The Spanish Tycoon's Temptress (15 page)

“What else are you planning for the day?” he asked while they waited for their meal, sipping mohitos which were filled with
fresh mint sprigs and a special sugar cane wedge to crush the mint. 

She let the sugar and alcohol relax some of the tension that naturally occurred whenever Gaston was near.  Sitting back in her chair, she let the sunshine hit her full in the face.  “I want pillows!” she replied with excitement. 

“Don’t you just throw the pillows off when you sit down on the sofa?” he asked, wary of piles of pillows but he enjoyed her excitement. 

She grinned, but didn’t bother to open her eyes or lower her face. 
“No way.  I curl up with them while I read or work, I shift them around my body to make myself more comfortable….pillows are fabulous and multi-functional.” 

He raised one eyebrow, thinking about the perfectly functional sofa at his place without any pillows necessary.  “If you say so,” was all he would agree.

The skepticism she heard in his voice challenged her and she leaned forward, arguing about all of the creature comforts a house would need to really feel like a home.  His counter arguments, while perfectly logical, made her laugh because they were just practicality.   The whole time they ate their lunch, they argued back and forth about the various ‘necessities’ for a home. 

That
afternoon, they moved from one home goods store to another picking out pillows and curtains, curtain rods and various little things that Gaston said she would ‘need’ in order to spruce up her home.  The man had a memory like an elephant, she thought as he drove her around the city.  Every piece she’d argued for during lunch, he was intent on shopping for. 

No matter how hard she argued, Gaston wouldn’t allow her to pay for any of the items.  She swore to him that she was going to bring everything back to the store but when she threatened that, he simply looked down into her eyes with one sardonically raised eyebrow, not saying a word.  He knew that she wouldn’t bring
anything back.  He was confident that, as soon as she had her new, colorful items scattered about her apartment, they weren’t leaving. 

When they finally drove back to her apartment, she entered through the doorway with trepidation.  But as soon as she saw the walls in different colors, she was amazed!  Not only were all the walls perfectly painted, but her furniture had been moved back into place, but still kept about an inch from the walls until the paint was dry.  To help with that, huge fans had been set up to circulate the air throughout the apartment so most of the walls were already dry! 

“This looks fabulous!” she gasped, walking through the rooms with increasing excitement.  “I can’t believe it took me so long to really think of doing this because it’s very exciting!”

Gaston leaned against the doorway to her apartment, noting with approval that the painters had done a good job and were already cleared out just as he’d instructed.  He didn’t like the fans being in place though. 
Those weren’t in his plans, but the smell of paint was strong enough that he could still get her exactly where he wanted her.  In his bed.

“You can’t stay here tonight
Elana.  You’ll be loopy from the paint fumes by tomorrow.  It isn’t healthy.”

Elana bit her lip, knowing that he was right.  “I’ll stay in a hotel tonight,” she said, deciding that she could blow a bit of money on a hotel since he hadn’t let her pay for any of this. 

“You will do no such thing,” he snapped, irritated that she’d thought of a good solution so quickly.  But he wasn’t having any of that.  “You’ll stay with me,” he commanded.  It occurred to him that she hadn’t thought to stay with her father.  That was an interesting point that he’d have to delve into.  Maybe over dinner. 

Gaston knew that he hated Rufus, but he’d always thought that Elana had a good relationship with him.  His curiosity got the better of him and he couldn’t stop the question.  “Why didn’t you think to stay with your father?” he asked almost reluctantly because if it wasn’t an option for her before, he didn’t want her to go that direction now.

Elana turned her face away so Gaston couldn’t see the pain in her face.  “I guess I could do that,” she said.

Gaston noticed that she had faced in the opposite direction and the mystery deepened.  “What’s going on between you and your father?”
he asked, stepping closer, not letting her avoid him any longer. 

She backed up a step, but her overstuffed chair got in the way.  “My father is happy and healthy.  That’s all you need to know.”

He watched her carefully and knew that there was more to the story than she was letting on.  “How often do you see him?”

She shrugged and looked to the left of him.  “I see him often enough.  I just had dinner with him.”

Again, there was that look.  It wasn’t a lie, but he could tell from her expression and the way she was being evasive that she wasn’t telling him the whole truth.  He reached up and touched her cheek, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear.  “What’s going on between you and your father, Elana?” he asked softly, tenderly.  His hand cupped her cheek, feeling the softness there.  And then his eyes noticed the wetness on her lashes.  She was fighting back the tears?  Why?

“My father and I don’t speak very often
.  He’s a difficult man to love.  Let’s just leave it there, okay?”

He shook his head. 
“Let’s not.  Has he done something to hurt you?” Gaston demanded, his body tensing for her answer.  So help him, if Rufus had hurt her in any way, he would kill the old man! 

Elana laughed and shook her head, but that unfortunately pushed one of the tear drops off of her lashes.  “My father would never hit me,” she said firmly.  “He’s a very sweet man who cares for me a great deal.”

Reading between the lines, and knowing that Rufus had shown him the picture, Gaston said, “Maybe he loves you too much?”  And with her grimace he changed it to be, “Or he loves you in ways that you’d prefer he butt out of?”

She laughed and looked up at him, then quickly away.  “Let’s just drop it, okay?  The apartment looks wonderful.  And you’re
right, it would make more sense to stay with my dad tonight instead of a hotel.  I just hadn’t thought of that because he’s a very independent kind of a guy.”

He waited for more information, but when she stopped, he shook his head.  “What did he do, Elana?  Did he do something when we were together before?”  As soon as he said the words, he knew he’d arrived at the right
conclusion, it was just a matter of the details now. 

“Did he push you into another man’s arms?”

“No!” she gasped.  “What a horrible thing to say!”  She leaned back, feeling angry and crowded all of a sudden.  She hadn’t even looked at another man, not even in the past seven years and for him to suggest that her father had instigated such a betrayal was ludicrous. 

“What did he do then?  I know that he never liked us being together.”

She shrugged.  “That’s pretty much all that happened, Gaston.  He was elated that you’d disappeared and didn’t care how I felt.  He was always telling me horrible things about you but I never believed them.  But once you’d gone, even then he told me how horrible you were. I stopped listening to him at that point.  And I haven’t really been close to him since then.  I didn’t want to listen to him putting you down before you left and I didn’t want to hear about you at all after you left.”

Gaston thought about pointing out that he wouldn’t have left if she hadn’t been with another man, but that was in the past. 
And now, hearing her tell him that she’d fought with her father over him made him feel even worse.  Maybe that was why she’d gone to the other man, to see if some other man would have the same reaction from her father?  It made more sense.  It would at least explain why she’d done it.

He thought about asking her about that, but she put her hand on his chest and thoughts seemed to
scatter out of his mind.  How she could do that so consistently he had no idea.  But at the moment, he didn’t really care.  She was touching him and her hands always drove him more than a little crazy.

“Elana, I’m sorry,” he said softly and bent low, kissing her tenderly in an effort to make up for the pain her father
had put her through.  And the pain he’d personally put her through because he hadn’t been around to help her when she was with her father.  Rufus was a bastard and Gaston knew the kinds of pressure the older man put on his clients and employees.  It was probably just as hard for Elana to ignore the jibes and the pressure.  She’d been young and impressionable and she’d just tried to figure out what was going on.  Perhaps she hadn’t meant to be unfaithful.  Perhaps it had just happened? 

He believed it simply because he wanted to believe it.  He wanted her to have been too young at the time
to understand what she was doing to their relationship.  He’d resisted taking her to his bed back then because he’d believed she’d been too young but she wasn’t now.  And she was more beautiful, more vibrant and lovely and he wanted her.  That was the only thing that mattered now. 

“Let’s get out of here,” he said with a growl.  He kissed her one more time, then pulled back and took her hand, leading her out of her apartment and back down to his car. 

He drove in silence, not sure what she was thinking but determined to get her back to his place once and for all.  He wanted her in his bed with no distractions for several hours.  He wanted this woman with an intensity that seemed completely out of proportion to anything in his experience.  But he wasn’t going to fight it anymore.  He had feelings, even though he didn’t understand them right now.  

“I don’t think this is a good idea,” Elana said as soon as she realized where they were heading.

“My housekeeper has meals already prepared, they just need to be heated up.  And after your day of shopping, you could use a warm, filling meal.”

She couldn’t argue with him there.  She just didn’t want to eat
at his place.  There was too much tension and she was still tingling from that sweet, tender kiss he’d given her back at her apartment.  Was she being too naïve to think that they would only eat dinner? 

Probably.
  She bit her lower lip, wondering how she was going to get out of this.  But her very next thought was, did she really want to? 

She glanced over at Gaston, surveying his profile.  She’d had such a wonderful day with him today, why spoil it by going up to his penthouse and getting into a situation that didn’t make sense in the long term?  Sure, short term she would love to be in his arms, to see what it was like to make love with the only man who had ever stirred her interest. 

But what about tomorrow?  What would happen when he left her for the next woman on his road to whatever he wanted to do with his life? He was already a billionaire several times over, why would he settle for someone like her who worked too many hours and constantly forgot to take care of herself? 

“Let’s eat,” he said softly and stepped out of the car, coming around to the other side to open her car door. 

When she stayed seated, he bent down and looked into her eyes.  “What’s wrong, Elana?”

“I don’t want to go upstairs with you,” she said, unaware of the worry showing through in her eyes.  “Every time we’re alone, we end up…well, you know and it isn’t a good idea.”

He smiled grimly.  “How about if we just take it one step at a time?  Let me get some food in you and then you can sleep in the guest bedroom tonight.”

Her eyes lit up at that suggestion.  “You have a guest bedroom?” she asked.

He laughed at her question.  “I believe there are several bedrooms besides mine.”

She looked up at him curiously.  “You’re not sure?”

He rolled his eyes and stood up.  Taking her hand in his, he pulled her out of the car and into the elevator saying, “Come upstairs and find out for yourself..”  He pressed the button that would take them both to the penthouse apartment, chuckling at her question.  “And just for the record, yes, I know how many bedrooms are in my place.”

She stood beside him awkwardly.  With each ping of the elevator telling her that they’d passed by another floor, she felt as if
this was a huge mistake.  She was just about to tell him that she had to go when the elevator doors opened up. 

“Come along,” he said and took her hand once again, pulling her deeper into the horribly sterile dwelling.  Everything was done in white and black with
only stainless steel and glass to break the monotony.  It was horrible. 

“How do you live here?” she asked, looking around despite
her worries over being alone with him.

Gaston stopped in the middle of the living room and looked around.  “It’s a bit different from what you’re a
partment now looks like, isn’t it?” he laughed at himself.  “But I don’t really need the same sort of interior stimulation that you need so it suits me fine.”  Even as he said that, he thought about the warm, welcoming colors she’d chosen for her apartment.  He wondered what she might choose for this place.  “What colors would you paint these walls?” he asked now that the thought occurred to him. 

There was a stunning view of the city from here, but she just couldn’t imagine living
in such a cold atmosphere hidden away from everyone.  But since he asked, she looked around, putting a finger to the side of her mouth as she concentrated on what the place would look like with splashes of color.  “I’d probably go with a warm, creamy orange or a welcoming soft blue.  It would have to be something to cheer this place up because it is pretty barren.  And during the winter I’d probably always have a fire going in the fireplace.”