Sinfully Summer

‘Such a shame,’ Mr Santos said. ‘You two make an attractive couple.’

‘Yes, Alexa is a very beautiful woman.’

Ric’s tight voice sent a jolt of shock down her spine. She turned to him. He handed her a champagne flute, his face impassive. From the stiff lines of his shoulders, the hardness of his jaw, she reckoned his compliment was little more than polite etiquette. Irritation simmered in her veins.

Stick-insect stepped forward then, a sultry smile spread her silicone-filled lips. Alexa wanted to say something rude, something that would wipe the smile away. Especially when Mrs Santos directed that smile at Ric.

She touched the material of Alexa’s gown above her hip. ‘Where did you buy this dress, Mr Castillo? It’s beautiful.’

Mrs Santos ran a hand down the silk covering Alexa’s thigh. Her head spun to face Alexa, shock widening her eyes. ‘How did you find underwear so seamless?’

Alexa stepped back from the girl’s touch. Her irritation had hit its peak when the skinny bimbo assumed Ric had bought the dress. Mrs Santos feeling her up, like she was just another tool to get into Ric’s pants, made her blood boil. Now it brimmed over at the attempt to embarrass Alexa in front of the men.

Well, it would take a lot more than her knickerless state to embarrass her—blondie picked a bitch-fest with the wrong girl.

‘Actually, I bought the dress in London,’ Alexa smirked at the gold-digger. ‘Oh, and I’m not wearing any knickers.’

Mr Santos’ face turned scarlet, but an amused smile curved his lips. His wife shot another death glare. ‘I suppose we shouldn’t expect any less from a spoilt heiress, isn’t that right darling?’ She turned to her husband. His mouth gaped. ‘Alexa is the daughter of Robert Green. You remember we stayed at The Crystal? She’s in the news all the time for her trashy behaviour.’

The blood drained from Alexa’s face as understanding dawned on Mr Santos’ expression. If Ric really hadn’t known who she was before, he had a good idea now. He remained wooden and silent beside her. The only word she could think to throw back at the witch with a capital B wasn’t very polite at all. In fact, she reckoned it would get her thrown out of the party. Maybe even Spain.

Mr Santos turned to Ric. ‘I hope your function goes well. I don’t think my wife and I will be attending. Enjoy your evening.’

He tugged his wife away as Ric bid him farewell in Spanish.

Alexa had never been so angry or affronted in her life. Her body almost throbbed with both emotions. There was no way she was going to meet any more of the rich and pompous—especially if Ric was going to spout waffle to score guests and try to use her again. It seemed she’d been right about the scouting.

The band began to play a Sinatra number she recognised. Snaring Ric’s hand, she dragged him to the dance floor amongst the other guests, all swaying to the beat. Having no other options for privacy, she would have to chew him out here where they’d be close enough to whisper without being overheard.

‘Dance with me,’ she said through gritted teeth.

‘Alexa, if you wanted to press yourself against me, all you had to do was ask.’ His tone was light, but his expression was tight and deadly serious. Then again, on closer inspection, the hard lines of his face were rigid with what looked like fury.

‘Dream on, Castillo. I want to talk to you and unfortunately, dancing with you seems to be the only time I’ll have you alone.’

He slid his arms around her waist and rested them just above her buttocks. Half an inch lower and he’d be cupping her backside. The fire in her roared back to life, but she refused to let it overpower her. Fisting her hands, she rested them on his shoulders, positive if she felt the hard muscle there she’d lose herself and the anger she clung onto.

Ric eyed her balled hands with a frown then pulled her against him. Her breasts pushed against his chest and she grabbed his shoulders for balance. Ric’s smirk told her that had been his intention. She stifled an irritated squeal.

His head descended and hovered above her ear, ‘Ladies first.’

Alexa’s mind muddied when the full blow of his spicy aftershave hit her. With their hips pressed together, they swayed to Frank’s husky voice. Still, she fought against her loony hormones and refused to slide her hands along the contours of his shoulders like they craved to.

‘Why did you lie like that?’

Ric’s nose grazed her earlobe. The brief touch sent the fire in her belly burning over her skin. ‘I didn’t lie. You will be there and you will help me organise it.’

Alexa pulled back. His eyes were the colour of scorching espresso. His strong jaw serious. The lusty fire inside morphed into indignation. ‘Not a chance. I’m going home next week.’

But when she saw his expression harden, his eyes set with determination, Alexa squared her shoulders and readied herself for the fight.

Ric whirled Alexa around the dance floor in time with the tempo. The woman had driven him crazy all evening. The dress she sported covered nothing, yet it covered too much for his liking. He was torn between ripping it off, and wrapping his suit jacket around her. Not to mention he’d been worrying all night that she’d step over the mark, make an inappropriate comment, offend someone or embarrass him further.

And then she’d gone and done it, nuclear bomb style. When Santos, a man with more money and influence than Ric had ever known gave him the time of day, he wanted to do anything to secure his attendance at the fundraiser. Even if it meant spending more time with Alexa-the-pantieless-heiress. Heat simmered in his veins, but he ignored it. Although Santos seemed embarrassed, but mostly amused by Alexa’s outburst, it pissed him off. Ric had been right. She didn’t have a brain-to-mouth filter at all.

Now, she’d lost him Santos. Ric gritted his teeth. He knew it hadn’t been entirely her fault. When Santos’ plaything goaded Alexa, Ric froze and waited for the torrent that he expected would come. Instead, she’d kept her mouth shut, even though he could feel the anger pounding off her in waves. Then again, if Alexa had kept her mouth shut about her underwear—or lack thereof—the incident could have been avoided. Making Alexa work for him would be appropriate punishment and would solve his recent problem.

A little into the conversation, he’d made the decision. His party planner announced this morning that her mother was ill and she had to return to Madrid to care for her for a month. That left him up the creek without a clue how to organise a charity ball.

And he bet if anyone could throw a party, it would be the wild party girl Alexa Green. Of course he’d have to supervise, make sure that the party was classy and not trashy, and the close contact could devastate his libido. Still, he didn’t see any other options at such short notice.

He needed to focus all his free time running the hotel and overseeing the building work. This party was something he needed to do for himself. He’d lived on the streets, done things he wasn’t proud of and had been used. If he could help it, no other child would have to suffer what he had.

Alexa was his only option.

‘No, you’re staying here for the next four weeks, helping me plan the charity ball. I think that’s the least you can do after showing up here like this.’ He ran his finger up the gaping slit at the front, traced the outline of her cleavage. She gasped and tiny bumps rose on her golden skin. Arousal zapped down to his groin. Again, he ignored it.

‘And you’ll behave yourself,’ he added, in a no-nonsense tone.

Her stormy eyes cleared to flinty silver. She slid her hands down his chest and pushed, but he didn’t let go. ‘Don’t cause a scene, Alexa.’

She darted a glance around the room, then scowled up at him. They continued to dance while her eyes shot daggers. He grinned, though he was far from amused.

‘I have a business to run. I can’t drop everything and anyway, why should I? My dress is gorgeous. People have been staring all night.’ Her gaze dropped, but not before he caught the shame there.

He gritted his teeth. Men had been gaping all night at the silky skin on display. That was his point exactly. ‘Staring in disbelief, I imagine. I’m respected in these circles, Alexa and I’ve worked hard to gain that respect. Having a woman on my arm so scantily dressed lowers people’s opinion as Santos changing his mind proved. You will make it up to me.’

He spun her around. By the time she was back in his arms, her eyes flashed stormy black. ‘That wasn’t my intention, but I’m not going to apologise for being who I am. You asked me here. What did you expect?’

‘I expected more class from Robert Green’s daughter.’

‘I’m not, nor will I ever be, anything like my father.’ Steely resolve hardened her eyes.

Ric wondered why she spoke of her father with such barely contained anger. She’d been born into this life with everything. A family and the best start a person could ask for. Ric had been left on the streets, barely a child of five, with a bleak chance of survival.

The song ended and his frustration grew. He didn’t release her. Instead he loomed over her with a hard expression of his own. ‘You owe me for this, and you will work with me to organise the fundraiser.’

Her hands fisted in his jacket and she frowned. ‘No.’

‘Stop acting like a child and take responsibility for your actions.’

Alexa jolted back like he’d struck her. ‘I am not acting like a child.’ She shook her head. ‘I’m twenty-three. Not forty.’

‘At your age I started running Hotel Castillo.’

‘Explains why you’re so dull.’ She placed a hand on her hip, causing the cut down the front of her dress to gape wider. His gaze was drawn to the half globes exposed by the material. ‘It doesn’t explain why you want me working with you. Don’t you have a party planner?’

‘She’s indisposed for a while.’

‘The plot thickens.’ Her sarcastic tone grated on his temper. She glared at him. ‘And my lack of class was the perfect excuse to guilt me into working with you, but you can forget about trying to make me feel bad for losing Santos. I have a business to run back home and no inclination to spend any more time with you.’

‘I didn’t ask. You will work with me, and maybe even rid yourself of your wild-child reputation by doing so.’

She opened and closed her mouth a few times. Ric could see she was considering what he’d said. He resisted the urge to smirk and pulled her into another dance. Alexa’s brows creased, but she didn’t pull away. He smelled victory.

Alexa’s bravado had buggered off. Again he’d called her childish and again it hit her like a hard slap to the face—harder than when blondie had told her husband Alexa was trash. But she wasn’t going to be bullied into working with him, even though she could see what he said made sense. And she did feel a trickle of guilt about losing Santos and wearing the dress.

Not that she cared what everyone thought about her, but if she lost a major benefactor for a good cause, she had to try and make that right. Still, Alexa didn’t know what she could do to persuade Santos to attend. Maybe helping out would prove she wasn’t the spoilt little rich girl everyone thought she was.

She’d started her business, Together, two years ago, but she knew the money she made barely paid the cost of living in London and she wouldn’t touch her trust fund. It was just another reminder that she was her father’s possession.

‘What kind of coverage will your event have?’ She had to ask. If the media didn’t hit London with the news she’d helped organise such an event it was pointless.

Ric grinned down as he swayed her to the music. Still, she could see his eyes were tight with anger. Alexa straightened her shoulders.

‘It depends how much interest we can raise.’ He shrugged. ‘I came here tonight with the hope of convincing people like Santos to come. He’s well known in society and the more people like him who attend, the more media coverage.’ He frowned down at her. ‘And while telling men you meet in London clubs that you have no underwear on may score you a date, it won’t here Alexa.’

He scowled down at her. She was galled at his arrogant assumption and the suspicion that he knew exactly who she was grew stronger, but now at least she understood why he was angry. Ric was all about respect. Plus, if she was going to do this, she’d need as many people like that to attend the ball to benefit her—which meant hunting down Santos and charming him into changing his mind.

But organising a party this big and glamorous wasn’t something she’d done before. Still, she couldn’t let fear get in the way. She had planned lots of parties for her friends and herself, this couldn’t be much different.

‘For the record, I don’t make a habit of informing people whether or not I’m wearing knickers.’ His lips twitched. ‘If I agree to do this, I have a few conditions.’

He cocked an incredulous brow. Alexa smiled. If he thought she was going to bow at his feet he had another think coming.

‘For the next week I get to enjoy my holiday. After, I’ll have to spend some time on my work. I’ll need access to a landline and the internet.’

His expression smoothed out. Alexa thought she saw a hint of relief in his dark eyes. ‘All are reasonable requests, but I do need you visit a potential venue with me tomorrow since it looks like the new resort won’t be ready in time. A few hours should do it. You can meet me in the lobby at eight.’

She pressed her lips into a firm line. ‘Fine. Lobby at eight. But from midday I’m off the clock.’

‘Fine.’ His dry tone mirrored hers. Holding out his hand, he said ‘Let’s network.’

Alexa grimaced and he laughed. She knew she had to do this if she wanted the ball to gain international interest. Pulling herself together and remembering everything her father had taught her about how to act at places like this, she placed her hand in his.

Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.