Читать книгу The Valquez Bride - Melanie Milburne - Страница 10

CHAPTER TWO

‘BUT OF COURSE.’ Alejandro hooked a pitch-black eyebrow upwards. ‘You surely weren’t expecting anything else?’

Teddy tried to read his glinting expression. Was he mocking her or baiting her?

It didn’t take her long to decide. He was mocking her. Bastard. Did he have to make it so plainly obvious she was not his type? Grr. She had deliberately made herself look as unappealing as possible when she’d seen his top end sports car prowl up the long driveway. Well, even more unappealing given her damaged hip was no doubt the biggest turn-off for a man who only dated long-legged blondes.

The arrogance of him! He hadn’t even called first to make an appointment to see her. What sort of person did that? What did he think she did all day? Swan around the manor with a champagne cocktail in her hand?

How hard would it have been to call and make a time? What right did he have to come barging in demanding she see him? Did he think she was hanging out here with her heart all aflutter, waiting for him to turn up and dash her off to the nearest register office?

If so, he had better think again. She was determined to show him she wasn’t one of his brainless bimbos who drooled at the mere sight of him.

He might be quite possibly the most gorgeous-looking man she had ever seen, even more gorgeous than those hot male models who advertised aftershave or designer brand sunglasses. He might have the most amazingly dark brown eyes that made her think of strong espresso coffee, and a mouth that made her think of sex, which was a little bit shocking because she never thought of sex. He might have a body that would make Michelangelo make a dash for the nearest chisel and a block of marble, but she was not going to be swooning or fainting any time soon.

No way.

She was going to show him he couldn’t just waltz into her house and tell her how high to jump.

Firstly, she couldn’t jump.

And secondly...well, a girl had her pride, didn’t she? She didn’t want to be handed over like a raffle prize. He didn’t want her. He wanted the land his father had sold to her father. He wanted it more than he was letting on.

That was the thing about being a wallflower. Teddy got to stand back and observe people. To see all the nuances that gave them away. He was better than most at keeping his cards concealed, but she knew he was a powerful and ruthlessly dangerous opponent. He had a winner takes all aura about him. He wore arrogance as easily as he wore his bespoke clothes. He would take risks but only if he was absolutely certain they would pay off. He was calculating and cool. Clever and far more attractive than any man had a right to be. Impressively tall, six-foot-four, and olive-skinned, with jet-black hair that was styled in a casually tousled way—not too short, not too long, but somewhere fashionably in between. His uncompromising jaw was lean and shaven but the regrowth that currently shadowed it suggested he was a twice a day shaver.

Somehow the thought of the rush of those male hormones surging through his body made her insides shift. She was aware of him in a way she didn’t want to own. Would not show. He was used to reeling in women like the catch of the day. He pulled them in and then tossed them away when he was done with them. She wasn’t going to be lured in by his potent charm and undoubted sensual expertise.

No-ho-ho way.

‘Señor Valquez, you seem to have the misguided notion that I am agreeable to any sort of marriage with you. I hate to slight your undoubtedly robust ego, but that is not the case.’

The right side of his mouth came up in an arrogant tilt, those bedroom eyes glinting so darkly the lining of her belly gave an involuntary quiver. ‘You have a lot to lose by rejecting my offer of a temporary marriage.’

Teddy kept her gaze trained on his. ‘So, it seems, do you.’

The only sign of his tension was in a muscle that moved near the left side of his jaw. It was barely more than a flicker but it told her much more about him than anything he had said so far.

He didn’t want to marry her any more than she wanted to marry him. He was playing a game. Getting control. He was ruthlessly determined. Powerfully motivated. He would do whatever it took to get what he wanted and he wouldn’t care who got hurt in the process.

The air tightened like a singing wire.

Sparks passed from his gaze to hers. She felt the impact of them as if he had fired a laser at her. It was all she could do not to blink. It was all she could do not to stare at his mouth. Had she ever seen such a masculine mouth? Such a beautiful mouth? That was the only word to describe it. It was like a work of art. Sexy and sensually contoured with its surround of dark stubble. A tempting mouth. A sinfully corrupt mouth. A mouth that took what it wanted because it damn well could.

Something deep and low in her belly got out of its tightly locked cage. It stretched its cramped limbs, started to move, to crawl around inside her, stirring her senses into wakefulness. It sent a tremor through her blood like a shockwave through a millpond. She could feel the tiny ripples moving over her flesh like the spread of a shiver.

His gaze drifted to her mouth, lingering there for a pulsing beat before re-engaging with her gaze with a zap she felt deep in her core. ‘I’ll give you twenty-four hours to make up your mind. After that the offer is off the table and a new one will take its place.’

Teddy worked hard to keep her expression masked. What other offer would he present to her? Dared she ask? His coal-black eyes were locked on hers in a silent challenge that made the air vibrate with soundless waves of antagonism. The back of her neck prickled as every tiny hair stood to attention like soldiers under the threat of enemy fire. She drew in a breath but the space inside her chest felt cramped, as if her ribcage was slowly but surely shrinking back against her spine. ‘You seem assured I will eventually capitulate to your wishes, Señor Valquez. Again, I would hate to unnecessarily damage your ego but I will not be told what to do.’

His slant of a smile ignited a satirical glint in his eyes. ‘It’s your call, Miss Marlstone. Today it’s a marriage on paper. This time tomorrow it will be the real deal.’ He handed her a business card with his contact details on it. ‘Let me know which you decide.’

Teddy took the card because she didn’t know what else to do. She couldn’t get her voice to work. Couldn’t get her brain to think. Couldn’t stop her body from feeling hot all over from the smouldering burn of his gaze.

Was he serious? Was he prepared to go that far? To make it a real marriage in every sense of the word?

To her?

Why would he do that? Why would he want that? Why would he want her? Or was he game playing, to see how far he could push her?

Teddy watched as he strode out of the door. Listened to him speak curtly with Henry, the butler, on his way out. Heard the front door click shut on his exit. Heard the roar of his powerful engine and the spin of his tyres on the gravel of the driveway as he sped away, throwing up a shower of stones that hit the side of the house like a spray of bullets.

She closed her hand over the business card and felt the edges bite into the flesh of her palm. It was a chilling reminder that in any further skirmish with him she would have to be better prepared. Armoured up. Invincible.

And she only had twenty-four hours in which to do it....

* * *

‘If you ask me, I think you’d be crazy not to marry him,’ Audrey, the long-time housekeeper said as she poked a blue delphinium into the arrangement she was making in the kitchen. ‘After all, what’s going to happen to all of our jobs if this place is handed over to your layabout cousin? He won’t keep Henry on at his age, not to mention me.’ She gave a little sniff as she picked up another bloom. ‘He’ll want some big-breasted young floozy to flounce around the place with a feather duster in her hand before she dives into his bed.’

Teddy chewed at her lip. She hadn’t got as far as thinking about the loyal Marlstone staff. They were a team. A family. Her family. Audrey Taylor was sixty-eight and had run the household ever since Teddy’s mother had left. She had fulfilled so many roles in Teddy’s life: nanny, friend, confidante, wise counsel and mentor.

Seventy-four-year-old Henry Buckington had worked for her father’s father before her parents were married. He was part of the furniture. The place wouldn’t be the same without his stolid presence.

Then there was Stan and Myles Harris, the father and son team who managed the garden and the rest of the estate.

Audrey was right. Teddy’s cousin would bring in his own staff, not keep the ones who had served her and her father so loyally for so long. They would be cast out and left to flounder.

But could she marry a man she didn’t know to save them? A man she didn’t even like? A man she detested for his cocksure arrogance?

Alejandro Valquez expected her to say yes. Any other woman would have said yes ten times over. That’s what was so galling. He expected her to feel grateful that he was so magnanimously offering his hand in marriage.

A paper marriage.

How insulting was that? Could he make it any more obvious he thought her a deformed freak? Of course he would offer her a paper marriage. What else? He wouldn’t want her in his bed...not that she wanted to be in his bed or anything. A girl might have the odd erotic fantasy, which was perfectly natural, but it didn’t mean anything. It wasn’t as if she was hankering after a red-hot affair with him just because he was so staggeringly handsome...but still.

‘Did you know Dad had written his will like this?’

Audrey snipped off the end of the stalk of the flower she was holding. ‘I suspected he might.’

Teddy frowned. ‘You did? Why?’ Why didn’t you think to mention it during the last five months while I nursed him and stupidly fooled myself into believing he cared about me?

The housekeeper put down the secateurs and gave Teddy a direct look. ‘You don’t need me to tell you your father was a stubborn old goat who thought his way was the only way. I expect he was worried about you being left on your own. This is a big estate for a young woman to run without a husband by her side.’

‘So he engineered one for me? Do you know how...how insulting that is?’ Teddy folded her arms. ‘I can find my own husband, thanks very much.’

Audrey’s gaze had a wise old owl look about it. ‘You’d better get a wriggle on, lass. You’re not getting any younger.’

‘For God’s sake, I’m only twenty-six.’

Four years until she was thirty. Was that the sound of ticking she could hear? When she was a little girl she thought she would be married with a baby by now. As a little girl she had dressed up in her mother’s exquisite wedding gown and veil and tottered around in her high heels pretending to be a princess bride, dreaming of the day when she would become one for real. How far had life taken her away from her hopes and dreams? Her riding accident when she was ten had changed everything. She had gone from being normal to disabled. To being on the outside of everything. The odd one out. The poor little lame girl. The girl no one wanted on their team.

The girl no one wanted unless they could be bribed or bought.

‘Yes, but you haven’t been on a date since you came home from art school.’ Audrey picked up the secateurs and another bloom. Snip. Snip. Snip.

Teddy pressed her lips together. ‘I’m not good at dating.’

Audrey cocked her head as she studied the floral arrangement. ‘You don’t try, that’s why.’

Teddy frowned again. ‘I’m not a party girl. I never have been. I hate small talk. I’d rather paint or read a book.’

‘Alejandro Valquez has plenty of friends. Maybe he can lend you some.’

‘Oh, yes, I can just imagine me becoming chummy with all his pretty pin-up girls.’ She narrowed her gaze at the housekeeper. ‘Anyway, why are you so for this crazy scheme?’

Audrey gave her a pragmatic look. ‘I don’t want you to lose your home and this is the only way you can keep it. Your father was old-fashioned and set in his ways. He wanted to see you settled. He wanted you to marry a man of means. I suspect he thought this was the best way to do it.’

‘It’s the worst possible way!’ Teddy said. ‘I haven’t got a say in it. It’s being forced on me.’

‘I expect it’s the same for Alejandro.’

‘No, it’s not.’ Teddy balled her fists and set her jaw. ‘It’s not the same at all. He thinks it’s amusing to stride into my life and tell me what to do as if I have no mind or will of my own. I loathe him. He’s insufferably rude and arrogant. He thinks I’m gagging to say yes to him.’ Argh!

‘He’s one of the richest men in Argentina.’

‘If he’s so rich then why’s he so worried about a plot of land he could buy a squillion times over?’

‘It’s adjacent to his family property, that’s why,’ Audrey said. ‘I expect he can’t expand his polo breeding stud without it. He rebuilt his father’s polo resort business from scratch. He took over as CEO when he was in his early twenties. He’s been trying to get that land back ever since.’

Teddy rolled her eyes. ‘I suppose he wants to build some ghastly flashy hotel on it. What sort of man does that? Why doesn’t he want to preserve it for future generations to enjoy?’

Audrey shrugged. ‘Why don’t you ask him when you call him?’

Teddy folded her arms again. ‘I’m not calling him.’

‘You have to call him to give him your answer.’

‘My answer is no.’

Audrey let out a long whoosh of a sigh, her hunched shoulders going down with it. ‘I guess I’d better start packing my things...’

‘Oh, no you don’t.’ Teddy unfolded her arms to waggle a finger at her. ‘Don’t you go emotionally blackmailing me because it won’t work.’ Much.

Teddy hated the thought of her staff losing their home and their source of income. Their security. Their sense of purpose. It was giving her an ulcer just thinking about it. What would they do? Where would they go? What would happen to them? They weren’t the sort of people who could sit around and do nothing. They loved working at Marlstone Manor. It kept them active and mentally stimulated.

Could she do what was necessary to rescue them? Could she marry a man in order to keep her family home secure? Could she make that sacrifice for the sake of the only people she thought of as family?

It was only for six months.

It was a paper marriage.

The time would be up before she knew it. It wasn’t as if she had to move to Argentina with him. He wouldn’t want the inconvenience of a wife living under his roof while he partied all night with his lady friends. Oh, no. He would want her safely ensconced back here in England. Out of sight, out of mind.

‘You can’t fight this, Teddy. You can’t fight him.’

‘Are you talking about Dad or Alejandro?’

Audrey gave her a speaking look. ‘Both.’

* * *

‘You’re not seriously thinking of going through with it?’ Luiz said when he called Alejandro.

‘I want that land.’

‘Heck of a way to go about it,’ Luiz drawled. ‘I thought you said you were never going to darken the doorstep of a church ever—’

‘Yeah, well, this is different.’

Alejandro had thought it through from every angle. He would suffer the short-term marriage because it would achieve his long-term goal. It was a matter of honour. The land was Valquez land his forebears had owned for generations. Clark Marlstone had swindled Alejandro’s father at a low point in his life and it was up to him to get it back.

To bring about justice.

So what if he had to marry the enemy’s daughter to do it? It wasn’t as if he were really marrying her. It would be a civil ceremony. He would not stand in a church and make promises he had no intention of keeping. He would continue to live his life the way he wanted to live it.

Teddy Marlstone would get what she wanted at the end.

So would he.

‘It’s only for six months,’ he said. ‘After that, I’ll have the marriage annulled. By then we’ll both have what we want.’ Too easy.

‘What’s she like?’

Alejandro frowned as he thought of Teddy’s marked limp. Had that had something to do with her father’s machinations? Clark Marlstone was marrying her off because she was maimed? That was despicable but then it was just the sort of thing a man like that would do. What sort of relationship had she had with her father? Had she been close to him? All he knew about her family background was her parents had divorced when she was young and her father had been given custody after a protracted battle in the courts. Her mother had died of an accidental prescription drug overdose a few months later, which might or might not have been suicide.

‘She has a limp.’

‘Let’s hope her looks make up for that. Is she hot?’

Trust his younger brother to be so shallow. Luiz was a serial model dater. If a woman hadn’t been on a catwalk he wasn’t interested. Alejandro thought he was a little picky over his partners but Luiz took it to a whole new level. No woman with a university degree need apply. Luiz didn’t want intelligent conversation. He didn’t stay with a woman long enough to engage her in one. He changed partners as quickly as he changed horses in a polo match. Not that he could talk.

‘She has the sort of looks that grow on you.’

‘So why would her old man set her up like this?’

‘Her father is playing games from beyond the grave,’ Alejandro said. ‘He knew how much I wanted that land, and he also knew I did nothing to quell the rumours about him acquiring it less than honourably. In fact, I actively fuelled them. And since it’s common knowledge I would never consider marriage again, this is his way of paying me back.’

‘What’s she like?’

Alejandro pictured that small defiant figure with her piercing gaze and tightly set mouth. Her strength of will was admirable. Not many people stood up to him. Not many people had the courage to do so. Her intransigence fascinated him because he couldn’t think of a woman of his acquaintance who wouldn’t rush him off to the nearest marriage celebrant to secure the deal. Why was she so against the union? Was it him or was it marriage in general? Or was she, too, playing a game? Was she secretly delighted her father had selected him as her husband? Was she pretending to be aghast at the thought while privately she was congratulating herself on securing a prize catch?

‘She’s...interesting.’

Luiz gave a chuckle. ‘That’s not a word I’ve heard you use to describe a woman before. When do I get to meet her?’

‘Soon.’

I have to convince her to marry me first.

* * *

Teddy stood at one of the library windows chewing her fingernails back to her shoulders in panic. Alejandro’s low-slung sports car growled up the driveway and parked in front of the house like a black panther waiting to pounce. She watched as he got out from behind the wheel with the athletic ease of a man who was in superb physical condition.

She melted back against the velvet drape of the curtain in case he saw her spying on him. He was dressed in dark denim jeans and a white casual cotton shirt that made his olive-toned skin look all the more gloriously tanned. The sleeves were rolled back past his strong wrists, revealing dark curly hairs that continued to the backs of his hands with a sprinkling over his long fingers. He had a silver designer watch on his left wrist and he was wearing aviator sunglasses, adding to the air of command and control that was so damnably attractive. He was a man who was used to getting his own way. He got it in the boardroom. He got it in the bedroom.

Teddy had looked at the situation from every angle. She had consulted several lawyers and they had all said much the same thing. It would be a costly exercise getting her father’s will overturned and even then she might not be successful. And it could take years. She couldn’t afford to spend money she didn’t have, or at least not that sort of money. If she agreed to follow the terms of the will, in six months she would be in full possession of Marlstone Manor. There would be no money worries, no sleepless nights panicking about finding the funds for the expensive upkeep of the stately mansion and grounds. She could concentrate on her art as well as provide a secure home for her loyal and loving staff.

But the thing that had decided her over all others was a phone call from her second cousin. Hugo had made his intentions clear. Marlstone Manor would be sold as soon as he took possession. He wanted the money. The house meant nothing to him. The staff meant even less.

Teddy figured a short-term marriage to Alejandro Valquez was the smaller price to pay. Being married to an attractive man who would not make any unnecessary demands on her because he said it was to be a paper marriage.

And you believed him? a voice inside her head asked.

Of course she did. Why wouldn’t she? She wasn’t the type of girl he would go for. His last girlfriend had been close to six foot tall with a willowy figure and waist-length blonde hair. And long legs, both in excellent working order.

Teddy pulled in a breath that caught at her throat as Alejandro’s firm purposeful footsteps sounded along the corridor. She had to get her mask in place. It wouldn’t do to show how unnerved she was about the arrangement she was about to enter into with him. She had to put her ice maiden face on. Assemble her features into the cool impassive face that told everyone she didn’t give a damn what they thought of her gait. She straightened her spine, put her shoulders back. Gripped her walking stick with a hand that was clammy. Nerves scraped at her stomach like scrabbling mice feet as the footsteps came closer. Her heart felt as if it was beating in her oesophagus as the door was pushed open and Alejandro came striding into the room. The room seemed to shrink as he brought in the scent of the outdoors—citrus and wood and danger.

His eyes did a lazy head to toe sweep of her figure before he greeted her with a nod. ‘Miss Marlstone.’

Teddy’s chin came up. She couldn’t help it. She didn’t like the way he mocked her with that glittering look in his pitch-black gaze. She had decided against dressing shabbily. But she hadn’t pulled out her best outfit, either. She’d settled for simple and casual—not much different from what he was wearing. Jeans and a cotton shirt, but she had draped a sweater across her shoulders because, in spite of the Indian summer they were experiencing, the late September weather was occasionally unpredictable. She hadn’t bothered with make-up because she rarely wore it. But now, with him looking at her with that indolent gaze, she wished she had layered it on with a trowel to disguise the traitorous blush she could feel crawling over her cheeks. ‘Señor Valquez.’

A corner of his mouth twitched as if he found her stiff formality amusing. ‘Am I to believe you’ve agreed to become my wife?’

She sent him a glowering look. ‘Your paper wife.’

‘Ah, yes.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘You’re in under the time limit. Just.’

Something inside Teddy’s stomach dropped. ‘You surely wouldn’t expect me to agree to anything else? We’re all but strangers.’

His crooked smile was knee-weakening. ‘You don’t normally sleep with strangers?’

‘Certainly not.’ She wished she hadn’t sounded quite so priggish. ‘I mean...I like to get to know someone first. To see if we’re...erm...compatible.’

‘How many lovers have you had?’

Teddy’s eyes flared. ‘I beg your pardon?’

His eyes held hers. Dark. Probing. Intelligent. ‘Lovers. How many?’

She gave him an arch look. ‘How many have you had?’

The glint in his eyes made her stomach slip again. ‘Too many to count.’

Teddy could feel her blush burning across her cheeks like a spreading flame. Her mind was suddenly full of images of him with his beautiful bedmates, writhing and cavorting in passion, their perfect bodies in the throes of ecstasy. No hint of awkwardness or shame.

Her one and only sexual encounter had left her embarrassed and ashamed. She blamed herself for not recognising the way she had been set up. She should have known better. Men were all about the physical. They were turned on by the visual. It was how they were wired. How could she have thought Ross Jenner would be different? He had befriended her in her last year at art school and then betrayed her. He had boasted to his mates on social media about how he had done the deed with the girl no one else wanted. He had won a dare to sleep with her. He had been paid to do it. The memory of it still sat like a cold hard stone in her belly.

Teddy moved away from the heat of Alejandro’s dark gaze to the desk where Henry had set out a drinks tray. The one thing she could do on automatic pilot was to be a polite hostess, even if it made her grind her teeth to powdered chalk. ‘Would you care for a drink?’

‘Whisky. No ice.’

She poured the whisky into a crystal tumbler and silently handed it to him, careful not to come into contact with his fingers. She kept her gaze out of reach of his, staring at the button of his shirt as if it was the most fascinating thing she had ever seen.

He was the most fascinating thing she had ever seen. He dominated the room like a giant in a doll’s house. So tall her neck ached from keeping eye contact. So self-assured and so impossibly gorgeous her breath was having trouble moving in and out of her lungs.

He smelt delicious. The tang of his lemon and lime aftershave teased her nostrils, making her think of sun-drenched lemon groves.

And sex.

Teddy leaned on her stick as she turned to fix herself a drink. Since when did she think of sex? Hot, sweaty sex. Animal sex. Not with some weedy geek at art school who had won a bet.

Sex with a full-blooded man in his prime.

‘I would like us to be married as soon as possible.’

Her left hand shook as she poured a shot of brandy into a glass. ‘We have a month before the deadline.’

‘No point stalling. The sooner we marry, the sooner we end it.’

His comment shouldn’t have made her feel resentful. It shouldn’t have felt like an insult. She didn’t want to be married to him any longer than she had to. She would have said the same to him if she’d got in first. It was damned annoying she hadn’t. ‘Indeed.’ She gave him a gelid look. ‘I couldn’t have expressed it better myself.’

He moved to the windows to look at the view. ‘Nice place you have here. Have you lived here long?’

‘All my life.’

He turned and looked at her but because the sunlight was behind him his expression was masked by shadow. ‘You do realise you’ll have to come to Argentina with me.’ He didn’t pose it as a question but as a statement of fact.

Teddy gripped the crystal glass so tightly she thought it might explode in her hand. He wanted her to go with him? To live with him? She hadn’t planned on going anywhere. A paper marriage was just a signed piece of paper. She didn’t have to live with him. She just had to be married to him.

Didn’t she?

‘Surely that’s not necessary?’

‘You have a strange notion of what constitutes a marriage, Miss Marlstone.’

‘But you said it was to be a marriage on paper.’ She gripped the glass a little tighter. ‘We don’t have to live together. Lots of couples spend time apart, especially when they both have important careers.’

‘I’m not leaving anything open to speculation.’

‘But I have commitments here.’

‘Cancel them.’

Teddy’s back stiffened. ‘Why don’t you cancel yours?’

He had the audacity to chuckle at her suggestion. ‘I run a multimillion dollar business. I have staff who depend on me for their wages. I need to be on site to make sure things run as smoothly as possible. Your work is transportable, isn’t it?’

She gave him an intractable look. ‘Yes, but I prefer to work here. I have my studio here.’

‘I can give you a room at my villa. In fact, you can have a whole floor. Think of it as a working holiday, all expenses paid.’

Teddy pursed her lips in thought. It was only six months and she’d always wanted to visit Argentina. The sense of adventure appealed but living with a man she didn’t know—didn’t even like—was more than a little disquieting.

‘Be assured I will make no demands on you.’

The words dropped into the silence, making her feel as if he had the power to read her mind. Somehow that was even more disquieting than sharing a house with him for six months.

But then the feminine part of her felt another sense of pique. Did he have to make it so obvious he found her so physically repulsive?

She knew she wasn’t in-your-face beautiful. She had always been a little on the plain side. It was another thing her father had been so bitterly disappointed about in her. Not only hadn’t she been born a boy, she’d had the looks to compensate for the missing Y chromosome.

‘What will you tell your friends and family about our...situation?’

‘My brother knows the truth and, of course, our legal team, but that’s where it stops. I want everyone else to believe it’s a genuine love match. It goes without saying that I would like you to refrain from speaking to the press.’

Teddy wished he’d step out of the shadows so she could see his face. Was he mocking her again? Surely he didn’t think anyone would believe a man like him would fall for a girl like her? They would laugh at the suggestion. What was his motivation? Was this about his broken engagement? She had seen the press articles online about his fiancée jilting him on the day of the wedding. It would be a difficult thing for any man to face but having it splashed all over the media would have made it so much worse. Had he decided it was time to show he had moved on, so to speak? Ten years was a long time to nurse a broken heart. But had it been his heart or his pride that had taken the greatest hit?

‘Are you the type of man to fall in love so quickly?’

He made a sound that was part snort, part laugh. ‘I might have been once.’

Teddy pinned down her lower lip with her teeth. She couldn’t help feeling sorry for the idealistic young man he must have been back then.

He stepped away from the windows and came over to the tray of drinks on the desk, pouring himself another couple of fingers of whisky. She watched as he held the glass up to his lips, watched the strong tanned column of his throat as he tossed the contents back and swallowed. He had a frown between his brows that suddenly made him seem far older than his thirty-four years. Was he thinking of his fiancée? Of the love he had lost? It would have been a terrible shock to find the woman he loved had changed her mind, only to hook up with a much older and much richer man the week after. Was he thinking of the pain the public break-up had caused him?

Teddy found it hard to imagine him falling in love with someone. He didn’t seem the type. He was too hard-nosed and cynical. Too determined on having his way to give or compromise in a relationship. He was a playboy. A player, not a stayer. He changed partners as if they were disposable items. He had throwaway relationships that meant nothing to him other than a bit of temporary entertainment. She couldn’t imagine him wanting to settle down and bring up a family. He didn’t seem the type of man to be content with one woman. Not while he had a smorgasbord of beauties to feast on.

‘What about you, Miss Marlstone?’ The frown suddenly relaxed as his cynical smile returned. ‘Are you the type of woman to impulsively fall in love?’

‘No.’

He studied her for a long moment. ‘You sound very assured.’

‘That’s because I am.’

‘Have you ever been in love?’

‘No.’

The amused glint was back in his dark eyes. ‘So how do you know you won’t do so quickly or impulsively?’

Teddy felt the heat of his gaze all over her body. What was it about this man that made her think of sex all the time? It was crazy. It was totally out of character. It was as if he could set her on fire with a look. She became aware of her breasts behind the sensible white cotton of her bra, aware of her inner core that flickered on and off like a faulty light switch. When she quickly moistened her dry lips a rush of sensation flowed through her as she imagined what it would feel like to have his mouth pressed to hers. To have his tongue search for hers, to play with it, tease it and provoke it into a firestorm of passion. To have his arms gather her close, to have him crush her against his strong, powerful body.

To feel.

‘I’m not the impulsive type.’

His mouth tilted a little further in that fallen angel’s smile that wreaked such havoc on her equilibrium. She felt dizzy from being in his presence, from being so close to him she could smell the danger he represented. It was like an exotic potion wafting in the atmosphere.

She was breathing it in—breathing him in.

‘No?’

She suppressed a tiny shudder. ‘No.’

His eyes roved over her face, lingering for a moment on her mouth. When he reconnected his gaze with hers the frown was back between his brows. ‘I should warn you about the press. They can be ferocious. I’ll do my best to protect you, but there will be times when you’ll just have to ignore what they say.’

Teddy wondered if he was concerned about her or himself. Why would he care what the press said about her? Once the six months was up she would be out of his life. He wouldn’t have to spare her another thought. It would be his reputation he would be most concerned about. What would the press make of his choice of bride? Would comparisons be made? Of course they would and she would be found lacking in every way imaginable. ‘I hope I don’t cause you any unnecessary embarrassment.’

His frown deepened the trench between his eyes. ‘In what way?’

She forced herself to hold his gaze without flinching. Could he see how much it pained her to be thought so undesirable? So unattractive her father had to go to such ridiculous—insulting—lengths to secure a husband for her? It was so demeaning to be handed over like a parcel no one wanted. It confirmed every fear she had harboured about herself since her mother had left when she was seven. She wasn’t good enough, pretty enough. Lovable enough. ‘I’m nothing like your last choice of bride.’

He was still looking at her with a frowning expression. ‘So?’

‘So they’ll wonder what you see in me.’

Something passed over his features, a tiny flicker of an emotion she couldn’t quite identify. ‘It’s not your limp that was the first thing I noticed about you. It’s that chip on your shoulder.’

Teddy sent him a hardened look. ‘Why wouldn’t I have a chip on my shoulder? Men like you and your brother make it easy to be cynical. You only date women who look perfect. You don’t even notice women like me.’

He stood looking at her for a long moment. She wished she hadn’t spoken. She wished she hadn’t exposed her insecurities. She wished she didn’t feel so inadequate. If she had poise and sophistication she would marry him without a qualm. Most women would snatch at the chance to be linked to him for six minutes, let alone six months. He was the ultimate prize—rich and handsome and charming.

But he was someone else’s prize. Not hers. Girls like her didn’t get the prize. They didn’t get the guy. They didn’t get the fairy tale. They didn’t even get the poisoned apple or the big bad wolf. They were left alone.

‘There will be legal paperwork to see to before we are married,’ he said as if the tense moment had not occurred. ‘A celebrant will perform the ceremony in private. I don’t want any press around. We will announce our marriage as a fait accompli.’

‘What if I want a big white wedding with all the trimmings?’ She only asked it to get under his skin and it worked.

The tic in his jaw was visible for a beat or two. ‘Do you?’

Yes. Teddy thought of her mother’s dress and veil wrapped in layers of blue tissue paper in the camphor chest in the attic. How many times had she climbed those stairs when no one was around and opened that chest to touch the French lace and the voluminous veil? Breathing in the faint trace of her mother’s perfume that somehow, after all these years, still lingered on the fabric, like dreams that weren’t yet ready to be discarded.

Teddy closed the lid on her dreams, the metaphorical slam of it feeling like a bang against her heart. ‘No, but I’m just say—’

‘Many couples save themselves the time and effort and expense of a wedding by eloping. The goal is to get married. Not to entertain a crowd of people you’ve never met or barely know and will likely never see again.’

She couldn’t quite let it go. ‘That’s not what you thought ten years ago.’

His eyes held hers in a heated lock that made the back of her neck prickle. ‘My people will speak to your people.’ He gave her a brisk nod. ‘Buenas tardes.’