Trish Morey – Back in the Spaniard's Bed (страница 2)

He smiled then, and his dark beauty just got better. The sensual slash of mouth suddenly more passionate, a dimple transforming his jawline from ruthless businessman to lover in an instant. My God, she thought. She’d turned her back and walked away from this man. How the hell had she managed that?

‘I came to give you something.’

She blinked and tried to focus on his words. She’d left something behind? She turned her thoughts back to those frantic few hours after she’d made her decision, haphazardly throwing her few scant belongings into her suitcase, trying to shut out Alejandro’s orders that she stop—orders that had soon turned to demands that she get out when it had become clear there was no way she would change her mind. She’d left nothing, she knew. Only the trappings of her mistress life, the gowns and shoes and jewels, and those had never really been hers.

Only those, and the heart she’d had no choice but to leave battered and bleeding behind. ‘I left nothing,’ she lied. ‘So what is it?’

The corners of his mouth turned up in a smile that missed his eyes completely. ‘I came to offer you a second chance.’

For just a moment it felt as if her heart had stopped beating, until the thumping kicked in again, louder and more insistent than ever, and her lungs demanded to be filled with air, demanded it now! How many nights had she lain awake, wishing he would call, wishing he would tell her he missed her, wishing more than anything that he might discover he loved her after all? But not once had he bothered to contact her. Not once had he even bothered to get in touch. She’d long ago given up hope that he would. And yet he was here now …

Had she given up hope too soon?

She searched his eyes and her hopes were dashed anew.

Not a chance.

Just one look at the hostility emanating from those dark depths and common sense prevailed. Alejandro had the look of a man who wanted to do someone some serious damage, and right now she was the only one standing in the line of fire.

She shivered and shifted nervously away, wanting to get out of range, knowing there was nowhere in the small shop that would afford her sanctuary. ‘I don’t understand what you’re offering? A second chance at what, exactly?’

‘I will take you back as my lover. All will be forgiven.’

This time she laughed out loud. He was forgiving her? Did Alejandro’s arrogance know no bounds? And to think that for a half-second she’d imagined he’d come back because he’d suddenly discovered he loved her.

‘You’re forgetting something, Spaniard. I left you. I neither need nor want your “second chance”.’

Her laughter had been bad enough, cutting through the tense atmosphere and leaving jagged edges, but to refer to him as if she couldn’t even bear to mention his name … His teeth ground together, his jaw jammed tightly closed. Things had not been that bad between them. Of that he was certain.

‘You would not have me believe you have forgotten my name? A name you cried out so frequently and with such passion?’

‘You know I wasn’t trying to insult you. I was trying to keep this conversation impersonal.’

‘But it has always been personal between us. Or should I say—’ he hesitated, daring her to turn her eyes away ‘—intimate.’ He caught her reaction, the widening of her eyes, the kick of her chin as she swallowed back on her shock, and he knew she hadn’t forgotten. ‘We are good together. Why would you throw that away?’

‘Because I’m perfectly happy with my life just the way it is.’

‘I don’t believe you.’

‘And I don’t care what you believe. You can take your second chance and go home.’

His eyes took her in, scanned her like radar, swallowing her whole. ‘You’ve lost weight.’

‘I’ve been busy.’

‘Too busy to eat?’

She shrugged and averted her eyes, but not before he caught the clouds rolling across them. Money problems could do that to people, he knew, but she would soon find her money problems were a thing of the past. ‘I would make sure you ate.’

She snapped her head around. ‘And what would you expect in return?’

‘Nothing you wouldn’t want to give me. Look me in the eye and tell me you don’t miss our lovemaking.’

She turned away, throwing her hands out wide. ‘Look, what’s the point of this? Whatever we had is over, and it’s pointless to try and reignite it.’

‘I don’t have to reignite anything. I can see the fire burning now in your eyes, no matter how much you try to deny it. You’ve burned for me ever since I walked through that door.’

‘I left you …’

‘You left before we could extinguish the flames!’

I left to save myself from burning up completely.

Behind Alejandro the tiny bell tinkled, and a burst of cool air swirled into the room before the door was jammed home. A customer entered, smoothing down the grey tendrils escaping from the tight twist behind her head as she stood to one side in her navy-coloured corporate attire, oblivious to the tension in the room, patiently waiting her turn.

Leah had never been so grateful for an interruption in her life. ‘Your trousers are ready, Mrs Turner,’ she said, reaching for the package like a lifeline.

The customer looked from Leah to Alejandro, who had angled himself towards her. ‘I don’t want to push in …’

Alejandro smiled and gave a small bow, holding out one arm to her, suddenly all Latin charm. ‘Please, I would be honoured if you would be served. I am not exactly a customer—more a friend visiting for old times’ sake. It is a pleasure to meet a friend of Leah’s.’

The woman’s cheeks bloomed as if someone had flicked a switch, her hand automatically returning to her hair. His smile was enough to do that, Leah knew, but coupled with an accent that seemed to vibrate its way right into your bones, the woman had no defence. She wouldn’t have been surprised if the customer had melted into a puddle right then and there.

The woman only took her eyes off Alejandro for the barest second, to exchange a high-denomination note for the parcel Leah pressed into her hands.

‘Allow me,’ Alejandro said as the older woman headed for the door, and Leah could have sworn she heard the customer giggle.

‘Mrs Turner,’ she called out from the cash register. The woman turned her head slowly, as if reluctant to drag her eyes away from him, even for one brief moment. Leah held out her hand. ‘Your change.’

The customer’s eyes shot open wide and she giggled again, her cheeks flushed, hugging the parcel to her chest. She hurried back and collected the money before lingering where Alejandro stood ready to hold open the door. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered breathlessly, before launching herself into the street.

He pressed the door home behind her. ‘You see,’ he said, turning back to Leah, ‘not everyone seems to find my company so intolerable.’

‘Don’t I know it! That’s why I can’t believe you’re here. When I was with you there was a line of women who would have gladly scratched out my eyes if it meant they could replace me. Surely you couldn’t have got through them all that quickly?’

He shrugged in his couldn’t-care-less way as he checked the lock. ‘Where is the key for this door, Leah? We cannot talk if we’re going to be constantly interrupted.’

‘I can’t lock the door. I’m trying to run a business here.’

‘This is no place for you.’

‘I like my job.’

‘Working as a seamstress? Taking up other peoples’ hems?’

‘It’s an honest job. Maybe not up to the dizzy heights you’re used to, but not all of us are power-hungry megalomaniacs.’

His midnight eyes glinted dangerously as he came closer, moving around the counter as silkily and purposefully as a shark moving through the depths, all power and dangerous beauty. Her back stiffened as he drew alongside her, trapping her against the counter with his arms, his height forcing her to look up at him to meet his gaze—a gaze that turned her body’s thermostat to a slow sizzle. His dark eyes were suddenly so searching she’d swear he could see right into her soul.

‘I have hunger, I agree, but right now it’s not for power. I want to make love to you, Leah. Right here. Right now.’

Shock transfixed her to the spot. That and the primitive thrill that zipped along her spine and bloomed through her flesh in a rush of heat. Trust Alejandro not to play fair. She clamped down on her body’s reaction, doing her best to ignore the masculine scent that seemed to curl around her and tighten like a noose. ‘We can’t always have what we want.’

‘Oh, but I can.’ He lifted one hand and touched the backs of his fingers to her cheek, running them down the side of her face, and it was all she could do not to lean into his strong hand.

She squeezed her eyes shut. ‘Alejandro …’

‘Ah, so now, you see, you remember my name. Likewise you must remember how good we can be together. Would you like to make love to me now, as I would like to make love to you?’

Beneath her bra and fitted shirt her nipples peaked and strained for release. Beneath her denim skirt the heat was already pooling, heavy and insistent. She swallowed and battled a body determined, it seemed, to betray her. ‘Look … this is crazy. It’s not even five o’clock in the afternoon—’

‘And when has the clock ever stopped you before? Don’t you remember how you used to inflame me, no matter what time of the day it was or where we were, and the more risk of being discovered, the more risk someone would happen upon us, the better? Do you remember how much you enjoyed it?’