by Leela Ash
Her key card wouldn’t work no matter how hard she slotted it into the opening. In frustration, she kicked the door; then winced as her foot bounced off solid oak. She had probably broken every last toe on that foot, she thought hazily.
Her confusion tripled as the door swung open from inside and the Spaniard filled the doorway, his eyes as hard as ice chips as he glared disbelievingly down at her.
“Well someone’s due for an Oscar,” Alexandra noted as she brushed past him and into the room.
“What?” he asked tautly, disbelief stamped onto his features at her sheer audacity.
“I should be miffed to find you here, but I’m just too wasted to scold you right now,” she slurred cheerfully as she slumped across the big, wide bed sitting right in the middle of the room.
“You should be miffed?” he repeated, his disbelief escalating.
But she didn’t answer; she had gone straight to sleep. Her only response was a soft snore.
Leandro Alarico growled to himself as his dark eyes strayed again and again to the fairy-like figure sprawled atop his bed. He had been trying to focus on work all day to no avail; his traitorous thoughts had kept drifting to the blonde-haired minx he had seen in reception the other day. And now, just when he had been about to give up and go out for a night on the town in order to try and get her out of his mind, the very same minx had incredibly appeared right at his door, falling down drunk! And as if it couldn’t get any worse, he had just confirmed that she was the Alexandra Jordan he had actually come to Hawaii to find.
The fates could be cruel, he decided, his gaze straying once more to the delectable curve of her bottom, which was revealed by the short hem of her gown which had ridden up as she slept. No woman had affected him as strongly as this one had in...well, no one ever had; and that was why he had been fully prepared to avoid her by relocating to any other one of his hotels for the duration of her stay. He didn’t even know much besides her name, but she was already a thorn in his flesh. He only had to close his eyes for a minute and her pretty gamine face swam beneath his eyes. She had the softest, fairest, smoothest skin he had ever seen on any human being and he felt his blood rush through his veins at an alarming rate as he looked down at her.
His arousal stirred and thickened beneath his pants as his dark eyes rested once more on that tantalizing expanse of bare flesh topped off by a scrap of red lace which promised to be the sexiest pair of panties he had ever laid eyes on. In two seconds flat, he was hard as a rock!
With a muttered oath, Leandro reached over and yanked the offending garment into place. What was he to do now? How had she even known where to find his suite of rooms?
She would certainly provide all those answers once she was awake, he decided grimly but he was not going to babysit her for God knows how long! He would give her two hours to sleep it off, he decided and then he would dunk her unwelcome ass in ice-cold water! That should wake her right up!
Besides, fair was fair; he needed to have a very cold shower right now, thanks to her.
***
Alexandra yawned as she slowly came awake. Her blue eyes scanned the room as she waited for familiarity to kick in, but there was nothing familiar about the big suite she found herself in. It was amazing, and positively reeked of wealth. The room looked to be about the size of a small golf course and was furnished in such opulence and understated luxury that her breath shifted into gasp mode.
The room was done in cream and gold tones and even from the bed, she could see that most of the gold that wasn’t painted onto the walls, was actually real gold. Had she died and gone to heaven? A headache intruded, informing her that she was very much on earth. People didn’t have hangovers in heaven, or did they?
Gingerly, she slid to her feet, trying not to let her jaw drop overly-much as she looked around, turning in a complete three- hundred and sixty degrees to see the room.
How had she gotten here? A hazy memory intruded she suddenly remembered the Spaniard god glaring down at her and looking very displeased. This had to be his room! Dear God, what had she done, she wondered wildly as bile rose in her throat. The door opened just then and Alexandra gulped as she saw six-feet, two inches of bad attitude standing in the doorway, glowering at her.
“Hi,” she croaked.
“Good thing you’re awake, Ms. Jordan. How’s your head?” he asked with surprising equanimity.
“I never told you my name,” she protested, her blue eyes wide in her face.
“Thomas did.”
“Thomas?”
“The hotel manager.”
“Oh?”
“Yes,” he said in a dangerously silky voice. Had he misjudged her, he wondered as he watched her through hooded eyes. What had she hoped to gain by showing up on his doorstep?
“How did I get here?” she asked suspiciously, as she looked back at the dark, brooding man staring quietly at her from across the room.
“You staggered to my door and shoved your way in last night; right before you invited yourself to my bed and proceeded to sprawl onto it, for all the world as though you owned it,” he informed her blithely.
“I don’t like your tone,” she told him frostily.
“Nor did I care much for your intrusion,” he told her in a tone that far exceeded hers in frostiness.
Silence reigned, and then she broke it with a terse, “What’s your name anyhow?”
His upper lip curled into a sneer as he looked contemptuously at her. Now she was going to pretend she didn’t know who he was? Really?
“Leandro Alarico, at your service, Senora,” he said giving her a mocking bow whilst watching her carefully.
Her expression didn’t change; she had obviously known who he was, he decided.
“Since you’re already here Senora and through no fault of yours of course perhaps we should play the hand we’ve been dealt by fate? The night is still young,” he finished silkily, walking towards her until he was so close that his hard chest almost rubbed against hers.
Alexandra’s throat closed up as she stared mutely at him. What? Was he asking her on a date?
Leandro dispassionately read the eager spark of interest in her eyes and with a strange speculative smile playing about his mouth; he said slowly, “Your lips have been driving me crazy all night.”
Before she could so much as draw breath, his head dropped, melding his firm, but surprisingly soft lips with hers. Passion flared, hot and unexpected, sending frissons of electricity coursing through Alexandra’s body and automatically she clung to him.
Her hands shook a little as she wrapped them around his neck, shoving her breasts harder against his chest.
Leandro’s large, warm hands pulled her tighter against his body, holding her firmly in place as he ground his arousal against her belly. His other hand traced her soft curves. Heat rose, fierce and wild and Leandro thrust his tongue boldly into her warm, plaint mouth, reveling in the sensations coursing through his veins.
He slowly reined in his passion, reminding himself fiercely that the woman in his arms could not have wandered into his room by accident. She had designs on him. But what did she want? Did she know who he really was? She would never tell him outright, but he needed time to find out, he decided.
He raised his dark head and looked down at her, his eyes smoldering, his breathing harsh as he enunciated, “What’s your price?”
Desire fled, to be replaced by bone-chilling cold as she numbly said, “Excuse me?”
“What’s your price for a night?” he repeated with deliberate insult in his tone. He was still half-certain she knew exactly who he was. Perhaps she was just a good actress.
A red haze swam before Alexandra’s eyes and without stopping to think about it, she let fly with her open hand, slapping his face as hard as she could and leaving a satisfying welt behind. She wrenched herself from his arms, unconsciously scrubbing her lips clean with the back of her hand as she glared balefully up at him.
“You’re a pig!”<
br />
“Then I’m in excellent company aren’t I?” he taunted.
Her hand was half way to his face again before he caught her it, his hand clamping about hers like a vice. There was a biting fury in his voice as he said in an ice cold voice, “Touch me one more time and I’ll make you wish you hadn’t.”
Chapter Three
Three days later, Alexandra Jordan was still calling herself ten kinds of fool as she lazily kicked away a small stone lying on the sand along the beach. She had actually started to think she could like the guy when he had suddenly morphed into a scary monster who’d actually threatened to hit her back.
True he hadn’t said it in so many words, but a dolt could draw inference; that had been exactly what he’d meant, she insisted, silencing her protesting subconscious.
Goose bumps popped out anew on her arms as she remembered the way he had glared down at her. He had a temper she realized. Beneath that veneer of wealth and sophistication there was a great big sizzle of fire. She had felt that heat when he kissed her and then when he had gotten mad, the spark had swelled in his eyes and scared her further.
A slight breeze ruffled the leaves of a huge coconut tree and with a sigh, she sank onto the sand beneath its shade and leaned back against it, shutting her eyes.
“Hey Sexy,” someone called.
Alexandra deliberately kept her eyes shut.
“Hey, turn around so we can see your ass!” the voice now intoned, even closer.
Her eyes flew open in shock. How could anyone be so crude; she wondered, as she stared up into the laughing faces of three teenage boys who looked like they could be trouble. They were just kids true, but she had learned early in life never to underestimate the stupidity of boys in a group. Plus, it was just dawning on her that apart from an elderly couple resting under an umbrella down the beach, the place was deserted.
“Where are your parents?” she asked in a saccharine sweet voice that sounded every bit as condescending as it was meant to.
The boys dissolved into raucous laughter and she felt a fresh crop of real goosebumps appear on her arms.
“Hear that Jamie? She wants to know where our folks are,” one of the boys laughed, elbowing the thin, hungry-looking one in the middle who she suspected was also the leader of the pack.
“You come with us and we’ll be more than happy to show you where our parents are,” the leader said.
As he spoke, they converged on her, moving closer and closer. She rose shakily to her feet and in her most adult voice said, “Don’t come any closer. My husband is going to be here in a few minutes.”
That gave them pause. Their eyes wandered stupidly down to her naked stomach. In that moment, she wished passionately that she was wearing a tee-shirt and jeans and not the skimpy bikini bra and panties she had on. She was filling them out nicely.
“You can’t be married. You’re not pregnant!” Jaime observed, clearly trying to land another clumsy insult.
What? Stupid or not, these kids were trouble, and she felt panic beginning to rise like a heat up her spine.
“Yeah, and I’m not seeing any rings,” his friend chipped in, stretching a hand towards her that had her jumping back automatically.
“You’ll be seeing stars next if you lay one finger on my wife,” a familiar, deep baritone said with quiet authority from behind the boys.
They jumped comically and hastily scattered, murmuring quick apologies as they scampered for safety after taking one quick collective look at the large man who looked like he ate boys like them for breakfast.
Alexandra hesitantly lifted her eyes to Leandro’s, her pulse already pounding in her veins as she locked eyes with his dark, dark ones. Why had he rushed to her rescue, she wondered even as her ‘admirers’ beat a hasty retreat?
“Why would you help me?” she asked voicing the question foremost in her mind.
He shrugged, “I’m not a complete monster, despite what you choose to believe.”
He seemed different somehow, she noted, her blue eyes scanning him from head to toe to decipher what it was. He was every bit as dashing and sexy as ever but he did seem less... aloof somehow. She remembered how he had insulted her the last time and her spine stiffened, going straight as a poker.
“I see. Well you’ve filled your damsel in distress quota for the day, why don’t you toddle off to find your merry band of hookers. I hear you could get them a dollar per trick in these parts,” she said bitterly as she gathered up her novel and shoulder bag before flouncing off in the direction of the hotel. She was eager to put as much distance as possible between them and she assured herself that it wasn’t just because he made her pulse leap all over the place.
Leandro stood back, enjoying the furious sway of her curvy hips. God, she was a beauty!
His arm shot out like a vice and gripped her arm with surprising gentleness as he drew even with her. She drew to a halt, looking up at him, into dark, stormy eyes. His hair ruffled in the wind, standing around his head in artful disarray that irrationally made her want to run her fingers through it.
“I deserved that. I’m sorry,” he said, his black eyes boring into hers with blazing sincerity stamped into his features. “I behaved like a pompous ass and I had no right to. Plus I insulted you and if you never speak to me again, you’d be justified.”
What he didn’t tell her was that he had wanted to buy time to verify if she knew who he truly was. His investigations had revealed that she did not after all and he had relaxed accordingly.
Alexandra sighed. He sure did know how to take the wind right out of her sails.
“Why?” she asked.
He didn’t pretend to misunderstand. “I wanted you too much and my passions can run a little too strong at times. I just needed to take a step back and think things through. I handled it wrong, and as I said, I’m sorry.”
The apology sounded sincere and maybe even a bit awkward on his lips. She had an inkling he wasn’t a man who apologized very much. Well why would he? He was some sort of rich mogul obviously. Even now, clad in nothing but a bright tourist shirt, shorts and flip-flops, he managed to look as though he had just stepped off the pages of GQ.
“You threatened to hit me!” she reminded him waspishly.
“Are you forgetting that you had just struck me and were preparing to do it again? Interesting double standard you have. Besides, I did not hit you. I only wanted to get you to back off and perhaps open your eyes a little. Come on, we both know you have nothing to fear from me. You think I’m the sort of man to hit someone so much weaker than himself? At worst I would have had to restrain you had you continued on like that, and in hindsight, that would have been fun for both of us. Think of all the fun I would have had rubbing up against you as I strained to get the binds in place; and think of how much you would have enjoyed the contact as you pretended to resist,” he said, waggling his brows at her.
“You are a pervert,” she told him, without heat.
“Guilty,” he agreed, grinning happily.
She stared at him a beat, the ice around her heart inexorably melting as she looked up into those intense, hooded dark eyes.
“It was merely a wrong choice of words. Let me make it up to you,” he pressed. “Have dinner with me?”
She stared at him. “I don’t understand.”
“It’s a meal where two people sit down to eat, usually in the evenings,” he told her, amusement glinting in his dark gaze.
Alexandra blushed gloriously, cursing her fair complexion even as he chuckled.
“Alright.”
“I’ll come pick you up,” he promised, pressing a light kiss onto her cheeks and Alexandra sternly cautioned her nerves to stop jumping all over the place in reaction.
***
Alexandra took another look at her reflection in the mirror; she looked hot, even if she did say so herself. Her blond curls had been caught up in an intricate knot atop her head with wispy tendrils escaping to fall against her neck and bare shoulders; she wa
s wearing a black, sheath dress that hugged her curves, making her look svelte and shapely. High heels accentuated her long shapely legs making them appear even longer and the slight tan she had acquired in three days on the Island gave her skin a golden undertone that positively made her glow. She had contoured her face expertly, giving her an instantly slimmer look; and the dark color of her gown helped too.
She knew she looked nice, and she couldn’t wait to see Leandro. There was just something about him that made her want to throw caution to the wind.
She laughed happily, twirling about with such unchecked excitement that she managed to nudge off one of her earrings.
“Oops,” she muttered, bending over to pick it up.
The earring was easy to spot, the tiny diamond twinkling on the dark rug. As her eyes fell on it, she thought of Andrew Carson, her ex-fiancé. He had bought her those earrings. They were actually the only pair she owned because she had only gotten her ears pierced after he bought them for her. She had not thought about him in days, she realized with a jolt. Ever since she had met Leandro, he had been all she could think about; aggravating man that he was.
Slowly, she sank onto her bed, examining the earring in her hands as she recalled the betrayal she had suffered. She waited for the excruciating pain to come again but all she felt was a dull throb of sadness. Suddenly, Alexandra realized that she was healing; she was getting over Andrew, and with amazing speed! She knew this new uber-wealthy guy in her life had something to do with it alright.
What did it say about their relationship though, that she was already getting over him in less than a week? And why did she care…he had been an ass! She realized happily that her heart was finally catching up with what her brain had known for some time. She deserved better.
A slight knock sounded at the door and hastily, she sprang to her feet. She took off the second earring and wrapped both of them in a bit of tissue. She would sell them or something, she decided as she picked up her little purse. She could never bear to wear them again. That chapter of her life was over. Finished. Kaput. Amen.