he asked.
“Only when they are foolish in the extreme.”
He smiled slowly. “Like this bet?”
“Exactly. You shouldn’t have made the stupid wager.”
“But I did, and here we are. He’s the one who made the terms. You help me, I donate the winnings,” he said.
“And if you don’t win?”
“I won’t even consider that. But if I lose, I’ll still donate to your charity.”
“It’s a win-win for me then. So why would I help?” Amalia asked.
“For honor,” he said slowly. He knew more about this woman than she suspected. He was good at judging character and knew integrity was important to her.
She watched his thumb rubbing her hand for a long moment. He wondered if she would capitulate or continue to defy him. It would prove a long week if they were not pulling together.
“Agreed. Either way I win, but I’ll do what I can to make sure we both win,” she said slowly. Tugging her hand again, she watched as he slowly released her. Was that disappointment in her eyes?
“But you needn’t try your blandishments on me,” she continued. “I know you were voted Barcelona’s most eligible bachelor last year, but I’m not one of your society women to date for a couple of months before moving on. This is strictly business. Agreed?”
“Most certainly not. You interest me, Amalia. You don’t want me to grow bored on the flight, do you?” He loved being with her. She was so different from the other women he knew.
“I don’t care much about what you do on the flight. Just win so the money goes to the Sisters of Charity Children’s Home. That was my parents’ favorite charity and I want you to donate in their names.”
“And something for you?”
“Nothing for me.”
Rafael studied her expression for a moment. She was serious. It threw his calculations off. How could she not want something for herself? Everyone did. He didn’t mind, he had the money to indulge himself and his friends. He knew how life went. Those with money were targeted by those without. It wasn’t good or bad, just the way things were.
Or the way he thought they were. What was Amalia’s game?
“What?” Amalia asked. She found his stare unnerving, as if he were trying to dissect her or something.
“Just thinking,” he replied, and looked away. For a moment she wanted to ask him about what, but thought it best to leave things alone. He had already unsettled her enough for one day. She tucked her hands against her chest, still feeling the warmth of his palm, the erotic rubbing of his thumb. She wished he’d held on a bit more. Getting hot and bothered by his presence sure beat being afraid for her life. Though, given the two choices, she suspected that riding in the wretched balloon was safer than getting caught up with Rafael Sandoval.
Yet she wouldn’t be human, wouldn’t be a woman if she wasn’t intrigued by his sexy good looks and charming manner. She knew it had to be calculated, he’d been getting his own way for far too long to change his manner of operating. For a few seconds she’d let herself go, imagined he really cared for her. It would be beyond anything she’d ever experienced to have a fling with Rafael.
Her heart raced at the thought and she looked away lest he catch a glimmer of the awareness that rose every time she came near him. Actually, if she were honest with herself, every time she even thought about him.
“So what are the rules?” she asked a moment later.
He looked back and smiled. The light dancing in his eyes almost had her groaning with pleasure. He looked incredibly masculine with that devil-may-care look, and incredibly sexy with that smile.
“We pull together, all for one, one for all.”
She laughed. “That’s original.”
He smiled again. “Agreed?”
“I’m not out to sabotage your race,” she repeated.
“So there’s no problem with that one.”
“There’re more rules?”
He leaned closer. “We spend time getting to know each other.”
Her breath caught. He was close enough to her that she could feel his breath brush against her cheeks. Close enough that leaning forward only a few scant inches would put her mouth against his, her lips brushing his.
“We know each other quite well enough.” Was that breathless voice hers? She wanted to jump up and run away. A quick flick around the gondola convinced her that was totally impossible.
“We could know each other even better,” he said, his fingers brushing her hair lightly.
She jerked back as if stung, scooting away several inches and trying to show her displeasure. Only, she was afraid her reaction was a bit extreme.
“Didn’t we just agree you are wasting your time trying to charm me?” she said.
“Ah, but it’s so much fun,” he said, watching her with those dark eyes.
“I don’t think there’s any point in it.”
“It will make the journey more interesting. We can become friends.”
She rolled her eyes at that notion.
“Or lovers.”
She snapped her gaze right back at him. “You’re crazy. We don’t know each other enough to ever get to that level.”
“It doesn’t take long to get to know someone when confined to such a small space for endless hours,” he said, his voice deliberately pitched low and sexy.
She raised her right hand, index finger shaking at him. “Stop right there. We are not going to become that close.”
He leaned back and stretched out his long legs, taking up all the available floor space. “Maybe not. But it’s worth thinking about.”
“You need to think about this balloon and keeping us up in the air,” she said, scarcely able to form two words together as the mere thought of them tangled together in lovemaking almost erased all her thought processes.
He touched her cheek lightly and then rose in one easy movement and glanced around at the gauge. A second later the jets roared to life.
Once her breathing was under control, Amalia stood and looked around. Looking out instead of down, she spotted the other balloon. It looked closer than before. Now it was slightly higher than they were.
“Clear sailing until the ambient air warms too much to make it easy to keep our altitude,” he said.
She nodded, amazed he could switch off the charm and move to dedicated racer in a heartbeat. She was still reeling from their discussion.
