Sinfully Summer (11 page)

He’d seen what kind of monsters lurked in the shadows, albeit in Madrid. He had the scars to prove it. There’d been a time when he’d have done anything to escape it, and he had. He’d sold his body and his soul for a place to stay and food in his stomach. The memories shivered through his blood and guilt and self-disgust joined his fury.

He knew he shouldn’t have left her at the bar. Knew it the second her friends had stumbled into the hotel without her. Instead of going straight to his office, he’d accessed his PC from the reception and worked there, feeling a shred of responsibility for her well-being all the while knowing she wasn’t his to look after—nor did he want her to be. But he couldn’t have left her alone drunk, like her friends had done, with the snake.

‘I should have listened to you earlier,’ she whispered.

It was so out of character, he was sure he’d misheard. ‘What did you say?’

She looked at him then, her eyes sad and distant. ‘I said
I should have listened to you
. Are you happy?’

The defeat in her voice dissolved his anger. Dark circles were visible under heavy lidded eyes and Ric knew it was time to call it a night. ‘No, I’m not happy,’ he told her, his voice softer now. ‘But I’m glad you’re back safe.’

Unable to resist, he tucked her hair behind her ears and held her face between his palms. ‘Alexa, you have to be careful at night. Spain has just as many thugs as London, maybe more.’

She swallowed and nodded. Her eyes morphed back to stormy grey and Ric felt the pull to close the distance between them deep in his gut. He released her and stepped back. The draw that pulsed between them now had nothing to do with lust and in his mind that was more dangerous than the desire to have her naked in his bed. Assuring himself it was only the emotions of seeing her on her hands and knees on the ground, the terror in her pale face and the fact she could have been hurt worse if he hadn’t got there in time, he held out his hand.

‘Come on, I’ll take you back to your apartment.’

Indecision seemed to flicker across her face, but after a second she took his outstretched hand and slid off the bar stool onto her right leg. He waited until she tried to take a step. Wincing, Alexa leaned her weight back onto her good limb.

Ric’s heart gave a painful beat in his chest. Without thinking about it, he picked her up, an arm under her knees and another supporting her shoulders.

‘What are you doing?’

He strode through his home toward the elevator. ‘Taking you back to your room. Do you have ice?’

Alexa pouted. ‘I can walk, you know.’

‘Didn’t look like it to me. Ice?’

She nodded. He paused by the elevator and Alexa hit the button. With her warm body pressed against him and that dress hiking too far up her thighs, Ric hoped his zinging blood didn’t rush south. To distract himself, he watched the numbers above the doors climb up.

‘I wanted to see my friends to the airport today.’

Ric glanced down to see her attention was on the elevator doors. He knew they were leaving in a few hours and with the last minute change of venue, he and Alexa would have to work twice as hard to get everything organised in time.

‘We can’t put off Mark and Justin.’

She didn’t look at him, merely nodded and twiddled her thumbs. A twinge of guilt swelled in his stomach as he stepped into the elevator. It reached his chest by the time he’d settled her on the sofa in her suite with a bag of ice.

‘I’ll tell them you had important work to do. I’ll see you when I get back.’

Alexa’s lips parted and her eyebrows shot up.

‘See, I can be nice.’ He grinned at her before he left.

When Ric arrived back in his suite, he stripped off and fell straight into his bed without bothering to shower. The guilt had lifted, but as he gazed at the ceiling and willed sleep to come, the pull he’d felt toward her earlier still tugged at him. Whatever way he looked at it, a fling with Alexa wouldn’t work. She’d drive him up the wall and he’d lose all the respect he’d tried so hard to deserve over the years—like he would have done tonight if anyone had seen him plant a fist in that creep’s face. Not to mention the fact that it might cause enough of a media stir to trawl through his past. No, a fling with her was a risk he wasn’t willing to take.

Chapter Seven

Ric’s office door flew open.

He rose from the desk when the handle knocked a lump of plaster from the wall. Angry fire clawed through him. Alexa hobbled into his office in a pair of tight shorts, dragging two purple suitcases with a pink duffle slung over her shoulder.

His gaze dropped to her bruised knee and he felt a shred of the anger dissipate, but not enough when he saw the crumbled plaster dusting his floor.

‘You better have a good reason for destroying my wall.’

His voice held enough animosity to put fear into the most unruly employee. When he looked up at her face, he saw her eyes blaze like icy grey shards.

‘I have a good reason, alright.’ Alexa pulled the duffle bag off and dumped it on the floor. She hobbled over to his desk, one hand on her hip. ‘Where exactly do you expect me to sleep for the next three weeks?’

Her question, as well as the three bags of her possessions confused him. ‘In your room, of course.’

‘Really?’ She’d managed to reach his desk now and planted both palms on the mahogany. It looked like she was back to her normal self, the vulnerability he’d glimpsed last night gone. Bending closer, she said, ‘You might want to tell your snotty receptionist that.’

Ric’s stomach balled into a knot. ‘What did Sonia tell you?’

Alexa’s nose wrinkled. ‘
Sonia
told me to get out. That the suite was booked up for a month as of today. Didn’t you tell them I was staying on?’

She threw him the look that questioned his idiocy. Anger pitched like a fork in his gut. He lifted up the phone on the desk and hit the number for reception. Sonia answered and he asked her in Spanish what was going on. After she explained they had overbooked, Ric checked on his computer and confirmed it. There was nothing available for at least a month. Nowhere for Alexa to stay.

He wanted to yell at Sonia to fix it, to find Alexa somewhere even if it was in the basement, but the evidence was on his screen in black and white and he knew Alexa would never live in a basement. With a sigh, he told Sonia to find out who had double booked. He’d deal with the staff later. Now he had an angry heiress who didn’t listen to reason to calm down.

‘Well?’

Ric raked a hand through his hair. ‘Someone overbooked for the next few weeks.’

Alexa nodded, then bent down to the pink bag and unzipped it. She pulled out a purse. ‘Okay. Give me a call when you’ve found somewhere for me to stay. You can take my bags.’

‘I don’t think so. We need to nail down the guest list, fix the floor plan and a million other things.’

She stomped back to his desk, one hand on her hip. ‘I’ve spent the morning packing all my stuff with a housekeeper rushing me. I’m starving and I’m going to grab lunch. This is your hotel’s mistake so you can deal with it.’

His temper sizzled but Ric knew she was right. If it wasn’t for someone’s clerical error, Alexa wouldn’t have to move. It still didn’t mean he was happy about her leaving, nor about knocking a chunk out of the wall. Remembering the bet, he decided caving to her demands was preferable to spending this weekend in Hell disguised as fun.

‘Fine. I’ll call you soon.’

With a smirk, Alexa left and Ric turned to his computer. He searched estate agents and hotels in Marbella. Three hours later and more phone calls than he could count and his mood was sourer than ten day old milk. All hotels in the city were fully booked due to it being peak season, as were the apartments and villas. Raking a shaky hand through his hair, he realised she was going to have to stay with him until he could rework some of the bookings here or at his other hotel across the city. He prayed there was at least one cancellation within the next week.

After arranging for her luggage to be moved, he pulled out his phone and dialled her number.

‘Have you found me somewhere to stay?’

Not even a greeting. ‘Yes. Now will you come back to work?’

She paused for a beat. ‘My stuff?’

Ric gritted his teeth. He knew she wouldn’t be happy to stay with him. Better to save it until later, when she’d calmed down. ‘In your room. Come straight to the office. I need to go over a few things with you before I go over to the site.’

He knew it was the cowardly way out, but he’d rather wait until tonight for a blow-out. Besides, she wouldn’t be staying with him for long. At least he hoped she wouldn’t.

‘I’ll be there soon.’

Sliding the phone onto the cradle, he wondered if there was any way he could feign a business trip until a room became available for her. But he had too much to do. The building work needed his focus, and he had enough functions coming up to keep him firmly in Marbella.

Later, when he returned to the hotel, the rest of the day passed by in a whir of phone calls and meetings. When a knock sounded at his door, his gaze lifted to the time on his PC. It was after six and he hadn’t stopped for a break. His stomach growled as he shouted ‘Come in.’

Ric was surprised to see Alexa enter. Usually she didn’t wait for permission. She still wore the shorts and vest combo. He kept his gaze on her face. The dark smudges beneath her heavy lidded eyes made him wonder if she’d slept at all last night. His chest felt tight as he remembered her on the ground, remembered her fear.

‘I have a few things to run by you before I settle into my room.’ Alexa strolled towards his desk and sat down.

He thought now was as good a time as any to drop the bomb about her room, but she distracted him by placing a file on his desk. He looked down to see a list of names—some he recognised as high rollers in Spanish society, others took him longer to figure out.

‘What makes you think Londoners would help the children here?’ he asked, wondering if she was completely stupid. He doubted any of the additions Alexa had made to the guest list would care.

‘They are coming. I’ve already asked them.’

Ric blinked at her, unable to decipher how she’d done it.

She grinned. ‘I’m not without resources. I thought if I could get the big dogs in the UK to take interest in your charity, the media coverage would spread.’

And her reputation as an aide in organising the event would help overshadow the bad press. ‘How did you convince them to come?’

‘I asked them.’ She shrugged. ‘I bump hips with them all at parties and some are my clients.’

‘What kind of business do you run?’ he asked, picking up the list again. He still couldn’t believe it. He reached for the folder she’d dropped.

‘Together does what it says on the tin. I—’

‘I didn’t approve these.’

Ric pulled out the invitations she’d had printed at some point. He could tell it hadn’t been Lydia: not only would she have asked permission before drafting something up, she would never have used the phrase ‘glitziest charity ball ever.’ His irritation spiked and he glared at her.

She squared her shoulders. ‘I only had a handful made. Enough to send out to the English guests. The ball’s only a few weeks away. We need to get invitations out pronto.’

He frowned at her. ‘I get final approval on anything you send out. This…’ he waved the card in front of her face ‘Isn’t what I had in mind.’

‘You asked me to help and I did.’ She pushed up from the desk. ‘I like the invitations and they’re practically what Lydia had, only more—’

‘Do not say fun.’

‘Well, they are.’ She scowled at him. ‘What is your problem with fun? Weren’t you allowed to have any when you were a child?’

‘No, Alexa. I was too busy trying to find somewhere safe to sleep at night.’

Her mouth dropped open on a gasp and Ric’s stomach crashed to his feet. He hadn’t meant to say that out loud, but she irritated him to the point where he lost control over what came out of his mouth. Her lack of brain-to-mouth filter must be contagious.

‘Ric, I’m so sorry.’

Rising, he shuffled the new version of the contract together and stuffed it in his briefcase. ‘Forget about it. I have.’

Her hand circled his wrist and his gaze jerked up to hers. Moisture sparkled in her eyes, but he didn’t see pity. She was frowning and her lips twisted as if in displeasure. ‘Is that why you started the charity, because you grew up on the streets?’

Convincing himself he’d imagined the horror in her voice, he pulled out of her grip. ‘I’m sure I told you before to stay out of my business.’

Alexa looked at him like he’d slapped her and guilt pooled like acid in a stomach twisted by old memories. He pulled a key from his suit jacket and handed it to her. ‘This will get you into your room.’

Ric strode to the door without a backward glance. She stirred up his perfectly cool life, resurrected memories best kept forgotten and made him
feel
. Anything. Everything. He gritted his teeth as he realised he would have to spend time with her day and night unless he took up a hobby. For now, something to eat and a few hours more at the office should be enough time for her to calm down, get used to the idea of staying in his suite and hopefully fall asleep.

‘What’s my room number?’ she asked.

He turned around at the doorway, his chest and shoulders tight. ‘The penthouse.’ She opened her mouth to speak, all moisture gone from her stormy eyes. ‘We’ll talk about it later, Alexa. It’s all there is for now.’

She studied his face, the storm seemed to calm in her eyes and then she nodded.

He left the room and made his way to the kitchen for a quick meal before he got back to work. Still, his hunger had vanished.

Alexa always argued with him. She never backed down. The slip of the tongue about his past had changed that. Ric had to put things back on even ground. He didn’t want her pity, or her horror at what he’d survived. There were enough of those demons from his past still haunting him. When he got back to the penthouse, he’d lay down new ground rules.

Alexa stared at the huge plasma TV without really seeing the images on the screen. She’d lost track of the amount of time she’d sat there—probably still in shock from finding out a little about his past. The cream leather suite cooled with the dropping temperature and she felt it seep into her skin, raising goosebumps. Shivering, she rose and went through to the room where Ric had left her luggage.