Taming the Last AcostaItalian Boss, Proud Miss Prim

by Susan Stephens

  And whose fault was that?

  Okay, so she’d been confused—and sore for a while after Beth’s birth.

  And now?

  Not so sore. But still confused.

  ‘Is it a new polo pony you want me to see?’ she asked, her heart flapping wildly in her chest at the thought of being one to one with him.

  ‘No,’ Kruz said impatiently, as if that was the furthest thing from his mind. ‘I just need your opinion on something. Why all the questions, Romy? Do you want to come or not?’

  ‘Wellies, jeans and mac?’ she said patiently. ‘Or smart office wear?’

  ‘You have some?’

  ‘Stop laughing at me,’ she warned.

  ‘Those leggings and flat boots you used wear around ROCK! will do just fine. Ten minutes?’

  ‘Do you want a coffee before we go—?’ Kruz was in a rush, she concluded as the line was disconnected.

  Ten minutes and counting and she had discarded as many outfits before reverting reluctantly to Kruz’s suggestion. It was the best idea, but that didn’t mean that following anyone’s suggestions but her own came easily to her. Her hair had grown much longer, so she tied it back. She didn’t want to look as if she was trying too hard.

  What would they talk about...?

  Beth, of course, Romy concluded, adding some lips gloss to her stubborn mouth. And a touch of grey eyeshadow... And just a flick of mascara... Oh, and a spritz of scent. That really was it now. She’d make coffee to take her mind off his arrival—and when he did arrive she would sip demurely, as if she didn’t have a care in the world.

  While she was waiting for the coffee to brew she studied some pictures that had been taken of Kruz at a recent polo match. She would have done better. She would have taken him in warrior mode—restless, energetic and frustratingly sexy.

  While she was restless, energetic and frustrated, Romy concluded wryly, leaning back in her chair.

  She leapt to her feet when the doorbell rang, feeling flushed and guilty, with her head full of erotic thoughts. Kruz had his own key, but while she was staying at the penthouse he always rang first. It was a little gesture that said Kruz respected her privacy. She liked that. Why pretend? She liked everything about him.

  She had to force herself to take tiny little steps on her way to the door.

  Would she ever get used to the sight of this man?

  As Kruz walked past her into the room he filled the space with an explosion of light. It was like having an energy source standing in front of her. Even dressed in heavy London clothes—jeans, boots, jacket with the collar pulled up—he was all muscle and tan: an incredible sight. You look amazing, she thought as he swept her into his arms for a disappointingly chaste kiss. Was it possible to die of frustration? If so, she was well on her way.

  ‘I’ve missed you,’ he said, pulling her by the hand into the kitchen. ‘Do I smell coffee? Are you free for the rest of the day?’

  ‘So many questions,’ she teased him, exhaling with shock as he swung her in front of him. ‘I have some free time,’ she admitted cautiously, suddenly feeling unaccountably shy. ‘Why?’

  ‘Because I’m excited,’ Kruz admitted. ‘Can’t you tell?’

  Pressing her lips down, she pretended she couldn’t.

  He laughed.

  Her heart was going crazy. Were they teasing each other now?

  ‘There’s something I really want to show you,’ he said, turning serious.

  ‘Okay...’ She kept her expression neutral as Kruz dropped his hands from her arms. She still didn’t know what to think. He was giving her no clues. ‘Did you tell Nacho and Grace where we’re going?’ She dropped this in casually, but Kruz wasn’t fooled.

  ‘You don’t get it out of me that way,’ he said. ‘Don’t look so worried. We’ll only be a few minutes away.’

  All out of excuses, she poured the coffee.

  ‘Smells good.’

  Not half as good as Kruz, she thought, sipping demurely as wild, erotic thoughts raged through her head. Kruz smelled amazing—warm, clean and musky man—and he was just so damn sexy in those snug-fitting jeans, with a day’s worth of stubble and that bone-melting look in his eyes.

  ‘I could go away again if you prefer,’ he said, slanting her a dangerous grin to remind her just how risky it was to let her mind wander while Kruz was around. ‘Come on,’ he said, easing away from the counter. ‘I’m an impatient man.’ Dumping the rest of his coffee down the sink, he grabbed her hand.

  ‘Shall I bring my camera?’ she said, rattling her brain cells into line.

  ‘No,’ he said. ‘If you can’t live without recording every moment, I’ll take some shots for you.’

  He said this good-humouredly, but she realised Kruz had a point. She would relax more without her camera and take more in. Whatever Kruz wanted to show her was clearly important to him, and focusing a camera lens was in itself selective. She didn’t want to miss a thing.

  If she could concentrate on anything but Kruz, that was, Romy concluded as he helped her into her coat. It wasn’t easy to shrug off the seductive warmth as his hands brushed her neck, her shoulders and her back. Kruz was one powerful opiate—and one she mustn’t succumb to until she knew what this was about.

  ‘So what now?’ she said briskly as she locked up the penthouse.

  ‘Now you have to be patient,’ he warned, holding the door.

  ‘I have to be patient?’ she said.

  Kruz was already heading for the stairs.

  ‘Remember the benefits of delay.’

  She stopped at the top of the stairs, telling herself that it was just a careless remark. It wasn’t enough to stop fireworks going off inside her, but that was only because she hadn’t thought about sex in a long time.

  Today it occupied all her thoughts.

  * * *

  She was thrilled when Kruz drove them to the area of London she loved. ‘You remembered,’ she said.

  He had drawn to a halt outside a gorgeous little mews house in a quaint cobbled square. It was just a short walk from the picturesque canal she had told him about.

  ‘You haven’t made any secret of your preferred area,’ he said, ‘so I thought you might like to take a look at this.’

  ‘Do you own it?’ she asked, staring up at the perfectly proportioned red brick house.

  ‘I’ve been looking it over for a friend and I’d value your opinion.’

  ‘I’d be more than happy to give it,’ she said, smiling with anticipation.

  And happy to dream a little, Romy thought as Kruz opened the car door for her. There was nothing better than snooping around gorgeous houses—though she usually did it between the covers of a glossy magazine or on the internet. This was so much better. This was a dream come true. She paused for a moment to take in the cute wrought-iron Juliet balconies, with their pots of pink and white geraniums spilling over the smart brickwork. The property was south-facing, and definitely enjoyed the best position on the square.

  She hadn’t seen anything yet, Romy realised when Kruz opened the front door and she walked inside. ‘This is gorgeous!’ she gasped, struck immediately by the understated décor and abundance of light.

  ‘The bedrooms are all on the ground floor,’ he explained, ‘so the upper floor can take advantage of a double aspect view over the cobbled square, and over the gardens behind the building. You don’t think having bedrooms downstairs is a problem?’

  ‘Not at all,’ she said, gazing round. The floor was pale oak strip, and the bedrooms opened off a central hallway.

  ‘There are four bedrooms and four bathrooms on this level,’ Kruz explained, ‘and the property opens onto a large private garden. Plus there’s a garage, and off-street parking—which is a real bonus in the centre of London.’

  ‘Yo
ur friend must be very wealthy,’ Romy observed, increasingly impressed as she looked around. ‘It’s been beautifully furnished. I love the Scandinavian style.’

  ‘My friend can afford it. Why don’t we take a look upstairs? It’s a large, open-plan space, with a kitchen and an office as well as a studio.’

  ‘The studio must be fabulous,’ she said. ‘There’s so much light in the house—and it feels like a happy house,’ she added, following Kruz upstairs.

  She gave a great sigh of pleasure when they reached the top of the stairs and the open-plan living room opened out in front of them. There were white-painted shutters on either side of the floor-to-ceiling windows, and the windows overlooked the cobbled square at one end of the room and the gardens at the other. Everywhere was decorated in clean Scandinavian shades: white, ivory and taupe, with highlights of ice-blue and a pop of colour played out in the raspberry-pink cushions on the plump, inviting sofa. Even the ornaments had been carefully chosen—a sparkling crystal clock and a cherry-red horse, even a loving couple entwined in an embrace.

  ‘And there’s a rocking horse!’ she exclaimed with pleasure, catching sight of the beautifully carved dapple grey. ‘Your friends are very lucky. The people who own this house have thought of everything for a family home.’

  ‘And even if someone wanted to work from home here, they could,’ Kruz pointed out, showing her the studio. ‘Well?’ he said. ‘What do you think? Shall I tell my friend to go ahead and buy it?’

  ‘He’d be mad not to.’

  ‘Do you think we had better check the nursery before I tell him to close the deal?’

  ‘Yes, perhaps we better had,’ Romy agreed. ‘At least I have some idea of what’s needed in a nursery now.’ She laughed. ‘So I can offer my opinion with confidence.’

  ‘Goodness,’ she said as Kruz opened the door on a wonderland. ‘Your friend must have bought out Khalifa’s!’ she exclaimed. Then, quite suddenly, her expression changed.

  ‘Romy?’

  Mutely, she shook her head.

  ‘What is it?’ Kruz pressed. ‘What’s wrong?’

  ‘What’s wrong,’ she said quietly, ‘is that it took me so long to work this out. But I got there eventually.’

  ‘Got where? What do you mean?’ Kruz said, frowning.

  She lifted her chin. ‘I mean, you got me wrong,’ she said coldly. ‘So wrong.’

  ‘What are you talking about, Romy?’

  ‘You bring me to a fabulous mews house in my favourite area of London because you think I can be bought—’

  ‘No,’ Kruz protested fiercely.

  ‘No?’ she said. ‘You’re the friend in question, aren’t you? Why couldn’t you just be honest with me from the start?’

  ‘Because I knew what you’d say,’ Kruz admitted tersely. ‘Dios, Romy! I already know how pig-headed you are.’

  ‘I’m pig-headed?’ she said. ‘You’ll stop at nothing to get your own way.’

  All he could offer was a shrug. ‘I wanted this to be a surprise for you,’ he admitted. ‘I’ve never done this sort of thing before, so I just went ahead and did what felt right to me. I’m sorry if I got it wrong—got you wrong,’ he amended curtly.

  ‘Tell me you haven’t bought it,’ she said.

  ‘I bought it some time ago. I bought it on the day I brought you home from hospital—which is why I had to leave you. I bought it so you and Beth would always have somewhere nice to live—whatever you decide about the future. This is your independence, Romy. This is my gift to you and to our daughter. If you feel you can’t take it, I’ll put it in Beth’s name. It really is that simple.’

  For you, she thought. ‘But I still don’t understand. What are you saying, Kruz?’

  ‘What I’m saying is that I’m still not sure what you want, but I know what I want. I’ve known for a long time.’

  ‘But you don’t say anything to me—’

  ‘Because you’re never listening,’ he said. ‘Because you haven’t been ready to hear me. And because big emotional statements aren’t my style.’

  ‘Then change your style,’ she said heatedly.

  ‘We’ve both got a lot to learn, Romy—about loving and giving and expressing emotion, and about each other. We must start somewhere. For Beth’s sake.’

  ‘And that somewhere’s here?’ she demanded, opening her arms wide as she swung around to encompass the beautiful room.

  ‘If you want it to be.’

  ‘It’s too much,’ she protested.

  ‘It isn’t nearly enough,’ Kruz argued quietly. Putting his big warm hands on her shoulders, he kept her still. ‘Listen to me, Romy. For God’s sake, listen to me. You have no idea what you and Beth have done for me. My nightmares have gone—’

  ‘They’ve gone?’ She stopped, knowing that nothing meant more than this. This meant they had a chance—Kruz had a chance to start living again.

  ‘Baby-meds,’ he said. ‘Who’d have thought it?’

  ‘So you can sleep at last?’ she exclaimed.

  ‘Through the night,’ he confirmed.

  It was a miracle. If she had nothing more in all her life this was enough. She could have kicked herself. She’d had baby-brain while Kruz had been nothing but considerate for her. The way he’d removed himself to give her space—the way he was always considerate with the keys, with Beth, with everything—the way he never hassled her in any way, or pushed her to make a decision. And had she listened to him? Had she noticed what was going on in his world?

  ‘I’m so sorry—’

  ‘Don’t be,’ he said. ‘You should be glad—we should be glad. All I want is for us to be a proper family. I want it for Beth and I want it for you and me. I want us to have a proper home where we can live together and make a happy mess—not a showpiece to rattle round in like the penthouse. I don’t think you want that either, Romy. I think, like me, you want to carry on what we started. I think you want us to go on healing each other. And I know I want you. I love you, and I hope you love me. I want us to give our baby the type of home you and I have always dreamed of.’

  ‘And how will we make it work?’ she asked, afraid of so much joy.

  ‘I have no idea,’ Kruz admitted honestly. ‘I just know that if we give it everything we’ve got we’ll make it work. And if you love me as much as I love you—’

  ‘Hang on,’ she said, her face softening as she dared to believe. ‘What’s all this talk of love?’

  ‘I love you,’ Kruz said, frowning. ‘Surely you’ve worked that out for yourself by now?’

  ‘It’s nice to be told. I agree you’re not the best when it comes to big emotional declarations, but you should have worked that out. Try telling me again,’ she said, biting back a smile.

  ‘Okay...’ Pretending concentration, Kruz held her close so he stared into her eyes.

  ‘I’ve loved you since that first encounter on the grassy bank—I just didn’t know it then. I’ve loved you since you went all cold on me and had to be heated up again. I loved you very much by then.’

  ‘Sex-fiend.’

  ‘You bet,’ he agreed, but then he turned serious again. ‘And now I love you to the point where I can’t imagine life without you. And whatever you want to call these feelings—’ he touched his heart ‘—they don’t go away. They get stronger each day. You’re a vital part of my life now—the most vital part, since you’re the part I can’t live without.’

  ‘And Beth?’ she whispered.

  ‘She’s part of you,’ Kruz said simply. ‘And she’s part of me too. I want you both for life, Señorita Winner. And I want you to be happy. Which is why I bought you the house—walking distance to the shops—great transport links...’

  ‘You’d make an excellent sales agent,’ she said over the thunder of her happy heart hammering.

>   ‘I must remember to add that to my CV,’ Kruz teased with a curving grin. ‘Plus there’s an excellent nursery for Beth across the road.’

  ‘Where you’ve already put her name down?’ Romy guessed with amusement.

  Kruz shrugged. ‘I thought we’d live part of the year here and part on the pampas in Argentina. Whatever you decide the house is yours—or Beth’s. But I won’t let you make a final decision yet.’

  ‘Oh?’ Romy queried with concern.

  ‘Not until you test the beds.’

  ‘All of them?’ She started to smile.

  ‘I think we’d better,’ Kruz commented as he swung her into his arms.

  ‘Ah, well.’ Romy sighed. ‘I guess I’ll just have to do whatever it takes...’

  ‘I’m depending on it,’ Kruz assured her as he shouldered open the door into the first bedroom.

  ‘Let the bed trials begin,’ she suggested when he joined her on the massive bed. ‘But be gentle with me.’

  ‘Do you think I’ve forgotten you’ve just had a baby?’

  Taking her into his arms, Kruz made her feel so safe.

  ‘What?’ she said, when he continued to stare at her.

  ‘I was just thinking,’ he said, stretching out his powerful limbs. ‘We kicked off on a mossy bank on the pampas beside a gravel path, and we’ve ended up on a firm mattress in your favourite part of London town. That’s not so bad, is it?’

  Trying to put off the warm honey flowing through her veins for a few moments was a pointless exercise, Romy concluded, exhaling shakily with anticipation. ‘Are you suggesting we work our way back to the start?’

  ‘If none of the beds here suit, I’m sure we can find a grassy bank somewhere in the heart of London...’

  ‘So what are you saying?’ she whispered, shuddering with acute sexual excitement as Kruz ran his fingertips in a very leisurely and provocative way over her breasts and down over her belly, where they showed no sign of stopping...

  ‘I’m saying that if you can put up with me,’ he murmured as she exclaimed with delight and relief when his hand finally reached its destination, ‘I can put up with you. I’m suggesting we get to know each other really, really well all over again—starting at the very beginning.’