it was an art degree.’ Elise wasn’t sure why admitting that stirred a deeply buried hurt. Probably because a once-precious dream had been desiccated while she’d been scrambling to be done with her current reality.
‘Impressive. And do you use it—’
‘There you are. Apologies for being late, bello! Please say you’ll forgive me? The car service was atrocious. I’m never using that firm again. Oh...I didn’t realise this would be a foursome.’
Alejandro rose, albeit with minimal enthusiasm, as Mindy Stoneley paused dramatically at the table, her wide grey eyes assessing Elise.
Behind her, her husband, a giant of a man with thinning hair and a face that leant towards excess, cracked out a forced laugh.
‘Careful, Mindy. You might give the impression we live a risqué lifestyle.’
Mindy ignored him and held out both hands to Alejandro. When he bent towards her, she pressed her lips to his.
The sharp dart of disquiet that went through Elise held her in place for several paralysing heartbeats, only easing when Alejandro stepped back from Mindy’s embrace.
‘Jeff, Mindy, allow me to introduce you to Elise Jameson.’
Mindy sniffed, the skintight sequinned dress that stopped a good foot above her knees rising even further as she leaned over and offered her hand to Elise. ‘And what exactly is your connection to Alejandro?’
Elise cringed at the forced eroticism of Alejandro’s name. ‘I’m afraid that’s confidential. But I hope you don’t mind me joining you tonight. I’ve been dying to try the food here and Alejandro kindly offered to bring me along.’
‘The offer wasn’t generated by kindness, querida,’ Alejandro drawled, his gaze lingering suggestively on her as he sat back down.
Her pulse leapt wildly, despite the clear evidence that his words were only for show.
Mindy’s gaze swung to Alejandro as she and Jeff took their seats across from them. ‘Alejandro is generous like that, isn’t he? He’s personally opened so many doors for us. I don’t know how on earth we’ll ever be able to thank him.’ Her hand found Alejandro’s on the table, her ‘gratitude’ lingering a touch too long before Alejandro removed his own hand.
The knot in his jaw equalled that in Elise’s throat. She looked up in relief as the head waiter approached.
The first course of Cajun fusion food arrived. Alejandro directed the conversation towards business as often as Mindy tried to direct it to the personal.
Jeff drank more and the atmosphere grew tense.
Cognisant of the extent of Alejandro’s temper, Elise racked her brain for something to alleviate the tension. When Mindy invited Alejandro to come and inspect her newly built steam room for the third time, Elise shifted her seat closer and placed her hand on Alejandro’s arm, his earlier statement lending her the bravery to risk the move.
Gleaming green eyes darted to her. Mindy stopped speaking. Jeff rushed in to fill the taut silence.
Elise leaned in, her mouth a whisper from his ear. ‘I’m sorry. I’m doing my best to steer her away from you,’ she murmured, ‘but short of crawling into your lap and performing a lewd act on you, this is the only way I can think of to get her to back off. Do me a favour and pretend you’re enjoying the sweet nothings I’m whispering in your ear?’
He didn’t move. Or respond. Horror dredged through her, colour surging up her cheeks as seconds stretched.
Beneath her hold, his muscles flexed. Then he turned and aligned his face with hers. His breath washed over her neck as his neat stubble brushed her cheek. Strong fingers found hers on his arm, strangling her breath as he murmured, ‘Crawling into my lap isn’t the worst idea I’ve heard, but perhaps the timing isn’t quite right for that. And these aren’t sweet nothings. They’re extremely useful somethings that could do the trick.’
Her breath caught. She started to move away. He held her still.
‘No. Stay. And don’t look now, guapa. You’ll ruin the effect.’ Slowly, his mouth drifted light kisses along her jaw to the corner of her mouth, then returned along the same trail to the pulse beating beneath her ear.
Elise, not having taken a breath in almost a minute, felt her heart hammering against her ribs as she held still and let him deliver his message. The drugging excitement that launched through her veins was a mere by-product of this act, she assured herself. Once Alejandro was done, sanity would be restored.
After an interminable age, where Mindy cleared her throat more than a few times, Alejandro finally pulled back.
‘I didn’t realise you two were a thing,’ Mindy said after a brief moment of sullen silence.
Alejandro, his hand still locking hers into place, replied, ‘We aren’t just a thing, Mindy. We’re exclusive.’ He sent Elise a heat-filled glance.
The Stoneleys departed shortly after that. When Elise refused coffee, Alejandro requested the bill. Elise excused herself to visit the ladies’ room and was returning when a shadow fell across her path.
‘I see you’re practising your moves on another chump.’ The statement was delivered with a sinister laugh she’d hoped to never hear again. ‘I’m surprised, though. I credited Aguilar with more sense.’
Ice filled her veins as her gaze snapped up to meet Brian Grey’s. A part of her urged a swift retreat back into the ladies’ room. Or a quick dive past the heavyset man back to the safety of the restaurant and Alejandro.
But she’d stood up to him once, had fought tooth and nail to prevent a life-altering assault. And though her insides shook alarmingly, Elise didn’t back down.
‘Your self-esteem must be at an all-time low if you’re referring to yourself as a chump. Just proves money can’t buy you everything, huh, Brian?’
Arctic-blue eyes that gleamed a little too brightly snapped pure hatred at her. ‘I see you still haven’t learnt your lesson. Maybe I should’ve put more effort into teaching it to you last year.’
Anger and pain fought for supremacy within her. Cold anger won. ‘And I should’ve delivered two knee-to-groin responses instead of one?’
His face reddened. His shadow loomed larger as he reached for her.
Fighting panic, she stepped back. Into strong, solid arms.
‘Everything okay, Elise?’ Alejandro drawled.
Relief punched through her despite the latent danger she heard in his voice. Whirling, she looked up into his rigid face. ‘Can we go now?’
He didn’t answer. His gaze remained pinned on Brian, his eyes coldly assessing.
‘Alejandro, please?’
His glance shifted to her. Elise knew her emotions were displayed clearly for him to see, but she just wanted to leave Brian’s unpleasant presence.
After a beat, Alejandro nodded and settled his hand in the small of her back.
