Taken the Spaniard's Virgin

by Lucy Monroe

  “Have dinner with me tonight.”

  She’d been surprised he hadn’t pushed the issue earlier, but the man knew his way around women. He’d given her time to think, time to decide if she wanted to see him some more. He’d dialed in right away that control was important to her and having time to make a decision would make her feel like she wasn’t losing it. His perception should worry her, but she was too busy experiencing new feelings.

  Not just the desire that was such an incredibly different thing for her, but weird emotions, too. She really liked Miguel Menendez. He got to the heart of the woman that hid behind the plastic smile.

  It was both scary and very, very exhilarating.

  “Okay,” she heard herself saying with a sense of fatalism that was also new to her. “But the shoot tomorrow starts before the cock crows. I need to be in my suite early.”

  “I am happy to make sure you get to bed early if that is what you want.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  SHE’Dbe naive to think he meant anything innocent by that remark and she might be inexperienced, but she was far from naive. She frowned accordingly.

  But that only made him smile. “You are cute when you are trying to look angry.”

  She couldn’t remember the last time someone had called her cute. Not since she was a child…before she developed the poised bearing of a professional model. It was strangely endearing. Too much about this man got to her in ways that were risky for her peace of mind.

  “Believe me, when I’m trying to look mad…I do.”

  His dark brow rose in mocking amusement. “If you say so.”

  “Don’t make the mistake of patronizing me.” She drank from her bottle of chilled water.

  “I would not.”

  “I’m no pushover, Miguel.”

  “This I have no difficulty believing.”

  That made her feel a little better. “I need to get back.”

  “I will pick you up at six for an early dinner.”

  “I didn’t know any restaurants served dinner that early around here.”

  “I will take care of it.”

  She supposed billionaire tycoons got fed wherever they wanted, whenever they wanted. “Okay.”

  Then he’d let her get back to work, but he hadn’t left.

  The photographer called an end to the shoot and Miguel was there with a floor-length, long-sleeved, light cotton white robe that would protect her from the sun instantly. She wondered vaguely where it had come from, but didn’t hesitate to pull it on. Her skin didn’t need the baking rays of the sun on it any longer than absolutely necessary.

  Her flawless, youthful complexion was one of her trademarks.

  The photographer winked at her before leaving. The ad design manager smiled at her and nodded toward Miguel before he, too, left. At least neither man seemed angry she’d caught the attention of the mogul. On the other hand,was that a good thing? Were these people so used to seeing Miguel make a play for their ad models that they took it in stride?

  “You are frowning again, looking infinitely more disturbed than you were earlier.” He adjusted the robe on her shoulders, his gaze concerned if she could make herself believe it.

  Cinching the robe tighter, she asked, “Do you hit on all the models that get hired by your ad department?”

  “My company is far too big for me to oversee every photo shoot and not all cover models are female. I have definite heterosexual biases,” he joked.

  Her stomach plummeted. Misdirection was not the same thing as a denial and she needed solid denial to feel even sort of good about going out with him. “I think we’d better give dinner a miss.”

  “Do not be ridiculous.” Irritation laced his voice. “Do you seriously believe I need my ad department to find me dates?”

  “No, but that doesn’t mean you don’t take advantage of the situation.”

  “You are truly bothered by this?”

  “Yes.”

  He called the ad campaign manager, who had just exited the small trailer he’d been using as headquarters for the shoot, over. “Stephan.”

  The other man hitched his satchel on his shoulder, obviously ready to leave the remaining break down to the technicians. “Yes, señor?”

  “Tell Miss Taylor how often I have hit on models employed by our company.” His voice had chilled with distaste on the wordshit on .

  Stephan measured her with his eyes, his dark gaze clearly filled with surprise. Whether it was surprise that she would have the temerity to question his super powerful employer or at the question itself, she did not know.

  “Never that I have seen, señor,” he said with either genuine sincerity or a very good approximation of it.

  Heat scorched up her neck into her cheeks. “It doesn’t matter. I still don’t think this is a good idea.” She fluttered her hands, indicating them.

  Miguel dismissed his employee with a look and then turned to her, his expression hard and not at all potential-lover-like. “I think it is a very good idea and so do you, but for some reason you are afraid. I assure you, you have no reason to be.”

  “You’re a bad risk for a woman like me. I think, honestly, that you are a bad risk period.”

  The words should have offended him, but they didn’t. His smile was back. “Life would be very boring without risk, do you not agree?”

  He hadn’t even bothered to try to deny it. But then, even the business journals alluded to a love ’em and leave ’em reputation for him. “Maybe, but some risks are worse than others.”

  “And some pay off in dividends that are unimaginable.”

  “You think dinner with you falls in that category?”

  “I guarantee it.”

  “Arrogant.”

  “Confident.”

  “With you, it’s the same thing.”

  He laughed again and she capitulated. “Okay, dinner. But you aren’t putting me to bed, early or otherwise,” she warned him.

  “Duly noted.” He smiled and her inner woman actually rocked back on her heels. “May I see you home?”

  “I can take a taxi.”

  “There is no need. I have my car at your disposal.”

  “I suppose that would be all right.”

  “Such enthusiasm.”

  She crossed her arms and tilted her head back to meet his eyes dead-on. “I would think you get enough sycophantic behavior from others.”

  His lips quirked. “Touché.”

  “Give me a second to put my clothes on and I’ll be ready to go.” The bikini covered less than most of her undergarments and no way was she riding back to her hotel clad in it, or even the robe he’d found somewhere for her.

  “No problem.”

  It didn’t take her long to change into the short white crocheted Lilly Pulitzer dress and flat silver sandals she’d worn on arrival to the shoot. Even fully lined, the dress was comfortably lightweight for the intense Spanish summer heat. She ran a brush through her shoulder-length, professionally highlighted hair and smeared some clear gloss onto her chapping lips. Miguel had been right about one thing. It had been a very hot shoot.

  Grabbing her bag, she went to join him. She hurried and marveled at the feeling like she needed to do so.She wanted to be with him. It was a heady and nerve-racking sensation. Her mom had warned her it could happen like this, but Amber had always thought she was immune. She’d never been in love and frankly, considering the way her mom still grieved the loss of her dad before she was ever born, she didn’t crave the intense emotion, either.

  She’d always been happy. Content. She had a super demanding career which she adored. A couple of good friends, though she saw them infrequently. One was a fellow model and the other she’d met at college. She and her mom were close.

  She dated, albeit rarely, but she didn’t need a man in her life. He would just mess things up. Particularly a man like Miguel. He would expect her to make concessions for him. Would he reciprocate, though?

  She tried to convince herself sh
e was getting ahead of herself, but deep down inside, she knew she wasn’t. This man spelled trouble in her life in capital letters. So, why was she rushing to meet him?

  Because like he’d said…some risks were worth the trouble.

  He drove a black Ferrari like he’d taken training with the Andretti family. And yet she never felt at risk, never felt like he drove recklessly. Just very fast and with tons of confidence.

  In fact, she kind of liked it. For a woman who never drove over the speed limit herself and actually drove as little as possible, but when she did…it was always very cautiously—it was an odd sort of pleasure. But it was indisputably pleasure nevertheless.

  “So, have you enjoyed your time in Barcelona?” he asked as he shifted gears.

  “Yes. I haven’t done a lot of international travel, so it’s been something of a perk doing this shoot.”

  “It is one of your bigger campaigns, yes?”

  “Did you do your homework while I was busy posing for the camera?”

  “I made a phone call or two.”

  That didn’t surprise her. “And what did you find out?”

  “Enough.”

  She turned in her seat to face him. “What does that mean?”

  “I am very attracted to you.”

  “I got that impression.”

  “I have to be careful of the women I date.”

  “Are you saying you had a quick rundown on my character investigated?”

  “In essence, yes.”

  “Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever been investigated by a potential date before.” She wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

  “It was hardly a major investigation.”

  “How could it be? Your investigator only had a couple of hours.”

  His long brown fingers curled around the steering wheel like they were an extension of it. “He had long enough to determine that you don’t make it a habit to date wealthy men and file lawsuits for support after. In point of fact, he saw little evidence of you dating at all.”

  It wasn’t a question, but she could feel him waiting for her response all the same.

  “Fishing?” she asked, trying to determine if she was offended that he’d had her checked out on the premise he mentioned. She supposed that a man with his wealth had to be careful, but it still felt strange in a not so nice way.

  “Maybe. You are too beautiful not to have frequent dates.”

  Definitely fishing. “You don’t sound like you trust your investigator’s report.”

  “Maybe I am simply curious about you.” There was a level of sincerity in his tone that struck a similar chord in her.

  “Most men who ask a model out are looking for adornment. That role leaves me cold.”

  “You have decided I did not request your company with such shallow motives?” He sounded pleased by the prospect.

  “Fairly confident, but the truth is…I didn’t even think about it this time.” There was such a thing as being too honest.

  So, why did she feel compelled to open her mouth and spit out potentially embarrassing truths with this man? All of her usual reactions were off with Miguel. He drew too much from her. Too much honesty. Too much physical response. Too much everything.

  “You feel it as well.” He didn’t sound happy, so much as confused. Perhaps his reaction to her was just as out of the ordinary for him.

  It was a comforting scenario, so she decided to stick with it. “What exactly do you think I’m feeling?” she probed.

  “This thing between us.” One hand came off the steering wheel to gesture between them.

  “The attraction.” She wasn’t sure what else to label it.

  “I would call it super attraction.” He shook his head. “I have not reacted to a woman like this since I was a young man. Do not think I make it habit of using company resources to run instant background checks on women. I am not usually so impatient.”

  “I know what you mean.” Relief flooded her that her comfort scenario was more reality than fantasy. He felt how big the thing was between them just like she did. “It’s more than attraction.”

  “Yes.”

  Another good answer.

  “So, what do we do about it?”

  “You have to ask?”

  “I’m not one for falling into bed on a first date.” Or any date, but that wasn’t something she needed to mention right now.

  He cast her a sidelong glance from his gray eyes. “Let us enjoy one another’s company and see where it goes.”

  “I’ve never been very good at taking things as they come.”

  “It is always good to try new things.”

  “My agent says the same thing…usually when he’s trying to talk me into doing a spread I’m going to hate.”

  It came again, that laughter that made her insides melt. “I assure you, I am not luring you into something you will hate. Quite the opposite.”

  She had a feeling he did not know how right he was. She very much feared Miguel Menendez was a man she could love.

  Miguel turned off the car in the valet circle for Amber’s hotel. “I do not want to leave you.”

  The beautiful woman beside him jolted as if he’d shocked her.

  Hell, he’d shocked himself. He sounded like a needy adolescent, but he only had a few weeks before he flew out for Prague. He hoped to convince Amber to spend as much of that time with him as possible. He had already confirmed with her agent that after the shoot for his company was done, she planned to spend a week in Spain on holiday.

  He had every intention of taking advantage of that fact, but each moment in Amber’s company had reiterated to him how important her career was. No way would she take a sabbatical to go with him to Prague. And why he was even considering such a possibility, he could not fathom. Women were not permanent fixtures in his life. No woman had even made the status of semi-long-term.

  He enjoyed feminine companionship and sex was important to him, but he had never wanted to keep a woman in his life before. Now was really no different. He simply felt a stronger physical attraction to Amber than he had to another woman in so long, he couldn’t remember another time. Once they sated their mutual desire, these strange thoughts of togetherness would no doubt pass.

  She ran her hands through her multicolored blond hair, messing it up sexily and his libido surged. “I need a shower.”

  “You have a suite.”

  “You want to come up?” Her aquamarine eyes doubted the viability of that suggestion.

  He had no doubts. “Yes.”

  She bit her lip and looked away, the gesture at odds with the sophisticated woman he knew her to be. “I suppose that would be all right.”

  She sounded unsure…innocent. That turned him on in ways it probably shouldn’t. He’d dated many women from her world, just none that had been contracted to work for his company. It was not a world where innocence or uncertainty lasted long. She’d come too far to be either of those things, but he enjoyed the illusion. And best of all, he didn’t think she was projecting it on purpose.

  She was as affected by their meeting as he had been and it made her vulnerable. Why that was so appealing he did not know, but it was.

  She looked nervously at him. He smiled, though he doubted his expression was reassuring. He was too hungry for her. Getting out of the car, he considered the possibility that she was playing him rather than honestly vulnerable and dismissed it.

  The vulnerability was real, but the rest might be the behavior of a master tactician. She had the reluctant interest bit down pat anyway. No chance was she sincerely as reticent about going out with him as she had acted. Yes, the beguiling Amber Taylor knew exactly how to increase interest in a man like him. Underneath civilization’s veneer, he was a predator at heart. Skittish prey only made him more determined to succeed in the chase.

  He thought he had been played by the best, but this woman was light years beyond the average female in securing his attention. And he didn’t mind at all. In fact, he a
dmired her.

  She was also clearly a master at discretion. Even when he’d subtly quizzed her, she had been adept at sidestepping his inquiry about her dating habits rather than answering them. As he would expect if she was used to dating men in prominent positions. With her beauty and intelligence, he had no doubt she was. However, Miguel’s investigator was fairly confident she was not involved in a relationship currently.

  She’d been telling the truth when she said she worked hard and if not twenty-hour workdays, long ones all the same. She’d had back-to-back jobs for the past several months. No man in his position would tolerate his woman being quite that unavailable.

  She had to be unattached at the moment.

  Both his brain and his libido insisted on it.

  The libido taking precedence as he touched her hand to help her from the car. “Thank you for not sending me away.”

  Her gaze slipped up to meet his as her hand seemed to flutter against his, her perfect oval features set in an indecipherable expression. “If you want the truth, I feel the same…” She paused as if looking for the word. “Greedy desire for your company.”

  He liked hearing that far more than he would have expected. And it didn’t fit the “playing hard to get” role she’d been in earlier, either. There was a gut level honesty to this woman that years working in her cutthroat industry had not been able to beat out of her. He liked that. He liked it a lot.

  He smiled and took her well-toned, honey gold arm in his. “What floor are you staying on?”

  The woman’s body was as close to perfect as it was possible to get without plastic augmentation and she was too genuine to be the result of cosmetic surgery.

  Her eyes opened wide in mock surprise. “Are you saying your sources have not already supplied you with that knowledge?”

  “Actually, no, they haven’t.” He hadn’t thought to ask. It had never occurred to him that she wouldn’t offer it.

  “You’ll have to chastise them for being behind the ball on that one.”

  “Considering the fact that my company booked your rooms, you are right. It would have been all too easy to come by the information.” If he had asked.

  “Exactly.”

  He shook his head.