A Spanish Engagement (10 page)

As she pushed the door open he stepped inside with her, obviously intent on walking all the way up to the front door of her apartment.

‘I’m okay now, Max,’ she said, turning to look up at him. ‘I can go up to the apartment on my own.’

‘Are you angry with me, Carrie?’ he asked softly.

‘No! Why should I be angry?’ Her heart started to pound against her chest as he moved a step closer.

‘I don’t know. Maybe it was something Estelle said.’ The quietness of his voice in the empty hallway seemed to echo strangely. ‘Or maybe you are scared of being alone with me?’

‘That’s ridiculous. I’m not scared of you—why should I be scared of you?’

‘I don’t know.’ He reached and touched her face gently. It was a curiously tender gesture and it made her heart ache with a heaviness she couldn’t begin to understand. ‘Sometimes you look at me with a wariness that makes me think someone has really hurt you in the past…that you are scared of getting too close to a man again.’

Carrie was horrified by the observation. ‘If I’m wary
of you then it’s because you are a business client and this charade is wrong. We are lying to people.’ She hissed the words in a low tone. ‘Of course I’m uncomfortable.’ She swung away from him before he could continue with the conversation and made her way upstairs to her front door.

He followed her. Carrie was appalled at how her hands trembled as she tried to put her key in her door. He reached past her and took the key from her hands to insert it in the lock. The touch of his skin against hers made her body start to pump with adrenalin.

‘There, you see, you did need me to walk you upstairs after all.’ His voice was gently teasing. ‘Now, are you going to tell me why you are annoyed with me? What did Estelle say to you?’

‘She talked a lot of rubbish—’

‘She usually does.’ He stepped inside the narrow hallway of her apartment and closed the door. ‘So what kind of garbage did she spout this evening?’ He seemed far too close in the confined space and she backed away, only to find herself up against the wall.

He put his hands either side of her head, leaning on the wall and trapping her in the circle of his arms without actually touching her.

His closeness made her senses reel. ‘She didn’t say anything that upset me. I just didn’t like lying—maybe it comes easy to you, but not to me.’ Carrie whispered the words fiercely, mindful that Molly’s grandparents were in the apartment. ‘And I think you should have told me about Natasha, and what she means to you. I didn’t know who Estelle was talking about.’

‘Ah, I see.’

The ambiguous reply made her temper rise again. ‘So who is she?’

‘Are you jealous, Carrie?’ He asked the question very quietly and yet there was a serious underlying tone.

‘Certainly not!’ She swallowed hard on a sudden knot of panic in her throat. ‘I couldn’t care less; you can date who you want. I’m not in the slightest bit interested in your romantic dalliances. You may think you are God’s gift to women, Max, but I’m not one of your blind admirers.’

‘Is that so?’ His voice held an edge of displeasure now.

Good—he deserved to have that male ego of his taken down a peg or two, she thought.

‘Maybe women throw themselves at you wherever you go, but I’m not turned on by you in the slightest.’

‘You didn’t object too much when I kissed you, as I recall,’ Max said wryly.

Carrie was furious that he had brought that up. ‘Well, we were just playing a part. It didn’t mean anything! In fact if you were any kind of gentleman you wouldn’t stoop so low as to even mention that…incident.’

‘Oh, I can stoop quite low when I want.’ Max’s voice was nonchalant and unconcerned.

Then before she realised his intention he bent his head closer and his lips found hers.

The shock of his kiss seemed to somersault through her body. Carrie clenched her hands at her sides and tried to force herself not to kiss him back. But his lips were tender and skilled and they moved over hers with such gentleness that she felt the anger inside her starting to melt away, to be replaced with a much more powerful emotion.

Desire hit her like a fist, dissolving her mind into a mass of confusion. And suddenly she was kissing him back. Her arms seemed to move of their own volition to rest on his shoulders.

His kiss deepened, and from tenderness and gentle persuasion a fierce hunger started to burn between them.

She felt his hands moving to span her waist; the touch of his skin seemed to burn through her dress. She wanted him, she thought fiercely. She really wanted him. The need was crazy and wild but it wouldn’t go away. She wanted to feel his hands against her naked skin, touching her without the encumbrance of clothing.

When he pulled away from her she was shaking inside.

‘There,’ he murmured, a hint of pleasure in his tone. ‘You see, you are not as immune to me as you like to pretend.’

The arrogant words made her blood pressure soar.

‘And, just for the record, Natasha is my former fiancée. She is now married to someone else, so she will be no hindrance to our arrangement.’

Before Carrie could draw herself together to make any kind of reply he pulled away from her.

‘Goodnight, Carrie, sweet dreams.’

Then the door closed behind him quietly, and he was gone.

She pressed her fingers against her lips. They still seemed to burn from the heat of desire, and she was still trembling inside with need.

T
HE
Monday morning meeting was always stressful—everyone sitting around the boardroom table vying for José’s attention, trying to outwit and outmanoeuvre each other by coming up with bigger and better ideas for promoting clients’ products.

Usually Carrie was in there, fighting her corner. She could think fast when under pressure, and she always did her research and her homework well. It was how she had won a lot of contracts each week. But this morning she really didn’t have the inclination to join in with the battle of wits. In fact as she sat at the table and listened to the raised voices and the constant backstabbing she found herself thinking how pathetic the whole war of words was.

Did it really matter that Mel’s idea for the soap powder company didn’t sound as zany as the idea Gustavo had come up with? It was hardly of earth-shattering importance. And who knew? Maybe the public would like Mel’s idea. Maybe the public were tired of zany ideas.

Carrie listened as José ruthlessly tore into Mel’s work, making her feel about two inches high. She could see Mel was getting increasingly upset but José didn’t seem to notice; he was preaching the policy of
Images
with all the vengeance of a zealous minister chastising a total sinner.

He was getting very worked up about nothing, Carrie thought angrily. What mattered was that Molly’s nanny, Silvia, had come back to work this morning and had handed in her notice.

‘I must leave in two weeks,’ she had said firmly when
Carrie had asked her to stay to the end of the month. ‘My boyfriend is going back to Granada and he has asked me to go with him.’ Joy had radiated from the girl’s eyes. The contrast between her red-rimmed eyes and tearstained face last week and the way she had looked this morning had been remarkable.

Love had a lot to answer for, Carrie thought grimly. She hoped things worked out for Silvia, because that boyfriend of hers had been letting her down for months. He didn’t seem the reliable type at all.

But that was Silvia’s problem, and meanwhile she was left with the dilemma of having no child-cover in two weeks.

It was a shame as well, because Molly had really liked Silvia, had got used to her. It was another change in her small life that she didn’t need.

‘How are things going with the Santos contract?’ José asked her suddenly, his voice booming down the table, breaking into her thoughts.

‘It’s all under control, José,’ she said confidently. ‘Max Santos is signing the contract today.’

‘I thought you said he’d sign on Friday?’

‘It will be on my desk today,’ Carrie reiterated. ‘I’m organising a camera crew to get up to the vineyard this week because Max is keen to get things started straight away.’

José looked sceptical.

She hoped that Max
would
bring the contract in today. That he wouldn’t start to play games.

For a moment the memory of the way Max had kissed her last night flashed vividly into her mind. The heat and the passion and the need he had stirred up inside her were still shockingly intense. Max had merely been proving a
point because she had mocked him. But what was her excuse? How was she going to face him today?

‘Okay, well, that brings our meeting to a close,’ José said briskly, and immediately everyone started to tidy away their portfolios to get back to their offices.

‘Hold on a moment, Carrie,’ José said as she made to join the exodus.

She stopped beside him at the head of the table, and watched as he slowly put his notes back inside the folder in front of him.

‘How can I help you, José?’ she asked, trying to hurry him up. There were telephone calls she needed to make and a stack of paperwork waiting for her on her desk.

Even so, José waited until the last person from the meeting had gone out through the door before straightening and looking her in the eye.

‘I just wondered how things were going with your adoption plans for Molly?’

‘Things are going well. It’s all going ahead.’

She saw the glitter of disappointment in his eyes. ‘So Molly’s grandmother isn’t going to take her?’

‘Molly is happy with me; her grandmother sees that.’

José shook his head. ‘You are making such a mistake, Carrie. You have so much talent…so much going for you. Why tie yourself down with someone else’s child? You are throwing it all away.’

‘I’m not throwing anything away,’ Carrie replied firmly. ‘I love Molly and I can do my job and look after her as well. Millions of single mothers have successful careers—’

‘You’re throwing away our relationship,’ José cut across her.

To Carrie’s surprise he moved closer, and there was an expression on his handsome face that caught her off
guard. ‘I miss you,’ he said gruffly. ‘I miss our drinks after work…our dinners. Our closeness…’

‘José, our relationship is over,’ she said softly. ‘It was probably a mistake to start with. We work well together and we should never have compromised that. Things are better left as they are now.’

José reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. ‘I think you are wrong. I think we could have been a perfect team.’

It was strange how his hand touching her made no difference to her heartbeat, made little impact on her senses. She couldn’t help comparing the effect he had on her with the effect Max had. The wild fluttering in her stomach, the heat and the desire that instantly sprang to life as soon as Max even looked at her.

‘Carrie, please think about what we had. What we could have together,’ José murmured. He seemed to be leaning closer; she thought he was going to kiss her. Panic-stricken, she made to step back from him and at the same time the door into the boardroom opened.

The intrusion took them both by surprise. And when Carrie saw that it was Max who stood in the open doorway her heart seemed to go into overdrive.

She noticed the way his dark eyes took in the closeness of their stance. But what he made of the situation was not clear; his features were impassive, his voice, when he spoke, cool. ‘Your secretary told me I would find you in here.’

‘Max, I didn’t expect you until this afternoon.’ Carrie didn’t know why she felt awkward, but she did. All right, José had been standing a little too close to her for a discussion about work, but it was none of Max’s business anyway. ‘José, this is Max Santos of Santos Wines. Max,
my boss, José.’ She introduced the men swiftly, trying to regain her composure.

José was immediately his usual gushing, businesslike self as he stepped forward to shake hands. ‘Good to meet you. We are very excited about the Santos project…very excited. I think it is going to be extremely successful.’

‘Let’s hope so.’ By contrast Max’s voice was steadily impassive.

‘Well, you’ve got one of our best people. Carrie is extremely talented…we have the utmost faith in her abilities here at
Images
.’

Carrie wanted José to shut up; he was starting to sound like a very bad commercial himself.

‘I’ve already discovered how special Carrie is,’ Max drawled as the man paused to take a breath. ‘Haven’t I,
querida
?’ He used the Spanish endearment for darling with nonchalant ease.

Carrie could feel herself starting to blush as both men’s eyes were trained on her face. Max looked relaxed; José looked dumbfounded.

‘I take it you haven’t told José about us?’ Max murmured, and then smiled at her as she blushed an even deeper shade of red. ‘But I suppose you are right, business should be strictly business, so back to the matter in hand. I have our contract here—’ he held up the folder ‘—but we need to talk over a few things. I thought we’d sort them out over lunch.’

Carrie’s eyes narrowed on Max’s face. She was furious that he had mentioned anything about their personal involvement in front of José. It was totally unnecessary and he was obviously playing some kind of game, because she remembered perfectly well that he had said the contract was fine over dinner last night. She wanted to contradict him, remind him of this, tell him they had nothing
to discuss, but she didn’t dare have a confrontation in front of José.

‘Let’s talk in my office, shall we?’ she said instead, planting a brightly confident smile on her face. ‘Excuse us, José.’

‘Of course.’ José stood back to allow them both to exit the boardroom before him. He still looked slightly shell-shocked. Max, on the other hand, looked so calmly self-assured that it was galling.

As soon as they had entered the private domain of her office Carrie closed the door and rounded on him. ‘What on earth was that all about?’ she asked angrily. ‘Why did you tell José that we are involved personally?’

‘Because we are,’ Max answered calmly. ‘Unless you’ve changed your mind about our agreement…’ his tone suddenly held a hard edge ‘…and in that case I will have to rethink a few things.’

‘What do you mean?’ Carrie frowned. ‘Look, Max, our fake engagement is in our private life…nothing to do with work. You had no right to tell José that we are seeing each other.’

‘On the contrary, I have every right.’ His voice was cold. ‘You entered into an agreement with me. We are involved whether you like it or not.’

‘Not during office hours—’

‘So it’s all right if I ring Carmel and Bob during office hours to tell them this is all a charade?’ He watched how her skin suddenly blanched at that remark. ‘You can’t have it all your own way, Carrie.’ The softly spoken words belied the steely glint in his dark eyes. ‘We’ve either got an agreement or we haven’t.’

Carrie felt trapped suddenly. ‘I still don’t see why we had to tell José,’ Her voice lacked fire now.

‘This is a big city, Carrie, but it is surprising who
knows who. For instance, your secretary is a distant relation of my brother-in-law.’

‘Is she?’ Carrie frowned in consternation. ‘I didn’t know…does it matter?’

‘Of course it matters. You know how people talk. Is she aware of the fact that you and José dated recently?’

‘I don’t think so…we were always discreet.’ Carrie stared at him and she suddenly realised that as well as wanting her to play the part of his fiancée there was also a matter of pride at stake here for him. He didn’t want a fiancée—even a fake fiancée—who could be accused of infidelity.

‘I didn’t think.’ She swept her hand through her long blonde hair distractedly. ‘I just thought that the fewer people we drew into this deception, the easier it would be when it came to untangling ourselves.’

‘We’ll think about untangling ourselves at a later date. Now, I know you said it was over…but are you still dating José?’ Max’s eyes seemed to be drilling into her very soul.

‘No. I told you he couldn’t accept that Molly was in my life.’ She turned to look at him then, her eyes a clear, candid blue.

The way she looked at him tore at Max. He didn’t doubt that she was telling the truth, but he knew that he had interrupted a private moment between them. Maybe even a passionate moment. Max had never thought of himself as the jealous type but he felt the emotion now, just as he had when he had walked into that boardroom a few minutes ago. It was a searing red-hot jolt coursing straight through him.

Angry with himself, he glanced at his watch. ‘We need to sort out a few ground rules, I think. Have you got time for lunch?’

‘Not really, I’ve got telephone calls to make and—’

‘Make them later,’ Max ordered.

Carrie paused and then, seeing the serious expression on his face, she nodded. ‘Okay, but I’ve only got half an hour.’

‘Fine. We’ll go somewhere nearby.’

Her eyes moved to the folder in his hands. ‘Did you sign the contract?’

The question irritated him. She was always so damn businesslike. ‘Not yet.’

‘You said you would!’

‘We’ll talk about it over lunch.’ He smiled sardonically. ‘Look on the bright side; it will salve that conscience of yours. You can legitimately say you are having a working lunch.’

She shook her head. ‘You are razor-sharp, Max Santos.’

‘Just like to keep one step ahead, that’s all,’ he murmured.

Max watched as she sorted a few things out on her desk and gathered up her bag. He liked the way she moved; he liked the graceful lines of her body beneath the pale blue dress. Suddenly he was remembering the way she had responded to his kiss last night. The heat of their passion had been heavily intoxicating. He had wanted to take things further. It had been a wrench to move away from her, but he had forced himself to move back because he had told himself that things needed to be taken slowly.

Now he wasn’t so sure that taking things at a restrained pace was such a good idea.

‘I want you to come out to the vineyard next weekend,’ he said abruptly as they made their way out towards the lifts.

She looked over at him, startled by the invitation. ‘Why?’

The lift doors opened and he waited until they had stepped inside and the doors had closed before answering her.

‘There is a family party on Sunday afternoon for the twins’ birthday. I think you should be there—it will lend more credibility to our relationship.’

‘I thought you wanted to wait a while before introducing me to your family? Didn’t you say you wanted them to ask about me first?’

‘They have already asked,’ he said casually. ‘I think Estelle was on the phone to my mother as soon as we left the restaurant last night. So we can move on to the next stage now.’

The words caused more than a flicker of disquiet to stir inside Carrie. Max, on the other hand, seemed perfectly at ease. This wasn’t causing him a second thought. As far as he was concerned this was phase two of a business project—nothing more. She glanced across at him, noting how assured he was. How attractive. And then she found herself remembering the way he had kissed her last night and the desire that had plundered through her body like an invading army. It still hadn’t abated and here in the close confines of the lift she could still feel its presence taunting her. The knowledge made her want to run as far away from Max Santos as she could get. It terrified her. How could she feel like this about someone who saw her as nothing more than a co-conspirator in a web of deceit?

‘When you say next stage—’ she asked the question tentatively ‘—what exactly do you mean?’