chair he occupied as his colleagues readily concurred, and gave Briana another one of his irritating winks.
Compressing her lips in mild irritation, she quickly glanced round the rest of the table and endeavoured to engage the other diners with her pleased smile. But the gesture faded prematurely when her anxious gaze inevitably collided with Pascual’s. He did not simply look bored, as Tina had suggested. Quite clearly he was more annoyed than anything else! Was that because she had walked in and soured his mood?
Once upon a time his face had lit up whenever she came into a room where he happened to be, and again Briana’s heart couldn’t help but yearn for those happier times. To be young and in love with the man of her dreams, living in a vibrant and amazing city like Buenos Aires, had been more than incredible! Sometimes she had to pinch herself to remember that it had ever happened at all…Perhaps it was something she’d dreamt up, because of her loneliness now? But she only had to glance at her son’s sweet dark-eyed face to see the startling resemblance to his charismatic father, and she told herself to simply count her blessings. Having Adán reminded her that she hadn’t lost everything, after all. She had her precious child.
‘What about you Mr Dominguez?’ she forced herself to ask. ‘Would you like to go the casino?’
‘Only if you will agree to accompany me, Miss Douglas,’ he answered smoothly, with an arch of his eyebrow. ‘I always like to have a beautiful girl on my arm when I go to a casino…for luck, you understand…’
‘I…I’m afraid I have work to do.’
All eyes were upon her, and Briana wanted the floor to open up and swallow her. What was Pascual playing at, inviting her to go with them? He must know it was completely inappropriate and would put her in a most awkward position.
‘Come, come, Miss Douglas,’ coaxed Mike Daniels, one of the other businessmen. ‘Mr Dominguez is our guest tonight. He’s come all the way from Argentina for our meeting—the least we can do is grant him this one request, don’t you think? Think of it as one of the perks of the job. Myself and my colleagues will gladly foot the bill.’
Still doubtful, Briana easily guessed that Pascual was taking the utmost pleasure in her obvious discomfort and embarrassment. She wanted to tell Mike Daniels that acting as escort to his VIP guest on a visit to a casino was definitely not part of the services her company provided. But she sensed her ex-fiancé’s potential to make life very difficult all round for everyone if she refused.
Her grey eyes beseeching, she gazed back into the compellingly handsome face that still lazily studied her, and disturbingly saw that a small mocking smile was playing around his lips.
‘I haven’t brought anything suitable with me to wear to a casino.’
‘What you have on is absolutely fine.’ Her tormentor’s smile widened, and his dark eyes lit with mischief as he deliberately swept his gaze up and down her figure, letting it linger in particular on the lush curve of her breasts outlined by the snug black velvet waistcoat.
His aim was obviously to embarrass and belittle her as much as he could, Briana saw, and she would have had no bones about demonstrating her fury with his behaviour if only they had been alone. As things stood, she couldn’t do that. Not without making a scene and besmirching her hard-won reputation as a professional businesswoman.
‘Very well, then. I’ll go and ring the casino and let them know how many of us are coming.’
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