A Summer Romance

Dropping some last things into her bag, Elina pulled up her hair in a messy bun before saying a quick goodbye to her brothers. Grabbing her key from the table as she headed for the door, she headed towards the elevator and stopping to press the button, a fleeting thought flew through her head. Was it too soon to be excited about seeing Fernando again...?

She was on vacation, none of the normal rules applied; she decided as she boarded the elevator and travelled down to the ground floor, trying not to think about the number of ways you could die in an elevator.

Quickly stepping out on the stone floor once the doors opened, she nibbled on her bottom lip as she glanced around the lobby, trying to spot the Spaniard between the lingering guests.

She couldn’t, but apparently he saw her as he managed to scare the life out of her when he appeared behind him and gently settled his hands on her hips, causing her to jump at least a foot in the air.

“Don’t do that!” she reprimanded him as she spun around, steadying herself with her hands on his upper arms, resisting the urge to feel him up and refusing blush under the intense look in his eyes.

“What?” he asked, his face a perfect mask of innocence.

“Scare me like that,” she glowered at him, still not dropping her hands from his strong arms.

“What? I can’t greet the girl I'm seeing?” he wondered with a smile, knowing that they’d only known each other for a couple of days but...but with the looming fact that they would be leaving, and just how open they’d been with each other – like you only are when you meet someone on vacation – it almost felt like they were dating....

“Of course you can,” she scoffed slightly, refusing to acknowledge the last part of his statement. She was so not in a place for a...relationship, and Fernando really didn't seem like the type you dated on the rebound. “But you don't have to sneak up on me when you do,” she pointed out with a wide smile.

“I’ll try not to,” he promise with a small smile before reaching up and gently cupping her cheek, leaning down and slowly capturing her lips in a kiss. A kiss that managed to make her forget that she was even mad at him in the first place...

“You ready to go?” he asked as they parted and he looked down at her.

“Mm-hm,” Elina nodded, not trusting her voice whenever he’d kissed her as it always left her feeling slightly lightheaded...

“You did bring a swimsuit, right?” he checked as he took her hand in his and lead the way to the doors of the hotel.

“Yeah,” she nodded once. “You love this whole not telling me where we’re going, thing, right?” she arched her eyebrow as she clanged up at him as he let her walk out of the door first.

“I thought you girls liked surprises,” he stated simply as they walked down the small cobblestoned walkway.

“We do,” she nodded slowly. “In mild doses,” she elaborated slowly. “This thing...in all honestly it’s kind of creepy, I mean I don't know you that well,” she pointed out softly. “You might be out to kill me for all I know.”

“So why are you with me right now?” he asked as he glanced over at her.

“I don't know,” she smiled softly. “But my mother seems to trust you, she’s a great judge of character, and...and I'm way too curious for my own good,” she shrugged slightly.

“I’m not out to kill you,” he leaned down and whispered in her ear, smirking slightly as he felt her shiver slightly against him.

“Good to know,” she mumbled, eyes closed as she felt his breath on the sensitive skin just below her ear.

“Come on,” he stated as he pulled away and they continued walking down the street, further away from the hotel and deeper into the neighbour hoods.

“Where are we going?” she pressed as she let him lead the way.

“Not telling you that,” he replied simply as he turned around corner, steering her down yet another – unfamiliar – street.

“Come one,” she whined, tugging slightly on his hand.

“We’re almost there,” he easily side-stepped her attempts.

“Where is there?” she questioned, trying to suppress her smile.

“Nice try,” he smiled at her, reaching up and lightly tapping the tip of her nose.

“Please,” she smiled innocently as she looked up at him, blue eyes twinkling slightly.

Looking at her, he knew that she could very probably convince her of almost anything if she continued looking at him like that... “I'm taking you to lunch at this small family-run place around the corner from where I'm staying, and then I was thinking we could spend the rest of the afternoon back at the house, around the pool.”

“That sound like really awesome idea actually,” she smiled softly before pulling him to a stop and leaning up, pressing her lips against his.

“Glad you like it,” he mumbled into the kiss, slowly wrapping his arms around her waist. He’d chosen Menorca when he wanted to get away from...well, everything because he knew it was rather secluded and he knew that he would be able to find distraction there. Only he’d pictured it more in the likes of the pools and the ocean, not a pretty blue eyed Scandinavian girl, but...she was amazing at distracting him....



“So this is where you're staying,” Elina said softly as Fernando opened a black wrought ironed gate and let her step into the front garden first before following her and closing the gate behind them. Before them was a traditionally Menorcan villa, painted bright white to keep the heat out, tiled roof and one part two storied, the other only one.

“This is where I'm staying,” Fernando nodded once as he fished out his keys and unlocked the front door.

“So when will your brother be back?” she asked suddenly, really hoping that he wouldn't notice the slight panic that suddenly appeared in her voice. He might have voluntarily exposed himself to her family, but she so wasn't ready to meet any of his...

“Natalia said that they would be shopping, so I'm not expecting them back anytime soon,” he smiled slightly as he reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her back towards him, causing her to stop flush against his chest. “Don't worry,” he said softly, his breath tickling her cheek as he leaned closer to her. “I'm not going to spring them on you before you want to meet then,” he promised as he could sense the apprehension.

“Thank you,” she whispered before closing the distance between them and pressing her lips against his.

“Want to see the pool?” he asked once they pulled apart, pressing a soft kiss on the top of her head. He could really use that cold water by now...

“Yeah,” she nodded as he dropped his arms from around her and led the way through the sparsely decorated home, her flip-flops slamming against the stone floors. “It’s a pretty house,” she commented as she stepped down into the sunken living room where she could see the backyard and the pool through the large patio doors.

“I don't think pretty was what they were going for,” he noted amused as he opened the door and stepped back out into the warm air.

“Shut up,” she smiled at him, lightly slapping him on the arm as she stepped out on the stone terrace.

“The bathroom’s just down the hall, if you need to change,” he pointed back over his shoulder as he turned to look at her.

“I'm good,” she told him with a smile, stepping out of her flip-flops and letting the freshly cut grass tickle the soles of her feet as she walked out on the lawn and towards the three lawn-chairs that were lined up beside the long end of the rectangular pool.

Watching her for a second, he had to swallow as she dropped her bag on the ground and proceeded to pull her black tank top over her head. Before shimmying out of her beige, layered lace skirt... “All righty then,” he mumbled under his breath as he let his brown eyes travel up the length of her body, over the shapely calves that told about years of sports, the curve of her hip, the narrow part of her waist and the swell of her breasts in that thing she called a bikini.

Not to mention the healthy glow of her slightly tanned skin. She looked good enough to eat...

Shaking himself out of it, he turned on the spot and walked back into the house, heading upstairs to change into his trunks, knowing that when he came back out, she would be sprawled out on one of the chairs, all of her curves on display...



“What do you do back home?” Fernando asked as he turned his head to look at Elina who was sitting less than a foot away from him to his left on the edge of the pool, their feet in the cool water.

“I'm still in school,” Elina answered with a soft smile as she looked over at him, resting her chin on her shoulder. “I have one more year till I graduate.”

“Do you know what you’re going to do afterwards?” he asked curiously. “Do you have any plans?”

“I did,” she admitted softly. “I’ve always thought that I wanted to work in an office, running a company or something,” she laughed slightly. “Then I interned at Eric’s office and quickly learned that it was not my forte. Which means that no, I don't have any real plans what I'm going to do in the future. I just know that I'm going to graduate next summer.”

“You’ll figure it out,” he stated simply.

“Let’s hope so,” she smiled at him, silently wondering how the heck he could have such faith in someone he didn't even know. “And that it’s sooner rather than later,” she added as an afterthought. She wouldn't say that she was stressed to find what she wanted to do with her life, but she also didn't want to end up in limbo where she had no idea either.

“There must be something you’ve been thinking about doing,” he reached out and pushed a stray strand of her hair behind her ear.

“I’ve always wanted to travel,” she smiled at him. “I want to see the world, maybe move to another country, just...just learn all there is about myself.”

“It’s a good start,” he pointed out.

“It is,” she couldn’t help but agree. “It’s just that sometimes I wished that I was more like my friends.”

“Why?” he frowned slightly, so far he liked her just the way she was.

“Because...because they all know what they want to do when we graduate,” she shrugged slightly. “I mean, they have all these plans. One knows exactly what school she wants to go to, one already has a job lined up, one is already planning her trip around the world...” she trailed off, glancing down at her feet as she moved them around beneath the surface, the water distorting them slightly. “Next to all that, it feels a bit lame and childish to have no idea,” she smiled sadly.

“You should do what makes you happy, not what makes you look good to others,” he pointed out simply. “Maybe travelling is what you want to do, if it is, you should do it, don’t let their dreams interfere with yours.”

“Thank you,” she smiled over at him, letting her eyes take in his carefree features as he looked at her. His eyes were brown, almost the colour of burnt oak, and even if his hair was mostly blonde right then, if she would have to venture a guess, its natural colour was brown. And then there were the freckles...the sun seemed to have made them even more noticeable and they were literally everywhere across his face, prominently so on his cheeks and across the bridge of his nose. They made him seem younger somehow and she had to fight the urge to reach out and brush her fingers over the dotted skin...

“So,” she cleared her throat slightly, “now that you know a little too much about my life, what do you do?” she asked curiously, biting her lip slightly as she watched him.

“...I play football,” he admitted reluctantly. He liked her, for real, and it was obvious that she had no idea who he was and he was little afraid to learn how she would react to finding out what he did, that he was a ‘real’ footballer...

“That’s the only thing you do?” she arched her eyebrow surprised.

“No, not really,” he blurted out, grasping the slight opening she offered when she didn't immediately assume that he was a professional football player.

“So...” she hinted, silently wondering why he was almost squirming, looking really uncomfortable with talking about himself. “What do you do besides playing football?”

“I study,” he stated simply, knowing that with each word he was only digging himself a deeper hole.

“You study?” she smiled surprised. “What do you study?”

“Spanish literature,” he threw out. He liked to read so the previous fall he’d signed up for some courses online at one of the Madrid based universities, so what if he’d only really read two of the books squeezed in between matches and training and whatnot...it wasn't as if he was really lying...

“Do you like it?” Elina asked curiously, trapping her bottom lip between her teeth.

“It’s...okay,” he forced himself to say and he didn't miss the slight frown that passed across her features at his hesitation.

His reluctance to talk about his studies bothered her a little, but she also knew that there were a lot of things that she didn't feel comfortable with talking about, no matter how much she liked spending time with him. She was in no position to judge...

“Why did you and your brother decide on coming here?” she changed the subject.

“A couple of my friends had been here and they all said that I just had go,” he licked his lips, not missing the way her gaze fell to them. “Vacation came earlier than I expected, than I wanted this year and I had to get away, so my brother suggested a couple of weeks out here,” he revealed, wondering if she was going to catch on to why his vacation plans had changed all of a sudden, but she didn't seem to . “Why did you and your family come here?”

“My mum and I used to travel to Majorca every summer since I was like six or seven, staying for two three weeks,” she smiled slightly. “Then when I was 12 or something we just stopped going and she and Eric really wanted to take us all somewhere this summer. They got married last June, and really, this is the first vacation we’ve been on that the three of us, Johan, Simon and I aren’t fighting,” she admitted, seeing the slight confusion in his dark eyes. “They got together a couple of years ago, and I’ve always been an only child and we didn't get along and things were crazy for a while,” she rolled her eyes. “We’ve...we’ve learned to live with each other now,” she joked with a grin.

“What about your dad?” he wondered, he’d quickly learned that she was there with her stepfather and stepbrothers, but she never mentioned a father.

“My father and I aren’t close,” she replied flatly, her voice dropping several degrees, clearly there was a reason he wasn't mentioned.

“Sorry,” he apologised, wanting to smack himself for bringing that up but instead he lifted himself off the edge and slid into the cool water. “Come here,” he urged her as he threaded water in the deep end of the pool, moving backwards a couple of feet, closer to the middle of the pool.

Looking at him for a moment, taking in the sudden change in him, she smiled before shaking her head slightly. “Alright,” she surrendered before lifting sliding off the edge and into the water that against her warm skin seemed almost freezing.

Swimming over to where he was, she wasn't too surprised when he reached out and wrapped his arms around her smaller body. She’d never before thought about it, but the feeling of skin upon skin when surrounded by water was almost...erotic...