‘I’m sorry.’ Again there was that deep Spanish inflection. His eyes darkened with compassion. ‘That must have been hard for you.’
She nodded and sought to change the subject before her emotions got the better of her. Her feelings about her mother’s death were still quite raw, and as for her father—their relationship was difficult, and somehow she had to sort out a way for them to get along better.
‘And you?’ she asked. ‘Do you live here on Saint Helene, or are you just visiting?’ She picked up her glass and began to sip the rum punch he’d poured for her. Perhaps it was all in her mind, but it seemed as though the kick from the alcohol was giving her confidence.
‘Oh, I live here,’ he said, his mouth curving. ‘My family made their home here several generations ago. Originally they were Spanish, but with a good deal of intermingling over the decades we’ve been left with a Spanish-American heritage.’
‘Ah … that would explain your accent. I couldn’t quite work it out at first. It’s faint, but definitely there.’ No matter how hard she tried to convince herself she was immune to any kind of male charm, his voice held a sexy, vibrant timbre that made her insides quiver. It was disturbing the way she responded to him, to say the least.
He inclined his head briefly, still holding Jessie’s gaze. She was mesmerised by those dark eyes, finding it hard to break away from the intoxicating heat glinting in their depths, until a sound broke the spell and she became aware of Ben walking towards them. She didn’t know whether to feel glad or let down by the interruption.
‘Sorry I’ve been gone for so long,’ Ben said, concentrating on placing a tray, laden with food, down on the table. ‘I was caught up, talking to a friend from the distillery.’
‘That’s okay.’ She put down her glass. ‘I’ve had someone to keep me company.’
Ben straightened and for the first time looked properly at the man standing beside her. He drew in a quick breath. ‘Dr Benitez …’ He seemed stunned. ‘I … We weren’t expecting you back here for a few days. I thought your business would keep you in Florida until the end of the week.’
‘I managed to complete it ahead of schedule.’ The doctor’s handsome sculpted features were rigid as he looked at Ben and it dawned on Jessie that something wasn’t quite right here.
So this was her brother’s new employer? ‘You already know each other,’ she said, looking from one to the other.
Ben was still caught in the searchlight of that unflinching stare. ‘We do.’ He gave himself a shake and made an effort to pull himself together. ‘Jessie, I should introduce you … This is Dr Benitez—like I said, I’ve been doing some work for him this last couple of weeks.’
Jessie nodded and looked back at the doctor. ‘Ben told me about the renovations he’s been doing for you.’ Her green eyes widened. ‘Am I right in thinking this is your house?’
He nodded. ‘You are.’
‘Ah.’ She faltered momentarily, feeling like an unwitting intruder. ‘Ben told me he and his friends have been working here. It’s such a lovely house—what I’ve seen of it so far, anyway. Which isn’t a great deal,’ she added hastily. ‘Just the living room and kitchen and the terrace.’ She didn’t want him to think she’d been inspecting every nook and cranny in his absence.
‘I’ll be more than glad to show you the rest,’ he said. His gaze was intense, heat flaring in the depths of his eyes, and her heart gave a small, involuntary leap.
‘Thank you, Dr Benitez, I’d like that.’
His expression softened briefly as he looked at her. ‘José … you must call me José, chica.’
‘José.’ She lowered her gaze for a second or two, a little overwhelmed by his full-on manner towards her.
‘Good.’
He turned to look at Ben, and she was dismayed to see that his demeanour changed. He was entirely different in his dealings with Ben. He seemed almost hostile towards him and straight away her system went on red alert. She had to get to the root of what was wrong. ‘Do you and Ben have a problem with one another?’ she asked.
‘I’m afraid it would seem so.’ He ran his hand lightly over her elbow, sending tremors of tingling sensation to run along the length of her arm. ‘Perhaps you would like to go back to the party for a few minutes?’ he suggested softly. ‘I need to talk to Ben in private for a moment.’
Jessie shook her head. ‘I don’t think so. You can say what needs to be said in front of me. I want to know what’s going on.’ She looked at Ben for confirmation and her brother nodded slowly, awkwardly.
‘I am sorry for that,’ José said. He stiffened, and turned an icy stare on Ben. ‘I want to know why he thought it would be all right to hold a party in my house while I was away.’ He sent her an oblique, smoky glance. ‘The only point in his favour is that he brought along with him the most beautiful girl in all of Saint Helene.’
‘Oh …’ She was too bewildered by his condemnation of Ben to take any notice of his smooth flattery. ‘You must be mistaken. I’m sure Ben wasn’t the one who—’
‘It’s all right, Jessie. I can speak for myself.’ Ben drew himself up to his full height, ready to stand up to José. ‘It’s not what you think, Dr Benitez. I didn’t set this up.’
Jessie was floundering. Her brother couldn’t have been so reckless as to arrange this party, could he? Hadn’t he told her his friends, Zach and Eric, had done all the organising?
‘Is that so? Really?’ José raised a dark, sceptical brow. ‘You’re the one who has the house keys. I trusted you. Obviously I was wrong to do that.’
‘But I gave the keys to Zach so we could work on the house,’ Ben protested. ‘He had to bring back some light fittings and cable and so on from the wholesaler when I wasn’t here.’
‘And you weren’t here because …?’
Ben’s cheeks flushed with warm colour and he averted his eyes briefly. ‘I … um … Zach’s an early riser but I’m never too good first thing in the morning … It just seemed better to let him do the wholesaler run. And you had given him the keys one time before you went away, so I didn’t think it would matter.’
José’s jaw flexed. ‘What you mean to say is that you drink too much and can’t get up for work on time.’ His eyes were like flint. ‘So Zach has the keys now?’
‘Well, no … he gave them back to me tonight, just a short time ago. We’ve finished the work here, so he didn’t need to hold on to them any more.’
Jessie’s spirits sank with every word he uttered. Her brother wouldn’t have organised this party, she was sure of it, but he had believed his friend when he’d said it was all right with their boss to use the house. Ben was so naive, so gullible … and now, from the look of sheer disbelief on his employer’s face, she knew he was in trouble because José clearly didn’t know him the way she did.
‘I’ll have the keys back,’ José said, holding out his hand, palm upwards. ‘I shall be changing the locks, of course, and installing a security system.’
Ben handed over the keys. His face was pale. ‘I’m sorry, Dr Benitez,’ he said. ‘Really, I am. Please believe me, I didn’t do this. Honestly, I thought you’d agreed to let us use the house just for tonight.’
‘You seriously think I would do that?’ José’s stare was frosty. ‘You need to start looking around for some other kind of work, Ben. I won’t be needing you any more.’
Ben gave a short gasp, as though he’d been landed a blow in his midriff. ‘But I didn’t—honestly, I didn’t