Mistress of La Rioja. Sharon Kendrick

A dark brow was arched in arrogant query. ‘I can assure you that dinner is exactly as usual.’

      She supposed it was—he didn’t strike her as the kind of man who would eat his dinner on a tray in front of the television! ‘Oh, I see,’ she said, rather weakly.

      Luis studied her. He had not been expecting her down yet, imagining her to be transforming her appearance in the privacy of her room. He noticed that her face was as untouched as it had been at the airport. She had not bothered to apply any make-up and her hair was still wet from the shower. The overall effect made her look fresh and clean and much younger than her years. Almost innocent. Luis’s mouth twisted into a cynical line.

      He was used to women using every weapon in their armoury in order to impress him. Carefully applied make-up and gowns designed to show off magnificent cleavages, or the length of their legs. At a time like this he would not have expected finery—but he had been anticipating that a little extra effort would be made.

      Clearly, Sophie Mills was not trying to impress him!

      Her cotton dress was as unassuming as it was possible to be, and yet its simplicity made the curve of her high breasts all the more beguiling. She was an unnerving combination of innocence and experience, and Luis felt the slow and reluctant flicker of arousal. Perhaps the effect was deliberate, he thought. Perhaps she knew precisely how a man would react to such an innocent woman look, with her bare, pouting lips which cried out to be kissed.

      ‘Please,’ he said coolly, ‘drink your soup.’

      She picked up her spoon and sipped at it, but in between sips her eyes were drawn irresistibly to her host.

      How daunting he looked, and not just because he had seated himself at the far end of the table. No. There was something unapproachable in the cold magnificence and the warning light which gleamed in the unfathomable depths of his eyes.

      ‘Señor?’

      Sophie looked round as a beautiful young Spanish girl appeared at the door.

      ‘You will have some wine, Sophie?’ He gestured to a dusty bottle.

      She needed something to help her relax. ‘Please.’

      He murmured in Spanish and the girl immediately poured red wine into Sophie’s crystal goblet and topped up Luis’s own.

      Sophie drank some. ‘It’s…it’s lovely.’

      ‘It is a bottle from one of our finest cases.’

      ‘Then I am honoured,’ said Sophie.