Valaquez Bride

by Donna Vitek

  With a careless shrug, he released her and as she turned away, she was aware of him reaching down for his coat and tossing it over one shoulder. For a tense moment, his gaze seemed to bore into her back but she refused to look at him.

  "We'll go see Will tonight at eight, as usual. Be ready."

  His commanding tone was the last straw. A biting retort sprang to her lips but before she could turn and. utter it, he was walking away. She glared after him, her fists clenched at her sides but when he didn't even glance back at her, her shoulders drooped slightly and she released her breath in a long shuddering sigh. Absently, she reached up for the slender low-hanging branch of willow that brushed her shoulder and with an audible oath of frustration, she snapped off one narrow long leaf. As she watched Raul walk out of sight, she wondered why his erroneous opinion of her upset her so much. She shouldn't care what he thought of her. After all, she had no reason to be fond of him either. He was too busy, too conceited—a super sophisticate totally devoid of warmth.

  Raul proved her wrong that evening. He was capable of warmth, at least in his attitude toward Will McKay. He actually seemed quite fond of the older man and the affection Juliet detected in his green eyes during their visit to Will nearly took her breath away. And she also noticed with some dismay that Raul treated all the nurses with such irresistible charm that every one on duty that evening seemed to find some excuse to stop by Will's room while Raul was there. Juliet watched the teasing exchanges between him and the younger women with increasing discontent. Why didn't he treat her the way he treated them? Though he obviously appreciated their femininity, his attitude conveyed no hint of disrespect or insult. After he engaged in a half-serious flirtation with a particularly lovely raven-haired young nurse, Juliet sat staring at him when the girl left. Obviously sensing her bewildered appraisal, he finally looked up, his unfathomable eyes issuing a challenge until she nervously chewed her upper lip and averted her gaze.

  "Well, Raul, has the doctor told you when I might get out of this wretched bed?" Will McKay asked querulously, inadvertently easing some of the tension Juliet felt. "He won't tell me anything. He acts like it's none of my business how long I have to lie here with my leg dangling in the air."

  Raul smiled understandingly. "It shouldn't be much longer, Will. Try not to be impatient and remember, you'll still have to take it easy for quite some time after you're released from the clinic."

  "But the gallery. I need…"

  "Don't worry about the gallery. I'll handle everything."

  "You can't neglect your other responsibilities indefinitely though," Will argued. "I never expected you to keep the gallery open personally so if you want to close it until I'm well again, I'll understand."

  "That won't be necessary," Raul assured him. "I'm bringing in someone to keep the gallery open, someone very capable so you have no reason to worry."

  Visibly relieved, Will nodded, then gave Juliet a wan smile and reached out a thin blue-veined hand. "I'm sorry to be such poor company, child, but I am feeling rather tired."

  Smiling back at him lovingly, Juliet patted his hand, then tucked it back beneath the crisp white sheet covering him. "You're not poor company. You just need a lot of rest."

  "So we'll leave you to get some sleep," Raul added, getting up from his chair to stand beside the bed. He nodded perfunctorily at Juliet. "Ready?"

  Not really, she thought but she stood anyway. After brushing a kiss against her uncle's cheek, she preceded Raul out of the room, down the long corridor and through the reception area into the cool night air. The lush clinic grounds shimmered in the light of a cream-colored moon and the fragrances of roses and bougainvillaea mingled sweetly. It was a lovely night but as Juliet slipped into the leather seat of Raul's BMW, she was really too uneasy to appreciate the beauty around her. What had happened between them that afternoon in the garden made it impossible for her to relax and she could only hope he would be enough of a gentleman not to mention the incident.

  He didn't. Actually, he didn't say anything at all to her until they were back in Granada and he was parking the car before one of the city's swankiest hotels.

  "The assistant manager from our gallery in Madrid arrived this evening and will be going home with us for dinner so we can discuss business," he announced matter-of-factly. "I told Rosita I'd be bringing a guest."

  "I suppose this means you'll be moving out of the house," Juliet murmured, carefully examining her fingernails, not certain whether she felt disappointed or relieved. "I mean, since this assistant manager will be taking care of the gallery, you won't need to stay in Granada, will you?"

  Raul smiled rather mockingly. "You seem to be forgetting Will asked me to take care of you. So no, I won't be moving out of the house. I'll be able to conduct most of my business by phone from there. Sorry if that upsets any plans you might have had."

  "I had no plans you could have…" Her reply was cut short as Raul got out of the car and closed the door before she could finish speaking. With a sigh of sheer exasperation, she folded her arms across her chest and slouched down in her seat. When her own door was opened a few seconds later and Raul stood beside it silently, as if expected her to get out, she thrust out her jaw. "I'll wait here," she muttered without looking at him. "I don't imagine you'll be long, will you?"

  "No, not long but you'll go in with me anyway," he declared, reaching in to curve his hand around her upper arm. When she shook her head, his fingers tightened and he pulled her out despite her muttered protest. He added nonchalantly, "I don't leave little girls alone in my car at night."

  Refusing to be baited, she didn't bother to answer but as they entered the plushly carpeted hotel lobby a moment later, she moved away from him, toward the cozily arranged brown leather sofa and chairs that faced the desk. After Raul spoke to the clerk, as he walked toward where she was now sitting on the sofa, she avoided looking at him by meticulously arranging the folds of the skirt of her ice-blue gauze dress. To her surprise, he sat down on the sofa beside her, settling back against the cushions and stretching his long legs out in front of him. During the next few minutes they waited in silence, but Juliet couldn't resist the temptation to observe him surreptitiously out of the corner of her eye. Suddenly he smiled, one of those warm friendly smiles she had rarely, if ever, gotten from him. As he rose lithely to his feet, she followed the direction of his gaze and watched as a beautiful woman, probably in her late twenties, stopped in the center of the lobby and stretched black silk-clad arms out to him. She was Spanish, with lovely dark eyes and a flawless olive complexion. Though she was quite tall and slim, the draped bodice and clingy skirt of her dress accentuated some very generous curves. Raul embraced her only briefly but she didn't remove her long slender hands from his shoulders until she kissed his lips lingeringly. He certainly didn't seem to object, Juliet noticed, wrinkling her nose discreetly. Then as he took the woman's hand and led her back toward the sofa, she bit back the disgruntled sigh that rose in her throat. She had no desire to meet one of his lady friends.

  Unfortunately, Raul made the introduction anyway. "Jimena, this is Will McKay's niece, Juliet. Juliet, Jimena Ruiz, the assistant manager of our Madrid gallery."

  Juliet was somewhat surprised. It had never occurred to her that the assistant manager would be a woman, especially a woman who looked the way Jimena did. Her black silk dress was undoubtedly a high fashion original and the narrow-strapped snakeskin shoes she wore probably cost a small fortune. Actually, Jimena looked as if she would be more at home in a fashion show than in an art gallery but Juliet disguised her surprise, said hello, and smiled.

  Jimena's answering smile was more haughty than friendly, then she turned all her attention to Raul again, clinging to his arm tenaciously as if she thought he might float away if she released him. As Juliet stood and the three of them left the hotel and walked to the car, Jimena spoke to Raul in Spanish, effectively excluding Juliet from the conversation. It didn't matter. As the older woman automatically slipped into
the front passenger seat, the supercilious look she gave Juliet needed no translation anyway. Conceding graciously, Juliet flashed a bright smile as Raul opened the back door for her and she got inside, shunning the helping hand he held out.

  As Raul drove toward Will McKay's house, Jimena chattered away nonstop but finally he did remember Juliet was in the car. "Speak English, please, Jimena," he requested politely. "Juliet can't translate that quickly."

  "Indeed?" Glancing back at Juliet, Jimena lifted perfectly arched black brows questioningly. "But your uncle has lived many years in Granada, has he not, Señorita McKay?"

  "Juliet's been in school in the States most of the time," Raul answered for her, then added succinctly, "And for the past year, she's been traveling over Europe."

  "Ah, yes, with the boyfriend who is the rock singer." Jimena smiled snidely. "You are the girl who was engaged to Pablo—I remember now."

  "I was never engaged to Pablo, Señorita Ruiz," Juliet responded tersely. "He completely misunderstood our relationship. I never wanted to be more to him than a friend."

  "Well, there are friends and there are friends," Jimena said suggestively, her laugh low and seductively husky as she brushed her hand against Raul's lean cheek. "Is that not right, querido?" When he only smiled at her and didn't answer, she continued. "I am so happy that you called me to manage the galeria here. I missed you so much last week when you did not make your monthly visit to Madrid."

  By the time they reached the house a few minutes later, Juliet was wishing Jimena would start speaking Spanish again. If she was only going to whisper sweet nothings into Raul's ear, Juliet was not the least bit interested in what she had to say.

  Unfortunately, the conversation during dinner was no more inspiring. Jimena chattered incessantly about the parties recently given by her obviously innumerable art circle friends. Since Juliet was unfamiliar with all except a few of the names the older woman mentioned, she was bored nearly to tears. And by the time the meal blessedly ended and Rosita served coffee to the three of them in the sala, she had to hide a yawn behind her hand. Looking up rather guiltily, she found Raul watching her. Warmth gathered in her cheeks as a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

  Apparently noticing this exchange, Jimena regained Raul's complete attention by snuggling closer to him on the sofa. "It is getting late, querido," she murmured too sweetly. "Perhaps you should tell me everything I will need to know about our gallery here so I will be prepared tomorrow morning." Then she turned toward Juliet, thinning her lips into a patently false smile. "You will not mind if I speak Spanish now, will you, Señorita McKay? I would be much more comfortable and since we will only be discussing business, you would be bored anyway."

  Nothing could bore me more than the last two hours with you have, Juliet thought uncharitably but she smiled and nodded and placed the cup of untasted coffee on the table beside her chair. "Please do whatever makes you comfortable," she replied as she stood. "I think I'll go up to my room anyway, if you'll excuse me. I'm feeling a bit tired."

  "Young people do need their sleep," the older woman agreed, with a coy irritating little laugh. "And we would not want to keep the señorita up past her bedtime, would we, querido?"

  Raul was standing also now and as Juliet walked across the sala, she was beginning to think he wasn't going to say anything, though he was watching her intently. Unusually self-conscious, she fumbled with the ornate handles of the double doors.

  "Sleep well," he called softly. "Buenas noches, Juliet."

  Surprised there had been no hint of the usual mockery in his deep voice, Juliet turned and gave him a rather shy smile. "Buenas noches, Raul."

  His own slight smile deepened. "Your inflection is excellent. Perhaps you would like me to help you work on your Spanish?"

  "I would like that," she answered, covering her astonishment at the offer. "But I'm sure you're much too busy to waste your time teaching me."

  Before he could reply, she walked out of the room but as she pulled the doors closed behind her, Jimena was tugging at Raul's hand and saying as he sat back down beside her, "Of course you do not have the time to give the señorita Spanish lessons, querido. That is a job for a professor, not a business entrepreneur."

  "That is a job for a professor, not a business entrepreneur," Juliet mimicked wickedly beneath her breath as she walked up the stairs. There was something about Jimena she didn't like at all and it wasn't simply her condescending attitude. And she certainly wasn't gullible enough to believe that the two of them would spend much of their time tonight discussing business, the way they were snuggled up together on the sofa.

  As Juliet walked into her bedroom, the sudden memory of those few minutes she and Raul had shared in the garden that afternoon came unbidden to her mind. She stretched out across her bed, propped on her elbows, her chin cupped in her hands, wondering if he would kiss Jimena the way he had kissed her.

  "Why should you care what he does?" she asked herself impatiently, then turned over onto her back with a sigh, knowing the answer. Fool that she was, she was jealous and actually loathed the mere thought of Raul kissing any woman other than herself.

  Chapter Five

  "But, Raul, it's really not necessary," Juliet repeated stubbornly, absently twirling a strand of hair. "Besides the fact that Uncle Will and I would be just fine right here, I really don't think your grandmother would be particularly happy with me staying in her home. I told you I know she's never cared for me."

  "I decide who does and who does not stay at Casa Valaquez," Raul declared, his jaw taut, his green eyes beginning to glitter with impatience. "My grandmother accepts that fact."

  Juliet laughed humorlessly. "Oh, yes, I'd forgotten. With your father still in England on diplomatic service, you're master of the house, aren't you? Sort of like a feudal lord? Does that mean if I ever disobey you, you'll toss me in your dungeon?"

  "Don't be flippant," he cautioned, his voice low as his hand shot out to cover hers on the tabletop, squeezing her slender fingers between the hardness of his. "Disobeying me won't get you tossed in a dungeon, Juliet. I can think of much more pleasurable ways to deal with you." When rose color flooded her cheeks at his blatant intimation, he smiled sardonically and released her hand. "Now, I'm saying this one last time— after leaving the clinic, Will is going directly to the casa to recuperate and you'll go with him. That's my final decision and I'm not going to argue with you about it."

  "Do you realize how pompous you sound when you say something like that?" Juliet replied recklessly. "Are you so superior that I have no right to disagree with anything you say?"

  For a moment, Raul only surveyed her intently but instead of glowering angrily at her for such audacity, his dark gaze at last softened and the slight smile he gave her was almost sheepish. "You're right and I'm sorry if I sound as if I thought I was superior to you. Of course you have every right to disagree with me. It's only silly, trivial arguments that I refuse to participate in but since this is obviously important to you…"

  "It is important."

  "Even so, I'm afraid this is one argument you can't possibly win because I know taking Will to Casa Valaquez will be best for him."

  "That's your opinion. I disagree with it wholeheartedly. Rosita and I could take very good care of Uncle Will right here."

  "I don't doubt that but there will be other people to help you care for him at the casa," Raul explained, pressing one finger against her lips as she started to protest. "You can't deny that, Juliet. Nor can you deny that Will would be much more comfortable out of Granada during the hottest part of the summer. With that cast on his leg, he'll be particularly susceptible to the heat."

  "But we have air conditioning here."

  "But at Casa Valaquez, he'll be able to sit outside in the shade of the cypresses. Here, he would have to stay inside all the time," Raul persisted, his voice lowering as his fingertip began to feather slowly, coaxingly across her lips. "There's always a nice cool breeze from the plain at the cas
a but you have to admit that the heat in town can be almost unbearable at times, don't you? Hmm?"

  "Yes, but…" With the low seductive tenor of his voice and his persuasive touch, Juliet felt her resolve begin to weaken considerably. What he said made sense, at least for her uncle, but if he went to Casa Valaquez, she would have to go along too, since she'd promised to stay with him until he was well again. And in his own domain, Raul would probably be even more domineering than he was now, which would cause more friction between them. Besides, there was his grandmother, a very formidable elderly lady with cold obsidian eyes that had always conveyed disapproval of Juliet. All in all, Juliet could think of many things she would rather do than spend a few weeks subjected to Raul's demands and Señora Valaquez's disdainful glare. Yet, she did owe Uncle Will a great deal and he would be more comfortable away from the heat of the city…

  Obviously, Raul sensed her uncertainty. "You'll go," he said flatly. "It's all settled."

  "But Rosita," Juliet murmured weakly. "She'll be lost in this house all alone. I don't think I should leave her."

  "I never expected you to leave her. She'll go along, of course, to help care for Will."

  Juliet met Raul's penetrating gaze with a slight shrug of her shoulders. "Well, you've boxed me into a corner, haven't you? You have an answer for every argument I make so what else can I do besides agree to go with Uncle Will?"

  "Not a thing; I knew I could convince you," Raul said softly, cupping her small chin in one tan hand. "You'll do what's best for Will because you care about him."

  Juliet's eyes widened with surprise. "Well, what brought about this change of opinion? Just the other day you called me 'a selfish unfeeling little brat.'"

  "Maybe I understand better now how trapped you felt last year. If you really did try to discourage Pablo…"