Читать книгу One Night To Risk It All - Katherine Garbera - Страница 11

One

Inigo Velasquez lived life at a fast pace and liked it that way. As the youngest and arguably handsomest of the Velasquez brothers, he enjoyed life to the fullest. No tying the knot and settling down for him. Plus, his career as a Formula One driver kept him on the road and away from his matchmaking mama for most of the year.

He had to give his mom credit, though. It took some real determination to arrange a setup at a party on New Year’s Eve, one that wasn’t even taking place in their hometown of Cole’s Hill, Texas. Back home, Inigo was always on his guard for his mom’s maneuvering, but tonight they were all the way across the country at the Hamptons home of his brother Alec’s baby mama, Scarlet O’Malley. Inigo had mistakenly assumed that his mom’s network wouldn’t be able to produce any potential bridal candidates this far afield.

He had to give her high marks for finding a woman who was hitting all of his hot buttons. She was tall, probably an inch or so shorter than his own five-foot-ten frame. She had long blond hair with some darker streaks that hung down her back. She wore a chemise-type shift dress that was brilliant sapphire blue and complimented her silvery eyes perfectly.

She didn’t let her height keep her from wearing heels, and she was by far the most stunning person in the room. She moved through the well-heeled, moneyed crowd with ease, which made him wonder who she was.

“Mom, you’ve outdone yourself,” he said as his mom came over to him with a glass of champagne in each hand. She handed him one, which he took and knew he’d have to nurse all night. He was already training for the upcoming season, and that meant watching his alcohol intake.

“Thanks, sweetie,” she said. “It’s really only a glass of bubbly.”

“I meant the woman,” he said.

“What woman?”

“Are you seriously going to pretend that the only single woman in the room isn’t here at your behest so that I accidentally meet her?” he asked.

“Inigo, I didn’t invite anyone for you to accidentally meet. I wanted my boys to settle down in Texas. But Mo is the only one who married a Cole’s Hill girl. Diego divides his time between London and Texas, and it looks as if Alec is going to be doing the same, commuting between New York and home. I want my boys close so I can spoil my grandchildren,” she said.

Inigo couldn’t believe how he was the only Velasquez brother still single. Diego, his eldest brother, had married British legacy jewelry designer Pippa Hamilton-Hoff. Alec had Scarlet, and Alec’s twin, Mauricio, was now engaged to his long-time on-again, off-again girlfriend, Hadley.

“So, she’s not for me?” he asked.

His mom shook her head and started laughing. “Honey, it’s amazing that with your ego and inflated head you can even get the helmet on at the start of a race.”

“Ha-ha, Mom. You know it’s not that far-fetched that you’d try to set me up,” he said.

“I know. Which girl is it?” his mom asked.

He nodded in the blonde’s direction.

His mom whistled between her teeth. “She’s a looker. How do you know she’s single?”

Inigo tried to play it cool, like he hadn’t asked around to find out who she was. But his mom, who was watching him, just smiled and shook her head. “You like her?”

“Don’t get any ideas,” he warned her. “I have a big year coming up, and I’m focused on being number one.”

“I know you are, baby. And your father and I are very supportive of that,” his mom said. “But if you like her…maybe you should go and introduce yourself to her.”

“I might now that I know you didn’t meddle to get her here,” Inigo said.

“Might what, son?” his father asked as he came over, putting his hand on his shoulder and squeezing.

“He might go talk to that girl,” his mom said. “Here, finish this for Inigo. He’s training and shouldn’t be drinking.”

“Whatever you say, darling,” his father said, taking the champagne flute from Inigo’s hand. “What a party! Several people have already confused me with Antonio Banderas tonight.”

His mom swiped the glass from his father’s hand. “Obviously you’ve had too much to drink if you think that’s what they said.”

Inigo smiled at his parents joking around with each other. Seeing them together always made him think of relationship goals. But they had gotten together back when life was simpler. Now the world was faster, meaner and more connected. He had to hustle a lot to stay relevant off the track while still winning races on it. There was no time to find someone and get to know them in the real world the way his parents had.

But someday he did want that…when he was like thirty or, hell, maybe forty, depending on how his career went.

“Which girl are you looking at?” his father asked when his mom spotted one of her favorite Food TV chefs and wandered over. This party had everyone at it, and frankly it was the kind of shindig that he tried to avoid except when his sponsor made him attend.

Sponsors and family. They were the only two things that he ever allowed to pull him away from racing.

“Dad, you can’t call women girls anymore,” Inigo said. “But she’s the blonde in the blue dress over near the French doors.”

“You know I meant no disrespect,” he said. “Hell, you and your brothers still look like boys to me. Guess it’s my age.”

“Don’t be all aw-shucks with me. If Mom or Bia heard you, you’d be in trouble,” Inigo scolded.

“I know. Maybe I’d better go back and find that lady who thought I was Antonio Banderas,” his dad said.

“I wouldn’t. Unless you want to start the new year with Mom ticked off at you,” Inigo said.

“True. How’d you get to be so smart?” his dad asked.

Well, Inigo hadn’t been drinking all night, the way his father clearly had, which made everything sharper, but he smiled at his father and winked. “From you.”

His father clapped him on the back. “Of course you did. I like your gir—woman. Have you talked to her?”

“Not yet.”

“What are you waiting for, son?” his dad asked. “She’s alone. Go.”

His father gave him a nudge toward the blonde, and at that moment she glanced over at him to see his father pushing him toward her. Their eyes met, and he knew that he was hooked when she shook her head, smiled at him and crooked her finger.

Marielle Bisset had almost skipped tonight’s party. It wasn’t her normal scene, but her good friend and fellow social media influencer Scarlet had been insistent that she at least make an appearance and meet representatives from some of the brands that she’d been working with. Scarlet had been her mentor for the last six months. And once she’d realized that the other woman was pregnant, Marielle realized this might be the chance she’d been waiting for.

Scarlet had taken Mari under her wing when Mari had come back from a disastrous year abroad. Scarlet had been more than a mentor to her; she’d been really good at teaching Mari how to accept her flaws and own her past mistakes so she could be a better person.

She’d been slowly growing her YouTube channel and working on increasing her numbers so that she could become a style guru like Scarlet, but it was hard to build that kind of influence. Marielle had been doing it for a little over a year now and felt like she was just starting to find her own place in the noisy world of influencers.

She’d come back to the Hamptons and her parents’ home after a disastrous affair with a married man that had left her shattered. She shook her head, wishing it were just as easy to shake off how bad she’d felt when she finally realized he was married. She’d been hiding out in East Hampton for the better part of the last five years in between traveling the world and searching for answers about herself. She’d been making peace with her mistakes, keeping a low profile and building her internet-based influencer business. The scandal and hurt she’d caused had left her broken.

Glancing around the room, she locked eyes with a hot guy who was being shoved in her direction by an older man.

He had dark brown hair, but from this distance she wasn’t sure of his eye color. He bore a strong resemblance to the older man, who was laughing. She couldn’t help but smile at them. It was clear that they had a strong bond—probably father and son.

Her gaze locked with the man’s, and she felt a zing go through her. Dang. It had been a long time since she’d felt anything like that. He looked embarrassed, which was cute, so she crooked her finger at him, and he arched one eyebrow at her as he made his way across the room.

“So someone thinks you should meet me,” she said. “But you needed a shove?”

“Uh, no, that’s my dad. And he’s in full-on party mode,” he said, then groaned. “Not that I needed my dad to push me toward you or that I always hang out with my parents.”

She just laughed. He seemed so genuine and real that for a moment she wasn’t sure he belonged here. “It’s okay. Your dad seems like a lot of fun. I haven’t seen you at any of the other parties this holiday season, so I’m guessing you’re not local.”

“No. Texan born and raised. Are you a local?” he asked.

“Sort of. My parents have a house here. I grew up in the city but summered out here,” she said. Oh God, she was rambling. But it was totally his fault. Up close she saw that his eyes were a deep, dark chocolate brown and that he had a small scar in his left eyebrow. His jaw was strong and his mouth firm, but he smiled so easily that it distracted her.

“How do you know Scarlet?” he asked.

“She’s sort of my mentor. She’s been so great about answering all of my questions and helping me to come up with a business plan as an influencer,” she said. Scarlet had been the first person to take her seriously when she’d suggested that she wanted to make a career out of social media. Her father had been disappointed that she hadn’t landed a husband by now.

But that was her dad. Always making her feel like a disappointment. Not like this dude’s dad, who was watching them and smiling in a sweet way. His dad seemed like a really nice guy. Or maybe a silly drunk, she thought as he turned and moved toward the bar. She realized she’d seen him at the bar a few times tonight.

“Your dad is too funny,” she said.

“He’s a mess. He’s just enjoying the fact that all of his kids are here tonight. Normally at least one of us is away on every holiday, so he’s thrilled we all are here.”

“That’s so cute. Usually it’s the mom who’s like that,” she said.

“Yeah, my mom is a newscaster in Houston, so when we were growing up, she was gone a lot and Dad was the one who did all the school pickups. They are both pretty fabulous,” he said. “I’m pretty lucky in that they both made us a priority but weren’t too overbearing.”

“Must have been nice,” she said. As the only daughter in a family of five children, she’d always had a little too much attention from her parents. Her dad had been overprotective when she was younger, but once she was eighteen, he thought that she should find a good man and settle down. He was very old-fashioned about stuff like that.

“What about you? Are you here with anyone?”

“Um, no.”

“It might be too forward, but I’m glad you’re here and I hope you will be at midnight,” he said.

“Nah, I’m happy to be here with you,” she said, taking his hand and leading him through the French doors and out on the balcony.

The night air was cold after the warmth of the house, but there were patio heaters stationed every few feet, so it wasn’t unbearable. “Why are we out here?”

“I want to kiss you and didn’t think I should do that in front of your dad.”

He smiled. Damn. He had a really great smile and though she knew she should turn and walk away, there was a big part of her that didn’t want to. It was New Year’s Eve. Surely she could have one night of fun without it being a big deal, right? One kiss wouldn’t hurt.

Right?

She smelled of summer and sunshine as he lowered his head and their lips met. A zing went through him. Was it a warning? But she tasted good, and her lips felt perfect under his. Her kiss wasn’t too wet, and she didn’t try to shove her tongue down his throat the way so many women he kissed did.

She held on to his biceps, and he couldn’t help himself: he flexed his muscles and was pretty sure he felt her smile against his kiss. He had the feeling that he amused her, which was fine with him, because for the first time in a while, he was with a woman who made him feel like he didn’t have to try. He could be himself…heck, after his dad shoving him toward her, he’d sort of had no choice but to just be Inigo Velasquez from Cole’s Hill, not the up-and-coming F1 star. As a Formula One driver he was always aware of his visibility and he was always focused on winning. For this one night he wanted to focus on her.

He had one hand lightly around her waist, and his fingers flexed as he slowly deepened the kiss. In the distance he heard the sound of the party guests counting down from ten.

He lifted his head. “Got one kiss in this year. I want you to be the first kiss of the new year too.”

“That’s why I led you out here,” she said, tipping her head back and studying him. Her long hair brushed over her shoulder, and he lifted one hand to twirl a tendril around his finger. It was soft and light, as he expected.

When he heard everyone yell, “Happy New Year,” he leaned in, brushing his mouth over hers. “Happy New Year.”

She kissed him again. None of the tentative teasing stuff he’d been doing, but full-on kissed him. He pulled her closer into his embrace, wrapping his arms around her waist.

Loving the feel of her breasts against his chest and her hips nestled close to his, he pressed his hand against her lower back as she sucked his tongue deeper into her mouth.

He felt his engine roar to life and knew that he was going to get from zero to sixty in a nanosecond with this woman. But they were in public. At a party. A party his parents were attending.

He stepped back, keeping his hold on her waist but breaking the kiss. She looked up at him, a flush on her cheeks and neck, her breath coming in quick bursts. “What’s the matter?”

“I think we should get out of here before this kiss gets out of control,” he said.

“Is it getting out of control?” she teased, drawing her finger down the column of his throat and running it around the collar of his tuxedo.

A shiver of pure sensual delight went through him.

He was pretty close to saying the hell with it and leading her to the secluded section of the balcony behind the large potted fir tree. But this wasn’t some foreign city after a race. This was his sister-in-law’s house, where she had family and friends over, and he knew that he had to be discreet.

But then she leaned in, wrapping her free arm around his shoulders, and he forgot about everything but the feel of her in his arms and her mouth under his. Her taste was addictive, and he had the feeling that he might never get his fill of her.

He skimmed his hand down her back. The satin material of her dress was soft but not as velvety as her skin. He cupped her butt and lifted her off her feet more fully into his embrace. She moaned deep in her throat, and his engines roared to life.

Yeah, she had him firing on all cylinders. She was exactly what he needed tonight. Maybe she was the reason he’d given in to the pressure of his family and come along. He needed this kind of fun. Someone who was here for her own reasons, even if she might be trying to get with him to put another notch in her lipstick case.

Just two people with a strong attraction who wanted each other.

It had been a long time since he’d done this. A little over a year. He liked sex, but women were a distraction and he had been focused on winning. But this was one night. A New Year’s gift from the universe.

“Inigo? You out here? Mom needs her New Year’s kiss,” his sister called from the patio door.

He broke the kiss and stepped away toward his sister, determined to hustle her back inside.

“I’ll be right in, Bia. Tell Mom to kiss Dad again. He’s definitely in the mood for it,” he said.

“He’s the one who sent me to find you. Mom won’t leave until she’s kissed all of her kids.”

He heard the woman behind him chuckle and turned back toward her. She wiped his lips with her finger, and he guessed he’d been wearing her lipstick.

“Go on. I’ll meet you inside.”

He nodded and walked away, still in a sensual haze. The last thing he wanted to do was hang out with his parents, but he knew they were sticklers for holiday rituals.

Bianca linked her arm through his, leaning her head on his shoulder. “Sorry I had to pull you away from your lady. I think Dad sent me because he knew the boys would tease you endlessly.”

“Probably. Thanks for that,” he said.

“So who is she?”

He shook his head. “Uh, I didn’t ask her name.”

“Oh, just went straight for the kiss,” Bianca teased.

“Something like that,” he said as they reached his parents. He hugged them both and wished them happy new year.

“Happy New Year, Inigo,” his father said as he hugged him. “Looks like my instincts were right about you and the lady.”

“Dad,” he warned his father. His father was usually more subtle than his mom but they both wanted him to find someone and “settle down.”

“Just happy to see you smiling off the track,” his father said.

“Me too,” he admitted.

Then he bade his family good-night and went to find the blonde temptress he’d kissed earlier.

“I don’t want to push my luck, but do you want to come back to my room?”

“Yes,” she said.