'Now let me guess-you must be british. And i think,' the man paused, his eyes narrowing as he looked her over assessingly, 'yes, definitely English."
Stella glanced towards the stranger who had accosted her. He was young, about twenty-two or twenty- three, she thought, and quite tall even though he was leaning against the bar. His thick, hair was light brown, so he wasn't a native Madeiran. Probably a holiday-maker, she guessed. He was good-looking, too in a rather overstated way; his smile was just that bit too charming, his clothes too expensively casual. Taking another sip of her drink, Stella considered whether she would let him pick her up or not. It had been a very obvious line, of course, but then he was handsome enough not to have to work too hard at it. But he at least looked clean and civilized and might be worth getting to know better. So she gave casual nod. 'That's right, I am.'
His smile deepened and moved closer, slipping on to the bar stool beside her own. 'And you're here on holiday.' It wasn't a question, he was too sure of himself for that, but Stella noticed that his eyes flicked to her left hand and creased with pleasure when he saw there were no rings on her fingers.
Deciding not to make things too easy for him, she said coolly, 'No, as a matter of fact I'm here on business.'
'Really?' His eyebrows rose. 'And what business brings a beautiful girl like you to Madeira?'
You're at good at guessing, you tell me,' Stella retured, annoyed at the fulsome compliment. She was pleased to see the young man give a slight frown. Obviously his pick-ups didn't usually answer back.
But he smiled, sure of himself again. There can be only be two types of business for an English girl to do in Mandeira: you're either here with a tour company as a courier or something, or else you've come over to buy Madeiran embroideries.'
She gave a amused laugh. You're quite wrong and you'll never guess.' But then she relented a little. 'Are you here on holiday?
It was his turn to laugh, 'No I live here. Most of the time anyway. I spend a lot of time on the mainland. My name's Cane,' he added as if she ought to have heard of it. 'Kelvin Cane.'
It didn't mean a thing to Stella. 'Presumably you shorten it to Vin?' she said casually.
' Yes, I do.' His mouth thinned and he gave a short laugh. 'Obviously you haven't been on the island very long.'
'No, I only arrived yesterday. Why?'
Kelvin attempted to give a modest smile, but was too eager for it to come off. 'Only that my family is very well known here. We've lived in Madeira for centuries and have so many interests on the island that our name is almost a household word.'
'Really?' Stella turned back to her drink, her voice bored.
Seeing that he'd failed to impress her, Kelvin quickly said, 'What's your name?'
'Stella Shelton.'
He gave her one of his best smiles, his teeth white and even his tanned face. 'Let's dance, shall we, Stella?'
She hesitated, then nodded. 'OK.'
They moved out on to the floor, the disco lights painting them in chasing colors as they swayed to the music. It was a good disco; the Dj, hidden away in a windowed booth, chose several old numbers with a good beat, not just new stuff for the sake of it. The surroundings were luxurious; there were small tables with low tub chairs in blue leather set around them, and, because this was hotel disco, it wasn't hot and stuffy or over-loud. And although there were plenty of people there, it wasn't too crowded.
They had a room to dance and Kelvin was good dancer so they stayed on the floor most evening. When they did go back to the bar for a drink, Kelvin got the message and stopped trying to impress her. But the fact that Stella wasn't interested in his background and didn't seem to be particularly affected by his looks must have intrigued him, because he was soon, offering to show her over the island.
His chauvinism immediately put Stella's back up. 'I'm hardly likely to hire a car unless I feel confident enough to drive it,' she told him shortly. 'And anyway, I shall need it for my work.'
'You still haven't told me what that is,' he reminded her.
'Haven't I?' She looked at him musingly, but decided that he didn't deserve her confidence yet. 'It's charity work,' she said airily, then changed the subject before he could satisfy his surprised curiosity.
They stayed at disco until it ended at three in the morning, then walked out into the hotel lounge, Kelvin's arm round Stella's waist. During the last few hours they had quite a lot of drink, but Stella had stuck to long drinks diluted with lemonade and had been drinking whisky on the rocks. And it showed; both his speech and his walk were little unsteady.
'My car's over in the car park,' he told her. 'Why don't we go for a swim? I know a great little cove where we can bathe.'
'Sorry,' Stella said cheerfully. 'I'm not in the mood. And I don't think you're in a fit state to drive. Why don't you get a cab to take you home?'
Kelvin looked affronted but then grinned. 'I drive better after I've had a couple of drinks. You ought to see me.' 'You've had more than a couple.'
He stopped and rested his arms on her shoulders, his dark eyes looking suggestively into hers. 'You know, I really like you Stella. Why not come back to my place so that we can get to know each other a whole lot better?'
She sighed and pushed his arms away. 'You just blew it. Goodbye, Kelvin, it was nice dancing with you.' And she turned and began to walk towards the lifts.
'Hey!' He came after her and caught her waist. 'Where are you going? We haven't arranged when we're going to see each other again.'
'We're not,' Stella answered firmly. 'I'm not into casual sex, and if you can't see that then I don't want to know you.'
'But a man has to try,' he protested.
'Why?'
He looked taken aback at the blunt question, then lifted a hand to push his hair back from his forehead. 'Well, because — because girls expect it, I suppose.' Adding hastily, 'That is, most girls who come here do.' He gave her a sudden engaging grin. 'All right, you don't have to tell me—you're not like most girls. I'm beginning to find that out of my self.' He took her hand. 'But I really would like to see you again, Stella.'
He spoke earnestly, as if he meant it. Looking at him, Stella thought that he was too good-looking and probably too well-off for his own good. And he had obviously had far too many easy conquests in the past. She struggled. 'I'm going to be here for a while; I might see you around.'
'Have dinner with me tomorrow night,' he urged. 'I know a great restaurant where they serve authentic Madeiran food.'
'Sorry, I'm busy.'
Again she turned away but Kelvin said quickly, 'At least let me take you home. Where are you staying?'
Stella smiled. 'I am home. I'm staying here.'
Kelvin's eyebrow rose. 'At the Palacio?'
'That's right,' she said challengingly. 'Why shouldn't I stay here?'
'Oh, no reason. It's a good hotel.'
And not only good, but one of the most expensive in Madeira, short of terrifically upper class and correspondingly exorbitantly priced Reid's Hotel nearer to Funchal, the capital.
Stella saw that she had aroused Kelvin's curiosity yet again and was rather pleased; it served him right for thinking she was easy. The lift was at their floor and the doors opened when she pressed the button. Stepping into it, she turned to watch what he would do, but Kelvin gave an uneasy grin and made no attempt to follow her, though he said, 'I meant it, Stella. I want to see you again.'
Pressing the button for the second floor, Stella merely gave him a enigmatic smile, saying 'Goodnight' as the doors closed.
——————end of chapter 1——————
