âI wonder if a year apart has made any difference?â
Roman continued, âPerhaps we should try to find out. Would you still reject me if I came to you in the night?â
âDonât!â It was wrenched from her. Once Cassie had thought she loved her husband; now she knew better. He couldnât get to her on any level if she didnât let him. âIf you think Iâm going to oblige you, lie down on the floorboards while you satisfy your sexual curiosity, then you can think again!â
Roman drawled, âI had something rather more civilized in mind, mi esposa. Share my bed for the next three months and satisfy myâ¦sexual curiosity, and I wonât bring charges against your brother.â
VIVA LA VIDA DE AMOR!
They speak the language of passion.
In Harlequin Presents>®, youâll find a special kind of loverâfull of Latin charm. Whether heâs relaxing in denims or dressed for dinner, giving you diamonds or simply sweet dreams, heâs got spirit, style and sex appeal!
Latin Lovers is the new miniseries from Harlequin Presents>®âfor anyone whoâs passionate about love and life.
Look out for our next Latin Lovers title:
Her Secret Bridegroom by Kate Walker (#2191)
IT WAS warm and airless in the room, but not unbearably so. Outside on the bleached rolling miles of the campos, the heat of this July afternoon would be almost intolerable.
Cassie waited. Her body felt damp with perspiration beneath the grey and cream linen suit she had worn for the journey from London to the vast Las Colinas Verdes estates in Andalusia.
The suit, understatedly elegant and deliberately so, had survived the flight and the taxi-ride out here well, she thought thankfully. No way had she wanted to present herself looking less than businesslike and in control.
She lifted a hand to check that her rich chestnut hair was tamed, severely anchored into the nape of her neck. And her heartbeats were steadyâthat was another consolation. There was no reason for them to be otherwise, of course; she was no longer a nervous, besotted bride of just twenty-one. She was three years older and a whole lot wiser.
Satisfied that her appearance was as good as it could getâgiven her average kind of looksâshe glanced at her watch and wondered how much longer she would have to wait. The taxi that had brought her from Jerez airport had deposited her here at the farmhouse over half an hour ago. The atmosphere in the heavily furnished, sombre room was beginning to stifle her, the louvres closed to keep out the merciless white heat of the sun.
âI will send someone to tell your husband that you are here,â her mother-in-law had stated. Doña Elvira had spoken politely; she always had, Cassie remembered, even when offering up her barbed insults, insults unfailingly echoed by her two older sisters, Romanâs auntsâTÃa Agueda and TÃa Carmela.
âIs my son expecting you?â A faint pinching of patrician nostrils had denoted that that lady had known Roman was not, that he had long since lost whatever interest he might once have had in his unsuitable, estranged wife.
No longer as frighteningly squashable as she once had been, Cassie had ignored the question and coolly stated, âIâll wait. In the meantime, Iâd like to see Roy. Perhaps you could send him to me.â
And so she waited. Her disgraced twin brother, Roy, it transpired, was not available. He had been put to work erecting fences out on the estate, under the blistering sun, a part of the punishment that was only just beginning.
âIâm under house arrest at Las Colinas Verdes, while Roman decides what to do with me,â heâd complained during his distraught phone call of a couple of days ago. âI canât face ten years in a Spanish jail, sisâIâd rather top myself!â heâd added, his voice beginning to rise with panic. âYou could persuade Roman not to bring charges. He wonât listen to me. You know what heâs likeâheâs got a tongue like a whip and a mind like a maze; you never know what heâs thinking! It makes it impossible to get through to him!â
âIâll phone him this evening,â Cassie had reluctantly promised. Sheâd felt sick with disappointment over what her brother had done, the way he was dragging her into the mess he had made. âIâll call him from the flat; the boutiqueâs busy right now.â In fact, it was buzzing with bargain-hunters on the first day of their summer sale. Her boss and best friend, Cindy Corfield, had already gestured frantically to her to end this call and come up front to help out. âThough Roman isnât likely to listen to me, either,â sheâd warned Roy, her voice tight. âIf I ask him not to bring charges against you, heâll probably do just the opposite to spite me. You shouldnât have been such a damn fool in the first place!â
âI know, and Iâm sorryâbut for pityâs sake, sis, phoning him wonât help me! Heâd just hang up on youâheâs rigid with pride, you know that! Come out here. He wonât be able to blank you then. Heâll listen to youâwell, heâll have to, wonât he? Damn it all, Cass, the guyâs still in love with you, even if you did walk out on him!â