A Spanish Engagement (3 page)

‘Oh, my dear girl!’ Carmel put a hand on her chest and seemed overwhelmed with relief. ‘I can’t tell you how pleased I am to hear that. It puts a whole different complexion on things.’

‘Does it?’ Carrie bit down on her lip anxiously.

‘Well, of course.’ Carmel moved and linked her arm
through hers. ‘You’re right, this isn’t the place to discuss things. Let’s go back to your apartment.’

‘It’s just a few minutes’ walk around the corner. I’m in a very handy location for work and for Molly’s school.’ Desperately Carrie tried to steer the conversation onto settled ground as they walked away from the school gates.

‘Never mind all that,’ Carmel said. ‘You must tell me all about your young man. What does he do for a living?’

‘He’s a lawyer,’ Carrie said weakly. She had the horrible feeling that her little white lie was turning into an enormous black hole.

‘A lawyer! How wonderful…and he’s so handsome. I can’t wait to meet him properly. You must bring him to dinner at our hotel tomorrow evening.’

‘Oh, I can’t!’ Carrie was horrified now. ‘He’s…away on business tomorrow.’

Carmel halted in her tracks. ‘But, my dear, it’s imperative that we meet him properly.’

‘Yes, of course.’ Carrie was feeling slightly sick inside. ‘I’ll see what I can arrange.’

T
HE
phone on Carrie’s desk rang just as she was about to leave the office. ‘Carrie Michaels,’ she said briskly.

‘Hi, Carrie, it’s Carmel. I just wondered if you’ve had a chance to speak to your young man yet? My husband will be arriving tonight, and as it’s Saturday tomorrow I thought we could all meet up. I’d like to book a table for lunch at our hotel.’

Carrie felt her heart start to slide down into her stomach. She had been up until midnight last night, trying to reassure Carmel that everything was wonderful in her life. But Carmel had only been interested in one thing—Max. Carrie had tried all sorts of tactics to get her away from the subject but it had kept coming back. So much so that by the time the woman had left to go back to her hotel Carrie had almost been starting to believe in her fake fiancé herself.

And now she was in a situation that was a total mess. Carmel was refusing to be fobbed off with excuses of how busy Max was. So what could she do? It wasn’t as if she could conjure Max up out of thin air…

‘That sounds a lovely idea, Carmel,’ she said gently. ‘But I think it will just be Molly and I who join you for lunch. Max is in the middle of a very serious court case. He’s not able to get away.’

‘Did you tell him that my husband and I are probably only going to be here for a couple of weeks?’

‘Yes, and he feels terrible—’

‘Well, we’ll just have to extend our stay. I had only
booked a one-way ticket anyway,’ Carmel said, ‘because I was thinking Molly would come back with us.’

The very suggestion made Carrie’s blood pressure soar. ‘Listen, I’ve got to go, Carmel, I’m very busy. I’ll ring you later.’

What a mess, she thought as she put the phone down. She should never have lied…it was mad…what on earth had possessed her? She was usually such an honest person, and now the one most important thing in her life—keeping Molly—hung in the balance.

‘Everything all right, Carrie?’ Her boss’s voice from the open doorway caught her by surprise.

‘Yes, fine,’ she lied airily. José was a good-looking man in his late thirties. Like Max, he was Spanish and dark-haired. For a second she found herself looking at him in a whole new way, wondering if he would pass for Max. But as soon as the idea crossed her mind she cancelled it. She really must be desperate. José was her boss and he would not be impressed with the subterfuge. But, more than that, they had started to date at the beginning of the year; it had just been a casual thing, drinks after work and trips to the theatre. She hadn’t thought too seriously about it until Molly had come onto the scene. José’s objection to her niece had taken her very much by surprise. He had been less than pleased with the intrusion into their well-ordered adult lives. And when she had told him she was going to adopt Molly he had looked horrified. Carrie had immediately cooled things between them, and since then their relationship was back to strictly business.

She should never have mixed business with pleasure in the first place, she told herself crossly now.

‘You look a bit tired,’ José said. ‘Children are hard work, aren’t they?’

Carrie noticed the jibe. Not as hard work as dealing with the adults around her at the moment, she thought
distractedly. ‘Molly is no trouble at all,’ she answered firmly. ‘I’m just on my way up to the Santos vineyard,’ she added, changing the subject firmly back to work.

‘Do you think Pablo should go instead?’ José asked suddenly.

‘Why?’ Carrie frowned. ‘This is my pitch, José.’ She noticed that he had the grace to look a bit embarrassed.

‘I know it is. It’s just that Pablo said you looked a bit distracted and tired and he kindly offered to step in for you. It’s a long drive out to that vineyard.’

I just bet he offered, Carrie thought furiously. The vultures were circling for her job already, and obviously José was allowing them to swoop as another veiled attempt to make her rethink about Molly. But Carrie had no intention of rethinking about Molly. She was more than capable of dealing with her niece and her job.

‘The contract is in the bag, José,’ she said, picking up her briefcase. ‘And it will be signed and sealed either today or very early next week.’

José looked suitably impressed.

As well he might be, Carrie thought as she headed out to the car park. She had to get this contract now; it was a matter of professional pride.

She used the drive to the Santos vineyard to go over the facts and figures in her head.

The estate was very impressive, she thought as she turned into the driveway after the long journey. Vast fields stretched for as far as the eye could see, laid out in long, regimented rows of vines. Then at last she turned a corner and the main house came into sight. It was built in the Spanish style, with round arches and circular bays, and it glistened white in the sun against a hazy backdrop of purple mountains.

Although it was obviously the home of a wealthy man it had all the charm and rustic style of a country retreat.
Carrie fell instantly in love with the place; she adored the scarlet geraniums that spilled from terracotta pots on the terraces and the purple bougainvillea that climbed around windows with dark green shutters open to the heat of the day.

The gardens that surrounded the villa made it look like a bejewelled oasis; there were palm trees and tropical flowers and the grass was so green it looked like velvet.

She pulled her car to a halt by the front entrance and stepped out. Immediately the intense heat of the afternoon hit her. The air was still and silent except for the sound of the sprinkling system and the sizzling sound of parched earth lapping up the moisture.

The front door opened and a stocky man of medium build came out. He was in his mid-thirties, Carrie guessed. ‘Miss Michaels, I’m Manuel Barrera, Estate Manager of Santos Wines.’

‘Pleased to meet you, Señor Barrera.’ She had been speaking on the phone to this man for the past few weeks, and he seemed very pleasant. She just hoped she could keep him on side so he would sign the go-ahead for their campaign. ‘And please call me Carrie.’

She looked up as someone else came through the front door and felt a deep jolt of shock as her eyes met with the dark intense gaze of her fake fiancé Max.

‘Please allow me to present Max Santos,’ Manuel said with a flourish. ‘The managing director of Santos Wines.’

‘We’ve already met.’ Carrie’s voice was cool. She didn’t like being made a fool of, and she thought it highly disingenuous that this man had sat next to her listening to her ideas about his company without informing her he had a vested interest. What kind of game was he playing? she wondered angrily. And he’d lied to her, told her he was a lawyer.

Max watched the expression of shock and then annoy
ance on her face with a gleam of amusement in his eyes. ‘Good to see you again, Carrie.’

Quickly she composed herself and forced herself to smile back at him with cool reserve. She needed this contract; if she botched it up her rivals in the office would be rubbing their hands with glee. ‘Max. This is a surprise!’

He smiled as if her amiable tone amused him greatly. ‘A pleasant one, I hope. Manuel is going to give you the grand tour of the vineyard and then afterwards perhaps you’d like to stay and we can discuss business over some lunch?’

‘Thank you, that would be nice.’ Her voice was stiffly polite.

Carrie hoped that he was going to disappear after that and leave her with Manuel. At least that way she would have a chance to gather her senses and think about this situation. But to her dismay he accompanied them as they turned towards a courtyard at the side of the house.

Every now and then she darted a glance over at him. He was dressed more casually today in lightweight beige trousers and a matching open-necked shirt. If anything the informal attire made him appear even more handsome, but it wasn’t just his looks that kept drawing her eyes—it was his air of latent power. There was a strength about him that gave him a raw sensuality that was magnetising.

‘How is your niece today, Carrie?’ he asked as he stepped back to allow her to precede him into vast, cavernous cellars.

‘She’s fine, thank you.’

‘Her grandmother wasn’t angry with you for long?’

‘No, not long.’ For a second Carrie wondered what he would say if she told him about the lie she had made up about him. He’d probably be horrified. He was probably married with six children.

Carrie tried to concentrate her attention on the enormous wooden vats that lined the walls. ‘You’ve got a very impressive place here,’ she said, desperately trying to concentrate on work.

The estate manager started to tell her about the process of wine making that they used. And she tried very hard to give him her complete attention. But all the time she was acutely conscious of Max’s watchful eyes on her.

What was his game? she wondered. Why had he not told her who he was yesterday? Was he just stringing her along before telling her that in actual fact he wouldn’t be requiring her advertising services? Surely if he was really interested in her ideas he would have told her so on the plane yesterday and then introduced himself?

As Manuel paused to lead the way through into the next cellar Carrie pulled together the presence of mind to ask some pertinent questions, but all the while she was conscious of the fact that Max was taking in her every move, her every word. For a moment she found herself wishing she had worn something more attractive today. Her dark blue business suit was smart but there was nothing alluring about it…

Not that she wanted to attract him, of course. This was purely business.

As they stepped back outside into the blinding glare of the sunshine Carrie missed her step and Max reached quickly to catch hold of her arm. For an instant she was held close beside him. And in that moment she wondered what it would be like to make love with him, to have those strong hands caress her naked body…

The thought made desire race through her body like molten lava.

‘Are you okay?’ he asked gently.

‘Yes…thank you.’ She moved away from him abruptly, horrified by the direction her thoughts had taken. She
knew nothing about the man…They walked down into the vineyard. After the cool of the cellars the heat of the sun felt even more intense, but maybe that was partly due to the thoughts that had been racing around in her mind, Carrie thought wryly.

A member of staff came to talk to Manuel and Carrie found herself alone with Max. She glanced over at him uncertainly, feeling unaccountably shy.

‘Why didn’t you tell me who you were when we were talking on the plane yesterday?’

He shrugged, not in the slightest bit perturbed by the question. ‘I thought it might have influenced what you had to say.’

‘Well, of course it would.’ Her blue eyes snapped with sudden fire. ‘You had an unfair advantage over me!’

‘Maybe I did.’ He smiled. ‘And I enjoyed it.’

There was a husky undertone to his voice that made her blood race. Resolutely she tried to ignore the effect he was having on her. ‘This isn’t a game, you know. This contract is important to me.’

‘I know, I saw that for myself yesterday.’

‘But you still didn’t tell me who you were,’ she persisted, her eyes narrowed. ‘And that stunt you played, ordering Santos wine on the plane and asking for my opinion… I suppose if I had said I didn’t like it I wouldn’t be standing here now. I’d have just been told on the phone this morning that my services were not required.’

‘I would never have said that to you.’ Max said the words in a low undertone, a flicker of teasing warmth in his dark eyes now. ‘I can assure you I would still have invited you up here to have lunch with me, no matter what your opinion of the Santos wine.’

Carrie wasn’t quite sure how to take that. Was she imagining the personal undercurrent to the words or did he simply mean that he would still have done business
with her? She looked away from him and fell silent. It was strange how easily he could disconcert her. She was normally a confident person, especially in her business affairs. Yet around him she felt totally out of her depth.

Desperately she tried to think of something to say that would take the conversation back strictly to business. But nothing came to mind.

She noticed that the grapes were full and ripe on the vines, their skins gleaming a deep, luscious purple. ‘So when will you be harvesting the grapes?’ she asked lightly. ‘They look very good—in fact good enough to eat.’

‘They are. We’ll be starting to pick them soon.’ He reached out and took one off the vine. ‘Would you like to try one?’

She nodded and thought that he would hand it to her; instead he reached closer and placed the grape against her lips in a feather-light caress. There was something so intensely erotic and personal about the move that Carrie felt her skin flush with vivid colour.

‘So what do you think?’ Max asked, a small smile curving his lips.

‘It’s…it’s very good.’ She couldn’t quite bring herself to meet his eyes. She didn’t know if it was her imagination but there seemed to be an atmosphere between them that felt taut with sensuality.

Manuel came back to join them. ‘Sorry about that,’ he said politely. ‘There’s a problem with delivery dates, Max. I’m afraid I’m going to have to go up to the office to sort it out.’

‘We’re finished here anyway,’ Max said easily.

‘When you have time I’d like a word with you later,’ Manuel said. ‘It is urgent, so could we speak after lunch?’

Max nodded. ‘Come on up to the house when you are ready.’

With a wave in Carrie’s direction, Manuel strode off back in the direction they had just come from.

‘Sorry about that. Things are pretty hectic around here at the moment,’ Max said. ‘Let’s go up to the house.’ He put a hand at her back to steer her in the right direction. The touch against her body was light yet Carrie imagined she could feel it burning through the delicate material of her dress.

There was a part of her that wanted to move closer towards him…and another part that wanted to run away from the dangerous undercurrents rushing between them. He was probably married with children, she reminded herself again sharply.