JACQUELINE BAIRD - Mediterranean Tycoons - Dark & Demanding - At The Spaniard's Pleasure / A Most Passionate Revenge / The Italian Billionaire's Ruthless Revenge

‘You’re right.’ Liza sighed her agreement.

‘I always am,’ Nick stated outrageously, and he kissed her again. The passion of his kiss was so overwhelming that she could not immediately pull herself together when he raised his head and stepped back. ‘And, before you ask, the party is formal, and I will be back here to escort you at seven.’

‘I’ll have to find something to wear,’ she blurted, grateful for something normal to focus on when Nick made pea soup of her usually astute deductive powers.

‘You do that.’ And, swooping down, he brushed her mouth with his again. ‘But I much prefer you naked.’ And left.

STANDING under the soothing spray of the shower, Liza tried to make some sense of the past two days. She had woken up in her hotel yesterday morning expecting to attend a seminar for the next two weeks with her boss. Now she was in Spain, having spent a crazy, fantasy few hours of passion with Nick Menendez, and if she was not very careful she was in danger of falling in love with him all over again.

The thought stopped her cold. No, she could not love him…must not, but she had a sinking feeling it might already be too late. What on earth had possessed her to believe she could have a holiday romance and walk away unscathed from a man like Nick? She supposed it was a compliment that he wanted her so badly and, knowing he had to return to Spain, he had got his mother to invite her. But how long would he desire her, and could she survive the ending of what was only a lustful affair to Nick?

Usually she was the sanest, most conservative of women. So what had happened to her? Nick had happened to her…

Turning off the shower, she stepped out and, wrapping a bath sheet around her body, she padded into the bedroom. Ten minutes later, dried and wearing only white lace briefs, she sat in front of the dressing-table mirror drying her hair, a dreamy smile playing around her lips as she reran in her mind the fantastic coincidence of meeting Nick again. She remembered every moment, every touch, every word…

When suddenly she realised just what had been nagging at the back of her mind since last night. When she had met Nick yesterday morning he had taken a great deal of interest in her job. She had told him she worked for Stubbs and Company and she was in Lanzarote with her boss for a conference and all about her unexpected break. But she was sure she’d never mentioned Henry Brown by name.

Yet last night over dinner when Nick had been teasing her about being a lap dancer and suggested she might have a high-powered lover, she had responded that that was classified information.

But then Nick had said he had heard her boss Henry Brown was nowhere near as discerning about his love life and he knew Brown was married.

Thinking about it now, she recalled a brief moment when something had struck her as odd, but she had been so busy trying to act the sophisticate and hold up her side of the conversation she had banished it to the back of her mind. But the more she thought about it, she was absolutely certain she had not mentioned Brown by name earlier in the day. Plus, how had Nick known she was sharing a suite with her boss? For a man who ran a huge international corporation it was odd Nick seemed to know an awful lot about a small company like Stubbs and Company, and had even asked more. As her imagination took flight, industrial espionage sprang to mind…

Later still, wearing the dress she had packed originally to wear at the gala to end the seminar, she studied her finished image in the long mirror. With her long hair swept back into a French pleat, ending in a loose tumble of hair on the top of her head, and the careful application of eye-shadow and mascara and her lips outlined in a dusky-rose lip gloss, she looked cool and poised. But she was nowhere near as cool inside; she could not banish her suspicion of Nick’s motive from her mind.

Sighing, she turned away from the mirror, and slipped her feet into three-inch-heeled silver sandals that matched the silver strapless dress she was wearing. Maybe Nick was right and she was paranoid? She straightened up, and adjusted the chain of the diamond crucifix at her throat. She looked good, she was attractive, so why was she plagued with insecurities? Maybe that was what love did to one?

No, she was not in love, Liza told herself; she needed to get a grip. So far she had allowed Nick to call all the shots and it had to stop. She wanted some straight answers to some straight questions from the man. If they were not forthcoming then she was going to leave tomorrow. If Nick was telling the truth and he really had a great desire for her, he would follow her, and if he didn’t then better to know now before she got in too deep.

The door flung open, and Nick walked into the room. ‘Dios, Liza.’ He stopped, his dark eyes roaming over her from the cool beauty of her face and lower to where the silver strapless gown revealed the gentle swell of her breasts, then lovingly clung to every perfect inch of her to end mid-thigh. She had legs to die for… ‘You look incredible.’ She reminded him of some fabled Valkyrie, a Norse goddess, and he felt the most inexplicable pain in his chest.

‘Have you ever heard of knocking?’ Liza smiled but stepped back as he walked towards her, an unmistakable gleam in his eyes.

‘We are way past that stage.’ Nick’s glance slanted meaningfully at the bed, and back to roam slowly over her once again.

‘You maybe, but not me,’ Liza said firmly. But her pulse was racing at the sight of him. In a formal dinner suit he was devastating.

‘Am I missing something here?’ Nick asked drily, and caught her hand, bringing it up towards his chest. ‘I thought we were past playing games, but if you insist on formality…’ He bowed his dark head and kissed her hand.

Her fingers curled against the tingling sensations shooting up her arm, and when he lifted his head she saw the desire tinged with anger in the depths of his dark eyes.

‘Not formality,’ she countered steadily, ‘but good manners never come amiss. And I told you last night I am not sleeping with you when your mother is at home, and this time I mean it.’ Her blue eyes clashed with his. He was watching her intently, a curious expression on his starkly handsome face.

What on earth was she doing lecturing Nick Menendez on manners? She grimaced at the thought. ‘I’ll forgive you this time, Nick.’ She opted to tease. ‘Now, where is the party?’

‘I know where I would like it to be,’ he drawled mockingly with another glance at the bed, ‘but it seems that is not an option.’ And tightening his hold on her hand, he added, ‘anyway, duty calls. But, be warned, we are leaving at midnight for a drive if that is the only way to get you alone.’ And to illustrate his point he bent his arrogant dark head, and ran his tongue along the curve of her breasts above the bodice of the dress.

Instant excitement lanced through her body. ‘What do you think you’re doing?’ she jerked back.

‘Please, Liza, no innocent outrage, we both know it is a lie,’ Nick drawled cynically, staring down into her brilliant blue eyes. She was stunningly beautiful, and incredibly sexy, but he was a lot older and a lot smarter than he was when he had hungered after her in a stable all those years ago. Life had taught him that women were devious creatures, and this one was probably more treacherous than most. Two hours ago he had left Liza eager and wanting, but something had changed, and why the hell he was trying to protect her he did not know.

‘Come on,’ he said flatly, ‘we’ll be late,’ and with her hand still in his he pulled her out of the bedroom.

Nick had just spent a painful half-hour being lectured by his own mother on his relationships with women; he did not need any more hassle from the fairer sex, though he was beginning to think there was nothing fair about them.