Cinderella's Christmas Secret (Mills & Boon Modern)

by Sharon Kendrick

  ‘In bed, certainly—but tonight, no. Stop frowning at me like that, Hollie. There’s a reason.’

  ‘Am I allowed to know what the reason is?’

  ‘In time.’ He smiled. ‘Be patient, mia belleza.’

  Hollie began to get ready, fixing her hair and pinning it in place. Half an hour later and she was ready, a loose chignon coiled against the back of her neck, the black silk dress skimming her knees, and a pair of strappy shoes adding extra height. As she leaned towards the mirror to apply a light coat of lip gloss, Maximo walked across the bedroom and placed a small box on the dressing table in front of her.

  ‘Why don’t you put these on?’ he said.

  ‘These’ turned out to be two long and sparkling columns—a pair of exquisite diamond earrings—and she stared down at them in confusion.

  ‘But you’ve already given me—’

  ‘Put them on,’ he emphasised softly. ‘I bought them at the same time as we got your ring. It’s your Christmas present, Hollie.’

  ‘But...but I haven’t given you anything!’ she protested, surprised when he leant over and placed the palm of his hand over her still-flat belly and their eyes met in a silent moment, reflected in the mirror.

  ‘Oh, but you have,’ he contradicted softly. ‘You have given me something money can never buy. My baby.’ There was a pause as she was caught in the ebony spotlight of his gaze. ‘Would it bother you if we announced it tonight? It would kill speculation and everyone is going to know about it sooner or later.’

  Hollie didn’t answer straight away. She wasn’t sure she agreed because it still felt very...private, as well as very new. Yet it wasn’t as though it were a guilty secret, was it? It was nothing to feel ashamed about. And if she was surprised by Maximo’s desire to tell people, she couldn’t think of any reason why he shouldn’t—she was past the danger zone, wasn’t she? ‘No, I don’t mind,’ she said.

  He turned away then, but not before Hollie saw the flash of something unexpected in his black eyes. A look which was hard and dark and very macho.

  Was it triumph?

  Was that why she felt a faint flicker of foreboding to add to all the others which seemed to be building up inside her? But she forced herself to push away her fears, determined to count her blessings instead. Tomorrow was the first day of the new year and the man she was going to marry was the father of her baby. Wasn’t that good enough to be going along with?

  He took her to the drawing room, which was situated at the very top of the large house, where they sipped glasses of casera—a simple bubbly lemon concoction, which Maximo said was rarely drunk outside Spain and which Hollie found delicious. Afterwards they were driven to the west of the city, to an upmarket area called Pozuelo de Alarcón, where the party was being held. The house was large and modern and surrounded by enormous grounds, with clever lighting focussing on beautiful outdoor statues and surrounding shrubs. Coloured bulbs were looped through the branches of trees, and as the line of luxury cars progressed up the long drive Hollie could see people laughing and drinking through giant plate-glass windows. It looked just like a commercial and Hollie would have defied anyone not to have felt intimidated by it.

  Did her shoulders stiffen with tension—was that why Maximo ran a reflective finger over her palm? ‘Everything okay?’ he verified.

  ‘I’m still nervous,’ she admitted.

  ‘Don’t be, mia belleza. Your innocence will be like a breath of fresh air.’

  ‘Not so very innocent any more,’ she reflected ruefully.

  ‘Everyone has to lose their innocence some time.’ He reached up and touched his fingertip against one of the diamond strands which dangled like a spill of stars from her ear. ‘You know that at midnight we have a big tradition in this country?’

  ‘Like the siesta, you mean?’

  ‘In its way, las doce uvas de la suerte is as important as the siesta, sí—because, to the Spanish, all traditions are important.’

  Hollie nodded, wondering if that was because he’d grown up without any real traditions of his own.

  As had she.

  ‘Everyone eats grapes at midnight on New Year’s Eve,’ he said. ‘One for each stroke of the hour—twelve grapes in all.’

  ‘Why do you do that?’

  ‘To bring us luck.’ He smiled. ‘Rare is the Spaniard who will poison his fate for the following year by failing to complete this simple task.’

  ‘In England, we might be tempted to call that superstition.’

  ‘Then I shall have to persuade you otherwise, won’t I?’ he said softly as the limousine slid to a silent halt, and she shivered as he whispered his fingertip over her thigh, as if to remind her of what delights lay in store for them later.

  Heads turned as they walked into the party—where even the people serving drinks and canapés looked as if they had stepped from the pages of a fashion bible.

  Please don’t let me make a fool of myself, Hollie prayed.

  There was a split-second pause and then conversation resumed as a tall and very handsome man extricated himself from a group of people and came over to greet them.

  ‘Maximo,’ he said. ‘I’m glad you made it, though I confess to being a little surprised.’ His black eyes gleamed with curiosity. ‘Since the word is out that there are going to be a lot of very disappointed women here tonight.’

  Hollie felt Maximo’s fingertips touch the base of her spine.

  ‘Javier, I’d like you to meet my fiancée, Hollie Walker. Hollie, this is Javier de Balboa, a very old friend of mine, who will probably do his best to cause mischief.’

  ‘Pleased to meet you,’ said Hollie, her hand straying to her cheek to push away a dangling strand of hair.

  ‘So it is true,’ breathed Javier, and Hollie knew she hadn’t imagined the surprise which flickered in his dark eyes as he spotted the large diamond gleaming on her finger. ‘Wow. I am delighted to meet the woman who has tamed this black-hearted rogue after so long. You do realise what you’re taking on, don’t you, Hollie?’

  ‘I think so.’

  Her tentative words made both men smile and suddenly Hollie felt a little more comfortable as she asked for a glass of casera.

  ‘You won’t have champagne?’ asked Javier.

  ‘Hollie’s pregnant,’ Maximo cut in.

  ‘Ah. Of course she is. My congratulations to you both. In that case, I will have someone prepare you a casera.’

  After he had gone, Hollie just stood very still for a moment, breathing deeply and trying to compose herself. What had Javier meant—Of course she is? That it was inconceivable the powerful bachelor would be contemplating marriage unless he was being shotgunned into it? And wasn’t that the truth? She could see people watching them and wondered how they saw her. As an upstart who had managed to get her claws into one of Spain’s most eligible bachelors? One who was clearly out of her depth, despite her designer dress and the jewels which hung from her finger and her ears?

  Maximo turned to talk to someone and, although a nearby couple were eager to chat to her, Hollie felt strangely isolated. She watched as Maximo seemed to command the attention of everyone in the room. People were trying to get near him and she felt as though she were melting into the shadows and gradually becoming invisible. She realised that for him this was truly home, and always would be.

  She did her best to join in with the lively party but couldn’t quite contain the nerves which were growing inside her. She saw a huge dish of purple grapes gleaming rather menacingly in a corner and prayed she would be able to match everyone else in the room—although eating twelve grapes in such a short space of time did seem a big ask, particularly of someone who was pregnant.

  She glanced around the room, thinking that she’d never seen so many stunning women congregated in one place, and found herself remembering what Maximo had once said. He’d told her that if
ever he met a woman he desired more than her he would tell her immediately and their relationship would end. Looking around at the model-perfect array of females, she failed to see how that could not happen. Surely once the allure of their brand-new sex life wore off, wasn’t it inevitable he would be tempted?

  She wasn’t much of a drinker but right then she would have given anything for a small glass of wine to help quell her spiralling nervousness, but of course she couldn’t do that because she was expecting a baby.

  And that was the only reason she was here.

  All of a sudden Hollie felt as if she were adrift on a life raft, floating on a wide sea. Lost and all alone—despite the proud-featured man at her side who drew the gaze of every woman in the room.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  HER NIGHT WAS RESTLESS—her sleep broken by ill-defined dreams which somehow scared her—and when Hollie awoke it was to find that Maximo had gone. She sat up in bed and blinked, glancing around at the unfamiliar space of his vast Madrid bedroom. Gone where?

  As if in answer to her thoughts he walked into the room, dressed in his habitual black and talking on the phone on what was clearly a work call. He palmed her a wave but continued talking in Spanish, obviously distracted—and when Hollie emerged from the bathroom he was still speaking. She walked over to the window and stared out but, despite the beautiful Retiro Park being so close, all she noticed were the buildings and busy roads. She kept telling herself the problem lay with her and not the famously beautiful city of Madrid, but that didn’t alter her fundamental fear about whether she’d ever get used to living here after the quiet of Trescombe.

  Maximo cut the call and walked over to the window to stand beside her. ‘You’re awake,’ he murmured, snaking his arm around her waist, his thumb stroking a slow circle. ‘I thought I’d let you sleep. It was a late night. Did you enjoy the party?’

  ‘It was certainly very lively.’

  ‘Who was that woman I saw you talking to?’ he enquired, his fingers reaching up to comb through the tangle of her hair.

  ‘Which one? I was talking to lots of people.’

  ‘The one in the green dress. She had blonde hair, I think.’

  ‘Oh. You mean Cristina.’ Hollie smiled. It had been one of the highlights of a very challenging evening. An elegant woman had walked across the crowded room and given her a warm and friendly smile. More than that, she had seemed instantly understanding, telling Hollie that she had once been the newcomer at a similar, glittering party. ‘It can be a little overwhelming at the beginning,’ she had said softly. ‘They are a wonderful but rather intimidating crowd. Just give them a chance.’

  ‘Who is Cristina?’ prompted Maximo, breaking into her thoughts.

  ‘She owns a shop on the...’ she frowned as she tried to remember ‘...the Calle de Serrano, and wants me to have lunch with her some time, so I gave her my number. I explained I was going back to England tomorrow to work out my notice, but said I could meet her at the end of the month.’

  ‘Good, good,’ he said, as he linked his fingers with hers and began to lead her back towards the bed. ‘It’s important for you to make new friends.’

  ‘What...what are you doing, Maximo?’ she questioned, as he laid her down on the mattress and then began to peel off his clothes with impatient fingers.

  ‘What do you think I’m doing? I’m going to make love to you because I am aching to be inside you again.’

  ‘B-but, you’ve only just got out of the shower.’

  ‘Then I’ll just have to get right back in it, won’t I?’

  She felt the silky collision of his flesh as their bodies collided and heard the deepening of his voice as he brushed his lips over hers.

  ‘Do I taste good, mia belleza?’

  ‘You do.’ She shivered. ‘You t-taste very good.’

  His mouth moved to her neck, her belly and then—most daringly of all—between her legs and Hollie’s eyes fluttered to a helpless close as she felt that first deliciously precise flick of his tongue. Pretty soon her body was clenching with the explosive pleasure which was now part of her daily life.

  How could I have lived without this for so long? she thought dreamily as she lay cradled in his arms afterwards.

  How could I have lived without him?

  But that was a dangerous way to think. Especially when the next few days made her realise that something fundamental between them seemed to have shifted. At first she thought she was imagining it, but gradually she realised that, on some level, their relationship had changed. It was difficult to define but it was definitely there. All the closeness and banter they’d shared over Christmas seemed to have evaporated. It had become functional. She told herself not to keep analysing the situation, but couldn’t seem to stop herself. Because despite the undeniable intimacy she felt whenever they were having sex, hadn’t Maximo been noticeably more distant with her ever since they’d arrived in Madrid? Hadn’t he been obsessed with his work in a way she hadn’t witnessed before? He seemed to be out at the office most of the time and when she had questioned him about it, he hadn’t been in the least bit contrite.

  ‘Surely you must understand that I have to work, Hollie,’ he had replied, with a shrug. ‘I am the head of a very big organisation and a lot of people rely on me.’

  ‘And when the baby arrives? What then? Will you still be working around the clock?’

  ‘Who knows? It’s possible.’ His black eyes were clear and gleaming. ‘I’m not going to make any promises I won’t be able to keep, querida. I’m planning to do the best I can, but I don’t know what form being a husband and a father will take. Is that fair?’

  It might have been fair, but it wasn’t what Hollie wanted to hear—and while his honesty was admirable, it failed to reassure her. It felt to her as if he had achieved what he had set out to achieve—by offering her marriage—and was now free to turn his attention to other things. Would she be expected to build her own separate life here—a life which touched his only in parts? It wasn’t what she had envisaged when she had agreed to marry him...

  And before she knew it, it was time to fly back to Devon to work out her notice—an intention she had proudly insisted on but was now beginning to regret. Surrounded by luxury, Hollie stared out of the window of his private jet, wondering if Maximo would be relieved to have the apartment to himself again now she’d left. He certainly hadn’t given any indication that he was going to miss her. And even though he made love to her that morning, and afterwards held her trembling body very tight, she could never remember feeling quite so alone.

  It was weird being back in England. Weird yet strangely comforting—like climbing into a warm bath at the end of a long working day. As the limousine purred along the high-hedged country lanes, Hollie realised that people knew her here in Trescombe. She belonged in this little town. When she stopped at the local store to buy some provisions, the owner did a double take before her face broke into a huge smile.

  ‘It is you! Why, for a moment I didn’t recognise you, Hollie!’

  Hollie blushed, realising she hadn’t even considered the impact of leaving a fancy car sitting on the kerb waiting, while she purchased her pint of milk wearing a whacking great diamond ring, and a cream cashmere coat which must have been achingly expensive.

  She would need to go back to her trusty skirts and blouses tomorrow morning when she started back at work. Her mind flitted over different possibilities as she wondered how she was going to explain what had happened to Janette. Was she going to give her boss the whole story, chapter and verse, and tell her she was engaged and pregnant in a single sentence?

  Her boss was so...probing. She would almost certainly pry and ask Hollie what it was like being engaged to someone as charismatic as Maximo Diaz. She might even ask her details about how it had happened.

  And Hollie would say—what?

  That it had been a one-night
stand with far-reaching ramifications, hence the Spanish tycoon’s shock proposal of marriage? She certainly wasn’t going to hint at her growing insecurities about her place in Maximo’s life or confess that he seemed to be pushing her away from him. Hollie bit her lip. He’d made it clear he didn’t want deep, or mushy, or lovey-dovey from their relationship—yet despite knowing those things, it made little difference to the way she felt about him. She still felt dizzy with longing whenever she thought about him.

  Perhaps it was the thought of how it had been before which kept her snared—all those evocative memories of a snowed-in Christmas, which had led her to believe in all kinds of possibilities. The way he’d taken her into his confidence and the way he made her feel when she was in his arms... Perhaps it was her lack of experience of sex which made her ultra-susceptible to its influence. Because sometimes, when she was lying close to him, with the powerful beat of his powerful heart slowing in perfect time with her own, Hollie would feel something close to...

  Love?

  She swallowed. Was it possible to love someone even if you knew that was the last thing they wanted from you?

  Was it?

  Yes, of course it was possible. People had been falling in love indiscriminately since the beginning of time. And, despite all her mixed-up feelings, Hollie’s heart still lifted with joy when she answered Maximo’s text asking whether she’d settled in and saying he’d call her later. His brief message made her think. It made her look at the situation from a different viewpoint. Back in Madrid she had convinced herself she was missing her simple life in Trescombe, but the irony was that she was missing Maximo a lot more. Didn’t she ache for him with a fierce longing which was almost visceral? And if that was the case, then surely fitting into her new world in Spain wasn’t only preferable, but achievable. All she had to do was to give it a decent chance, and that meant giving it time. Couldn’t she choose her moment to suggest that he didn’t have to work quite so hard—and couldn’t they get back the kind of closeness they’d had before?