‘The one in the green dress. She had blonde hair, I think.’
‘Oh. You mean Cristina.’ Hollie smiled. It had been one of the highlights of a very challenging evening. An elegant woman had walked across the crowded room and given her a warm and friendly smile. More than that, she had seemed instantly understanding, telling Hollie that she had once been the newcomer at a similar, glittering party. ‘It can be a little overwhelming at the beginning,’ she had said softly. ‘They are a wonderful but rather intimidating crowd. Just give them a chance.’
‘Who is Cristina?’ prompted Maximo, breaking into her thoughts.
‘She owns a shop on the...’ she frowned as she tried to remember ‘...the Calle de Serrano, and wants me to have lunch with her some time, so I gave her my number. I explained I was going back to England tomorrow to work out my notice, but said I could meet her at the end of the month.’
‘Good, good,’ he said, as he linked his fingers with hers and began to lead her back towards the bed. ‘It’s important for you to make new friends.’
‘What...what are you doing, Maximo?’ she questioned, as he laid her down on the mattress and then began to peel off his clothes with impatient fingers.
‘What do you think I’m doing? I’m going to make love to you because I am aching to be inside you again.’
‘B-but, you’ve only just got out of the shower.’
‘Then I’ll just have to get right back in it, won’t I?’
She felt the silky collision of his flesh as their bodies collided and heard the deepening of his voice as he brushed his lips over hers.
‘Do I taste good, mia belleza?’
‘You do.’ She shivered. ‘You t-taste very good.’
His mouth moved to her neck, her belly and then—most daringly of all—between her legs and Hollie’s eyes fluttered to a helpless close as she felt that first deliciously precise flick of his tongue. Pretty soon her body was clenching with the explosive pleasure which was now part of her daily life.
How could I have lived without this for so long? she thought dreamily as she lay cradled in his arms afterwards.
How could I have lived without him?
But that was a dangerous way to think. Especially when the next few days made her realise that something fundamental between them seemed to have shifted. At first she thought she was imagining it, but gradually she realised that, on some level, their relationship had changed. It was difficult to define but it was definitely there. All the closeness and banter they’d shared over Christmas seemed to have evaporated. It had become functional. She told herself not to keep analysing the situation, but couldn’t seem to stop herself. Because despite the undeniable intimacy she felt whenever they were having sex, hadn’t Maximo been noticeably more distant with her ever since they’d arrived in Madrid? Hadn’t he been obsessed with his work in a way she hadn’t witnessed before? He seemed to be out at the office most of the time and when she had questioned him about it, he hadn’t been in the least bit contrite.
‘Surely you must understand that I have to work, Hollie,’ he had replied, with a shrug. ‘I am the head of a very big organisation and a lot of people rely on me.’
‘And when the baby arrives? What then? Will you still be working around the clock?’
‘Who knows? It’s possible.’ His black eyes were clear and gleaming. ‘I’m not going to make any promises I won’t be able to keep, querida. I’m planning to do the best I can, but I don’t know what form being a husband and a father will take. Is that fair?’
It might have been fair, but it wasn’t what Hollie wanted to hear—and while his honesty was admirable, it failed to reassure her. It felt to her as if he had achieved what he had set out to achieve—by offering her marriage—and was now free to turn his attention to other things. Would she be expected to build her own separate life here—a life which touched his only in parts? It wasn’t what she had envisaged when she had agreed to marry him...
And before she knew it, it was time to fly back to Devon to work out her notice—an intention she had proudly insisted on but was now beginning to regret. Surrounded by luxury, Hollie stared out of the window of his private jet, wondering if Maximo would be relieved to have the apartment to himself again now she’d left. He certainly hadn’t given any indication that he was going to miss her. And even though he made love to her that morning, and afterwards held her trembling body very tight, she could never remember feeling quite so alone.
It was weird being back in England. Weird yet strangely comforting—like climbing into a warm bath at the end of a long working day. As the limousine purred along the high-hedged country lanes, Hollie realised that people knew her here in Trescombe. She belonged in this little town. When she stopped at the local store to buy some provisions, the owner did a double take before her face broke into a huge smile.
‘It is you! Why, for a moment I didn’t recognise you, Hollie!’
Hollie blushed, realising she hadn’t even considered the impact of leaving a fancy car sitting on the kerb waiting, while she purchased her pint of milk wearing a whacking great diamond ring, and a cream cashmere coat which must have been achingly expensive.
She would need to go back to her trusty skirts and blouses tomorrow morning when she started back at work. Her mind flitted over different possibilities as she wondered how she was going to explain what had happened to Janette. Was she going to give her boss the whole story, chapter and verse, and tell her she was engaged and pregnant in a single sentence?
Her boss was so...probing. She would almost certainly pry and ask Hollie what it was like being engaged to someone as charismatic as Maximo Diaz. She might even ask her details about how it had happened.
And Hollie would say—what?
That it had been a one-night stand with far-reaching ramifications, hence the Spanish tycoon’s shock proposal of marriage? She certainly wasn’t going to hint at her growing insecurities about her place in Maximo’s life or confess that he seemed to be pushing her away from him. Hollie bit her lip. He’d made it clear he didn’t want deep, or mushy, or lovey-dovey from their relationship—yet despite knowing those things, it made little difference to the way she felt about him. She still felt dizzy with longing whenever she thought about him.
Perhaps it was the thought of how it had been before which kept her snared—all those evocative memories of a snowed-in Christmas, which had led her to believe in all kinds of possibilities. The way he’d taken her into his confidence and the way he made her feel when she was in his arms... Perhaps it was her lack of experience of sex which made her ultra-susceptible to its influence. Because sometimes, when she was lying close to him, with the powerful beat of his powerful heart slowing in perfect time with her own, Hollie would feel something close to...