‘My jet is in an airfield on the outskirts of the city, Hollie.’ His voice was soft but his words resolute. ‘And I’m due back in Madrid for a New Year’s party I’ve promised to attend under pain of death if I don’t. As my future wife you’ll be coming with me and there’s no reason why you shouldn’t move in straight away.’
She hadn’t considered living in Madrid either. How stupid was that? ‘But I thought...’
‘What?’ he prompted softly, throwing back the pile of velvet throws to rise from the bed like a magnificent dark and golden statue brought to life, before walking towards her. ‘What did you think?’
‘That I’d...’ It was difficult to think of anything when he was standing so close and so naked. ‘Well, I’ll have to work out my notice for Janette.’
‘Seriously?’
She nodded. ‘Of course.’
He shrugged, his eyes shards of glittering jet. ‘Even though I could easily arrange for one of my staff to take your place?’
His suggestion made her feel dispensable. As if her job and her old life were of no consequence. And even though it was a simple office job which anyone could probably do, and even though Hollie had often found Janette difficult, she had no intention of disappearing in a puff of smoke simply because a rich man was snapping his fingers. If she fell in with his autocratic wishes so readily, it wouldn’t bode well for the rest of their lives, would it?
‘I’m afraid I can’t do that, Maximo,’ she said. ‘I can’t possibly break my contract. I don’t want to sneak away from Trescombe under a black cloud.’
His face darkened, as if her determination surprised and slightly irked him. ‘I am loath to be apart from you, Hollie—perhaps I’ve become a little too used to having you in my bed,’ he murmured. ‘But obviously we can work round it. We’ll just have to jet between the two places until you’re free to move, if that’s what you want.’
Of course it wasn’t what she wanted. In a way, she was terrified of being apart from him. Terrified that their affair and his subsequent proposal would get diluted by distance and prove as insubstantial as the Christmas snow itself. If she worked out her notice there was the very real possibility that Maximo would change his mind and Hollie didn’t want him to change his mind.
She wanted this. Him. The whole package.
She wanted to be his wife. She wanted him to be a father to their baby.
But if Maximo was going to get cold feet, then surely it was better if they discovered it now rather than later.
‘The month will soon pass,’ she said, with a certainty she didn’t feel.
‘You think so?’ He sighed. ‘Then I guess I must be patient—which is not an attribute I’ve ever been particularly known for. I suppose I must admire your loyalty to your employer, Hollie—but that’s all we’re going to say on the subject, because I’m taking you back to bed.’
Hollie was still glowing when Maximo’s limousine made its way up the hill towards the castle, and she began to get an idea how smoothly the world worked when it was powered by wealth. Decisions which might have taken weeks to evolve were enacted almost before you’d finished making them. Life became seamless and also a little bit scary as she was driven to her cottage and instructed to pack only the things she couldn’t bear to be without.
‘But we’re not leaving Trescombe completely, are we?’ she questioned. ‘I mean, it’s not like we’re cutting ties with the place completely. Because when you start renovating the castle—’
‘Let’s just concentrate on the essentials for now, shall we, Hollie?’
And although his words were a little clipped, Hollie couldn’t deny how comforting it was to have someone else make the decisions. She felt the tension leave her body, realising this was the first time she’d ever had someone to lean on. She had cared for her mother and supported her emotionally when she’d gone to pieces, and then she had cared for herself when her mother had died. Why wouldn’t she? Yet she couldn’t deny how great it was to let someone else take responsibility for a change.
‘Okay,’ she said. ‘I’ll go and get my things together. Would you like to come inside?’
‘No. I’ll wait here in the car. I have a few calls to make.’
It took her less than twenty minutes before Hollie rushed out of the door with her little suitcase, half imagining that the limousine might have disappeared in the interim, like Cinderella’s fancy coach turning into a pumpkin. But, no, it was still there—and the six-year-old twin boys who lived in the house opposite were gazing at the shiny black livery as if Santa’s reinvented sleigh had made a post-Christmas appearance. As the chauffeur shut the door behind her, Maximo lifted a narrow-eyed gaze from his computer and Hollie got the distinct feeling he had forgotten she was there.
Through towns decked with Christmas finery, they were driven at speed to London, where Maximo announced his intention to buy her a completely new wardrobe, so she could arrive in Madrid suitably clad.
Which left her wondering exactly what was the matter with the way she looked now.
She stared rather moodily at her well-polished brown leather boots before lifting her gaze to his. ‘Because I’ll let you down, I suppose?’
‘It’s not a question of letting me down. You look like a college student,’ he informed her, almost gently, his fingertips whispering over her mane of hair. ‘Which is undoubtedly a wildly sexy look, just not one which is particularly appropriate for my future wife. If you aren’t dressed suitably it will make you self-conscious, for you will be mixing with women who will undoubtedly be wearing very costly clothes.’
‘Gosh, you’re making our future union sound like it’s going to be fun, Maximo.’
He smiled then—a slow, sensual smile which curled over her skin like a wisp of smoke. ‘Oh, I can offer you fun, Hollie. Be in no doubt about that. Now wipe that apprehensive look from your face and kiss me instead.’
And wasn’t it crazy how his kiss had the power to dissolve every last doubt?
The limousine dropped them at an expensive-looking department store in central London with doormen who looked as if they had stepped straight out of a Victorian novel. And although the post-Christmas sales had just started and there were stampedes of people buying sequinned dresses and puddings which would shortly reach their sell-by dates, Hollie was assigned a personal shopper all to herself, though Maximo’s insistence on accompanying her took her a little by surprise.
He watched as she paraded before him in a variety of outfits and the molten smoulder of his eyes when he approved a particular article of clothing was flattering, yes—but his attention quickly turned back to his computer, as though his work was more engrossing than anything else. Of course it was. He was just dressing her up like a doll so that she wouldn’t disappoint him in front of all his rich friends.