Sarah Morgan - Summer With Love - The Spanish Consultant

Katy flinched slightly at her sister’s harsh analysis. It didn’t match her memory of those few glorious weeks. ‘Jago was kind to me, Libby, gentle.’

‘He walked away without a word,’ Libby pointed out grimly, and Katy sighed, unable to argue with the truth, knowing that Libby was just being protective. And she would have felt the same if positions had been reversed. Libby and Alex were her best friends and the three of them were as close as brothers and sisters could be.

And it was hardly surprising that Libby blamed Jago. The months after he’d walked away had been the worst of her life and Libby had been the one who’d seen her through it.

She bit her lip.

But hadn’t he always warned her that he wasn’t looking for commitment?

Had it been his fault that she’d committed the cardinal sin of falling in love with him?

‘Well, he may have been a rat, but I can see why you fell for him.’ Libby broke off and looked at her with a touch of awe. ‘Jago was the most stunningly gorgeous male I’ve ever met. And to think you actually—’

‘That’s enough, Lib!’ Katy’s nails dug into her palms as memories exploded in her head.

Rapid breathing, the rough scrape of male stubble against sensitive flesh, and heat, pounding erotic heat, heat that burned inside and out …

‘You—the quiet, shy one and Mr Rough, Bad and Dangerous. Where did you ever find the courage?’ Libby looked at her in admiration. ‘I wonder what would have happened if Dad hadn’t found out? Would it have carried on?’

Sleek, hard muscle against soft skin, flesh scorching flesh, mouths locked, bodies joined in untamed, wild passion …

‘Of course not.’ Katy lifted a hand to her head, trying to clear the memories. ‘We were totally different.’

His strength mixed with her gentleness. Raw male power controlling her every movement …

Libby pulled a face. ‘That’s our father talking. To him Jago was a banned substance, right up there with drugs and smoking. He was the unsuitable man. Fine for fighting dirty in the money markets but not good enough for his daughter. He didn’t have the benefit of Lord Frederick’s bloodline.’

‘Maybe Dad was right. It would never have worked,’ Katy said frantically. ‘Now can we change the subject, Libby, please ?’

Dark eyes holding hers, possessing her, taking her with him as their bodies exploded.

Her sister appeared not to have heard her plea. ‘Why wouldn’t it have worked? Because you were the rich heiress and he was a bit of rough? Dad’s protégé who clawed his way up through hard work and naked ambition?’ Libby gave a wicked grin. ‘I confess that I would have signed away my share of the family fortune for the chance of one roll in the hay with Jago. He might have been dangerous but he was so-o-o sexy. I’ve always wanted to ask you something.’ She lowered her voice and glanced around to check that no one could hear them. ‘What was it like with him? Was he good, Katy?’

Katy couldn’t breathe.

Good?

Oh, yes, he was good. Better than good. Jago was so skilled that he might have invented sex.

And she’d trained herself never to think about it. Never to remember those few weeks. The agony was too acute.

And now, for some unfathomable reason, her sister was making her talk about it.

She never talked about it.

‘That’s enough, Lib.’ Her voice was hoarse and she lifted a hand to loosen her collar, only to remember that her dress had a scoop neckline.

The constriction came from within.

Her memories were suffocating her.

‘You loved him, Katy. He was the one,’ Libby said softly. ‘The one.’

Her father in one of his terrifying rages. It ends now, Katy. He’s gone. You won’t be seeing him again.

Her childlike belief that her father was wrong.

‘I kept thinking that he’d come for me,’ she murmured, talking as much to herself as to Libby. ‘I thought our love was strong enough to survive anything. How could I have been so wrong?’

‘You were crazy about him, Katy.’ Libby’s tone was gentle. ‘It was true love. How can you marry Freddie after what you had with Jago?’

‘It’s because of what I had with Jago that I’m marrying Freddie,’ Katy said hoarsely. ‘And Jago never loved me. How could he have loved me and walked away?’

She could see now that he’d been way out of her league. A sophisticated, ruthless man so practised in the art of seduction that someone as emotionally and physically innocent as her had never stood a chance. He’d been with her for the novelty value, whereas she’d fallen for him like a skydiver without a parachute and had been left emotionally devastated when he’d ended the relationship.

And she knew that she never wanted to experience that depth of emotional intensity again.

Which was why she was marrying Freddie.

Freddie was safe and predictable and she always knew how her body would behave around him, whereas being with Jago had been a journey into the unknown. A breathless, exciting, terrifying journey. Every look, every touch had caused an explosion inside her that had left scars.

Scars that had never healed.

‘Jago wouldn’t be standing around talking to your father’s friends,’ Libby murmured, not meeting her eyes. ‘He’d be sending you hot looks and dragging you into the bushes, and he wouldn’t give a damn what anyone thought.’

His voice, rough with masculine triumph. ‘You’re mine now, Katy.’

Desperation swamped her and she dropped her champagne glass and ran across the lawn and up the steps, ignoring Libby’s attempt to stop her.

She had to get away.

Her car was parked in the front.

She’d drive.

She’d just drive, and then she’d be all right.

She could leave the memories behind.

Alex stepped up to his sister, his blue eyes narrowed. ‘Did it work?’

Libby bit her lip and stared after Katy, guilt and anxiety clouding her eyes. ‘Judging from her reaction, I think it might have worked a little too well. Oh, hell, Alex, are you sure we’re doing the right thing? You know she hates talking about it and usually we go along with that.’

Alex rubbed a hand across the back of his neck, displaying a rare departure from his customary cool. ‘She’s marrying a man she doesn’t love, Lib, for all the wrong reasons. Anything is worth a try.’

Libby’s eyes shone a little too brightly. ‘But I hurt her.’

‘And you think she won’t hurt when she finally wakes up and realises that she’s made a mistake marrying Freddie? And anyway …’ Alex paused and took a long slug from his glass of champagne. ‘You only made her talk about stuff she thinks about all the time.’

‘I felt like a total rat, not telling her about Jago,’ Libby mumbled. ‘What’s she going to do when she finds out that he’s now a doctor and working in her hospital?’

‘She’ll be shocked, but she needs to confront her past and get on with her life instead of bottling it up,’ Alex said firmly. ‘It’s the right thing to do. Stop worrying.’

Libby glared at her brother. ‘How come you’re always so damned confident about everything? Aren’t you even remotely worried he’ll hurt her again?’

Alex’s jaw hardened. ‘We both know that Dad was somehow responsible for the first time, which was why I didn’t go after Jago eleven years ago, but if he hurts her again …’ There was a brief pause and the warmth of his tone dropped several degrees. ‘Then I’ll kill him. Now change the subject. Dad’s spotted you at last and he’s on his way over. Better hitch that skirt up another inch, Lib. I can’t quite see your knickers.’