A Spanish Seduction (7 page)

‘You’re a desirable woman,
querida
. If your mother loved you, perhaps she feared she wouldn’t be able to keep you safe from the men she associated with if she allowed your beauty to show?’ He swallowed hard. ‘You’re a woman any man would desire.’

‘Including you?’

Oh hell. Why an earth had she asked that?

His jaw firmed. ‘Ours is a business arrangement. You know this isn’t personal between us.’

Of course it was business only. That was all she wanted, wasn’t it?

He cleared his throat. ‘You look so beautiful, nobody will doubt I’m attracted to you.’

There was such sincerity in his tone and expression, she imagined she’d simply float off the ground any second now. While she may not be in super-model league, she wanted to go out on the road and find out whether her new look would stop traffic!

‘I think I’ll pass now as your girlfriend,’ she said with conviction. And when she’d finished playing Ricardo’s girlfriend, she wasn’t going to return to her dowdy old image. The new Jess was here to stay. No way would the cosmetics she was armed with find their way to the garbage bin.

‘Don’t think that how you look on the outside is more important than who you are on the inside,’ he told her a little briskly. ‘You’re still the same person.’

He didn’t need to spell out that a change in appearance didn’t mean she’d fit into his world. She wasn’t stupid. She knew however he behaved toward her in public would all be an act.

It didn’t matter. Ricardo was exactly the dangerous type of love-them-and-leave-them predator she needed to avoid.

‘I’m not sure I am exactly the same person,’ she said slowly. ‘I would never have believed that changing my appearance would have such a dramatic effect on how I feel inside.’

‘People judge by appearance,’ he responded. ‘Dress to blend in and you’ll be overlooked. Dress to impress, carry yourself with confidence, and you’ll be noticed.’

‘I know how superficial this will sound, but I actually feel more confident and more alive.’ She couldn’t stop herself from smiling again in jubilation. ‘It’s like a Cinderella fairytale. I can’t believe that twenty-four hours ago I was getting ready for work as a cocktail waitress and tonight I’m about to fly to Barcelona.’ Her world had tipped on its axis and now it spun at an alarmingly fast rate. The day’s events were surreal. ‘Instead of a pumpkin coach waiting, it’s a private leer jet! But first —’

‘First,’ he told her as he took her hand in his, ‘we’re going out for dinner here in London.’

‘I’m not sure I’m hungry,’ she said as she battled to ignore the effect his touch had on her, ‘but I’m very keen to go out.’ She wanted to go out on the town. Everything in her wanted to shine and wherever she went on Ricardo Garcia’s arm she was bound to be noticed.

What a complete flip around! It was extraordinary to find that she suddenly wanted to step into the spotlight instead of seeking the shadows. Should she be worried by such a dramatic swing in her thinking?

She squashed the concern. This was all an adventure. Fundamentally she remained the same person — an honest woman who cared about others and knew the value of simple things. This euphoria would settle down, but there was no harm in enjoying it for just a brief time. She could remain grounded.

‘Tonight we have a chance to get to know each other a little before we fly to Spain. The restaurant we’re going to is an exclusive one, so we’ll also encounter members of the paparazzi.’

‘You’re hoping to be photographed with me to lend support to your story,’ she concluded.

‘Yes.’

‘That’s fine.’ Incredibly, she didn’t feel a bit daunted by the prospect of having her face splashed across the newspapers. A little gremlin inside her even hoped that some of the bullies from her school would see her on Ricardo’s arm and recognise her. ‘I signed up for this and, despite all my initial misgivings, I’m going to make sure I treasure every moment of the next three months.’

He sent her a penetrating look. ‘I hope I haven’t created a monster?’

Jessica laughed. ‘No. I’m on an artificial high right now, but you told me to be a risk taker. For the first time in my life, I think I can handle it.’

He shifted on his feet. ‘Just remember, this is real life. You haven’t stepped into a fairytale.’

‘No. I couldn’t have. In the fairytale there’s one character as a fairy Godmother and another as Prince Charming. I think you’re a combination of both those characters, Ricardo!’

‘
Mierda!
You may not be having second thoughts about this, but I am. Don’t begin to imagine I’m either character.’

Bold on her artificial high, she linked her arm through his and gave him a wink. ‘It’s okay. Your secret’s safe with me.’

‘Have a care, Jessica. I’m no Prince Charming to sweep you off your feet.’

Given his playboy reputation, he probably wasn’t.

‘I was as weary as Cinderella. You’ve rescued me from working long days and I’m grateful. Miracles have already happened and, in the next three months, you might even introduce me to my Prince Charming! For the first time in my life I feel that a fairytale ending is within my grasp. All I have to do is take a risk and reach for it.’

Chapter Six

Madre de Dios
! She had to be joking if she thought he was going to introduce her to her Prince Charming.

Each time Ricardo looked at Jessica he was amazed at the vision before him. He’d known the make-over professional would enhance her natural assets somewhat, but nothing had prepared him for this knock-out beauty.

When she’d seen her reflection in the mirror, there’d been a slight trembling of those luscious lips, then they’d curved upward into a radiant smile. He’d been completely caught off-guard and the room had shattered around him. Her smile had blinded him as surely as if he’d stepped out from a cold cavern into the hot summer sun. Propelled by a force more compelling than he’d ever known, he’d kissed her.

He’d never imagined just how sweet and soft her lips would be.

Maldita sea!
Just the thought of it sent him hard. His reaction angered him, for he was a man who controlled his sexual urges. They did not control him.

Hell! The dress she wore didn’t help. It was sheer temptation, revealing enough of the creamy flesh of her breasts to entice and keep a man on edge. He yearned to peel away the fabric and reveal what lay beneath the material that clung lovingly to her very tiny waist and hugged the curve of her hips. As for her legs, they definitely warranted killer classification.

‘I love this limousine.’ Excitement lit all her features. ‘Much better than a pumpkin carriage!’

He had to regain some semblance of his self-control, because all he could think of was making love to her right here in the limo. Part of him despised himself for his change of heart when only last night he’d been so appalled by her appearance. When had he become so fickle?

‘I’m surprised you’re being chauffeured,’ she said. ‘I would’ve thought a racing car driver would prefer to be at the wheel.’

These days he preferred to be anywhere but behind the wheel of a car. The last time he’d driven had ended in disaster. He forced away those memories. ‘I generally use travel time to catch up on business matters.’

She nodded easily, buying his explanation. ‘Thank you, Ricardo, today has been quite an adventure.’

‘We’re almost at the restaurant,’ he shifted uncomfortably in his seat. ‘Don’t thank me yet. You’re about to feel like you’re under siege. I’ve no doubt the photographers will swamp us the second we arrive.’

‘I can’t imagine having to live with press interest all the time.’

‘If people didn’t buy the newspapers, there wouldn’t be the interest.’

‘I’ve never been a follower of the gossip columns, but I can understand why some people do. You’ve seemingly got it all — fame, good looks, fortune — the jet setting lifestyle where you don’t have to worry about anything as mundane as doing the laundry or buying the groceries. You have no worries about how you’ll pay the next bill. I guess I’m assuming again, but, I imagine you have the sort of financial freedom everyone dreams about.’

‘I have, but everything comes with a price.’ The price he’d paid, the loss he’d endured because of his career as a world champion on the track, didn’t bear thinking about. And, although he’d won title after title, he’d never achieved his true goal.

‘I worked hard to be number one in racing. I still work very long days now as I try to establish my credibility in the corporate world.’

‘Tonight is an example of how you’re paying the price.’ She sighed, and the joy in her eyes dimmed. ‘The paparazzi interest in your love life has made you a victim of your fame. Now, you’re stuck with me for the next three months because of the ambitions you have.’

He regarded her closely. Part of her may be more confident with her new look, but he guessed there was still a large part of her needing reassurance. ‘The press story may have brought us together, but I don’t feel as though I’m stuck with you.’ It concerned him that in his effort to reassure her, he spoke the truth.

‘Seriously?’

He shouldn’t have told her. He didn’t want to get close to any woman and he’d touched on more personal subjects with Jessica than he’d broached with another living soul.

Despite the disquieting thought, he admitted, ‘You intrigue me. You’re very different from any other woman I’ve known.’

‘I’m sure that’s true.’ She grimaced.

Before he had a chance to comment, the limo pulled up outside the restaurant.

‘Show time!’ she announced brightly, but there was a telltale, nervous wobble of her lower lip, and her pulse hammered at the base of her throat.

He took her hand. ‘You’ll be fine. Just smile and stay close by my side. We’ll be through the press pack and inside before you know it.’

From the second they got out of the car and made their way to the restaurant, she caused a stir. The photographers went into a frenzy, almost falling over each other in their eagerness to get a close up shot. Flashbulbs popped. People pushed and it was only his security team forming a ring around them that kept them moving forward.

Jessica clung to his side. In contradiction to his plan to thrust her into the limelight, he now knew a fierce urge to protect her from the intrusion.

Mierda!
What was wrong with him?

A photographer called out to her. ‘What’s your name?’

When Ricardo would’ve propelled her on, Jessica stopped. He watched in disbelief as she looked straight at the photographer. Despite her hand shaking in his, her expression was calm and confident. ‘I’m Jessica Harris.’ Her voice was a sultry purr. ‘Please don’t confuse me with anyone else. The press have been known to get it wrong before!’

Madre de Dios
! His blood pressure sky-rocketed. The smile she gave the press pack was bewitching.

‘Ricardo! Has your affair with Carla Lorezzi ended?’

‘Jessica, how long have you been dating Ricardo?’

‘How did you meet?’

‘Where are you from, Jessica?’

‘No comment,’ Ricardo stated with finality.

When they got into the restaurant, she squeezed his bicep and whispered excitedly, ‘I think we did it! They really believe we’re together. I even managed to allude to the fact that they’d mistaken me for Carla. What did you think? I did my best to look a bit pouty because I figured that would be the type of woman you’d go for.’

Ricardo found himself pulling her out of earshot of the security team and snapping at her. ‘There’s no need to parade yourself like sex on a stick, and, I do not
go for
pouting women!’

The way her face fell made him feel like he’d just kicked a kitten. Every scrap of her exuberance vanished instantly.

The maître de appeared. Ricardo waved him away and manoeuvred Jessica into a secluded corner of the grand entrance.

‘I’m sorry,’ she apologised quietly. ‘I was just trying to get into the role. We haven’t discussed it in any detail, but I thought that’s what you’d want so this would all be believable. What sort of woman do you usually date?’

‘Women who are far more predictable than you!’ It had been agony to sit by her side in the limousine and answer her small talk while he battled to keep his gaze away from her amazing legs. Hearing her purr to the reporters like a sex siren had sent his blood racing south and made him irritable.

Groaning in sheer frustration with his responses, with her and the entire situation, his reaction was immediate and primitive. Uncaring that his security team and the head waiter could see, he pulled her close. He pushed his fingers into her silky hair and urged her head back so he could kiss her with some of the fervour he’d been suppressing.

He savoured the taste of her. The lush fullness of her mouth was more delicious than the most exotic tropical nectar. When had any woman tasted so sweet?

Her husky mew of drowning pleasure, and the way she returned his kisses with hungry urgency, incited him to a passion that quickly threatened to get out of control.

Reluctantly, he pulled away from her. Taking in the rapid rise and fall of her chest, the desire in her eyes and the way her tongue tip darted out to moisten lips that were plumper after their kisses, he wished they weren’t in a public place.

Yet, even had they been in complete privacy, he couldn’t take Jessica as his lover. He’d promised her this would be a business arrangement. She was too unworldly and emotionally vulnerable for a casual relationship with him.

Reaching out, he touched the tip of his index finger under her chin and ran his thumb along her lower lip. ‘Don’t pretend to be the kind of woman you think I like,
querida
. When I said you were unlike any other woman I’ve known, you immediately assumed it was a bad thing. It isn’t.’ He desperately wanted to kiss her again. Instead, he restricted himself to a slight brush of his lips across hers. ‘Just be yourself.’

‘I don’t feel remotely like myself at the moment,’ she said breathlessly. ‘I feel like I’m having a wonderful dream, and even though I know you’re just doing it for show, having you kiss me sends my entire stomach into a flutter and makes me feel incredibly off-kilter. ’

He almost groaned aloud. She shouldn’t say such things to him because it made it so much more difficult to keep a rein on his rampant arousal.

She pulled a face. ‘I shouldn’t have told you that, should I?’

‘Probably not,’ he said as levelly as he could.
Definitely not.
‘This is a business deal, remember?’

‘Oh, don’t worry. You’re a wonderful kisser, but so you should be with all the practice you’ve had! I’m not going to pretend I didn’t just about melt at your feet then, or that I haven’t been thinking about kissing you since the first moment I met you. But, you can relax. I’m hardly going to fall head over heels with you. I know you’re exactly the type of man I should avoid.’

Amazingly, he felt affronted.

‘Tiffany was concerned I might lose my heart to you,’ she admitted, ‘but I’m not going to.’

She wasn’t? 

When had he become so arrogant that he thought every woman he met would be entranced by him? Probably since his formula one days when every female in close range had joined the swarm around him and vied for his attention.

‘I’m glad to hear it.’ Despite his assertion, he wasn’t sure it was the complete truth.

‘I’m much tougher emotionally than I was, and I’m becoming more resilient all the time,’ she declared. ‘This arrangement is an ideal way for me to prove that I won’t allow myself to be vulnerable again and get hurt.’

Ricardo frowned. Jessica was far from tough. She was soft, feminine, beautiful and definitely vulnerable. Her honesty and naivety were part of her appeal. He didn’t want her to change. He didn’t want to play any part in her becoming tougher. If she did, she’d be just like all the other women he knew.

Why did that thought bother him so much?

‘Don’t try to change, Jessica. Be yourself.’

‘Oh come on, Ricardo. Last night you were desperate for me to change.’

He was still desperate, but tonight his desperation stemmed from an entirely different reason. ‘I wanted you to change your outward appearance, not your personality.’

‘Well, Pablo succeeded with my appearance. I don’t feel quite so out of place at your side now. In fact, I love being on the arm of such a sexy specimen of the male species!’ She took a quick breath. ‘I know that makes me rather shallow, but this is only for a short time so I don’t think it’ll hurt.’

He frowned. ‘Keep track of what’s real and what’s fantasy.’

‘I know you didn’t appreciate my fairytale analogy before, but I really feel like Cinderella off to the ball, and I’ve decided to cherish every hour before the clock strikes twelve.’

Just what had Pablo done with the bristling cocktail waitress?

‘The life you return to when this ends won’t be the same as the one you left,’ he warned.

‘No. I’ll be debt free, I’ll be sporting my brand new look and I’ve already gained confidence. I’m looking forward to my time in Barcelona and to new experiences when I get back to London.’

New experiences like a screaming orgasm?

Dios le ayude
! She’d already mentioned the possibility of being introduced to her Prince Charming over the next three months. Now something fierce tore at his insides when he realised she might not only meet the man, but might have her first screaming orgasm with the guy.

What was wrong with him tonight?

Confused by his line of thinking, he turned and signalled the maître de. ‘Let’s go and sit down.’

Jessica’s thigh brushed against his as they walked toward the maître de. The sensation triggered fresh thoughts of how it would be to take her as his lover. The notion that he should be the one to give her a screaming orgasm was worse than fanciful. It was crazy.

Ricardo was a shark and she was a fresh-water minnow who’d been tossed into his stormy sea. She may not be an untried virgin, but she was way out of her depth. He had plenty of faults, but he didn’t take advantage of innocent or vulnerable women.

‘I’m a little hungrier now than I was when we left Pablo’s,’ she told him.

‘Good.’ Every minute that passed in her presence made him hungrier as well, but he doubted they were talking about the same thing.