Mistress to the Mediterranean Male
‘To lie out in the sun and let yourself get burnt like this was an extremely stupid thing to do,’ he declared harshly in an effort to hide his rapidly rising desire.
Brynne lifted her head to glare at him. ‘Oh, yes, I just sat out there and got burnt on purpose!’ she replied scathingly. ‘I fell asleep, okay?’ she added as she once again buried her face into the pillow.
Alejandro smiled slightly at her obvious annoyance with herself.
‘I hope that isn’t a smirk I see on your face, Alejandro Santiago!’ Brynne said indignantly, having opened one eye to look at him.
His smile deepened. ‘You sound like my mother when she used to chastise me as a child,’ he explained as he could see Brynne’s exasperation rising. ‘Except she always used my full name of Alejandro Miguel Diego Santiago!’
‘Perhaps I will too now that I know what it is!’ Brynne muttered irritably—at the same time as she realized that one of his middle names was Miguel, the same as Michael.
Had Joanna known that when she had named their son, or was it just a coincidence?
Coincidence or not, it certainly served as a reminder of exactly who and what Alejandro was!
‘I’m not sure that Señorina Roig would be too happy if she could see you right now,’ she murmured tauntingly.
‘Antonia?’ She could feel Alejandro’s hands tense at her mention of the other woman’s name. ‘What does Antonia have to do with my helping you deal with your sunburn?’ he demanded haughtily.
‘In my bedroom helping me deal with my sunburn,’ Brynne corrected pointedly. ‘In my bedroom helping me deal with my sunburn while I’m only half-dressed,’ she added. ‘She may just decide to call off the engagement if she knew.’
She felt the bed give slightly as Alejandro stood up abruptly, and Brynne reached out to pick up her top from the floor, holding it protectively against her as she sat up to face him.
To say he looked angry was an understatement. His eyes had turned pale silver, the arrogant planes of his face were enhanced by his tightly clenched jaw and his nostrils flared in the aquiline nose.
‘There is no engagement,’ he bit out icily. ‘There will never be an engagement between myself and Antonia Roig.’
Alejandro was more furious than Brynne had ever seen him—although she had no idea why her teasing should have roused him so intensely …
She gave a shrug. ‘Perhaps you haven’t made that plain enough to Miss Roig yet, because I’m pretty sure that she was lining up boarding-schools in her head earlier for Michael once the two of you are married.’
Alejandro’s eyes glittered coldly. ‘You were mistaken,’ he said tightly.
She had introduced the subject of Antonia as a means of putting an end to a situation that was becoming far too intimate for her comfort, but she hadn’t expected it to succeed quite as well as it had.
She gave a puzzled frown. ‘It was just an idea …’
‘Once again it is an example of your interference in something that is none of your concern—’
‘If she becomes Michael’s stepmother it will be my concern—’
‘She will not!’ His accent was so thick now Brynne thought he was in danger of lapsing into his native tongue completely. ‘Miguel will never have a stepmother, Antonia or any other woman, because I never intend to marry again! There, does that satisfy your curiosity?’ he rasped harshly.
Again …
Alejandro had said he would never marry ‘again’ …?
CHAPTER SEVEN
HE HAD said too much, Alejandro realized in disgust as the desire he had been feeling only minutes ago faded as if it had never been.
He had told Brynne Sullivan far too much.
Far more than she needed to know!
She was looking at him now with wide, suspicious eyes, as if the fact that he had once been married somehow made him into a—
‘I married precisely three months after my brief relationship with Joanna was over,’ he stated forcefully as he guessed the reason for the accusation in Brynne’s gaze.
‘That was convenient for you,’ she replied hollowly, shaking her head slightly. ‘No wonder you and Joanna never married—you were probably already married to someone else by the time she realized she was pregnant with Michael!’
‘It was not like that at all—’
‘Wasn’t it?’ Brynne scorned. ‘Forgive me if I don’t believe you!’
‘I do not forgive you.’ Alejandro was every inch the wealthy, arrogant Spaniard as he looked down at her with icy grey eyes. ‘Once again you speak of things, make accusations, you do not understand—’
‘I understand you were married to someone else while Joanna had your baby, completely on her own!’
‘I did not know she was pregnant—’
‘And what would you have done about it if you had?’ Brynne questioned. ‘Paid for her to have an abortion? Or confessed all to your wife of only a few months and ruined her life as well? Although the fact that the two of you are no longer married probably shows that she at least had enough sense to leave you!’ She was breathing hard in her agitation.
Alejandro had never received such insults to his honour before, from either a man or a woman, and the fact that minutes ago he had ached with wanting this particular woman only seemed to make it all the worse that the insults came from her.
His mouth twisted. ‘My wife is dead. And there would have been no question of Joanna having an abortion! If Joanna had told me of her pregnancy, I would have supported both her and my child.’
‘It must be nice to be rich enough to be able to salvage your conscience so easily!’ Brynne scorned.
‘If you were a man I would have knocked you down for the insults you have given me tonight,’ Alejandro bit out coldly. ‘But as you are not, I instead think it best that I leave you now to give you chance to calm down. We can talk about this again in the morning if that is what you wish.’
What she wished was that she had never met him—and her reasons for that no longer concerned Michael alone!
Minutes ago she had known herself aroused by Alejandro. And not for the first time, either.
What she really wanted to do right now was sit down and have a good cry at her own stupidity in allowing herself to become attracted to this complicated man!
She could so easily have turned over on the bed a few minutes ago and pulled his head down to hers and have him kiss her until she could think of nothing and no one but him. She longed to have him caress her in all the places that ached for his touch.
She was as disturbed by that admission as she was by learning he had been married.
‘I don’t know what I’ll want in the morning,’ she said dully.
But she did know. She wanted to go home, back to England, to forget she had ever met this unfathomable man. And instead she had to stay on here, for Michael’s sake …
‘Please go now,’ she told Alejandro flatly.
Alejandro looked at her bowed head, and the beautiful hair that cascaded over the bareness of her delicate shoulders like a living flame. As he stared at her endearing freckles he had longed to kiss such a short time ago some of the anger he was feeling left him.
He had not thought it necessary for Brynne to know the details of his relationship with Joanna or the circumstances of his marriage to Francesca, and, knowing how close he had come tonight to taking her in his arms and making love to her, he believed that more than ever.
Brynne Sullivan was the last woman he should ever make love to!
‘Perhaps you are right,’ he snapped.
‘Yes.’ She sighed, reaching up a hand to push back the thickness of her hair to look up at him with pained blue eyes.
Alejandro looked at her for several more seconds before turning sharply on his heel and walking to the door, closing it softly behind him as he left.
He closed his eyes as he leant back against the wall outside in the hallway, fighting the yearning he had to go back into the room, to take Brynne into his arms.
But he had made a decision when Francesca had died five years ago that any relationship he had in future would only ever be of the transient kind, of short duration, with no emotional entanglement, and Brynne Sullivan, he already knew, with her prim morality, and her soul-destroying blue eyes, was not a woman of that type.
Brynne felt gritty-eyed and irritable from lack of sleep the next morning. She’d found it hard to sleep after the things she had learnt about Alejandro.
He had probably been engaged when he and Joanna had met seven years ago and already married by the time Joanna had known she was expecting his baby. Although it appeared that his wife had died some time in the last seven years.
All of these things had gone round and round in her head for hours last night.
One thing she did know was that any growing attraction she might have felt towards Alejandro had to stop.
It should never have happened in the first place after the battle the two of them had had six weeks ago over the custody of Michael!
In fact, the more she came to know about Alejandro Santiago, the stronger her feeling that Michael should have been allowed to stay with her.
The fact that Alejandro was sitting alone at the dining table, calmly reading a newspaper, when she got downstairs for breakfast did nothing to improve her mood!
Alejandro looked up as he sensed Brynne quietly entering the room, his mouth tightening as she avoided meeting his gaze to go over to the side dresser and pour herself some juice.
‘Where’s Michael?’ she asked as she came to sit at the table opposite him.
‘He went down to the orchard with Maria to pick some fresh oranges,’ Alejandro dismissed, carefully folding his newspaper to place it on the table beside him. ‘Is juice all you are having for breakfast?’ He frowned.
Brynne shrugged dismissively. ‘I’m not hungry.’
‘How are you feeling this morning?’ he probed softly.
She raised her chin, her blue eyes bright with challenge. ‘How should I be feeling?’
He shrugged his broad shoulders. ‘I merely wondered if your back was still painful …?’
‘Oh.’ Her gaze once again avoided his. ‘It’s much better this morning, thank you.’
She didn’t look better, Alejandro noted, seeing that her face was pale and that there were dark shadows beneath her eyes.
He nodded abruptly. ‘That is good. I have some business to attend to in Palma today,’ he said curtly. ‘Will you and Michael be able to amuse yourselves by the pool? With the appropriately applied suntan lotion, of course,’ he added ruefully.
‘Of course,’ Brynne echoed dryly. ‘If Michael gets bored I can always take him for a walk to Banyalbufar. Maria says its only just up the coast and—’
‘I would rather you did not walk anywhere today,’ Alejandro cut in.
‘I’m sure the walk will do Raul and Rafael good,’ Brynne finished mockingly. ‘From their unhealthy pallor they obviously don’t get out in the sun enough!’
‘But you have,’ Alejandro spoke firmly. ‘And to go out walking when you are already burnt is not wise.’
Brynne gave him a scathing glance. ‘I think I’m old enough to know not to make the same mistake twice!’
Alejandro gave her a searching look. Were they still talking about yesterday’s sunburn? Or something else …?
From her guarded response to his earlier enquiry as to how she was feeling this morning he would say it was something else!
Her skin had felt wonderful to the touch last night as he had carefully applied the soothing lotion to her shoulders and the curve of her spine, and he was experienced enough to know that Brynne had enjoyed the caress of his hands. But if she feared he would suggest repeating the process then she was mistaken.
He had paid for his own unsatisfied arousal with a sleepless night, and did not intend repeating the experience!
‘I suggest you ask Maria to put some after-sun on your back before you go outside,’ he snapped dismissively, throwing his napkin down on the table to stand up. ‘I am not sure what time I will get back, so do not—’
‘Oh, please don’t hurry back on our account,’ Brynne assured him derisively, relieved to know that he would probably be out most of the day. ‘Michael and I are quite used to entertaining ourselves.’
Alejandro looked down at her coldly before turning on his heel and striding from the room.
Brynne heaved a deep sigh of relief as she relaxed the tension from her shoulders. Painful shoulders, as it happened, with the skin on her back bright red this morning and slightly itchy. No doubt it would start to peel in a couple of days, and then instead of having the appearance of a lobster she would look like a snake shedding its skin. Very attractive!
Although if Alejandro was looking for attractive, he didn’t have to look any further than Antonia Roig!
A fact Brynne was made very aware of later that morning when a red sports car roared down the driveway with Antonia sitting behind the wheel as she parked the car beside the villa with an assurance that spoke of familiarity.
Brynne’s heart sank as she watched the other woman run her hands through her tumbled dark curls and replenish the red gloss to her lips before sliding out from behind the wheel, the white sundress she wore suiting her smoothly olive complexion and emphasizing the voluptuous curves of her body.
In contrast, Brynne felt at a complete disadvantage, having pulled on a loose white shirt over her bikini after taking a dip with Michael in the pool, her wet hair now slicked back from a face completely bare of make-up.
She stood up as Antonia walked over gracefully on white, high-heeled, designer mules. ‘I’m afraid Alejandro isn’t here at the moment, Miss Roig,’ she began politely.
The other woman gave a gracious inclination of her head. ‘He is in Palma today.’
If Alejandro had already told Antonia that, then what was she doing here …?
‘Can I offer you some refreshment?’ Brynne indicated the jug of fresh orange juice Maria had brought out minutes ago for her and Michael to enjoy, not particularly wanting the other woman to stay any longer than she had to, but at the same time realizing Antonia had other ideas.
‘That would be acceptable.’ Antonia nodded before sitting down on the lounger next to Brynne’s, her eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses as she glanced over to where Michael was throwing euro coins to the bottom of the pool before diving down to collect them. ‘He is so like Alejandro, is he not.’ It was a statement rather than a question.
‘Yes.’ What else could Brynne say? The likeness between father and son was indisputable.
‘Thank you,’ Antonia said as she accepted the glass of juice before placing it down on the table untouched, her long nails still tipped in the red that matched her lipgloss. ‘Miguel is the son of your sister …?’ she prompted without so much as a polite preliminary.
Brynne’s wariness grew at this unexpected visit by the other woman. ‘My sister-in-law, actually,’ she said.
‘Your sister-in-law …?’
Brynne nodded. ‘It’s a little complicated, but, yes, Joanna was my sister-in-law.’
Anotnia’s pouting red lips tightened slightly. ‘Alejandro is very anxious that Miguel should … adapt … to his new way of life as quickly as possible,’ she declared, obviously deciding not to pursue the subject of Brynne’s specific relationship to Michael.
Brynne was starting to like this conversation less and less!
‘Yes,’ she answered noncommittally.
Antonia gave a shrug of her smoothly bare shoulders. ‘As such it would probably be better for Miguel if he were to spend more time with—people of his own kind.’
Meaning what, precisely? Brynne wondered guardedly. Did Antonia mean the people of Majorca and Spain? Or did she mean affluently rich people like her and her father, and Alejandro himself, of course? Something Brynne obviously wasn’t!
‘Alejandro hasn’t said that,’ she replied truthfully. He had made it clear he didn’t want her here, but not for that reason.
‘Alejandro is very much the caballero, you know,’ Antonia told her with an indulgent smile. ‘Always the gentleman,’ she explained for Brynne’s benefit.
Brynne knew what a ‘caballero’ was—she just didn’t particularly associate Alejandro with one!
Although perhaps that was being a little unfair. Alejandro was always aware of the social niceties expected of him, was unfailingly polite to his employees, receiving their loyalty, and possibly their affection, in return. It was only with Brynne that he seemed to have trouble maintaining that politeness!
And she certainly didn’t appreciate this woman’s implication that Brynne had to be aware she wasn’t wanted here. Or the fact that Alejandro obviously had to have discussed that subject with Antonia for the other woman to know that!
‘I’m sure that if Alejandro wishes to … change our arrangement … he will tell me so,’ she told Antonia stiffly, knowing that Alejandro had told her from the start that he didn’t want her here, but that she had chosen to ignore it. Obviously by talking to Antonia on the subject he had decided to bring in reinforcements!
‘That is a little … difficult … in the circumstances, is it not?’ the other woman pointed out. ‘Besides, it is so much more … civilized … for the women to talk of these things, yes?’ she added sweetly.
Brynne’s dislike of this beautiful but venomous woman was growing by the moment. As was her anger towards Alejandro for having discussed this situation with the woman who appeared to be his mistress even if he didn’t intend her to be his wife.
‘I’m sorry, Miss Roig. I appreciate that you and Alejandro are—friends,’ she bit out tensely as she stood up, ‘but I really have no intention of discussing something so—so personal, with someone I hardly know.’ She glared down at the other woman pointedly as she willed her to leave.
Antonia stood up slowly, completely unruffled as she smoothed the white sundress down over shapely legs. ‘I was merely trying to be—kind, Miss Sullivan,’ she soothed huskily, smiling slightly. ‘As I said earlier, Alejandro is too much the gentleman to be quite so … frank … with you.’
Brynne gave a scornful smile. ‘That hasn’t been my experience so far!’ she dismissed impatiently. ‘Now, if you wouldn’t mind? Michael and I are going for a walk this morning.’
The other woman gave her a considering look. ‘You must be careful of too much sun, Miss Sullivan,’ she advised lightly. ‘A golden tan is acceptable, but with your fair colouring you are sure to burn.’
Exactly when had Alejandro spoken to this woman about her? After he had left her bedroom last night? Or had it been first thing this morning?
Well, if he thought telling his girlfriend to come and have a little ‘woman to woman’ chat with her was going to persuade Brynne into leaving here, then he was going to be sadly disappointed.
It was more likely to have the opposite effect!
CHAPTER EIGHT
‘HOW dare you ask that—that—woman to come here and tell me you want me to leave?’
Alejandro had spent a long day in Palma, locked in further negotiations with Felipe Roig, tired of the cat-and-mouse game Felipe seemed to be having with him as he gave the older man the warning that he might withdraw from the possible deal himself if it wasn’t soon settled to his satisfaction. A warning Felipe had obviously taken seriously enough to waste a day of Alejandro’s time!
Alejandro would rather have come home once it had become obvious that no deal would be reached today, but the older man had insisted that the two of them had to go out to an early dinner in order to show that they were still friends. As Alejandro still had every intention of buying the tract of land Felipe had for sale, he didn’t intend being anything else until he had Felipe’s signature on a contract.
But having finally returned to the villa at nine-thirty that evening, he had gone to the pool-house to change into black swimming trunks before diving straight into the refreshing water and swimming half a dozen lengths of the pool before he had felt his temper start to cool. Another argument with Brynne was the last thing he felt in the mood for …
He rested his arms on the edge of the pool as he looked up at her, taking a few seconds to appreciate how sexily attractive she looked in the sky-blue linen dress with her feet bare beneath tanned legs. Her hair was loose about her shoulders and her face beautiful in spite of the angry glitter he could see in her eyes and that becoming flush to her cheeks.
It was an angry beauty he was becoming all too used to where this particular woman was concerned!
‘I have no idea what you are talking about, Brynne—and, quite frankly, at this moment I do not think I want to know.’ He sighed, holding up a silencing hand. ‘I am tired and dusty from my frustrating day in Palma, so if you can wait a few minutes before continuing this tirade, then I would like a glass of cool wine first …’ He levered himself quickly out of the water.
Brynne’s breath instantly caught in her throat at the sight of all that bare male beauty. Alejandro’s skin was dark olive all over, his legs long, his shoulders broad, chest muscled, stomach flat …
She averted her gaze but couldn’t resist looking back again as Alejandro strolled over to the pool bar to take a cooled bottle of wine from the refrigerator there, deftly removing the cork before placing two glasses on top of the bar.
God, he really was the most gorgeous—
‘Would you like some?’ He held up the bottle invitingly.
Why not? She wasn’t tired and dusty, but she could definitely do with something to soothe her frayed nerves. Waiting for Alejandro to come back to the villa had been tediously long, and on top of that her irritation had grown when he hadn’t got back in time to say goodnight to Michael, but she’d had no intention of going to bed herself until after she had spoken to him.
Finding herself in the company of an almost naked Alejandro—those black swimming trunks resting low on lean hips almost didn’t count!—was making her senses dance with an altogether different emotion, the dark hair slicked back from those arrogantly handsome features making her mouth go dry.
‘Thank you,’ she accepted stiltedly as she took the glass of wine he held out to her. ‘You—’
‘At least let me have one drink before you start again!’ Alejandro drawled as he sat down tiredly on one of the loungers, unconcerned by the wetness of his hair and body as he took several sips of the wine before looking up at her enquiringly. ‘You may now continue,’ he invited mockingly.
Brynne gave him a quelling glance. ‘I’m glad you find all of this funny, Alejandro,’ she dismissed in disgust, desperately trying to rekindle her earlier anger, but finding it increasing difficult in the company of this compellingly handsome man.
Come on, Brynne, she chided herself impatiently. Alejandro wasn’t the first man she had seen in a pair of bathing trunks.
No … but he was the first one to make her want to rip that last remaining garment from that leanly muscled frame so that she could gaze her fill of all of him.
She shook her head in disbelief. ‘I, on the other hand,’ she snapped waspishly, ‘as the recipient of this “woman-to-woman” so-called advice, don’t find any of this in the least funny.’
No, she obviously didn’t find it funny, Alejandro acknowledged as he saw that the shadows beneath her eyes had deepened since this morning, her mouth curved down unhappily. Whatever it was!
‘Perhaps you are not explaining yourself very well.’ He smiled ruefully, leaning back against the cushioned chair and taking another sip of his wine.
The swim had been so cool, so reviving, the wine even more so; after hours of fruitless discussion his throat had felt rough as well as dry.
It was also, he realized, frowning, good to come home and find a beautiful woman waiting for him …
‘No—you aren’t listening!’ Brynne paced restlessly beside the pool on those surprisingly pretty feet. ‘And would it have been too much trouble for you to have come home in time to say goodnight to Michael?’