Ivy put her book down and lay her head on her bent arm, enjoying the sun on the beach. She'd tried all day to forget today's deadline - either Paula would accept her, or they would leave. Paula had done her best to make her feel unwelcome, using Ivy's ignorance of the language and the rest of the family. She knew she'd been the butt of many jokes, and the laughter hurt her a lot, but she ignored it as best she could. She turned her head to look at Nuno, who stood talking to Paula. Ivy could remember the woman's reaction to his tattoo the first time she'd seen him on the beach. She'd thrown royal conniptions! Ivy had no idea what the woman had said, because Nuno wouldn't translate for her, but she had seen his shoulders tighten and his eyes harden in anger. It had probably been the death blow to any relationship they might have had, that and his hair and the earrings. Such stupid things! This family was so... unnerving because they looked at the outside, and not the inside. Their loss in Nuno's case, and her gain.
Ivy put her head down again and closed her eyes, thinking that a dip in the warm water sounded really good. It was so hot...
"Well," Nuno said, kneeling next to her, "she doesn't believe I'll go, but I can. Do you want to?"
Ivy rolled over and sat up. "We can?" He nodded, smiling at the disbelief in her voice. "I'd like to, but if you..."
"Good. Let's go," he interrupted her with a smile. She scrambled to her feet and gathered her book, towel, and sun block (he didn't need it, lucky) and followed him to their room.
Ivy closed her suitcase as someone knocked. "Done," she announced with a triumphant smile as Nuno opened the door to admit Ruben and Fatima.
"We heard you were leaving and came to say good-bye," Ruben smiled. Ivy stood up and went to stand next to Nuno. "It was wonderful to meet you, Ivy," he added, smiling at her.
"It was good to meet you too," she smiled. "Thanks for letting us stay at your place, I really enjoyed the time we spent there."
Fatima stepped forward and hugged Ivy as Ruben turned speak with Nuno. "Keep him in line," she laughed.
"Of course," Ivy grinned, glancing sideways at Nuno.
Ten minutes later, they were on their way out. Both of them felt so much better, and they acted and looked like children just out of school. Neither noticed Paula watching as they got on the bus.
"I like that one," Ivy said, pointing at the ring in the window. The plain gold band had a diamond and two small sapphires, one on either side, imbedded into it.
"Why don't you try it on?" he suggested, took her hand, and led her into the shop. He spoke with the shop keeper, who got the ring and Ivy slipped it on her finger.
Nuno saw her face light up and knew she liked it. He got an idea and turned to speak again with the man, trying not to reveal his excitement.
"It even fits," he heard Ivy murmur, and turned to watch her take it off. She gave it back to the keeper and went to look at the watches. Nuno finished his business, then went and slipped an arm around her waist.
"Ready? We've got to get going."
"Yes." She glanced at him, then back at the rings as he gently pulled her out the door. "I don't really want to go back," she said after a minute as they walked down the street.
"Why not?"
"Because we're going on tour, and you're not coming." She leaned against him, and he laughed.
"It's not forever," he said. "And we'll see you somewhere in there."
"Promise?"
"Promise." He grinned at her.
Ivy handed her bass to the person waiting for it as she came off stage, and kept moving. At the beginning of the tour, she'd sat down immediately after coming off stage, but she'd cramped so bad she did not want to repeat the experience, no matter how tired she felt. Actually, she felt good; they had done a great job, and crowd had been great. More people came to the shows now, and it would be so easy to coast the end of the tour. It would also be dangerous. At the conference about it last night, Nikki had mentioned she knew someone who would help. Ivy wondered who it could be.
"Ivy," she heard, and her train of thought stopped altogether as she stopped walking, them staggered to the side. Sabina laughed as the bassist gripped her head. "I don't understand why you have to go in circles."
"Squares don't work, and I still get dizzy pacing," Ivy grinned, and ran one hand through her sweat soaked hair. The other remained on her head.
"True. Are you ready to go? Nikki says we've got guests at the hotel."
Ivy moaned and dropped her hands. "Yes, I'm ready. But I want my bed," she added with a tired grin. Sabina nodded sympathetically, linked arms with her, and they walked to the limousine.
The quiet in the hotel made the others look at Nikki in question, who shrugged. "They said they'd be here. If they aren't here yet, they can come try to wake us up when they do get here."
Ivy glanced at Nikki, noticing how exhausted she looked. They all probably looked like that, ready to drop at a moments notice. One of the security guards pressed Ivy's key into her hand, smiling in sympathy. She grinned her thanks and headed for the elevator. At her door, she had to lean against the wall to get the key into the lock. The door swung open, she flipped on the light, and stopped dead as the door closed behind her. The covers had been turned back, and a red rose lay on the pillow. She leaned against the wall again and closed her eyes, too tired to think.
Her senses were still quite heightened from the concert, and the touch on her face surprised her, as did the following kiss. Slowly she opened her eyes to meet Nuno's, then she threw her arms around his neck.
"I've missed you," she mumbled into his hair.
"I've missed you, too." He guided her to the bed and sat down. Then she noticed he only wore jeans and met his eyes.
"I'm tired," she said softly, almost in apology. He grinned at the exhaustion in her voice.
"I'd be worried if you weren't." He brushed her hair from her face with a tender smile. "Don't worry, I'm not asking anything of you except your warmth. I sleep a lot better with you next to me."
Her eyes closed as he slipped her shirt over her head. "Me, too," she mumbled, then he lay her down on the bed, carefully setting the rose on the bedside table.
"Where's Nuno?" Gary's sleepy voice sounded over the phone. Pat groaned.
"I don't know. He didn't come back with me. Why?"
"There's no answer in his room."
"He sleeps like a log, Gary." Pat put his head back on the pillow. "Don't worry."
"We've got an interview in an hour. They expect you, Paul, and Nuno to be there with me. Get up." The abrupt dial tone made Pat wince and he hung up with a sigh, then crawled out of bed.
He met Gary and Paul in the hallway forty-five minutes later, just outside of Nuno's door. Gary knocked, and from the look on his face, he had very little patience left.
"No one's home," they all heard from down the hall, and turned to see Nuno walking towards them, jacket thrown over his shoulder.
"Where have you been?" Gary asked shortly.
"Out," the guitarist answered evasively.
"All night?"
"I slept well." A grin started on his face. "I'm back in time, and I'm ready. Let's go."
"He's avoiding the question," Paul said as they headed down the hall. "That means he was with a girl." Gary shook his head in irritation, and Nuno touched his shoulder.
"Relax," he smiled. "It's not like I abandoned you." Gary chuckled in spite of his vow to stay angry.
"There's only one girl he'd want to be with," Pat added, then turned to Nuno, green eyes sparkling. "You were with Ivy, right?" Nuno blushed and surprised all three of them, but he remained silent. "So, I'm right. Why keep secrets?"
"How long has this been going on?" Gary demanded in surprise as they stepped into the elevator.
"What?" Nuno asked, all innocence.
Paul swatted his arm. "Since when have you and Ivy been spending nights together?" he demanded. Nuno laughed and gave up the charade.
"Since Portugal. Paula decided that Ivy was the source of all my "problems" and tried to scare her off. Ivy took things into her own hands and seduced me."
The others laughed. "Like she had to work hard at it," Pat scoffed.
Nuno chuckled. "Well, I did try to stop her." The other three just laughed harder.
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