he murmured back.
Face-to-face, their striking resemblance was unmistakable, the only differences being their eyes, Luis’s inch shorter height and hair that was a dark chocolate to his brother’s jet black. But where Luis’s face and stature evoked keenly interested second glances, Ramon’s completely captivated, hypnotising every human being who made the mistake of glancing his way.
It was why, several seconds after Luis had left the booth, and despite urging herself otherwise, Suki couldn’t look up. She tightened her hold on the glass holding her wine spritzer, willing her fingers not to shake. But reassuring herself that he was mere flesh and blood seemed utterly useless.
Her breath emerged hard and choppy, when, contrary to her thinking he’d take Luis’s seat, he slid into the booth next to her.
Another minute crawled excruciatingly by. A minute when the power of his fixed gaze burned her averted face, when every nerve screamed at being the object of his scrutiny.
‘Felíz cumpleaños, Suki.’
Unlike the birthday wish he’d delivered to his brother, this one held a little extra...something. Hot and mysterious. Dark and dangerous. Or was it just her stupid, fevered imagination? A shiver went through her. She managed to free one hand from around her glass, long enough to tuck her hair behind her ear before it returned to its death grip around her drink. ‘Thank you,’ she murmured.
‘It’s the done thing to look a person in the eyes, at least once, when they’re talking to you, is it not?’ he drawled. ‘Or is your drink infinitely more interesting than I am?’
‘It is... I mean...it’s the done thing, yes, not my drink—’
‘Suki.’ Her name was a rigid demand.
One she couldn’t have denied even if she’d wanted to. And absurdly, now she was commanded, she didn’t have any qualms about turning her head, meeting the gleaming, intense green eyes that focused on her.
She’d met Ramon Acosta a handful of times over the last three years. From the first time when Luis had introduced them at their university graduation ceremony and every occasion since, she’d been struck progressively speechless. Because almost impossibly, her best friend’s older brother grew more captivating, the force of his raw magnetism intensifying every time she saw him. Far from Luis’s tireless mocking acting as the impetus she needed to kill her senseless crush, her traitorous emotions heightened and sparked even more explosively with each meeting, the stern talking-to she gave herself before each meeting a useless exercise once in Ramon’s presence.
It was becoming a problem. But not one she wanted to deal with right now. It was her birthday, after all.
Besides, even if Ramon Acosta were anywhere in her league, he would still be out of bounds on account of his very public, very serious engagement to Svetlana Roskova, the drop-dead gorgeous Russian model.
But, having met his gaze, she couldn’t look away. Couldn’t think beyond the affirmation of how completely irresistible he was. From the olive-toned vibrancy of his skin to the strong column of the throat exposed by the top two buttons left undone in his dark navy shirt, to the slim fingers resting dangerously close to hers, she was absorbed by him.
‘There you are,’ he murmured, a trace of dark satisfaction in his voice that triggered alarm within her. ‘I’m infinitely pleased that I don’t have to spend the rest of the night addressing your profile.’
‘You are?’ she blurted, then cringed.
Seriously, get a hold of yourself!
One side of his full mouth tilted upward, although Suki didn’t spot a single scrap of mirth on his face. ‘Contrary to what is widely believed, it turns out that looking into the whites of someone’s eyes doesn’t guarantee insight into their true nature, but I still prefer that mode of communication.’
This time she caught a definite thread of bitterness, wrapped in thinly veiled fury. ‘Is...is something wrong?’ she ventured. ‘You seem agitated.’
The mocking laugh was unexpected. ‘Do I?’ he enquired lazily.
His tone grated, morphing, perhaps fortunately, her bemusement to irritation. ‘You find my concern amusing?’
Dark green eyes tracked her face, lingered on her mouth. ‘Is that what this thing is I’m sensing from you, little mouse? Concern?’
‘What else could it be? And I wish you two wouldn’t call me that,’ she replied sharply. ‘I’m not a mouse.’
His eyes narrowed again, the trace of distemper thickening. ‘Far be it from me to be as predictable as my brother. Rest assured, I will fashion a suitable moniker for you.’
‘Or you can use my given name, like everyone else, and just call me Suki?’
For some reason, the request made him tenser. He stilled, his eyes growing even more intense, scrutinising her from forehead to jaw to throat. ‘Sí. I guess I could, Suki,’ he rasped.
Her name rolled like an unexploded sensual grenade off his lips, tumbling to a charged stop between them. She stared at him, fighting to breathe, watched his gaze drop and linger for long, unnerving seconds on her mouth. Time ticked away. It might have been a minute. It might have been five. The noise of the pub receded but she could hear his steady breathing, feel the condensation from the glass coating her fingers, the cold a deep contrast to the fire burning inside her.
‘Are you and my brother involved?’ The question was grim and rapier-sharp.
‘Involved?’ she parroted, still caught in the grip of the electrical storm brewing between them. ‘I don’t know what—’
‘You wish me to be explicit? Are you screwing my brother?’ he demanded.
She exhaled in a horrified little rush. ‘Excuse me?’
‘Pretended outrage at my language isn’t necessary. A simple yes or no will suffice.’
Another healthy bout of irritation flared, saving her jumbled senses. ‘I’m not sure what’s up with you, but you obviously woke up on the wrong side of the bed today, so—’
The low curse was uttered in Spanish, but she knew it was potent nevertheless. ‘Indulge me and let’s refrain from the mention of beds and who woke up where for the moment, cara.’
She frowned. ‘Well, you’re sort of proving my point with that statement. Which begs the question why did you come here to celebrate your brother’s birthday if you’re in such a terrible mood?’
The skin bracketing his mouth pinched white as his nostrils flared. Suki watched, her spine stiffening with dread as his fist balled on the table. ‘Because I’m loyal. Because when I give my word I keep it. Because Luis trusts me to be there for him and it’s my duty to honour that trust.’
The icy fury with which he delivered the words robbed her of breath, but only for a moment. ‘I wasn’t questioning your loyalty or—’
‘You still haven’t answered my question.’
She shook her head, struggling to follow the mercurial swing of the conversation. ‘Probably because it’s none of your business.’
