The Untamed Argentinian
Page 16
The solution was simple. The solution had been in front of them all the time, which was probably why they hadn’t seen it and the prince had, Bella realised as she tried on the wedding dress in the thirty-third shop in at least the sixth country on the polo tour. But this one was perfect, which was just as well, since it was essential she found one before Nero came back to drag her out of the shop. Patience was not one of his virtues. A special licence and the two of them was all that was required—Bella had different ideas. She wanted photographs for their children to remember. So here she was in the most exclusive wedding store in Rome.
As the murmuring attendants fussed around her, Bella allowed herself a moment of quiet reflection. After their wedding, she would be back in Argentina with Nero in time for the new intake of children on the scheme and for the polo season there. They would then both travel back to the northern hemisphere in time to manage Bella’s projects. But, more important than all of this, Nero insisted, was the life they built together. Remembering the portrait of his grandmother, Bella knew she would be following her heart to the pampas, just as Nero would be following his head when he came to England to play polo for the prince.
She was jolted out of these thoughts by Nero throwing the assistants into a panic by striding unannounced into a wedding boutique that suddenly seemed far too small to hold both Nero Caracas and the chosen wedding dress. Barring the entrance to her cubicle, the brave women held him at bay.
‘Get me out of this,’ Bella exclaimed, already tearing at the laces.
The women only just managed to remove the gown in time and hide it as Nero threw back the curtain.
‘Don’t test me, Bella.’
The women scattered, leaving them alone.
Bella levelled a stare on Nero’s face as his fierce expression mellowed into a lazy gaze. ‘Do you like it?’ she asked, modelling the new underwear he’d bought her.
‘It’s a great improvement on industrial weight serge and heavy engineering.’
And she would never have bought such inconsequential scraps of lace for herself, or dreamed of wearing such things before she met Nero but, thanks to him, the damage of the past was nothing more than a reminder of how lucky they were to have found each other.
‘We are in the city of lovers,’ Nero murmured, running the knuckles of one hand very lightly down her cheek, ‘so I shall test you later, to see if the new lingerie is having the required effect.’
‘Excellent,’ Bella agreed softly. ‘The Ice Maiden is already melting in anticipation of your prolonged attention.’ Catching hold of his hand, she kissed it whilst holding his gaze.
‘You’re my world, Bella,’ Nero said, turning suddenly serious as he cupped her face between his hands. ‘And after this tour we’re going to stay home in Argentina and raise ponies together.’
‘What?’ And then she saw the laughter in his eyes.
‘Did I say ponies?’ Nero murmured.
‘You know you did. Nero—stop,’ she begged him as his kisses migrated from her mouth to her neck and from her neck to her breast. ‘We’re not alone.’
‘When in Rome…’ he murmured, clasping her to him.
‘But the women in the shop…’
‘Have seen it all before.’
‘We can’t.’
‘No, you’re right,’ Nero agreed, leaving her weak and trembling as he removed his hand. ‘We may need some time, so I’m going to make you wait until we get back to the hotel. All those years of work and no play have made Bella a very naughty girl indeed.’
‘And you, of course, are absolutely innocent,’ she commented wryly.
‘No, chica,’ Nero murmured against her mouth, ‘I’m a very bad man indeed.’
All Bella could hear was the beating of her heart. ‘Yes, yes…Yes!’ she agreed in a heated whisper, ‘Promise we can keep it that way…’
ISBN: 978-1-4592-0918-3
THE UNTAMED ARGENTINEAN
First North American Publication 2011
Copyright © 2011 by Susan Stephens
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