as indifferent to her as he had once been. Not if that kiss in the rain was anything to go by.
‘It is time to leave.’ Raul’s firm tone dragged her from her thoughts, making her instantly question if she truly had seen a different man from the powerful and controlled man who stood before her, resplendent in his tuxedo.
He looked devastatingly handsome, pulling her already stretched nerves tighter as she fought to conceal the effect he had on her. The black tuxedo hugged his body, fitting him to perfection and highlighting his strength, and the white of his shirt emphasised the olive tones of his skin. But it was his face that really made her heart flutter. The sultry and very sexy expression in his eyes, the slight curve of a smile on his lips and the raised brows as he slowly took in every detail of her silver dress filled her with excitement.
‘We should talk.’ She tried to concentrate, to focus on the here and now, but nerves skittered round her. Why did she feel so nervous? It wasn’t as if tonight were a real date. She stepped towards him, trying to still the thud of her heart and be herself, but something had changed and that something had happened as she’d kissed him in the rain. Since then everything had been different. She’d been trying to ignore it but as she looked up at him she knew she couldn’t any longer—didn’t want to.
‘Not now.’ His incredibly sexy voice filled with control and command, but she had to tell him. She didn’t want any more hidden secrets.
‘But there are things—’
‘Later.’ He cut across her appeal. The determination in that word and the hard, feral look he gave her almost silenced her, but he needed to know what she’d found out. She couldn’t keep it from him. It wasn’t just because it meant they no longer had to continue with the charade of their engagement. It was something else, something much deeper, something she’d never expected to find. She pushed the thought aside. She would be totally out of her depth with this man if she indulged in such notions. Whatever it was between them it was merely lust. A strong sexual attraction. Nothing more.
‘No, we must talk, now, before we go to the party.’ She hated that she sounded so pleading but, now that she knew for sure the truth about his brother, he had to know. Not that it changed anything for her, but it would definitely change things for Raul.
‘Lydia, we are already late. We leave now. After all, we have to convince everyone our engagement is real, do we not?’
‘B-but...’ she stammered over the word, unable to believe how she’d ever imagined a hidden vulnerable side to him.
‘Now, Lydia. I have timed our arrival to maximum effect. Whatever you have to say can wait.’
‘Very well, let’s go.’ She picked up her small silver clutch bag, which matched the glitz of the stunning dress she’d bought that afternoon. She should have been ecstatic to find such a dress and the contact she’d made with the designer for her own boutiques, but the contents of the envelope had been weighing heavily on her mind. They still were.
Raul’s silence as they drove through the busy streets of Madrid to one of the most prestigious hotels was difficult to say the least. He’d made it clear he didn’t want to talk of anything, that arriving with maximum impact and creating a couple newly engaged was all he cared about.
Now, as she entered the large room, tables adorned with silver decorations in celebration of the couple’s anniversary, Raul changed. He smiled and became very attentive. He placed his hand in the small of her back, partly touching her skin due to the backless design of the dress, and she caught her breath as a frisson of awareness raced up her spine.
She turned to look up at him and the smile of satisfaction that lingered on his lips only heightened that awareness. For the briefest of moments, his dark gaze locked with hers, desire surging through the normal granite hardness.
‘A very convincing act, querida.’ His voice was deep and so very sexy that she couldn’t break that eye contact even though she wanted to. ‘Now it must be continued as we greet our hosts.’
Raul guided her through the glamorous guests and she was aware of the curious glances cast their way. Either Raul was such a playboy that nobody expected him to settle to marriage or she was very different from the kind of woman he usually had at his side. Whatever it was, she was far from comfortable.
She put on a smile as he introduced her in Spanish to a couple whose love for one another was more than obvious. The tall and elegant woman, named Estela, smiled at her and spoke in Spanish.
‘She said you are very beautiful, an English rose.’ Raul’s voice broke through her thoughts, sounding so very different from the harshness he usually adopted. All part of the show, she reminded herself.
Lydia looked at the woman and replied in Spanish, ‘Thank you and congratulations.’
‘Your Spanish is excellent,’ Estela replied with a smile and a quick glance at Raul, as if she knew what Lydia was doing.
Beside her she could feel the shockwaves coming off Raul. That dinner party, when he’d made her feel so low, so useless, was now being paid back. He said nothing and when she turned to smile at him she knew he was furious.
‘You make a very handsome couple,’ Estela’s husband added, defusing the charged atmosphere slightly as he put his arm around his wife’s shoulders and pulled her close. ‘Your father knew what he was doing, Raul.’
Lydia’s gaze held Raul’s, but he was stoically calm, not a trace of emotion of any kind. Just how much did the board know of their arrangement? And if they knew it all, why was there any need to act the part of lovers?
As if sensing her annoyance and her questions, Raul called over a passing waiter and handed a flute of champagne to her, then his hosts and finally took one himself.
‘A toast,’ he said in Spanish. ‘To love. Long may it last.’
Lydia raised her glass towards the couple and joined in the toast, then took a sip of the sparkling liquid, but nearly choked on the bubbles as Raul added one more toast.
‘And to the English rose who will very soon be my wife.’ He looked at her and the sexy rise of his brows threw a challenge at her, daring her to disagree.
Estela spoke again, her excitement clear. ‘I’m looking forward to your wedding, to seeing two people so right for each other joined in marriage.’
Two people so right for each other? Was that really how they looked? How could that be when there were so many secrets between them? So much anger?
* * *
Raul was furious. Lydia spoke Spanish—fluently? She’d been living with him for over two weeks and had not uttered a word in his language. What else was she hiding? Her ability to act a part was as good as her ability to conceal the truth.
For the last hour Raul had enjoyed having Lydia close at his side as she portrayed a woman happily engaged to him, leaving nobody in any doubt that, whilst their marriage was one that began in the boardroom of Banco de Torrez, it would definitely be continued in the bedroom.
It went against everything he believed in to admit it, but it had also stirred something within him, something deeper than merely lust or desire for a beautiful woman. It was as if they were drawn together by a connection as yet undiscovered—or was he being irrational, wanting things his childhood had shown to be impossible?
He
