by Lucy Monroe
She could not be serious. They were practically making love with their clothes on. “I would rather have you.” He emphasized the point by thrusting against her with his hardness.
Instead of renewed pleasure, alarm flared in her eyes. “Not now…not yet…please, Miguel.”
His body screamed at him to convince her otherwise. He could tell it would not take much, but her expression—marked both with trust and vulnerability—demanded he protect her…. even from himself.
He rolled onto his back and then stood from the bed in a jerky movement, far from his usual smooth control. “Dinner it is.”
He put his hand out to help her up and then thought better of it and dropped it to his side. “I will leave you to refresh yourself.”
She sat up, looking dazed and a bit wobbly herself. “Thank you.”
“Iwill have you, Amber.”
“I believe you.” She sounded so fervent, so sincere.
A laugh choked from him as he turned to leave. He would have her, but it was going to be an adventure getting there.
Amber sat on the bed for several seconds before she managed to stand and make her way to the bathroom to put her hair and makeup back in order.
What had just happened?
She’d been inches away from making love to him. A few more minutes of those self-control stealing kisses and she would have forgotten the wordsno andwait even existed. In fact, if the sensation of having a man on top of her wasn’t so incredibly alien, she wouldn’t have remembered them at all.
No doubt about it. If he had pushed it, she would have given in. But he hadn’t. The part of her heart that had been melting since his first smile gushed warmth through her. He’d respected her need to wait and that was every bit as tantalizing and seductive as his kisses had been.
She wrapped her arms around her middle and hugged herself, a goofy smile that would never grace the cover of a magazine playing on her lips. She could definitely fall in love with this man.
Despite the earthshaking nature of the kiss, it actually took very little to get herself looking presentable again. She was definitely more shattered on the inside than showed on the outside. Though her eyes looked somewhat shell-shocked and she really didn’t mind him seeing that.
He hadn’t looked exactly unaffected when he’d left the room, either.
He was drinking something from the minibar when she came back into the main room. She detected the pungent fragrance of whiskey and appreciated the further evidence of how strongly their intense kissing had affected him.
He turned to face her, his gaze traveling over her like seeking hands. “Ready?”
“Ye…” She had to clear her throat and try again. “Yes.”
His hold on the glass tightened until his knuckles showed white, and then he finished his drink in one swallow, before putting the glass down. “Let us go.”
He was silent on the walk to the elevator, and during the ride to the lobby. He didn’t take her arm when they exited it, either, but led her outside without so much as looking back to see if she followed. He gave his claim ticket to the parking valet and they both waited without speaking for the car to arrive. Once it did, he allowed the parking attendant to open her door while he went around to get in the driver’s side.
The silence shimmered with tension and she didn’t know what to do to break it. Was he angry with her for calling a halt to the lovemaking? He hadn’t acted as if he was at the time, but his lack of communication now made her feel an unaccustomed nervousness. No wonder she’d avoided relationships in favor of her career. The man-woman thing wasn’t easy.
He pulled into traffic while she wondered what to say. Finally she decided on straightforward honesty. “Miguel?”
“Yes,carida? ”
“Are you angry with me…for stopping us?”
“No. We have met only today, no matter how strong the attraction, I would have to be a real bastard to expect you to accept me into your body so quickly.”
“You’ve never had sex with a woman you just met?”
“Not a woman like you.”
“I’m special then?”
“I thought we had already established that.”
“It doesn’t hurt to reiterate things like that for a woman.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
“Do that.”
“Make no mistake, I want you.”
“I know.”
“And you want me.”
“Very much, but I’m not like that.”
“You would have regretted making love. I figured that out.”
“Smart man.”
“When we make love, I will leave you no room for regret.”
She hoped that was true. “So, you are definitely not angry?” she felt the need to confirm.
“No.”
“You’ve been silent. Since I came out of the bedroom, I mean.”
“Control does not always come without a cost.”
“What do you mean?”
“Concentration. It has taken much concerted effort not to attempt to change your mind.”
“I really appreciate the fact that you haven’t.”
“I am glad. It is worth the cost then.”
“I truly think it is,” she hastened to assure him.
He smiled and she felt like she’d landed the cover ofVogue . “You charm me, Amber Taylor.”
“You entrance me, Miguel Menendez.”
“Ah…I like to hear this.”
“I like being able to say it.”
He laughed. “You are very forthright.”
“Does that bother you?”
“No. I like it. There are no games between us.”
“I don’t like emotional games.” She’d never played them, but even in business people tried and they annoyed her to no end.
“We have this in common also.”
She grinned and looked out the window, her eyes hungry for a bigger glimpse of Barcelona than she’d had so far. She loved the way the city seemed to be a confusing mixture of Gothic, modern and postmodern architecture. The confusion had a charm all its own and she looked forward to walking the streets to soak it in.
“So, where are we going for dinner?” she asked, hoping it would require a drive across the city so she could see more than she had between her hotel and the modeling shoot site.
“My home.”
Her heart contracted and then started beating ultra-fast. “But…”
“I will not seduce you tonight, Amber. You have said that you must be up very early for your shoot tomorrow. When I do take you to my bed, it will be for hours on end. Such a night would not work for you this evening.”
“Thank you for realizing that.” But she couldn’t help shivering at the implication of his words.Hours on end?
CHAPTER FOUR
“WHATtime will you be finished tomorrow?”
“I can never be sure, but if it goes like today, the photos they want should be taken by midmorning.”
“And then the job, it is over, is it not?”
“Yes.”
“I will pick you up for lunch from your hotel room and we will celebrate a successful shoot.”
“Is that what we’re going to do?”
“Yes,” he said, totally missing or ignoring her gentle sarcasm. “Be prepared to spend the rest of the day and evening with me. I will arrange my schedule.”
The man was just a tad too confident. “Andmy schedule?”
“You will be finished with your work you said.”
“Perhaps I planned to take a tour of the city later in the afternoon.” Which is exactly what she had planned to do.
“Anything you want to see, I will show you.”
“Really?” This could be interesting.
“Yes.”
“Because you know, I planned to buy a Bus Turistic ticket and go to every stop on the city’s sponsored tourist route.”
He laughed. “You are ambitious.”
“I have a wee
k for sightseeing.”
“Perhaps you will allow me to be your guide…and maybe you will even consent to stay in my fair city longer than a week.”
She had only a couple of very minor jobs lined up for the week after her official vacation and for the first time ever, she considered canceling them to play. Shock at her own thoughts kept her speechless for several seconds before she choked out, “I’ll consider it.”
“I assure you, I will make a better tour guide than those found on the bus. I am native Catalan after all.”
“And that makes you superior?”
“Of a certainty.”
She laughed. “I suppose I should give you the chance to prove yourself…” She paused for a long moment. “Or fall on your face.”
“The only thing I plan to fall on is you,cielo .”
“What does that mean?”
“It is Catalan for sweetheart.”
“I thought all Spanish noblemen were Castilian.”
“I am not of the nobility. My family is as old as any in Spain, but we are Catalan.”
“Are you one of the ones who still hopes that Catalonia will one day be an independent nation?”
“All Catalans dream, but I am content with my circumstances.”
“Considering what those circumstances are, I’d think you should be.”
“It is as difficult to be rich as to be poor.”
“Tell that to me when you’re having a hard time paying the rent and you’ve lost your car because you couldn’t make the payments.”
He spared her a sideways glance. “You have never been in such a circumstance.”
“No, I haven’t, but I can’t help thinking about people who have.”
“You are a bleeding heart.”
“Better it bleed than to be made of stone.”
“On this, I think I can agree. Menendez Industries gives more charitable contributions in dollar amounts and as a percentage of net income than any other privately held company in my country.”
“Oh, that’s really wonderful.” The man was too perfect for her own good. She was falling hard and fast.
She suddenly had a deep desire to call her mom for a little womanly advice and mother-daughter encouragement.
Unaware of the panic flowing through her, Miguel said, “It is imperative to manage our resources both effectively and with a certain amount of compassion for those less fortunate.”
“I would not have guessed you would take that stand.” But the fact he did impressed her to death.
“So, you learn something the business journals do not tell.”
“Why don’t they?”
“To make such a thing an object of public propaganda diminishes the thought behind doing it. My family is private about many things,pequeña .”
“I know what that means and I’m hardly little.”
“You are taller than the average woman, yes, but hardly a giant and your figure is so tiny a strong wind would tumble you.”
“Hardly.”
“It is true.”
She bit her lip. Did her thinness bother him? Did he find it unappealing? Then she reminded herself of his reaction to their kissing and shoved the doubts away. “A model has to be thin. The camera can be cruel.”
“I had heard this was so, but your body is not merely thin, it is very toned. As close to perfect as it is possible to get without plastic surgery I think.”
“Is that a compliment?” She never felt this uncertainty around men, particularly when it came to her looks. They were something she worked hard for and took for granted in the process.
But everything with him was different.
“Definitely.”
“Then thank you. I put a lot of effort into staying in shape.”
“It shows.”
She’d had many other people make similar comments, particularly those in the industry, but never had it impacted her so strongly. She felt caressed by the words spoken in his beautiful, deep voice. They also made her feel beautiful and she realized she could not remember the last time she’d felt that way deep inside.
Not just been aware of her outward beauty as a tool for career’s ambitions, not like a stunning model in strong demand, but actually felt like abeautiful woman . She liked the feeling. A lot.
Miguel’s home turned out to be a penthouse apartment in an exclusive area on the outskirts of the city. So, she’d gotten her wish and had a wonderful look at Barcelona while they drove. They talked the whole time, mostly about her work, which made her feel like he really appreciated who she was, not just what she looked like. And the city, which she enjoyed immensely. He truly was as knowledgeable as any tour guide.
When they reached his apartment, he informed her that the housekeeper who greeted them did not live on premises and would be leaving before dinner. “She’s prepared our meal, but we will be serving ourselves.”
“That works for me,” she said as she looked around her.
The apartment had obviously been decorated by a professional, but it had Miguel’s personality clearly stamped on it. And his wealth.
He smiled. “I thought it might.”
Dinner…the whole evening was wonderful. They talked more—about everything from business to family. Miguel’s parents played a strong role in his life just as Amber’s mother did hers. He obviously loved them and that increased her respect for him. As the evening progressed, she found herself liking him more and more.
And when he took her home early as promised, her opinion of him was in the stratosphere. Maybe even beyond. He could have pushed for intimacy, but by not doing so, he showed his respect for her and his desire to pursue a real relationship, not just sexual fulfillment.
Miguel smiled as he drove back to his home after dropping Amber at her hotel. She was an incredible woman.
He regretted the fact they would have so little time together before he had to fly to Prague. This was a woman he could see spending a great deal of time with for weeks, maybe even months before the initial attraction began to wear. It was a strange feeling and he wished he’d met her earlier, but he was not about to allow regrets to lay a pall over his current enjoyment of her company.
He doubted she expected their association to last beyond her trip to Spain, certainly not more than in a casual sense anyway. Neither of them was in a place to enter a committed relationship. It might be selfish of him, but he did not want to dampen the pleasure by talking about their future parting so early on. The right time would come for such a discussion, but before they had even made it to bed was not it.
Amber stacked the tourist brochures she planned to show to Miguel in a pile in the center of the small table in her suite’s living area. The shoot had taken even less time than she had anticipated and she’d had plenty of opportunity to plan her campaign for the day. Miguel had offered to be her tour guide and she was going to take him up on it.
He had not shown up at her shoot today, not that she had expected him to. If he was going to take the rest of the day off to spend it with her, she was sure a man of his responsibilities would have quite a bit to do to make that happen. It made her feel special that he wanted to.
Even so, she wasn’t ready to fall into bed with him. Not mentally anyway. Her body was another story and if they went back to his apartment or stayed in her hotel suite even briefly, in bed with him was exactly where they were going to end up.
She wanted to see Barcelona, but even more than that, she wanted to get to know Miguel better before taking the irrevocable step of allowing him into her body. She knew that for her, such a step would be life altering.
She wished she could call her mom, but it was still the middle of the night in California. She considered going down to the hotel’s business center and sending an e-mail. She glanced at her watch. Making a quick mental calculation, she decided she had just enough time.
She grabbed the brochures, tucked them into the large over the shoulder bag she’d prepared earlier with things she thought she might
need for a day spent with Miguel…and possibly a night. While she wasn’t mentally prepared to fall into his bed, she didn’t try to fool herself into thinking that there was no possibility of that happening. If he kissed her again like he had last night, there was no saying she’d have the wherewithal to call a halt a second time. So, she’d decided to be prepared for the eventuality rather than blindsided by it.
But she would put it off with sightseeing for as long as possible.
Sitting down at the computer, she made another decision and when she logged onto her e-mail, she sent a message to her agent first. It canceled her upcoming jobs and extended her vacation for an additional week with the promise that she would be back in Southern California for the major trunk show she’d agreed to participate in.
The e-mail to her mom took very little time to write. Amber simply wrote that she thought she might have found “the one” and planned to spend the day with him, getting to know him better. She also told her mom about the change in her travel plans. She thought the fact she was elongating her vacation by a week and canceling two jobs for the first time ever spoke loudly about the seriousness of her feelings. Her mom would get the message.
When Amber finished with her e-mails, she went outside to wait for Miguel. There was no reason to have him park his car if they were going to go sightseeing. Besides, if he did…the temptation to take him upstairs to her room would be too great.
An expensive-looking sedan with darkly tinted windows pulled up in front of where she stood. She stepped back, not wanting to be in the way of the occupants when they got out.
The rear door near her opened and Miguel stepped out, smiling. “You are waiting eagerly for me, I see.”
Her eyes drank him in. His tall, muscular body was encased in a tailored suit he wore as comfortably as he had the more casual clothes he’d had on the day before.
“I thought it would be silly for you to have your car parked if we were going to leave right away again.”
“We were thinking alike then. I brought a driver for similar reasons. He will make our excursions much easier to navigate.”
“I’m sure he will.” But she looked dubiously at the car, though. Somehow the thought of having a driver in the car with them made her feel skittish.
