The Montoros Dynasty

“Not at all,” she said primly. “But we don’t need to get sidetracked. There’s work to do.”

He stood up, sans sheet, and crossed the room in three long strides. Putting a finger beneath her chin, he tilted her face up to his, searching her eyes. “You okay, sweet thing? We got a little crazy last night.”

She couldn’t do a thing about her blush, aggravating as it was. “I’m fine. Better than fine. But seriously, Alex. It’s late. One of us has to remember why we’re here.”

He kissed her long and slow, telling her in no uncertain terms what he thought of her work ethic. Her arms went around his neck and clung. Every inch of his big, honed body pressed against hers, stealing the oxygen from her lungs.

When he finally released her, she had to grab hold of him for a few seconds until her world settled back on its axis. “Stop that,” she whispered, going up on tiptoe to kiss him again.

His low, triumphant laugh was masculine arrogance personified, but she couldn’t fault his confidence since she was clearly besotted. Did anyone even use that word anymore? If not, they should. It was a perfect description of her current state. Intoxicated. Infatuated. As if all her good sense had flown out the window, and she didn’t even care.

But she could pretend. Releasing him reluctantly, she took a deep breath. “More kissing later. Go, Alex. Now.”

He bowed, managing despite his nudity to look perfectly relaxed. “Far be it from me to argue with a lady.”

When he disappeared into the bathroom, she exhaled, not realizing she had been holding her breath. Dealing with Alex in his current mood was like trying to tame a big, determined tiger.

While he was gone, she escaped to the living room. After a moment’s consideration, she moved the vase of fresh flowers from the cherry writing desk. Opening the drapes that framed a stunning view of the Atlantic, she dragged the ornate table in front of the window. Next, she located both laptops, plugged them in behind the new workspace, booted her computer and opened up the rough draft of the Alma proposal to the Montoros.

Once that was done, she called in two orders of scrambled eggs, bacon and black coffee. Room service at this hotel was extremely efficient. She didn’t want the food to get cold.

She would have liked to sit down and start working to show Alex that she was taking their new relationship in stride, but it was impossible. She paced the room. Today was a watershed moment for her and Alex. She recognized the importance of what would happen in the next few hours. So she felt a certain amount of pressure to guard her emotions.

Alex was a guy. He was going to have one thing on his mind. Despite his position as deputy prime minister of commerce, he would be able to compartmentalize. Sex wouldn’t interfere with his position or his responsibilities.

But for Maria, life wasn’t so clear-cut and simple. Could she have an intimate physical relationship with him and still be able to carry on with business as usual when they were with other members of the delegation?

She was so deep in thought that she never heard his footsteps on the plush carpet. When his hand landed on her shoulder, she spun around. “You scared me,” she said, not quite able to meet his gaze.

“Who were you expecting, Maria?”

A knock at the door saved her from answering. “I’m going in the bedroom,” she whispered. “I don’t want anyone to know I’m here.”

Alex shook his head with a wry smile but let her go.

When he gave her the all clear, she returned to a beautifully laid out breakfast. Linen napkins, real silver utensils, crystal stemware and delicate china. “That smells wonderful,” she said as her stomach growled audibly.

He held out her chair, leaning down to kiss her cheek. “Looks pretty damn good, too.”

Fortunately for her peace of mind, Alex was content to eat in silence. They were both starving. He caught her eye at one point and grinned, as if to say he knew exactly what she was thinking. She hid behind a cup of hot tea and wondered how long it would be before they ended up back in bed. Bad Maria, her conscience chastised.

But apparently, she had convinced Alex of her dedication to the project at hand. Once they were done with their meal, he carried his coffee to the desk where she had placed two chairs side by side.

“How do you think we should approach this?” he asked, waking his own laptop and clicking on a file.

His matter-of-fact attitude took her aback. She’d been prepared to convince him, to deflect amorous advances. Was he genuinely so cavalier about working with her?

When he burst out laughing, she stiffened. “What’s so funny?” she demanded, finishing her tea and standing up. She couldn’t quite make her feet move in his direction.

“You,” he said, his smile gentle. “You told me we had to be all business this morning. But when I took you at your word, you were disappointed.”

“No, I wasn’t,” she said. The rebuttal wasn’t convincing, even to her.

“Well, I am,” he said firmly. “We’re going to get this done as quickly as possible so I can get you back in bed.”

Her spirits lightened. “You must think me awfully naive, Alex. I’m not accustomed to combining business with pleasure. This is new territory to me.”

He frowned, leaning a hip against the desk. “What do you think it is to me? I don’t make a habit of sleeping with coworkers. In fact, you’re the first.”

“Why me?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” he said, watching her with a hooded gaze. “If you want explanations, I’m fresh out.”

“So where and how do we go from here?”

“Does everything in life have to be explained? Let’s file this thing between us under the same category as raindrops trapped in cobwebs or the color of the sky at dawn.”

Her eyes widened. “Why, Alex, I never knew you were a poet.”

His expression was impassive, not a trace of humor in sight. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Maria. So how about giving both of us a chance to learn something and possibly to be surprised?”

There was an odd tone in his voice, some tiny indication that he was not as certain as she thought he was about what had happened between them last night.

It was then she realized she wasn’t being fair. Either she was in this, or she wasn’t.

It took courage, but she walked to where he stood and slid her arms around his waist. “I’ve been second-guessing myself, Alex. But that’s over. I’m content to take things one day at a time. I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to work with you and not want to jump your bones, but I’ll try.”

He hugged her so tightly she thought her ribs would crack. “God, Maria.” He pulled back and rubbed his thumb over her cheekbone. “I thought I might have scared you off.”

Eleven (#u6475eb09-1048-5d04-9160-b29e47bf3f82)

“I don’t scare that easily, Mr. Ramon.”

“Thank God.” Her cheeky grin was adorable. Alex felt as if he had dodged a bullet. There had been women in his life who had walked away. At least one or two. But none whose defection had given him heartburn.

This morning when he woke up alone, his heart had gone cold until he heard faint sounds from the bathroom. In those moments when he thought she had fled to her room, he’d felt a little sick. Not for anything in the world would he have her feel uneasy about what had happened between them. He decided then and there that if she wasn’t a hundred percent on board with this new slant to their relationship, he wasn’t going to chase after her. Not because of any pride on his part, but because Maria was too nice a woman to have to fend off unwanted advances from a coworker.

He wrapped a hand in her silky hair, wishing he could take her hard and fast, but they had reached a tentative accord. Maybe he should show some restraint. “I suppose we need to work,” he said, finding little enthusiasm for the prospect.

“Definitely,” she said. “And if we get a lot done, we might have time for some recreation later.”

Alex replayed that promise repeatedly over the next three hours. It wasn’t easy to stay focused, but he tried. Fortunately, once they delved into the draft of the proposal, he was able to keep his attention mostly on the words they were shaping rather than the scent of Maria’s hair.

It touched him that she was so sweetly intent on their task. Though not a native of Alma, she took her responsibilities very seriously. The powers that be had been right to include her in the delegation.

The opening language of the proposal was flowery and formal, based mostly on historic documents. From there, Alex and Maria struggled with the order of points relating to the royal family’s return. Should the legalities of power and function be first, or was it more politically correct to mention the palace and what was left of the Montoro fortune from before Tantaberra’s regime?

At least they had Jean Claude’s extensive notes when it came to lawyer-speak. Neither Alex nor Maria was trained in such areas. But they were both good editors, Alex catching the occasional typo and Maria smoothing out style and syntax.