Authors: Aimee Duffy
Tags: #Fiction, #Holidays, #Romance, #Contemporary, #Romantic Comedy, #Humorous, #General, #Erotica
Sinfully Summer (21 page)
‘We argue all the time,’ she blurted. His eyebrows rose, but he continued to lead her. ‘You refuse to compromise. I don’t want to be a possession. I don’t want to be your woman at home waiting up all night for you to finish work. If I stay, I’ll be lonely.’
‘We haven’t argued much lately.’ His slow grin jellified her knees. ‘Before, I wanted to hide my past from you. I didn’t want you to look at me with disgust. I should have known you wouldn’t, Alexa, but I was scared. I didn’t want you to get close so I pushed you away, I ordered you around because I like control. I can work on loosening up.’
The grin slipped from his face. ‘Maria and Antonio have asked if I want to buy into the new resort and the hotel. I can’t do all that myself and they’re both hoping to be silent partners so I’ve been interviewing for an area manager, someone who can deal with all the urgent matters so I won’t have to.
‘Before you came here my life was dull. You showed me how to live and I don’t want to go back to the boring me.’
Tears welled and streamed down her face. His thumb rubbed them away. ‘What if I can’t keep my mouth shut next time stick-insect or someone like her insults me? With my reputation, you’ll lose all the respect you worked hard for. You could lose everyone here.’
Determination flared in his eyes and hardened his jaw. He slid a hand up her back and twined his fingers in the hair at her nape. Her breath and heartbeats sped when she realised what he planned to do. Before she could think, his lips crashed down on hers and she was lost in him. The party melted away as she pressed her whole body against him, linked her hands behind his head and parted her lips.
He plundered her mouth in a sensual torture that made a slow-burn flush through her veins. When he pulled away she opened her eyes to the flash of cameras pointed at them. Panic stole through her as she darted her head around.
‘Alexa, I don’t care about what anyone else thinks. Just you. And if anyone else treats you like Mrs Santos did, I’ll deal with it.’ He leaned in closer and whispered, ‘If you love me, I don’t need anything else, but what do you want?’ He pulled her back into the dance, ignoring the prying eyes and flashing bulbs from the cameras.
‘I want you to tell me the truth.’ She looked up at him. ‘Tell me how you got the scar. Tell me what the nightmare was about.’
His whole body stiffened as she waited for his answers. Panic pitched in her tummy again. She’d started to believe they could work, but if he couldn’t share himself with her, how could they be together?
He controlled whatever emotions he felt and leaned back in to whisper, ‘I was stabbed when I was fifteen by another homeless man who wanted my spot for shelter. The nightmares—’ His breath caught and she pulled back to study his face.
The haunted look in his eyes melted her heart. ‘You don’t have to tell me.’
‘I’ll tell you everything you want to know. They’re all from my time living on the streets. Sometimes it feels like I’m back there.’
More tears spilled down her face as her soul hurt for the little boy he’d been, afraid and alone.
‘Don’t cry for me,
querida
.’ His thumbs brushed the tears away. ‘I’m happy now. Have been since you stumbled into my home in your undergarments.’
Alexa laughed, the tears clogged her throat and made her sputter a little. ‘And the extreme sports?’
Ric frowned, like he was thinking how to answer. ‘I felt empty for a long time. I think I wanted to feel alive, but now I know adrenaline wasn’t what I was looking for.’ He bumped his nose against hers.
‘Where would we live?’ It was the last hurdle for her. Could she up and leave her life?
After he spun her around again, he answered, ‘Wherever you want. London, here, India, I don’t care as long as I’m with you.’
She rose on her tiptoes and kissed him, briefly this time thinking she’d given the press enough to write about for a while. ‘I love you.’
‘And I love you.’ His arms banded around her waist. ‘We’ll work out everything else together.’
‘Lex if you don’t come up here I swear on Dior I’ll hurt you.’
Alexa scurried to her feet. When Jenna swore on Dior, she was serious and if her scowl was anything to go by, her patience was at an end. Smoothing down the pink silk bridesmaid dress, Alexa turned back to plead Ric with her eyes.
The smug git grinned. ‘I’m not helping you out of this one, Green. You’re on your own.’
She pouted and his smile grew wider. ‘So much for giving me everything I want.’
Just then Jenna grabbed her hand and hauled her into the crowd of squirming women who were trying to push their way to the front of the herd. Alexa decided if she stayed at the back of the crazy women, her feet wouldn’t get crippled. Jenna threw herself among the thrall and Alexa giggled. She’d never seen anyone so keen on catching a bouquet, especially considering Jenna was next in line to get married.
Sarah climbed onto a chair with her husband hiking up the skirts of her stunning, handmade gown. She reminded Alexa of Snow White or some other fairy-tale princess. Happiness swelled in her heart as she watched the exchange between Sarah and her new husband, giggling and kissing, they looked head-over-heels in love. Exactly how she felt when she was with Ric. Well, when he wasn’t letting her mad-hatter friends push her into doing this.
Sarah held the bouquet up for all to see. White tulips entwined in red ribbons fluttered in the April breeze. Goosebumps rose on her skin and she rubbed her bare arms, wishing she was back in Marbella. She’d forgotten how cold London could be in the spring.
‘Right, ladies. On the count of three.’ Sarah turned her back to the crowd of women.
They went bonkers, pushing one another, jumping and standing on the tip toes of their skyscraper heels to gain a measly inch in the hope of catching the bloody thing. Alexa grinned when she saw Jenna squirming among the others.
Sarah began a painfully slow countdown and she turned to look for Ric. He wore a smug grin and had a dark look in his eye that made her tummy flip. The git knew she didn’t want to be involved in this part of the ceremony. If she was going to get married, it would be because he proposed to her, not because she caught a bunch of flowers and guilted him into it.
‘Three!’
Alexa turned back to the screaming crowd just in time to see a blur of red and white flash in front of her eyes. The bouquet smacked her off the cheek and she stumbled back, her hands flying to her stinging face.
‘Alexa!’ Sarah shouted over the crowd of woman diving to the floor to get the bouquet.
Warm hands turned her around and she looked up into dark eyes shining with concern. ‘
Querida
, are you okay?’
She grinned up at Ric and slid her hands around his neck. ‘Mortified, but okay.’
He closed the distance between their heads and pressed his lips to hers. Her skin prickled, but she didn’t think it had anything to do with the bouquet hitting her face. Standing on her tiptoes, she pressed herself closer. Ric pulled away and she whimpered.
Chuckling, he turned to look at Sarah and winked. Alexa frowned up at him. ‘What was that about?’
‘I didn’t think her aim would be that good.’
She gasped. ‘You told Sarah to throw the bouquet at me?’
Grinning down at her, he said, ‘Of course. How else was I going to persuade you to marry me? You were supposed to catch it though, not let it knock you out.’
Her jaw dropped as she stared at him, unable to believe he’d gone to so much trouble. What happened to getting down on one knee with a ring?
A frown formed between his brows and she held her breath, waiting for the rest. ‘I spoke with your father today when you were helping Sarah get ready.’
A swarm of butterflies invaded her tummy. ‘What about?’
He darted a glance around the gazebo. Hundreds of guests had attended the wedding and Alexa was glad Sarah’s grandfather’s country manor was big enough to hold them all.
‘Come.’
Ric escorted her away from the ruckus to the edge of the tent. He slid into a chair at an empty table and pulled her onto his lap. ‘Since you two are building a relationship, I wanted to be honest with him.’
Again, Alexa was shocked speechless. In the six months since her father had come to the charity ball in Marbella, Ric hadn’t mentioned that he wanted to get to know Robert or share the dark secrets of his past with him—even though he’d told her almost everything. It hurt her so much even though she knew he kept the worst of his memories from her.
She wished she had a time machine so she could go back and save the terrified little boy who was abandoned by his mother. But for him to tell Robert too, since the press hadn’t dug very deep, Alexa realised that he truly did mean what he said. He wasn’t afraid of losing respect any more. All he cared about losing was her.
So far she’d worked through a lot of her issues with her father, and apologies had been made on both sides. After all these years, she didn’t know how she managed to keep a grudge when she could have had her father through it all.
Ric snared her hands in his. ‘Alexa, you’re it for me. You’re my whole life. I had to tell Robert everything and prove to him that I still deserve you. I don’t want to lose you.’
Her throat felt thick. ‘You’d never lose me,’ she whispered. Pulling a hand free, she reached up and stroked his smooth jaw. ‘What did he say?’
‘He said he respected me for letting him know, but it didn’t change his opinion of me. And when I asked for your hand in marriage he gave us his blessing.’
Tears welled up and spilled over so quickly she didn’t have a chance to wipe them away. He placed a hand on either side of her head and wiped the moisture with his thumbs. Her heart worked overtime and her chest swelled at the love and adoration in his eyes. When he looked at her like that, she felt like the centre of his universe.
One corner of his mouth tilted. ‘So, Green, what do you say? Do you want to be my wife?’
Alexa loved this man with all her heart, but she couldn’t resist a little payback. After all, the sneak freak planned to trick her into marriage. ‘I’ll marry you.’ The pride and love in his expression took her breath away, but she forced herself to drag in a breath. ‘On one condition.’
He stared her down and she could see the confusion in his wary gaze. ‘What’s the condition?’
‘We do one last wild thing before we become boring old farts.’
Ric’s whole body shook as he laughed. ‘What did you have in mind?’
‘I want to bungee jump out of a helicopter with you.’
His face paled a shade and Alexa smirked. ‘Not man enough any more, Castillo?’
He slid his arms around her waist and hauled her closer on his lap. ‘I’m man enough for any of your crazy ideas, Green.’
And he spent the rest of his life proving to her that he was.
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