At His Service: Flirting with the Boss

Luckily the ideas and drawings she was working on occupied her time. By the next evening she stood near the fountain just as excited as the girls while they waited for the first sight of the carriage. She, of course, was waiting for Remi. Heat from the day still rose from the ground, but having spent several hours with paper and pencil in the mill house, she was getting used to it.

Marcia must have heard the sound of the horses’ hooves the second Jillian did. The girl’s dark brown eyes flew in her direction. Nina simply jumped up and down clapping her hands.

Jillian exchanged smiles with the women standing a few feet away. According to Maria, the carriage hadn’t been brought out since the death of Remi’s mother.

Suddenly a beautifully matched team of white horses with black spots appeared. They were pulling the black carriage that rounded the side of the main house. Jillian’s gasp coincided with the girls’, who’d never experienced this particular adventure before. Elaborate leather trappings with red tassels and bells covered the horses’ heads and bodies. To everyone’s delight the horses’ movements caused them to sway, bob and jangle.

Soraya’s husband Miguel sat next to Remi, who held the reins. Paco rode in the carriage. Exhilaration spiraled through Jillian. It was a surreal moment for her. After a year of mourning Kyle, she realized she’d put the pain behind her.

For the first time since his death she felt alive. Really alive.

As Remi drove the horses closer to them, his penetrating black gaze found hers. The collision sent her into shock much as a bolt of lightning would have done.

Paco got out and helped his grandchildren to climb in. Maria and Soraya followed. Jillian took pictures before getting in last. She was glad she’d chosen to wear her white cargo pants and green silk blouse. This way she didn’t have to worry about the hem of a dress or skirt riding up her legs like it had done the other day in front of Remi. She took her place next to Nina and her mother.

“Everyone in?” Remi looked over his shoulder. Jillian couldn’t take her eyes off him. It didn’t matter that he was dressed in his white workshirt and jeans like the men. He stood out. The process of natural selection had decreed it.

“Vamos!” Paco called out.

The next few hours were ones Jillian would always remember. Remi drove the horses to some groves where the oldest olive trees grew on the property. Their height and girth were noticeably bigger than the trees she’d seen the other day. Every day on the estate contributed to her education, causing her to clamor for more.

Tonight the festive atmosphere Remi had created prompted the little girls to sing. As the sun was sinking below the horizon, everyone joined in. Jillian didn’t know the songs, which was just as well since she sang off-key, but she enjoyed listening to Remi’s sensuous baritone voice. In fact she didn’t want the outing to end. Neither did the children, who were vocal about it once they started to head back.

That special feel of family togetherness was something she hadn’t experienced for a long time. She expressed as much to Remi after they’d reached the courtyard and she’d climbed out of the carriage.

His dark eyes slanted down at her. “I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

High up in the driver’s seat with his wavy black hair and burnished complexion, he didn’t know how attractive he looked. He was the epitome of male strength and Spanish pride. It hurt to look at him.

“I’ll never forget anything about my time here,” her voice throbbed. She took one more picture, hoping there was still enough light to capture this moment.

“Gracias, Remi!” the children shouted.

A slash of a gleaming white smile in that handsome bronzed face showed briefly before he drove the carriage out of the courtyard with the other men.

Jillian knew it would take him a while to put the carriage back in the barn and see to the horses. Since he had to be up at dawn, she realized she would have another long wait until she saw him again tomorrow evening, if then. Because he lived in the house to the north of the casa, she didn’t have the hope of seeing him going and coming.

Had he and his wife lived in the main house until his world came crashing down?

She hadn’t dared ask those questions, but whatever the answer, the long hours he worked and the distance he kept from Jillian guaranteed there’d been little contact with him since leaving the hospital.

Much as she dreaded what she would find out at the doctor’s office, she was looking forward to the drive, where she would have Remi’s undivided attention.

It wasn’t just because she couldn’t wait to share her ideas with him. The unvarnished truth was, she craved his presence. When he rounded a corner or came into a room, he charged the atmosphere with his own brand of electricity. She felt the buzz from the soles of her feet to the last hair on her head.

Until Remi drove her to the Prado Inn after the visit with Dr. Filartigua, she wouldn’t dwell on what it was going to be like to watch him walk away. Of course if it worked out that her company would be doing business with him, it followed she would have further conversations with him by phone or the Internet, but she’d no longer be a guest in his home. She wouldn’t have access to him in the same way. The intimacy they’d shared in the hospital was one of those moments out of time she’d never experience again.

No matter what she had to do, she couldn’t let him know how devastated she would be to get on with her life without him. During the night she’d had to face the painful truth that he wouldn’t suffer any loss to leave her because it wasn’t a question of his being interested in her. How could he be?

One didn’t recover from what he’d been through and still have faith to get involved in another romantic relationship. That wouldn’t be happening to him, let alone with her.

Maybe years down the road his loneliness would cause him to reach out to a local woman for companionship, but he’d never be able to summon the kind of love and passion he’d once felt for the woman who’d betrayed him.

Jillian shouldn’t be feeling heartache over that sobering fact. Unfortunately she did feel it because she was hopelessly in love with Remi.

Having known love before, she recognized all the signs, but this time everything was different. With Kyle there’d been no obstacles, no baggage for either of them. Their happy future lay before them. In Remi’s case she was doomed to love him from a distance without his ever knowing about it.

Like a bird thinking a window was open, she could fly to him but she would crash against the invisible glass protecting what was left of his wounded soul. A shard of glass had already damaged her eye. She couldn’t afford a broken neck, too.

So she would have to love him from a distance and feel joy knowing their chance meeting had resulted in him finding a new way to keep his heritage safe in an uncertain future. Tonight’s tour of the olive groves had infected her with pride in the Goyo name and what it stood for. Any tourists fortunate enough to stop here would go away having been given a figurative as well as literal taste of the glory of Castile’s past.

CHAPTER SIX

REMI NOTICED Dr. Filartigua’s reception room was filled with patients wearing eye patches. Apparently this was the postoperative day for his cataract patients, all of them much older than Jillian. The nurse called them back every five minutes for a quick check.

He’d driven Jillian to Madrid early that morning to make certain she was on time for her appointment. As it turned out they were early. He guided her to the only empty chair and remained standing until the room started to empty.

Looking fresh and incredibly attractive in a peach-colored sundress with its charming little short-sleeved jacket, she drew everyone’s attention. While she waited to know the extent of the damage to her eye, no one would know the depth of her fear. Remi was the one exception.

During the drive from the estate he’d been treated to her heightened animation and conversation. Her remodeling ideas were brilliant, but he could hardly concentrate because he knew all that emotion covered anxieties building since the accident.

When she’d met him outside the main house at eight this morning she’d been carrying her suitcase. His first instinct was to take it from her and put it back in the house, but he didn’t act on it. Jillian had been bracing herself for today and didn’t need anything to upset her.

Without saying a word he’d stowed the suitcase in the trunk of his car. He’d wait until they left the doctor’s office before further discussion about her future took place.

“Senora Gray? Come with me, please.”

The reception area had emptied. It was Jillian’s turn. Whether she wanted him or not, Remi followed her back to the last room. While the nurse helped her to sit on the end of the examining table, he found a chair and sat down.

“Dr. Filartigua will be right in.”

As soon as she went out the door, Jillian darted him a glance. “This is it.” Relief filled his system that her first words hadn’t told him she wanted to be alone. “Did I tell you I couldn’t see anything the last time I put in the drops?”

She’d prepared herself for the worst, but no one was truly ready to hear bad news, least of all Remi. If he hadn’t been on the highway at that moment, he doubted the accident would have happened. Regardless, he had to be strong for her now.

“That was four days ago. A lot of healing has gone on since then.”

He heard her take in a deep breath. “Whatever happens, thank you for seeing me through this.”

“Where else would I be?”

“At work.”

“Not today.” Before he could say more, the door opened and the doctor walked in. “Senora Gray. Has it been a week already?” He nodded to Remi.

“How are you, Doctor?” She sounded casual. Her courage would always humble Remi.

“I’ll know when I’ve removed this and learn what’s going on in there. Lift your head a little higher.” She did his bidding.

Adrenaline drove Remi to his feet. He watched the doctor remove the tape and peel the patch away.

“Oh!” she cried out at once. “I can see!”

Remi’s body quivered in reaction. Those first joyous words were the sweetest he’d ever known.

“That’s fine,” the doctor murmured. “How much can you see?”

“It’s blurry in the center, but the sides are perfect!”

“How blurry?”

“Um, like a piece of wadded-up cellophane.”

The doctor nodded, then got up to turn off the overhead light. “All right,” he said, coming back, “let me take a look inside.” He moved the eye equipment around and told her to fit her chin into the groove for the exam. “Look straight ahead and try not to blink.”

As she cooperated and followed his subsequent directions, Remi held his breath, waiting for a final verdict.

Finally the exam was over. The doctor pulled the machine away and turned on the light.

“Will the blurriness clear up?” she asked in a hopeful voice. Remi wanted the answer to the same question.

Dr. Filartigua walked over to her, cocking his head. “The hazy part of your field of vision will remain permanent.”

Permanent …

A groan rose in Remi’s throat.

“You have a condition called corneal scotoma. In lay terms it’s the blind spot left by the shard that went through to the retina.”

“I see.”

“In time you’ll adjust to the impairment. If the Conde hadn’t acted as quickly as he did, the internal bleeding could have affected the whole eye. Frankly, I didn’t think your peripheral vision would be saved. That means your right eye won’t be as dominant. It’s a great plus.” He patted her shoulder kindly.

“It is,” she whispered. “Thank you for saving what you could, Doctor.”

“You’re welcome, Senora. You only need to wear the patch at night to protect the eye while you sleep. Continue the drops from the purple label twice a day for three more weeks, then I want to see you again.”

After a silence, she asked, “Can I wash my hair yet?”

While Remi smiled through his unshed tears, the doctor chuckled. “If someone else does it for you. In three weeks you can return to your normal life and no more patch. On your way out, make an appointment with the receptionist.”

She nodded.

Remi shook the doctor’s hand, then turned to Jillian to help her down off the examining table, but when her feet touched the floor he found he couldn’t let her go.

Pulling her closer, he buried his lips in her hair. “You’re the bravest woman I’ve ever known. Gracias al cielo you’re still able to see something out of that eye.”

Her hands slid up his chest beneath his suit jacket. The sensation felt like liquid fire. “If it hadn’t been for you …” She rose on tiptoe and softly kissed his lips. “Thank you, dearest Remi.”

It wasn’t enough. He wanted to really kiss her, but she eased away from him too fast.

“We need to get going.” She reached for her patch and put it in her handbag. “You have a long drive back to the estate.”

He chose to keep silent a little longer and followed her out the door. At the desk she made an appointment. The receptionist gave her a pair of throwaway sunglasses. “Use these if the light is too bright.”

“Thank you.”

Remi noticed she didn’t put them on. He cupped her elbow and ushered her down the hall to the doors, but the moment they stepped outside, she halted. His arm went around her waist, fearing she felt faint. “What’s wrong?”

“N-nothing,” she stammered. “I’m sorry if I alarmed you. But without the patch it’s like seeing everything in Technicolor after being used to black and white.”

“I’m sure it will take some getting used to.” She nodded and put the sunglasses on.

“Better?” he murmured near her ear.

“Much.” She let out a little laugh. “Ironic isn’t it, when I’ve been praying to see anything at all? You don’t realize what your eye takes in until it can’t.”

Her comment reached right into his heart. He squeezed her waist before removing his hand. They walked to the parking lot at the side of the building and he helped her into his car.

Once behind the wheel he turned to her. “I know you want to phone your brother and tell him the good news, but before you do, I’ve a favor to ask.”

Her head was bowed. “After what you’ve done for me, how could I refuse?”

He stared at her appealing profile. “Stay at the estate until your next appointment.”

“I—I couldn’t do that.”

Her breathing sounded shallow. Why?

“You’ve done too much for me already,” she added.

“You haven’t heard me out.”

“Sorry.” She kneaded her hands nervously. “Please finish what you were going to say.”

“Your ideas for the remodeling are outstanding. Since you can’t go back to being a tour guide yet, I’d like you to talk over our business idea with a building contractor I’ve contacted. With you on the site he’ll be able to capture your vision.”

Her head jerked in his direction, causing the ends of her silky gold hair to swish against her shoulders. Both eyes stared incredulously at him through the sunglasses. With or without them, she took his breath.

“I have a lot of work to do right now and can’t be around that often,” he went on to say. “It will relieve my mind to know you’re overseeing a project that has the potential to make money for both of us. I’m relying on you.”

Maybe if he could get her involved enough, she might even forget to miss her deceased husband for segments of the day. Remi wasn’t fool enough to believe that because she never talked about him, he wasn’t continually on her mind.

When he’d felt her hands on his chest a few minutes ago, he’d feared she’d been wishing he were her husband and just for a split moment he wished he was. The thought was like a punch in the gut.

When Remi had fallen for his wife, he’d thought no man had ever loved more completely. After she and Javier had betrayed him, he’d thought he’d died and would never come back to life. Yet no one was more surprised than Remi, who sat here waiting for Jillian’s answer with more fear and trembling than he cared to admit.

He didn’t even need to look at the woman sitting next to him to realize such definitive statements like never or ever had a brief shelf life.

Jillian struggled to contain her emotions. Had he really asked her to stay at the casa until her next appointment? She knew he didn’t need her in order to go ahead with the remodeling. So what did it mean?

She knew what she wanted it to mean, but she’d only be fooling herself if she thought he had a personal interest in her.

There was only one explanation. Jillian had sought him out with a proposal on behalf of her tour company. Because of the complicated circumstances of the accident, they’d been thrown together and he’d discovered her idea had merit. After having been betrayed by those he’d loved most, it was only natural he’d prefer to work with her instead of a stranger. It was a miracle he trusted her.

Trying to keep the excitement out of her voice she said, “Thank you for your generosity, Remi. I would like to be on hand to see the changes, so I’ll take you up on your offer on one condition.”

“Name it.” She thought he sounded pleased and possibly relieved. After all, he was already planning on supplementing his income with her idea.

“When the contractor doesn’t need me, let me help around the casa or elsewhere. Dr. Filartigua was right. I am a workaholic, so please find something for me to do. That way I won’t feel like I’m always taking from you.”

“Agreed. What do you think you’d like to do?”

“Anything! Just point me in a direction.”

He chuckled. It was a glorious sound, one she’d rarely heard come out of him. “Let’s celebrate with lunch before we head back. Have you ever eaten at the Taberna Los Cabales? It’s on the south side of the Plaza de Santa Ana.”

“No. The few times one of our tours has come to Madrid, we’ve eaten at the Zalacain.”

“That’s a good restaurant for big crowds. The Taberna is much cozier and they serve excellent tapas.”

It thrilled her to be with him no matter what they did. “I’d love to try it.”

He flicked her a penetrating glance that sent feathery sensations through her body. “Better fasten your seat belt.” With that suggestion he started the engine.

“Imagine forgetting that after it saved my life—” She did it quickly. “I’d better call my brother.” Jillian was all thumbs opening her purse.

“I’m sure he’s waiting.”

While they pulled out of the parking lot, she rang Dave, who picked up before the second ring. “Jilly?” he cried her name anxiously. The love she felt from him caused her eyes to smart.

“I have terrific news, brother dear! I can see out of my eye. There’s one little spot that’s blurry and will stay that way, but everything else is perfect. I’ve been so blessed.”

The doctor wasn’t kidding when he’d said it would take a while to get used to partial vision, but Jillian wasn’t going to complain.

Too overcome with emotion, Dave didn’t say anything for a second. Taking advantage of the quiet she said, “I wish I could talk longer but another patient is waiting outside the examining room. Go back to sleep. I’ll call you tonight. ‘Bye for now. Love you.”

Remi couldn’t have helped overhear her tell that little fib about still being in the doctor’s office. He could make of it what he liked. After everything he’d done for her, it would hurt him if he knew how Dave felt. Remi had received enough hurts to last a lifetime. She’d do anything to protect him.

As they drove along she noticed that all the eating establishments were filled, yet Remi managed to get a table on the sidewalk of the Taberna. After they were seated opposite each other at one of the charming bistro tables, a waiter handed them menus and took their wine order.

She shook her head at Remi. “Not this early in the day for me. Especially when I couldn’t manage breakfast this morning. What I’d like is a tall glass of orange juice.”

“I didn’t eat, either,” he confessed sotto voce as if they were conspirators. He looked at the waiter. “Make that two large orange juices and a tray of assorted tapas.”

The other man nodded and disappeared inside the crowded restaurant. Jillian had a hunch Remi had decided against wine because of the drive ahead of them after lunch, but he always said and did the thing that would make her the most comfortable.

She loved him for it. She loved him. It was a good thing her sunglasses were on. Eyes conveyed emotions like nothing else. She preferred to hide hers and look into his while he wasn’t aware of it. They were inky black, yet they could brood, darken in pain, lighten in amusement, blaze in fury or pierce to the quick. How did that work?

“What have you decided?” His deep voice penetrated the sudden silence between them.

Her cheeks went hot. He’d caught her staring after all. She had to think fast. “This is the first time I’ve had a chance to really look at you out of both eyes.”

He sat back in the chair. With his black hair she found him devilishly striking dressed in a light gray summer suit. He’d toned it with a darker gray button-down shirt he’d left open at the neck. “Do I terrify you?”

She smiled. Yes, he terrified her because of the desire he’d aroused in her. It interfered with her breathing. “I haven’t run away yet, have I?” she teased to cover this onslaught of emotions she was having difficulty keeping under control.

While she waited for him to say something, the waiter chose that moment to serve them. It was just as well she didn’t hear Remi’s reply. Her gaze fastened on the dozen or so hors d’oeuvres arranged on an enormous platter. There was hardly room for their own plates. Next came the juice.

“Que aproveche!” he bid them before moving to another table.

“Try this first.” Remi used what looked like a cake server to put one on her plate. “This one’s called pil-pil.” An amusing name. The strong smell of garlic reached her nostrils. “It’s smoked cod cooked in its own sauce with olive oil.”

Jillian dug in and couldn’t stop with just one. Next came smoked salmon, then herb-flavored shrimps called gambas followed by crabmeat cangrejos with potato tortillas.

“It’s a good thing I’m not staying in Madrid for the next three weeks. In that amount of time I’d easily put on ten pounds eating here every day.” She’d never tasted anything so good. In fact it gave her an idea, but she didn’t have the temerity to share her thoughts with him just yet.

“I can sense there’s something on your mind, Jillian. Like to tell me what it is?”

He had the uncanny ability to read her mood and wouldn’t let go until he’d unearthed answers. She’d have to be very careful he couldn’t read her personal thoughts about him.

“These tapas,” she began. “I bet Maria would know how to make all of them and teach me.”

“Sí.” She had his full attention.

“I’m thinking big now, but it’s just an idea so don’t be too upset with me.”

“How big?”

“Big. The whole time we’ve been eating lunch I’ve had this vision.”

He rubbed his hard jaw with his palm. “I hear dollar signs. Is it going to break the bank?”

She fidgeted with her purse. “Temporarily maybe.”

“Maybe?” he asked silkily.

“Probably, but it’s a fabulous idea. You have an authentic setting on your property for something so unique and incredible, I’ve got goose bumps.”

“You’ve got the hair standing on the back of my neck. Go on.”

“What if you made the mill house into a tapas bar that would be open to the public as well as the tour bus groups? It would become the most famous tapas bar in all Spain. You could call it Holy Toledo!”