“We need to get going.” She reached for her patch and put it in her handbag. “You have a long drive back to the estate.”
He chose to keep silent a little longer and followed her out the door. At the desk she made an appointment. The receptionist gave her a pair of throwaway sunglasses. “Use these if the light is too bright.”
“Thank you.”
Remi noticed she didn’t put them on. He cupped her elbow and ushered her down the hall to the doors, but the moment they stepped outside, she halted. His arm went around her waist, fearing she felt faint. “What’s wrong?”
“N-nothing,” she stammered. “I’m sorry if I alarmed you. But without the patch it’s like seeing everything in Technicolor after being used to black and white.”
“I’m sure it will take some getting used to.” She nodded and put the sunglasses on.
“Better?” he murmured near her ear.
“Much.” She let out a little laugh. “Ironic isn’t it, when I’ve been praying to see anything at all? You don’t realize what your eye takes in until it can’t.”
Her comment reached right into his heart. He squeezed her waist before removing his hand. They walked to the parking lot at the side of the building and he helped her into his car.
Once behind the wheel he turned to her. “I know you want to phone your brother and tell him the good news, but before you do, I’ve a favor to ask.”
Her head was bowed. “After what you’ve done for me, how could I refuse?”
He stared at her appealing profile. “Stay at the estate until your next appointment.”
“I—I couldn’t do that.”
Her breathing sounded shallow. Why?
“You’ve done too much for me already,” she added.
“You haven’t heard me out.”
“Sorry.” She kneaded her hands nervously. “Please finish what you were going to say.”
“Your ideas for the remodeling are outstanding. Since you can’t go back to being a tour guide yet, I’d like you to talk over our business idea with a building contractor I’ve contacted. With you on the site he’ll be able to capture your vision.”
Her head jerked in his direction, causing the ends of her silky gold hair to swish against her shoulders. Both eyes stared incredulously at him through the sunglasses. With or without them, she took his breath.
“I have a lot of work to do right now and can’t be around that often,” he went on to say. “It will relieve my mind to know you’re overseeing a project that has the potential to make money for both of us. I’m relying on you.”
Maybe if he could get her involved enough, she might even forget to miss her deceased husband for segments of the day. Remi wasn’t fool enough to believe that because she never talked about him, he wasn’t continually on her mind.
When he’d felt her hands on his chest a few minutes ago, he’d feared she’d been wishing he were her husband and just for a split moment he wished he was. The thought was like a punch in the gut.
When Remi had fallen for his wife, he’d thought no man had ever loved more completely. After she and Javier had betrayed him, he’d thought he’d died and would never come back to life. Yet no one was more surprised than Remi, who sat here waiting for Jillian’s answer with more fear and trembling than he cared to admit.
He didn’t even need to look at the woman sitting next to him to realize such definitive statements like never or ever had a brief shelf life.
Jillian struggled to contain her emotions. Had he really asked her to stay at the casa until her next appointment? She knew he didn’t need her in order to go ahead with the remodeling. So what did it mean?
She knew what she wanted it to mean, but she’d only be fooling herself if she thought he had a personal interest in her.
There was only one explanation. Jillian had sought him out with a proposal on behalf of her tour company. Because of the complicated circumstances of the accident, they’d been thrown together and he’d discovered her idea had merit. After having been betrayed by those he’d loved most, it was only natural he’d prefer to work with her instead of a stranger. It was a miracle he trusted her.
Trying to keep the excitement out of her voice she said, “Thank you for your generosity, Remi. I would like to be on hand to see the changes, so I’ll take you up on your offer on one condition.”
“Name it.” She thought he sounded pleased and possibly relieved. After all, he was already planning on supplementing his income with her idea.
“When the contractor doesn’t need me, let me help around the casa or elsewhere. Dr. Filartigua was right. I am a workaholic, so please find something for me to do. That way I won’t feel like I’m always taking from you.”
“Agreed. What do you think you’d like to do?”
“Anything! Just point me in a direction.”
He chuckled. It was a glorious sound, one she’d rarely heard come out of him. “Let’s celebrate with lunch before we head back. Have you ever eaten at the Taberna Los Cabales? It’s on the south side of the Plaza de Santa Ana.”
“No. The few times one of our tours has come to Madrid, we’ve eaten at the Zalacain.”
“That’s a good restaurant for big crowds. The Taberna is much cozier and they serve excellent tapas.”
It thrilled her to be with him no matter what they did. “I’d love to try it.”
He flicked her a penetrating glance that sent feathery sensations through her body. “Better fasten your seat belt.” With that suggestion he started the engine.
“Imagine forgetting that after it saved my life—” She did it quickly. “I’d better call my brother.” Jillian was all thumbs opening her purse.
“I’m sure he’s waiting.”
While they pulled out of the parking lot, she rang Dave, who picked up before the second ring. “Jilly?” he cried her name anxiously. The love she felt from him caused her eyes to smart.
“I have terrific news, brother dear! I can see out of my eye. There’s one little spot that’s blurry and will stay that way, but everything else is perfect. I’ve been so blessed.”
The doctor wasn’t kidding when he’d said it would take a while to get used to partial vision, but Jillian wasn’t going to complain.
Too overcome with emotion, Dave didn’t say anything for a second. Taking advantage of the quiet she said, “I wish I could talk longer but another patient is waiting outside the examining room. Go back to sleep. I’ll call you tonight. ‘Bye for now. Love you.”
Remi couldn’t have helped overhear her tell that little fib about still being in the doctor’s office. He could make of it what he liked. After everything he’d done for her, it would hurt him if he knew how Dave felt. Remi had received enough hurts to last a lifetime. She’d do anything to protect him.
As they drove along she noticed that all the eating establishments were filled, yet Remi managed to get a table on the sidewalk of the Taberna. After they were seated opposite each other at one of the charming bistro tables, a waiter handed them menus and took their wine order.
She shook her head at Remi. “Not this early in the day for me. Especially when I couldn’t manage breakfast this morning. What I’d like is a tall glass of orange juice.”
“I didn’t eat, either,” he confessed sotto voce as if they were conspirators. He looked at the waiter. “Make that