldn’t think anyone will notice who’s at the party and who’s left by now,’ Chico reht, if I were you I’ll go down before you, and you follow,’ he suggested ‘It will be easier for you that way’

How considerate, she thought dryly ‘Good idea’

He gave her a stare, and for a h her to the uncertainty beneath her confident words, but then he relaxed and started tugging on his clothes Job done, Chico was ht what had happened between the more to him than that

She tried to settle back and then sat up again She wasn’t going to lie here, feeling sorry for herself And she wasn’t going to hide away as if she’d done so, and it had been fun

It had been a lot more than fun for Lizzie, but this wasn’t the fairy-tale fantasy of her teenage years, but the inevitable consequence of two healthy adults taking advantage of soht

So, if that was all it hy did she hurt like hell?

Leaping out of bed, she grabbed her clothes She didn’t need to hold them in front of her as any sort of shield as Chico didn’t even look at her Reaching for his boots, he stepped into them He still hadn’t fastened his jeans and his hard, ripped torso was still naked She felt a violent bolt of lust and subdued it That was her body talking Her hts in his head The sex had been good, but it was done, and he had other things to be getting on with Fastening his belt, he shrugged on his shirt, and did up what few buttons were left, then shot her a dry look ‘You owe me a shirt’

‘You owea heart that was breaking in two Yes This had been every bit the ret it? No And she would hide her feelings froht, remember?

‘If you see Danny when you go doill you tell her I’m okay?’

Chico raised a brow as he opened a drawer and reached for a clean top ‘If I see her’ He shrugged the top on and then made for the door without another word

What did she expect hiain soly into this situation, Lizzie accepted as the door closed behind Chico And now she was going to see him every day until the end of the course, so she would have to live with the consequences of what she’d done It was hard to believe she’d been so strong, so certain when she set out for Brazil, and now she’d thrown her whole future into jeopardy

Because she had ignored herthat Chico was poison?

She couldn’t believe that She wouldn’t believe anything bad about Chico, but she’d been so young at the time of the scandal it was hard to be sure of the facts She could re her when Lizzie had needed reassurance after hearing her s about Chico Now Lizzie wondered if she had been ly bitter condemnation of him, which had been liberally laced with Serena’s obvious dislike of her daughter Lizzie

There was no reason for Serena to be jealous of her, Lizzie reflected Her mother was still a beautiful woman, while Lizzie would always be a carrot-top and unexceptional, but Lizzie’s growing friendship with the young Brazilian groom had been the final nail in the coffin of their relationship back then He’s trouble, that one, Serena would say as she followed Chico with her hungry stare

Her oading Lizzie with the fact that Serenaand no one, which was one of her regular taunts Chico’s childhood, running wild in the barrio, and witnessing his brother being shot dead, ed, and possibly incapable of feeling, though Lizzie’s grandmother had insisted this wasn’t true, and that Chico was real—authentic He had no airs and graces that her grandet with Chico, she had insisted, but some people can’t deal with that type of honesty, Lizzie

Her grandmother’s words had washed over her head when she was an ier and all she’d cared about was Serena driving her friends away, but for soht She had disowned Lizzie’s parents shortly after Eduardo had left Rottingdean House with his young grooly, Lizzie didn’t know all the circumstances behind their departure, but, thanks to newspaper reports at the ti of the way her parents had been living, and their accusations against Chico, especially as she had become the butt of everyone’s humour at school when the salacious details of her parents’ scandalous parties had leaked out, and everyone except Danny had mocked her

‘See you down there, Lizzie—’

As Chico closed the door behind hi back She allowed it a few ugly seconds to inhabit her, and then she pulled herself together She wasn’t fifteen now This was very oal and a purpose in being here that went far beyondto waste ti herself in this position Grabbing her clothes, she headed for the shower

Danny aiting for her when she got back to the party

‘Well?’

Danny was avid for news, but Lizzie’scourt in the roupies

‘Coerly

Turning her back on the group and Chico, Lizzie aze ‘I screwed up’

‘You didn’t?’

‘Let’s just say, I won’t be a notch on our lord and master’s bedpost, more of a scratch’

‘So, Chico had an itch?’

‘This isn’t a joke, Danny’