She searched his eyes, looking for a hint of mockery, but found only a heart-rending tenderness. He stroked his fingers down her cheek, lifting her chin as he bent and lightly kissed her lips.
Her heart pounded erratically and a tingle of excitement raced around her. Light-headed and almost giddy, she kissed him back, tentatively at first. This wasn’t the needy kiss of last night—this was giving and caressing. It was loving.
She pulled back from him a little, shyness making her look up from under her lashes as heat infused her cheeks. ‘You don’t have to say and do these things—not now, anyway.’
‘What I say is true.’
His voice was husky and raw as he brushed her hair back from her face, sending waves of delicious sensation all over her.
‘And I only do what I want.’
It was as if a bond was forming with each gentle caress of his hands and each soft word. He was pulling her towards him. This man was so far removed from the compelling man she’d first felt a spark of attraction for she was lost for words.
Without another word he pulled her against him, holding her so close she could hear his heart thumping as wildly as hers. Was he aware of what was happening? Did he also feel as if he was wading out to sea, getting deeper and deeper, unable to turn back to the safety of shore?
* * *
The next morning Santos planned to work, but all he wanted was to be with Georgina. It was as if magic had been in the air last night on the beach and had weaved around them, bringing them closer in a way he’d never been with a woman before.
Was it because she still hadn’t shared his bed? Was that one fact making him delusional? Like a man lost in the desert?
A bit of distance, that was what they needed, he decided, and for the best part of the day he shut himself in his study. He tortured himself when he heard her in the pool, but it was more than desire that raced around his blood. Something new, something undefinable, now simmered there too.
Finally, as the sun was setting, he could stand it no longer and went in search of the woman who would tomorrow be his wife. She was curled on the sofa, her phone in her hand. She looked up at him as he stood in front of her.
‘I can’t get Emma on the phone.’ Her words were rushed.
Guilt shot through him, he’d completely forgotten her need to phone her sister.
‘I sent a text instead.’
He didn’t know how to respond to the obvious anxiety in her voice. Worrying about siblings was not something he’d ever done. Distraction was what she needed, he decided. ‘Would you care to join me for a walk?’
‘Another walk? Tonight?’ She put her phone on a nearby table and smiled at him, the same warm smile she’d given him the night before. ‘It’s supposed to be bad luck for the bride to see the groom on the eve of her wedding.’
‘I won’t tell if you don’t,’ he teased, and held out his hand to her. She hesitated, then laughed softly. It was such a sexy sound he had to brace himself against the onslaught of thudding desire which rushed over him.
‘In that case, how can I refuse?’ She seemed different, as if all pretence had been abandoned, and he knew this was the real Georgina. The fiery, demanding woman who had burst into his office last week no longer existed.
The sea was calmer than he’d ever known it, with the waves hardly making any sound. They walked along the sand hand in hand, as they had done the previous afternoon. The sky was dark and the stars were shining brightly as he stopped and turned to her.
‘I’ve enjoyed your company,’ he said awkwardly. ‘It’s hard to believe it’s only been a few days since we arrived.’
Georgina looked up at him. Was it possible he felt it too? He was so different now, so relaxed, and she knew she was in danger of falling in love with him.
‘Don’t say any more,’ she whispered, putting her finger on his lips. She didn’t want him to give her hope if he didn’t mean it.
He kissed her fingers and before she knew how she was in his arms, her body pressed close to his. Fire tore through her as she kissed him, giving way to all the new emotions she was battling with. She wanted him with a fierceness that shocked her.
He deepened the kiss, his arms pressing her close against him, leaving her in no doubt that she needed to stop things now. She pulled back from him, her heart racing, and her breathing fast.
‘I can’t, Santos.’
‘Can’t what?’ His voice was hoarse and he tried to kiss her again.
‘This,’ she said, moving back from him. ‘We shouldn’t even be seeing one another tonight. It’s bad luck.’
SANTOS’S PULSE POUNDED in his head and a fire coursed through his veins which had little to do with the punishing early-morning run he’d just completed. After yet another night of trying to douse his need for Georgina he’d given up and, despite it being the morning of his wedding, had gone out to find some kind of release. He wasn’t sure how much more he could take.
How could one woman drive him to such distraction?
Refusing to explore the answer to that question, he returned to his villa. As he did so he heard female voices and knew that Señora Santana had arrived, along with the others, to do the bridal hair and make-up. He clenched his hands into fists, fighting hard against the urge to go to Georgina’s room, send everyone out and continue what she’d started last night—because start it she most definitely had.
Patience, he reminded himself, and headed for a cold shower instead. His run had not had the desired effect. Heady lust still throbbed through his veins and he knew of only one antidote for that—other than taking Georgina to his bed right now. Work. Once he’d showered he would shut himself in his office and work until lunchtime, when he would escort Georgina to the beach to become his wife.
An hour later he admitted it was impossible. The figures blurred before him and all he could think about was that kiss last night. At first so innocent and tender, then passion had taken over. Santos realised he’d been so consumed by need he’d behaved like a teenager, raging hormones taking control of his senses, rendering him completely under her spell.
Just as his father had been with Carlo’s mother.
That thought alone had the sobering effect he needed on his body. He could never allow himself to be at the mercy of a woman—wanting her so much that nothing else mattered. Not even his inheritance. He’d never wanted a serious relationship, and certainly didn’t want to get married, but his father’s interfering had changed that.
In a bid to divert his mind he turned to his laptop, scanning the business pages and the headlines from Spain and England before looking at the celebrity gossip columns. Sure enough, just as he’d expected, he and Georgina were featured leaving the party together. Speculation as to what would happen next had filled the columns for the last two days.
At least now nobody would think him grasping enough to marry purely for financial gain. That sort of reputation wouldn’t go down well when making business deals in the future. But if his business rivals thought he had a human side, one touched by love—whatever that was—they would be less guarded with him, giving him the edge he always sought.
He looked up at the clock on the wall. Eleven-thirty. Almost time to seal the hardest deal of his life. He turned off the laptop, put away his papers and headed back to his room to put on his suit.
As he fixed his cufflinks he looked in the mirror. Was he doing the right thing? He thought of the clause in the will, the need for an heir, and knew in that moment he should have told Georgina exactly what might