by Kira Archer
He laughed again. “Stop looking so worried. I just thought we’d do a little sightseeing.”
“Oh,” she said, giving him a relieved smile. “I think I can handle that.”
“Good. Shall we?” He held out his hand and waited patiently for her to take it.
She shouldn’t. It was too familiar. And she wanted to too badly. She was also overthinking this in the extreme, but every little move she made seemed to mean something more when it came to him.
He lifted an eyebrow, his lips twitching with amusement. She rolled her eyes and put her hand in his.
As a punishment—or reward—for her hesitation, he kept holding her hand and didn’t show any sign of letting go, even after they’d reached the lobby.
…
Chris knew he should let go of her hand, but he really didn’t want to. Her fingers curled around his felt good. Right. And he had precious little of that in his life right now. Since she showed no sign of it bothering her, he kept holding on to her as he led her through the lobby.
Lucas joined them at the door, and they headed out into the bright sun.
Charley raised a surprised eyebrow at the sight of Lucas. He hadn’t been along with them on their excursions in Costa Rica. But she didn’t say anything.
“My board feels I should be better protected when walking about a major city,” he said, nodding at Lucas, who just smiled at Chris’s petulant tone. “With you along for the ride, they don’t want me taking any unnecessary risks.”
“Ah,” she said. “Well, they have a point. You are an important person. Your safety is of the utmost importance. And Lucas is your head of security, so you might as well let him do his job.”
“Thank you, miss,” Lucas said.
Chris scowled. “Don’t encourage him.”
Charley laughed, and Chris shook his head. “Come on. I want to show you the whole city, and we only have a few hours.”
He wasn’t kidding. He wanted to show her everything. The way her face lit up when they came across something she found particularly interesting or beautiful was intoxicating. He loved exploring the city, but seeing everything anew, through her eyes, was an experience in and of itself.
He’d slowly come to realize that Charley was as captivated by the world as he was. She just came at it differently. Where he was full balls to the wall, grab life by its horns, go down screaming, she snuck up on it. Studied it. Savored it. Like someone indulging in a rare and especially delicious treat. She might go about it with a little more poise and control, but she loved every second of what the world had to offer.
Maybe they weren’t so different after all.
They spent the morning exploring all the sites within walking distance of their hotel, and when their legs were about to fall off from overuse, Chris brought her to a tiny, hole-in-the-wall restaurant that he always frequented when in the city. Tucked away in a cobblestoned alleyway, it wasn’t a place tourists often frequented, which made it ideal for him. And the food was to die for.
They took their time eating, but he couldn’t wait to show her the surprise he had in store. He’d had to pull a few strings—okay, a lot of strings—but it would be worth it to see her face.
He’d had Lucas arrange for a car while they ate, and by the time he paid their bill, their transportation was waiting.
The Royal Palace lay a short distance from their hotel and was open to tourists. While the Spanish royal family didn’t actually live there, reserving it instead for state occasions, it was still considered the official royal residence. And for someone who loved art, culture, beauty, and history, it was definitely a sight Charley couldn’t miss.
It was well worth the favors he’d called in to see her eyes light up when they walked inside. They followed along on the regular tours, but once those were over, Chris took her to one of the restricted sections where a private tour guide waited for them.
“What are we doing?” she asked.
“I pulled a few strings,” he said. “This lovely lady is going to take us on a tour of the sections of the palace that most people don’t get to see.”
“Are you serious? What kind of strings did you have to pull to make this happen?”
He shrugged. “The king owed me a favor.”
She stopped short, her eyes wide. “The king? As in the King of Spain?”
“Yeah.” And then he flashed her a big grin, grabbed her hand, and pulled her along behind him as the tour guide led them from one opulent room to another.
Once their tour was over, he led her outside to where Lucas waited with the car.
“Are we going back to the hotel?” she asked.
“I thought we could use a little dinner first.”
“Oh? Another hidden gem of a restaurant? That last one was fantastic.”
“Actually, I thought it might be fun to have a little picnic. Enjoy this weather that we’re having. It’s not too far away, but I thought you might prefer a ride.”
She slid into the car with a grateful sigh. “I thought I was in much better shape than this. But apparently walking from dawn until dusk takes more of a toll than I thought.”
He laughed. “Sightseeing with Chris Lachlan isn’t for the faint of heart.”
Lucas drove them to the Temple of Debod, an ancient Egyptian temple that had been gifted to the city of Madrid in the sixties. Charley sat forward with a gasp, almost pressing her face against the window. The temple was a gorgeous sight in the daylight, set in a beautiful park in the middle of a reflecting pool. But at night, with the stone walls and arches lit from within and people lounging on the surrounding lawns, it was truly spectacular.
“This is where we’re having dinner?” she asked.
“Does it meet with your expectations?”
She sat back and gave him a look he couldn’t quite interpret. “Everything you’ve done this entire trip has exceeded my expectations.”
“That could be taken as good or bad,” he said with a chuckle.
She smiled and squeezed his hand, looking back out the window.
“This is good. Very, very good.”
He gathered up the picnic supplies, and they chose a spot a little apart from the rest of the people. Lucas stood a discreet distance away, keeping an eye on them while they dined on a scrumptious feast that the hotel had put together for them. When their stomachs were full, Charley flopped back on the blanket and released a deep sigh.
“If this is how all your business trips are, then I can understand why you prefer to spend most of your time traveling.”
He laid back next to her, propping his head on his arms. “Yeah, you can’t really beat this, can you?”
“And you didn’t even risk your neck once today. That might be a record.”
“Oh, ha ha. I’m not that bad.”
She looked over at him, eyebrows raised.
He laughed again. “I guess it’s all a matter of interpretation.”
Somewhere nearby, someone began playing a Spanish tune on the guitar. A rousing round of cheers echoed from the people around them, who began getting to their feet and dancing in the moonlight. Chris glanced over at her. He probably shouldn’t ask her to dance. It wasn’t exactly the most professional thing to do. Then again, nothing about that day had felt professional. He’d enjoyed every second with her. In fact, it felt more like a tenth date than escorting a business colleague around a foreign city.
Screw it.
He stood up. They’d had an incredible day. They were full of good food and beer some local vendors were sort of illegally selling. The night was beautiful, and there was music and dancing. There was no way he was passing up this opportunity.
He held out his hand to her, and this time she didn’t hesitate before she took it. He pulled her to her feet and into his arms and spun her around. She laughed and held on, and they settled into a rhythm, holding each other in the moonlight on the banks of the ancient temple. Everyone else seemed to disappear. The city itself melted into oblivion.
He held her in his arms, and nothing had ever felt so right. So, for that one moment, even if it was doomed to end the moment the sun rose, he was going to take what he could and be grateful for it.
He’d worry about the consequences later.
Chapter Ten
How she ended up dressed all in white with a red bandana around her neck waiting on a herd of massive horned animals to charge at her, she didn’t know.
Oh, wait. Yes, she did. It was thanks to the six-foot something pain in the ass standing right next to her, who was currently shouting with the other yahoos and grinning like getting run over by several cubic tons of hoof was his life-long dream. Then again, now that she knew Chris a little better, maybe it was. The man definitely needed therapy.
Considering the fact that she was standing there next to him, it might not hurt to make herself an appointment, either.
Granted, they weren’t actually in the middle of the street where the bulls would run. They were on the sidelines. Where it was safe. Not that she believed that for a second. Chris was nearly vibrating with excitement. Charley knew damn well the only reason he was on this side of the ridiculously inadequate fence was because of her, and she had no delusions that he’d stay there.
People were shouting and tossing flowers and waving handkerchiefs, the noise and chaos so great she was about ready to go charging down the street herself to get away from it. Though, she had to admit, the energy was electric.
And contagious.
The sheer magnitude of adrenaline pulsing through the crowd beat through her body. Wound her up. Squeezed the air from her lungs. Sent her heart ricocheting against her ribs like a jackhammer. She hated to admit it, but she could see why Chris would want to be here. What an incredible experience. Even she was starting to get into it.
Then again, the bulls hadn’t been released yet.
No sooner had that thought crossed her mind than a pulsing beat reverberated through the street beneath their feet, a steady pounding that echoed through her body and into her chest.
“Here they come!” Chris shouted.
A woman near them screamed, and Charley almost didn’t bother looking. Everyone was screaming. But something about the tone was different. Charley glanced over, and her heart crashed to a stop.
The woman was trying to push through the last few people in front of her, her arm reaching out toward her child. The little girl, who was probably about two years old, had gotten away from her mother and managed to duck beneath the barriers along the side of the road. She’d been drawn by the flowers that were strewn in the street and was happily gathering an armful of them. She was still close to the fencing, and no one seemed to notice she was on the wrong side.
But Charley knew the exact moment she decided to venture a little farther. She gasped and grabbed Chris’s arm, but he’d already seen her and was on the move. He vaulted over the fence and headed for the child at a full run. He managed to grab her and toss her back over the fence to her mother’s outstretched arms just as the thundering chaos of the bulls rounded the corner and headed right for him.
He didn’t have time to get back over the fence, though he did pause long enough to give Charley an exultant grin before he turned tail and hauled ass.
“Chris!” she shouted, her voice getting lost in the sea of shouts and cheers from the crowd around her.
She waited until the bulls had passed by, which took almost no time at all. For one, there weren’t nearly as many as she’d imagined. In the movies, it always looked like a massive herd, but in reality, there were maybe only a half dozen or so. But the ones who were there were huge, terrifying, and charging down anyone in their path.
Once they passed, she ducked under the fence and took off after them, hoping she’d be able to find Chris. Intact and not flattened like a pancake in the middle of the road.
Unfortunately, everyone else wanted to get in on the action as well and were running alongside her. How she was going to find him in this crowd, she had no idea. She had her phone on her, so she wasn’t worried about getting lost. She could call Chris—assuming he and his phone hadn’t been trampled—or, failing that, she could make her way back to the house where they were staying.
But worry for Chris grew with every moment she didn’t see him. Her eyes scanned both sides of the street, lingering on any groups of people who looked like they might be treating those who’d been injured. No luck.
She finally stopped running and kept going at a brisk walk. She wasn’t sure how far the bull run route went, but she didn’t want to go too far. There was a huge chance she’d already passed him.
She finally decided to turn back but caught sight of a small group of people standing around a grinning blond man who sat on the ground cradling a bloodstained arm.
Her heart dropped into her shoes, and she hurried over.
“You’re hurt!” she said.
He glanced up at her in surprise, and then that charming grin broke out again. “Only a scratch, nothing to worry about.”
She crouched down next to him, reaching out for his arm. “Then why are you sitting in the middle of the road?”
“I’m not,” he said. “I’m on the side of the road.”
She rolled her eyes and muttered, “Smart-ass,” low enough he wouldn’t hear. Though apparently not low enough because he broke out in a laugh.
“I promise, it’s nothing,” he said, holding his arm out to her. “See? Fully mobile and everything.”
There wasn’t much she could do about it just then. Someone had done a decent job of bandaging it, though a small line of blood was seeping through the gauze.
“You’re lucky that’s all that happened. I can’t believe you let a pack of rabid bulls chase you down.”
He laughed again. “Hardly a pack. And I can assure you, none of them were rabid.”
“That you know of,” she muttered.
He let her help him up and then looped his good arm around her shoulders. “It’s not like I had much of a choice. I couldn’t let that girl get trampled, and the bulls weren’t going to wait for me to get back on the other side of the fence.”
She took a deep breath and put her arm around his waist. He might insist he was okay, but he leaned on her pretty heavily. He did have a point, though. By the time he’d gotten the girl to safety, the bulls had been bearing down on him. And in the meantime, he’d saved that little girl. The glowing ball of warmth in her heart that had Chris’s name on it grew a few more sizes.
“Come on, Superman. Let’s get you back home and I’ll check on that arm of yours.”
…
They’d made it back to the house they were staying at and sat sprawled on the living room floor surrounded by first aid supplies.
He much preferred having his arm wrapped around her while she “helped” him walk down the street than having her dab at the angry scratch on his arm. But it was a small price to pay for what had been an exhilarating morning. The fact that the bulls had almost nothing to do with the invigorating energy running through him was something he didn’t want to examine too closely.
“Why do you do this?” Charley asked, tossing a bloody gauze pad into the growing pile and picking up an oversize bandage.
He frowned. “Do what? Live my life?”
“Live it like this! Your poor mother must sit by the phone every day terrified she’s going to get a call from some hospital somewhere.” She smoothed the bandage onto his arm, her movements gentle despite the note of hardness in her voice.
“Leave my mother out of it,” he said, trying to tamp back the rush of irritation that her words triggered. That the anger stemmed from her hitting a little too close to the mark wasn’t something he wanted to examine too closely.
“I’m sorry. But I don’t get it.”
&nbs
p; “What should I be doing? Sitting in some dark corner somewhere, wrapped up in a fluffy blanket and reading about other people’s adventures when I could be out having my own?”
“First of all, everyone loves being wrapped up in fluffy blankets so don’t go there, and don’t knock curling up with a book. If more people read every now and then, this world would be a lot better off.”
His lips twitched, more at the sudden vision he had of her bundled up on her couch looking insanely adorable than at what she said. “Point taken. My apologies.”
“Second of all,” she continued as if he hadn’t spoken, “it’s possible to have adventures without trying to kill yourself every time you step out the door.”
“Agreed. And only a crazy person would refer to whitewater rafting and ziplining as trying to kill yourself. They are perfectly safe activities that millions of people enjoy and participate in every year. More people are killed from carbon monoxide poisoning from staying at home curled up in bed than from ziplining.”
She folded her arms, her face screwed up into a mixture of frustration and anger that he could relate to all too well.
“And running with the bulls? Or running away from a herd of agitated two-ton animals, I should say?”
Yeah, that one was a little harder to argue, though really, tradition or no, they wouldn’t keep doing it if it were all that dangerous.
“Why are we even having this conversation?” he asked. “If you don’t like how I live my life, then record it on that little tablet of yours that has probably damned me a thousand times over already and go back to your safe little office.”
She glared at him but, again, didn’t say anything.
He shook his head. “Why did you come on this trip?”
She blinked at that, a flash of surprise crossing her face. “What do you mean, why did I come? Izzy suggested it, and since you’re her friend, I thought I’d do you the favor of trying to get a more accurate look at your life. It’s not my fault your life is even worse than I’d thought.”
He shook his head again. “Not buying it. In fact, I’m kind of surprised your company allowed it. I doubt you follow many clients around like this. Maybe I should call and ask who’s making these decisions, because they should definitely get a demotion.”