Minding Her Boss's Business

by Janice Maynard

  He paused as laughter greeted his remarks.

  “For any of you who do not know me,” he said, “I am Rafael Montoro III. On the podium with me tonight are my three children—Rafael IV, Gabriel and Bella. We look forward to chatting with as many of you as possible during this wonderful evening. There is much to celebrate. I am proud to say that as of this week, Montoro Enterprises has officially been listed in the Fortune 500 for the very first time.”

  This time the response was wild and loud, punctuated with cheering and high fives.

  He waited, smiling, for the hubbub to die down. “Now I would like to introduce Mr. Alex Ramon, deputy prime minister of commerce for Alma, and also the leader of the delegation from that country.”

  Alex and Rafael exchanged a half handshake, half embrace before the older man sat down. When Alex adjusted the microphone to accommodate his greater height, Maria’s palms were as damp as if she were standing there beside him.

  But when he spoke, his words resonated with such passion and conviction and sheer charisma, she forgot for a moment that he had shared life’s most intimate act with her. Instead, she listened intently, filled with pride and admiration for the man who had accomplished so much.

  After a brief explanatory statement, Alex smiled and asked Rafe to join him. “It is my great honor and privilege to present to you the next king of the nation of Alma, Rafael Montoro IV.”

  Rafe, perhaps unnerved by the import of the moment, nodded, his features tense. But his shoulders relaxed somewhat when Alex indicated that he should say something.

  “It’s early days yet,” Rafe finally said, “and I am deeply cognizant of the honor bestowed upon me by the people of Alma. But I want you to know that I take this commitment very seriously, and I will do everything in my power to ensure this new relationship brings progress and benefit to the people who are entrusting me with their leadership.”

  This time, the applause had a different tone. Everyone in earshot had an inkling of what Rafael faced. It was not an easy thing to rule, and they offered him their respect along with their congratulations.

  To Maria’s surprise, Rafael sat down, and Alex once again took the podium. “I would be remiss tonight if I did not recognize each member of the official delegation from Alma. You’ll find their names printed in your programs. I hope you will take the time to greet them this evening and express your appreciation for their hard work and dedication to the idea of restoring Alma’s monarchy.”

  He stopped talking abruptly, and, for a split second, Maria felt as if he were staring straight at her. “The thing is,” he said, the words contemplative, “politics and business negotiations encompass far more than dry statistics and formal agreements. In the end, it’s all about relationships. About people. About trust and integrity. One member of our group seems to understand that truth at a most basic level, and I am not sure we would be standing here tonight were it not for the wise counsel and collaborative efforts of the lovely lady in the red dress, Ms. Maria Ferro. Thank you, Maria, for all you have done to build bridges and bring consensus to the table.”

  She never heard the applause this time. Her heart was beating too loudly in her ears to take in anything else. People around her shook her hand and kissed her cheek and offered words of congratulations. It was all a blur.

  Suddenly, Alex was at her side, looking darkly handsome and so very dear. His firm jaw and classic features made him stand out, even in an assembly of very good-looking men.

  He didn’t touch her. But the searing look he gave her made her shiver. “I nearly swallowed my tongue when you walked into my line of sight earlier,” he muttered, the words husky. “You and that dress should be an illegal combination.”

  “Did you mean what you said?” she asked. “Or did the delegation tell you to spout all that?”

  “God, sweetheart. I really screwed up, didn’t I? Of course I meant it. Every word.”

  It was gratifying to know that he valued her work, but his compliments didn’t erase the fact that he didn’t trust her.

  Suddenly, she became aware that several people were standing close enough to take interested note of what they were saying.

  Alex took her arm, his fingers warm and strong on her bare skin. “Let’s get out of here.”

  She eluded his hold. “No. I don’t have anything to say to you. You’ve never believed me when it comes to Gabriel, and that hurts.”

  “I do believe you,” he said urgently. “But I thought you were fooling yourself about his feelings. Turns out I was dead wrong. About everything.”

  “Gabriel and I are friends.”

  “I know that now. I’ve been a total ass. And I’m sorry. I was jealous and stupid. I don’t deserve it, but I’m asking you to forgive me.”

  She gaped in surprise at his unequivocal about-face. Alex took advantage of her shock to hurry her along.

  They made it as far as the last tent before she dug in her heels. “Alex,” she said urgently. “I forgive you. I really do. But this is your night. This is Alma’s night. Everything you’ve dreamed of and worked for the last eighteen months. You can’t walk out on the party.”

  He kissed her softly, lingering long enough to make her breath catch and her knees go weak. “Watch me, my love.”

  Grabbing an empty golf cart, he pulled her onto the seat beside him and started the motor. She wasn’t sure she’d have been able to find her way through the maze of paths, but Alex took them straight to the small, charming villa where they had stayed on their first visit to Coral Gables.

  When he removed his foot from the pedal, the cart rolled to a stop, and Maria felt her belly quiver. She tried to speak, but her throat was so dry the words stuck there unvoiced.

  Perhaps Alex sensed her agitation, or perhaps he was simply in a hurry. Either way, he took her by surprise when he scooped her up and carried her around to the front door. The villa wasn’t locked. They found the key inside on a table with a note of greeting from their hosts, a basket of fruit and an arrangement of fresh flowers.

  Alex secured the door with one hand, not even breathing hard.

  Finally, she found the words she wanted to say. “Thank you.”

  He frowned. “For what?”

  She touched his chin. A tiny nick on the left side of his jaw told her his late-day shave had been hurried. “For saying all those nice things. And for groveling so sweetly.”

  Finally, a note of humor lightened his face. “If you think that was nice, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”

  He bypassed the luxurious living room and went straight down the hall, only hesitating between the two bedrooms. “Your place or mine?”

  Maria decided it was about time to rein in all that assured masculinity. “Aren’t you assuming a lot, Mr. Ramon?”

  He kicked open the door to the room that had been Maria’s on their last visit. Dropping her on the mattress, he took her small purse from her nerveless fingers and tossed it aside. Coming down beside her, he leaned on one elbow, his expression sober. “I was an ass and an idiot, but I adore you, Maria. My life means nothing if you aren’t in it. Say you love me. Say you forgive me. Marry me and give me babies.”

  The arrogance was still there. Nothing but demands. Her heart swelled anyway. “You may be a diplomat, but you’re terrible at groveling.”

  He slid off the bed and knelt on the rug, his dark eyes sober. Reaching out, he took her hand in his. “We got off to a rocky start. I wish I could have wooed you in private, at our leisure, not in the midst of a ticking political time bomb. You deserve so much better.”

  “I like working with you,” she said softly, curling her fingers with his.

  She saw his throat work when he swallowed. “My only excuse is that it took me by surprise.”

  “What did?”

  “The fact that I’m in love with you.” />
  She stopped breathing for at least five seconds. “You really love me?”

  “Isn’t that what I’ve been saying?” His masculine indignation made her smile.

  “Somehow, when you distill it to those three words, it seems more real. I love you, too, Alex.” She sat up and leaned forward, curling a hand behind his head to kiss him. “I think I probably have for a long time.”

  “If you like real,” he muttered, “you’re going to like what I’ve got planned next.”

  He ripped off his tux jacket and jerked at his shirt, sending studs flying. Her pulse sped up and stuttered. “Shall I help?”

  “No. Come here.”

  Poor man. He couldn’t help himself. He was accustomed to being in charge. But they could work on that.

  She shimmied off the bed and stood in front of him. Though he was taller, her heels put them eye-to-eye. Tracing a finger from one side of his collarbone to the other, she sighed. His hard, broad, warm chest was a thing of beauty. “I’m kind of sorry we didn’t stay,” she murmured, kissing the spot where a pulse beat in his neck.

  His hands fisted at his sides. “Why is that?” The words were little more than a croak. Between them, his erection tented the front of his trousers.

  Curling her arms around his neck, she rested her cheek on his shoulder. “I had dreams of dancing with you.”

  “Hold that thought,” he said.

  He released her and searched his jacket until he came up with his phone. Clicking icons as he concentrated, he found what he wanted. Moments later a classic love song began playing softly.

  “Oh, Alex...”

  He took her in his arms and teased gently. “Oh, Maria.”

  “I’m still not sure how this is going to work back at home,” she fretted. “People will talk.”

  “The only thing people will say is how smart I am to have snagged you before some other guy found you first.”

  His hand on the bare skin of her back was firm and hot. “Have I told you how much I love this dress?”

  “That’s a lot of the L word floating around from a man who has a reputation for being buttoned up.”

  He stepped back and held out his arms, a sexy grin tilting the corners of his mouth. “Does this look like I’m buttoned up?”

  “Good point.” She wrapped her arms around his waist this time, swaying to the romantic melody.

  Alex dipped her without warning. “Are you attached to this dress?” he asked, lifting her upright again.

  Dark color slashed his cheekbones. His eyes glittered with emotions she recognized. Hunger. Need. Desperation. It might as well have been years since they had made love, so urgent was the wave of yearning that pulsed between them.

  She licked her lips. “It cost a lot of money. I was going to wear it all evening.”

  “I’ll be careful with it then,” he muttered, lowering her zipper before she could do more than squeak. “And the night’s still young. We might make it back to the party...”

  “Fair enough.” He was lying, and she didn’t even care.

  Slipping the narrow straps of her red fit-for-a-princess gown down her arms, he groaned when he realized she wasn’t wearing a bra. Her nipples tightened as he stared at her breasts.

  “I want you.”

  It seemed as if he had been reduced to caveman syllables, but she understood entirely.

  Holding his hand as she stepped out of her bikini undies, she faced him wearing nothing but stilettos and a tentative smile. “I want you, too. All these years we’ve known each other I admired you, but it took me a while to realize that my feelings went way beyond that. You’re a difficult man to resist.”

  “Then don’t even try, sweetheart.”

  He dragged her up against him until nothing separated them but the fabric of his tux pants. The feeling was exquisite. But she had a feeling it could be even better.

  Her fingers stroked his lower back. “I need you naked. Hurry.”

  “Whatever the lady wants.”

  Alex pulled away and managed the task with clumsy speed and harsh breathing.

  When he was done, he tumbled them both onto the mattress, making her laugh. “I like this wild and crazy Alex,” she said.

  He reached for his pants that he’d tossed on the corner of the mattress. Extracting a small box, he handed it to her. “Marry me, Maria. Please.”

  The raw, almost awkward proposal caught her off guard and sent her heart spinning. The ring was gorgeous, a single solitaire, large enough to signal ships at sea. “It’s beautiful.”

  He slipped it on her finger. “That’s not an answer.”

  “Yes,” she muttered, emotion making it difficult to speak. “Yes, Alex.”

  He stroked her from throat to belly, his warm, slightly rough touch igniting sparks everywhere he went. “Don’t ever leave me again,” he muttered, his expression darkly serious.

  His intensity humbled her. She brushed her thumb across his lower lip. “I won’t. But you know we’ll still fight once in a while. We’re both bullheaded.”

  He moved over her and into her with firm, gentle possession that made her lift against him, sighing, her legs wrapped around his waist.

  Alex rested his forehead on hers. “Fighting is okay. As long as we call a truce every night.”

  She bit her lip when his thrust hit a certain spot. The physical sensation was second only to emotional bliss. The fact that he was here with her in this bed spoke volumes. Barely a quarter mile away, the high point of his professional career played out among the rich and famous. But Alex had made his choice.

  His love humbled and elated her.

  When the moment of no return neared, rational thought gave way to sensation. Heat. Tenderness. Skin to skin. Heart to heart. Damp skin to damp skin.

  Her body jerked as the climax hit, sending her tumbling amid the sparks. Alex held her tightly.

  His end came moments later, a raw groan of stunned pleasure.

  Lying together in a tangle of arms and legs, they breathed raggedly.

  As she ran her toe up the back of his calf, she grumbled. “We can do this all night, I swear. But they need you at the party, Alex. Honestly, they do.”

  A mighty sigh rolled through his chest. “I know.”

  “The sooner we get dressed, the sooner we can come back here.”

  “A bribe, Maria?”

  “Did it work?”

  He bit the side of her neck. “Yes, damn it.”

  She smiled, even though he couldn’t see it. “I love you, Mr. Ramon.”

  Alex rolled out of bed and picked up her red dress, his scowl dark as he eyed her naked body. “Put this back on before I change my mind.”

  “Patience is a virtue.”

  “Patience sucks.”

  Laughing, she dressed and smoothed her hair, watching covertly as Alex did the same. His nudity made him appear even more powerful than usual, every inch of him an alpha male.

  At last, they were both presentable.

  She held out her hands. “One last kiss before we go.”

  Alex backed away, his expression harried. “I can barely look at you, much less kiss you. Don’t be surprised if I drag you behind a palm tree later and take you standing up.”

  It was hard to tell if he was kidding or not.

  Re-dressed in his tux, he was masculine beauty personified. “My prince,” she whispered, love squeezing her heart painfully.

  His searing gaze swept her from head to toe. “I adore you, Maria. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my days with you. You’ve taken my drab life and added sparkle.”

  The vulnerability in that statement, coming from a man so big and strong and definitely “unsparkly” made her want to weep. She went to him and wrapped her arms around his wai
st, laying her head on his shoulder. “I love you.”

  She felt the muscles in his throat work. He kissed the top of her head. “Let’s get this over with, princess. I have plans for you. Big plans...”

  Her heart was filled to bursting. Maybe fairy tales did sometimes come true. “Ditto, boss. Anything you say...”

  * * * * *

  DYNASTIES: THE MONTOROS

  One royal family must choose between love and destiny!

  Don’t miss a single story!

  MINDING HER BOSS’S BUSINESS

  by Janice Maynard

  CARRYING A KING’S CHILD

  by Katherine Garbera

  SEDUCED BY THE SPARE HEIR

  by Andrea Laurence

  THE PRINCESS AND THE PLAYER

  by Kat Cantrell

  MAID FOR A MAGNATE

  by Jules Bennett

  A ROYAL TEMPTATION

  by Charlene Sands

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  Keep reading for an excerpt from CARRYING A KING’S CHILD by Katherine Garbera.

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