8 Brand-New Romance Authors

‘Which is why I have made plans for us to go to Spain.’

Shock coursed through her body, leaving her almost gasping for air, as if she’d been plunged into a cold sea. ‘Why Spain? We can stay in London. Spend the weekend here together quite easily.’ She almost spluttered the last words. ‘Why do we need to go to Spain?’

Santos watched as her brown eyes widened in shock and decided he preferred her with less make-up. Her soft skin looked fresh, and he fought hard against that unfamiliar urge to reach out and brush his finger against it, feel its softness.

Mentally he shook himself. The morning after was always a time to be brief—a quick goodbye had never failed him before. So why did he want to keep her here? Was it because this morning wasn’t a normal morning-after? His body still fizzed with need, despite the cold shower he’d forced himself to stand under after he’d woken alone, knowing she was there, in his apartment, as untouchable as if she was the other side of the world.

‘My home is in Spain, and if we are to be married I can cut through the red tape far more easily there.’

He heard her sharp intake of breath, saw her shoulders stiffen. His gaze was drawn to the way the jade silk clung to her body. She was as desirable in the morning light as she’d looked in the subdued lights of the party last night.

He wanted her more than he’d ever wanted a woman. She wasn’t simpering and needy, looking for something that he couldn’t give. She was strong and as in control as he was. But underneath all that he sensed a passion that would engulf him, rendering him helpless, and that was a position he would never put himself in.

He would never be as weak as his father had been.

‘I still have to go home.’

She reached past him to grab her bag and sandals, her shoulder brushing his arm. He braced himself against the urge to pull her into his arms and kiss her as he had done at the party.

‘A girl can’t flit off for a weekend with nothing more than her Friday evening outfit.’

Her voice was light, almost lyrical. She was obviously used to loving and leaving. She also appeared used to coping in situations like this, and he’d do well to remember that. He watched as she placed her hand on the table, leaning against it as she lifted one shapely leg and slipped on a sandal. Mesmerised, he watched her fiddle with the straps, her brunette hair cascading over her shoulder, shielding her face from his view.

She straightened, taller now. His gaze locked with hers and a sizzle of something undefinable zipped between them. She blinked, long lashes breaking the connection, and bent to put on her other sandal.

‘Okay,’ she said softly. ‘What do I need for this wedding in Spain?’

He smiled. He hadn’t ever thought he would be getting married, and never in his wildest dreams had he imagined such a reluctant bride. Women usually fell over themselves to please him, and he knew if he’d asked the magic question to any one of the glamorous models he’d recently dated they would have been dragging him away.

‘Your passport and birth certificate is all you need to bring. I have everything else sorted.’

‘To perfection, by the sound of it. I suppose you have organised a pre-nuptial agreement?’ She pushed her thick hair behind her ear and looked straight at him, her eyebrows raised in question.

Of course he’d arranged a pre-nuptial agreement. Any man in his position would. He’d had his legal team on it since she’d left his office on Thursday—just as they’d been finding out if it would be quicker and easier for them to marry in Spain. Her track record showed an ability to marry for financial gain and, no matter how passionately she declared sisterly love as the reason behind her proposition, he’d decided to safeguard everything.

‘It would be foolish not to, querida.’

Her eyes sparked with burnished gold and he knew he’d hit a raw nerve. It was well known that she’d become a wealthy woman after her husband died.

‘Fine.’

The word crackled between them, and her lips were firmly pressed together, as if she was holding back what she really wanted to say.

He looked at her lovely face, her lips set in a firm line of discontent, and he couldn’t help himself. He reached out and brushed his fingers down her cheek. She didn’t move, didn’t pull away from him, just looked at him with such wide-eyed innocence he wondered if it was the same woman he’d met a few days ago.

‘It will protect us both.’ Her skin was so soft he wanted more. He stepped closer, the urge to kiss her stronger than anything he’d known.

‘I have packing to do.’

* * *

Georgina’s heart was pounding in her chest so hard she was sure he would be able to hear it. She couldn’t do this. Why ever had she thought it was a good idea? Had it really been her only option? Offering herself to a man renowned for his ruthless business tactics.

For a moment his gaze locked with hers, the dark depths of his eyes seeming to search hers as if looking into her soul. Just when she thought she couldn’t take it any more he dropped his hand and moved away from her. As he’d done a few days ago in his office he walked to the windows and stood looking out over London.

She needed to go home and think. Once she was away from him she could think of other options, but she couldn’t do any of that if he was around. Just one smouldering look from his eyes made her pulse leap. She wasn’t supposed to feel anything for him, but the attraction that simmered like an undercurrent waiting to snare the unsuspecting unnerved her more than anything else.

‘My car will take you to your apartment and wait while you pack.’

‘Wait while I pack?’ She laughed. ‘Have you any idea how long it takes a woman to pack for a trip abroad?’ Not that she would count herself among one of those women, but she needed time alone.

‘Yes.’ He turned to face her. ‘As a matter of fact I do—which is why you will find just about anything you need waiting for you in Spain.’

‘You’ve thought of everything, haven’t you?’ She couldn’t believe the calculated way he’d planned all this. From the party where they would first be seen together to the trip away to get married.

‘As I said, I do things properly. I cover every eventuality. Which is why my car will wait for you.’

‘I made a deal with you, Santos.’ Did he actually think she was going to run away? She was made of stronger stuff than that. ‘I have no intention of going back on that deal, despite the fact that you have manipulated the situation to your advantage.’

‘The “situation”, as you call it, will be to the advantage of both of us.’

He smiled and his eyes darkened with the promise of something she didn’t want to think of.

‘Of that you can be sure.’

CHAPTER FOUR

GEORGINA HAD THOUGHT the private jet was luxurious, but the villa, with its stunning sea view, was beyond anything she could have imagined. White curtains stirred in the breeze, making the sunlight dance across the marble floor. The fashionable furnishings offered every comfort possible, giving the villa the feel of a home.

She stood and looked out of the open doors, which led onto the terrace. The heat of the afternoon sun must be having an effect on her. She’d been here for several hours and still she couldn’t get over the world of opulence she’d entered. But, determined that Santos shouldn’t know how out of her depth she felt, she kept her awe of her new surroundings hidden.

‘We’ll eat out tonight.’

Santos’s voice brought her thoughts back to the present as he came to stand next to her. Each time he was near, her skin sizzled and anticipation zinged down her spine, but she couldn’t and wouldn’t go there. This was a business deal and nothing more. She could never allow it to be more.

She dragged her gaze from the sparkling sea and turned to face him. He too had changed. He’d washed away the hours spent travelling and stood before her looking more relaxed then she’d seen him before. She couldn’t help herself and allowed her gaze to linger, to take in the latent strength of his body as he walked across the room to the doors of the terrace. The commanding strength he exuded excited her and terrified her at the same time.

‘Would that be to keep up the pretence of an affair?’ The words slipped from her mouth with practised ease, the facetious tone one she regularly used. ‘It’s obvious now why we are here.’

‘Is it?’

Damn him, he appeared to be laughing at her. His new, relaxed mood made him smile at her prickly demeanour. It was as if he was genuinely flirting with her, teasing her as he might one of his lovers.

‘Of course it is. This area is a playground for the rich and famous, and with them come photographers and journalists, all waiting to catch the next big story. I saw them taking photos as we arrived.’

She took a deep breath and forced herself to stop talking. Allowing Santos to see how he unnerved her wasn’t going to do any good at all. If he wanted to parade her around as part of the pretence then so be it.

‘For a woman who dreamt up this whole idea you’re very touchy about it.’

He walked out onto the terrace, where he leant his strong arms on the balustrade. Briefly she remembered how it had felt to be held in their strength, but immediately she dragged her wandering mind back. She had to keep focused. It was almost as if he knew he was distracting her. She was convinced he was using it to his advantage.

‘I didn’t dream this up.’ She flung her hands wide, gesturing around them, and pushed to the back of her mind the terms he’d agreed on, hoping it would never have to go that far. ‘It’s you who took the idea from marriage in name only to this—this pretend love affair.’

He turned back to face her and folded his arms across his chest, the sun behind him making it difficult to read his expression. ‘This is the best way.’

‘Best for who?’

She realised she’d never questioned his motivation for changing things. She’d been so desperate to achieve her aims she hadn’t given it a thought. Yes, she knew he wanted the business—that much Emma had told her—but why would such a wealthy and successful man, who had women falling at his feet, agree so easily to her proposition of marriage?

‘It doesn’t matter who it’s best for. Once we are married your sister can marry Carlo and you will have got what you wanted.’

‘Not forgetting what you want. You will inherit the business, then we can both get on with our lives. As if this had never happened.’ She kept her words firm, as if she believed wholeheartedly in what she was doing. One thing she would never do was let him know her doubts.

The clinking of ice in glasses halted further conversation as drinks were brought out to them. She watched as a petite Spanish girl placed the tray on the table before she slipped away, seeming to melt into the background.

‘Exactamente, querida.’

He turned to face her as he spoke and a shiver of apprehension slipped over her.

‘It all seems too easy, Santos,’ she said, realising she’d used his name without having to force herself. ‘I can’t believe a man like you would agree to my deal so easily. There must be something more in it for you.’

He moved away from the balustrade and came close to her. Too close. Her first reaction was to step back, but she stood her ground and met his gaze head-on, despite the pounding of her heart and the race of her pulse. Something in his expression had changed. He looked more intense, his eyes darker. She couldn’t help but look into them and momentarily floundered.

‘Yes, there is, querida.’

He stepped closer and the air seemed alive with something she’d never experienced before.

‘And that is?’ She feigned bravado, her words short and sharp.

‘I want what we agreed in my office. A wife.’

He was serious, and from the resolute set of his mouth she knew he wasn’t going to change his mind any time soon. ‘We don’t need to make this marriage any more difficult to get out of than need be,’ she said

‘I have no intention of getting out of it, Georgina. I want a real wife—not someone joined to me just because we signed the same bit of paper.’

His gaze dropped from her eyes and lingered on her lips and she realised she was biting her bottom lip. The tension of waiting to hear what he really wanted was too much. As was his proximity. Her stomach fluttered wildly and she had to concentrate hard just to breathe.

‘But why me?’ She moved backwards, but still the sizzle was there. She could feel it with every pore of her skin. He’s just trying to throw you off balance, she assured herself, and asked again. ‘Why me, Santos? Why now?’

‘Because you’re the only woman who’s asked me to marry them at a time when I need to be married.’

When I need to be married.

Those words rang inside her head like a cathedral choir. He didn’t want to be married either, and she clung to the hope that she could persuade him later that separation was the best option.

Images of being with Santos, of spending days and nights with him, filled her mind. She became dizzy at the thought of what the nights would entail. Why did he want her in that way when he could have any one of the glamorous women who always seemed to be in his life?

* * *

Santos watched as an array of emotions flashed across her beautiful face. She might well have asked him to marry her, but he could see the idea of a real marriage unsettled her as much as it did him. Marriage was something he’d never wanted to enter into. He hated that he was being forced to marry by his father’s ridiculous clause in his will. As a child he’d witnessed the destructive side of marriage—a side he knew lurked beneath every claim of love.

Love. He knew it didn’t exist. It was a false and misleading emotion that could destroy any man, woman or child. It was open for exploitation. Never would he allow any woman close enough to manipulate him. Marrying Georgina was a necessity, nothing more.

‘Lucky I asked when I did,’ she said, and flashed a smile at him. But sadness clouded her eyes.

Was she thinking of her first husband? Had she loved him? Had he been manipulated just as easily? Fool, he told himself, fighting back irrational emotions that were completely alien to him. Don’t even go there.

‘Lucky for who, querida?’ He couldn’t resist the urge to provoke her, wanting to see those soft brown eyes spark with passionate fire, as they had done the very first time he’d seen her in his office.

She raised her brows at him. ‘For you. I could have just encouraged Emma and Carlo to slip off and get married without anyone knowing. So I suppose you have the most to lose, Santos, and you have the most at stake.’

His name sounded hard on her lips, fierce. He wanted to go over to her and kiss them until they softened, until every last drop of restraint disappeared. Instead he focused his mind, because if one thing was true it was the fact that he did have the most to lose.

But he’d never admit that.

‘We both have things at stake, Georgina.’ Impatience crept into his voice. ‘So I have had a mutually beneficial agreement drawn up.’

‘Ah, the pre-nup.’ She picked up her drink, ice clinking, and took a sip, all the while maintaining eye contact with him. ‘I’ll sign whatever is needed. I made that clear when I first put the proposition to you.’

‘In that case, now would be a good time to do it.’

He saw the colour drain from her face, watched as she took a deep breath and met his gaze.

‘Okay.’

That one word shook with fierce determination.

‘We can finalise the formalities of our arrangement so that we can enjoy a relaxed evening out.’ His business mind took over, insisting he secure everything before going any further with this deal—because a deal was all it was. One struck for the mutual benefit of both parties.

A flicker of guilt flashed into his mind. A moment ago she’d looked vulnerable, outside her comfort zone, but now she was as dignified and collected as she could be. Was she trying to throw him off balance in a bid to secure more for herself out of the marriage?

‘Let’s just get it done, Santos.’ Her shoulders straightened and the spark of fire flared in her eyes, leaving him in no doubt that she meant every word.

He nodded his approval and admired her undaunted tone. ‘The agreement is on my desk.’

He led the way to his study. For the first time in his life he was anxious about the outcome of a deal. Normally he would be in total control, able to steer deals his way, manoeuvring people like pieces on a chessboard.

But not with Georgina.

It wasn’t her rigid sense of purpose or her defiance that left him second-guessing where their conversations would lead, but the woman herself. The soft curves of her delicious body, the passion in her eyes in those rare unguarded moments, always left him feeling distracted.

He wanted her.

But she was unlike any woman he’d wanted before. He sensed she was different, sensed that he had to play it cool. He knew she was like a proud lioness, knew that she would show her strength, her courage, but if she needed to she’d turn and flee, leaving him in the dust. And if she did that all would be lost. She was, after all, his last hope—his legal team had made that clear—but, like a card player, he’d keep his hand close to his chest and certainly wouldn’t be revealing the full extent of the will just yet...not when he was still trying to get his head around it himself.

He clenched his hands and drew in a deep breath. Damn Carlo. His rush to marry had forced him to contemplate things he never would have entertained before.

He gestured to a chair on one side of his desk, taking in the graceful way she sat and noting the guarded expression on her face. He had to handle this as he would with any deal—ruthlessly. It was the only way. Otherwise he risked being weakened by her smile or, worse, by the undercurrent of something passionate that always seemed to surround them. How much of that was an act on her part he wasn’t sure, but he had to fight hard against the way his body responded to her.

‘My legal team have drawn up an agreement in Spanish and English. I think it will be beneficial to us both.’ He kept his voice controlled as he took his seat opposite her, then he turned the document round and slid it across the desk towards her.

Their eyes met and a simmer of tension passed between them. She lowered her lashes and with slender fingers drew the document closer to her. He watched as she read the conditions, certain she’d be happy with his generous terms.

‘It looks very comprehensive.’

She glanced up, but he wasn’t sure if he was relieved or not to see a teasing smile on her lips.

‘You obviously feel the need to protect yourself from my scheming ways.’

‘It protects us both.’

He tried unsuccessfully to keep the irritation from his voice. Did she have to remind him of her past right at this moment? Was she proud of all the men she’d dated within weeks of her husband passing away? He pushed to the back of his mind all he’d learnt about her after that first visit to his office.

She raised her brows at him suggestively. Damn, was the woman deliberately trying to provoke him?

He stood and walked round the desk and leant down, one hand flat on the hard polished surface, bracing his arm. With pen in hand he pointed at the contract. ‘As my wife you will be entitled to a substantial allowance to do with as you please.’ Her perfume invaded his senses and he realised his mistake in coming close. ‘Any children the marriage produces I will stand by and support, regardless of the outcome of our marriage.’

At least he’d touched on the subject of children. It was hard to believe that he, a man who’d never wanted to be married and certainly hadn’t wanted to father a child, now sought both. Or at least was being forced to.

‘Children?’

There was no doubting the shock in her voice. He looked down into her eyes, bright and wide. ‘Yes. Children.’

He watched her slender throat as she swallowed and guilt sliced at him. He should tell her that a child might well become essential to secure the business, but something kept him silent. He wasn’t sure if it was the fear of spooking her or the still raw anger at his father for creating such a clause. He had mentioned he wanted a real wife—surely that left her in no doubt.

He hoped he’d never have to go that far. It went against everything he believed in. As a mistake himself, he did not want to bring a child into the world unless he could give it love and security. The latter wouldn’t be a problem, but love...?

‘Do you want children?’

Her hesitant question made him clench his jaw and he saw her gaze dart to the movement, then quickly back to his eyes.

* * *

Georgina had asked the question lightly, despite the way her stomach had flipped over and was now churning. Did he really anticipate children? From a short-term marriage contract? She hoped not. Having a child was the one thing she’d never wanted to do. It was simply out of the question.

She looked down at the contract, the words blurring on the page as she fought back memories of her childhood. A childhood that had left her scarred and certain she didn’t ever want to be a mother.

‘As I said, I have covered all eventualities—to protect both of us.’

She swallowed hard and looked again up into his eyes. Their dark magnetic depths almost made her lose her nerve. For one tiny second she imagined a child with eyes the same colour, but quashed the image before it could manifest itself into anything bigger.

She had to have breathing space. His closeness, the fresh scent of his aftershave and the heat of his body so close to hers, was undoing her last remnants of self-control. She needed space and she needed it now.

‘You have covered everything concisely, just as I would have expected from you.’ She picked up the pen and with a flowing movement of her wrist signed the contract. The pen dropped to the desk as she pushed back the chair and moved away from him—away from the power he had over her every time he came close. ‘There. All signed.’

‘You don’t have any questions?’ He looked startled by her bravado and stood straight, towering over her, leaving her no option but to stand and face him.

‘Just one.’

‘And that is?’

‘When are we going to finalise this deal and get married?’

That isn’t the question, her mind screamed as she watched a sexy smile spread across his lips. You should have asked when you can call Emma, she scolded herself. She wanted to tell her sister that she could start making plans for her own wedding.

‘Tuesday.’

‘What?’ All the air seemed to have left her lungs, as if she’d run into a brick wall, and her heart was pounding madly. ‘But that is only three days away.’

‘Is there a problem with that?’ His voice resonated with control and his expression hardened in challenge, the smile of moments before gone.

‘No...no,’ she stammered, hating herself for doing so. ‘I just hadn’t expected it to be so soon.’

‘I see no reason to delay.’

His eyes hardened and his voice was firm as he spoke and she knew deep down that he was right. The sooner they were married the better. But Tuesday felt all too soon. She hardly knew him. You don’t need to, a nagging voice inside her chided.

‘I’ll need to get something to wear. I’m sure you don’t want your bride turning up in jeans.’ She tried at humour, but her voice sounded brisk even to her ears.

He looked at his watch. ‘That wouldn’t be the image I was planning—which is why I’ve arranged for outfits to be brought here this afternoon. Select whichever one you want, and also something suitable for this evening.’

The velvet-edged strength of his voice and sexy accent caused her to drag in a ragged breath.

‘What exactly is this evening?’ In a bid to quell the nauseous tremor in her stomach she lifted her chin, dropped her shoulders and met his gaze.