At His Service: Flirting with the Boss: Crazy about her Spanish Boss / Hired: The Boss's Bride / Blind Date with the Boss

“I’ll rummage up our old coat of arms. It used to hang in the foyer, but my mother thought it made the house feel like a fortress so it’s stored upstairs. In fact there’s a lot of furniture we could bring down including a deacon’s chair.”

“When can we look at everything?”

“I’ll tell Maria to show you around any time you’d like.”

“You won’t be sorry about this, Remi. I’ll do it all while you concentrate on running your company. I don’t want you to have to worry about a thing.”

Where had this woman come from? Eight days ago he hadn’t known of her existence. And now …

The urge to take her to bed and make passionate love to her had turned into literal pain because he was forced to deny himself, but she wasn’t ready emotionally. He needed to do something fast before he made a mistake that could ruin everything.

“I’ll be back with our lunch.”

Without waiting for her response he strode to the passageway leading to the kitchen. As he entered it, Paco was coming in through the back door. One look at his face and Remi knew something was wrong.

“I’ve been trying to reach you on the phone. Eduardo got a deep gash between his thumb and index finger on one of the machines. We stopped the bleeding the best we could. Diego and Juan drove him to the clinic in Arges.”

Remi grimaced. First Jillian, now Eduardo. All in one week.

“That means he’ll be off the job for a while. I’ll go to Arges and check on him, then drive over to their house and assure his wife she doesn’t have to worry about expenses his insurance doesn’t cover.”

Paco nodded. “Shall I call Jorge to fill in tomorrow? He called again this morning asking if we’d consider rehiring him.”

“Go ahead. Tell him I’ll talk to him about a permanent job after he goes off shift.”

Thank heaven Remi had gone to the kitchen. Jillian couldn’t have maintained her composure any longer and ran through the house to the bedroom with his towel. Her legs felt as insubstantial as mush.

She’d planned to cool off in the pool, but that was before he’d offered to wash her hair. The need to be touched by him had been so strong she’d willingly put herself in his hands. She would have let him do anything to her just now and she was sure he knew it!

If other people weren’t living at La Rosaleda, would he have taken her to the bedroom? Or to his other house? There was a moment out there when he was looking in her eyes, she’d thought he was going to kiss her. She’d stopped breathing while she waited, but something held him back.

He wasn’t indifferent to her. She knew that. On some elemental level they had a connection that was growing stronger. She could blame part of his hesitation on the damage done by his ex-wife. After what he’d been through it would take more courage than Jillian had to enter into new relationship, but there was another problem.

She and Remi weren’t like ships passing in the night, where they could share a few hours of passion before they both moved on never to see each other again. She couldn’t do that anyway. It wasn’t how she was made. Kyle had been her only lover, but she wasn’t so naive as to suppose Remi hadn’t been with other women since his divorce.

This situation was different. They were joined in a financial venture that was vital to both of them. She didn’t want anything to go wrong for him and she’d made a commitment to stay until December. To become physically involved would complicate everything.

It already had. Her body still throbbed from his ministrations. What had possessed her out there? For sure she wouldn’t be taking any dips in the pool in his presence.

Still shaken by her desire for him, she had to do something to offset it, but how could she do that when she’d be seeing him again in a few minutes? Which reminded her that her hair was a damp mess. She went into the bathroom to brush it into some semblance of order and change into jeans and a T-shirt.

When she emerged a few minutes later, she heard her cell phone ring. Her watch said it was almost four in the afternoon. That would be Dave. He was up by now and wanted to talk before leaving for work. She’d have to call him later. Remi was waiting.

Grabbing the towel off the chair she hurried out of the bedroom to join him. She couldn’t reach the patio room fast enough, but all the wind rushed out of her when she discovered he wasn’t alone. Her steps slowed.

“Hola, Paco.”

He nodded with a smile. “Senora.” What if the foreman had come in while Remi had been washing her hair? More than ever she realized how careful she needed to be from now on. She laid the towel over the chair.

Her host flicked her a veiled glance. In the interim he’d changed into trousers and a work shirt. She’d give anything to know what he was thinking behind that brooding facade.

“You’ll have to excuse me, Jillian. Something urgent has come up that needs my attention. I’ll see you later. Enjoy your meal.” She watched him leave and felt life go out of the room.

Not wanting to sit here alone, she carried her tray of food back to the bedroom. With unexpected time on her hands she walked over to the laptop and composed an e-mail to Pia while she ate. Once it was sent, she reached for her phone and called her brother.

“Thanks for getting back to me, Jilly. Are you alone?”

Quite alone. She wondered what emergency had called Remi away. “Yes.”

“Good. This is your big brother you’re talking to now. How bad is it? I want the truth!”

With her emotions in knots over Remi she’d actually forgotten about her eye. She got to her feet and started pacing. “I told you earlier. There’s one spot that’s blurry. That’s it. I’m already used to it.”

“No, you’re not.”

Her hand tightened on the phone. “Listen—there’s something more important I have to tell you.”

She sank down on the side of the bed. In the next breath she explained about her new business venture and her plan to stay until December.

“Jil—”

“Just hear me out,” she interrupted. Having anticipated an argument, she told him about the tragedy Remi had lived through. She hadn’t planned on telling him something that private, but the situation had changed drastically since their last conversation.

Her words silenced her brother, who eventually muttered, “The poor devil.”

She jumped to her feet, unable to sit still. “He hasn’t let it defeat him. Remi’s remarkable.”

“He sounds like you. But be careful, Jilly. I can hear it in your voice.”

Heat filled her cheeks. “Hear what?”

“You’re nuts about him. Angela and I’ve been hoping you’d meet someone, but when a man’s been hurt that deeply, those wounds have scarred him. One day he could destroy you without even realizing it. He’s not like Kyle in any way, shape or form. You do know that.”

“Yes,” she whispered, trying in vain to hold back the tears.

He made a strange sound in his throat. “I don’t think you do, but it’s too late for this talk, isn’t it?”

The feel of Remi’s fingers in her hair still rippled through her body. “I’m afraid it is.” She wiped the tears with the back of her free hand. “Let’s change the subject. How’s Angela doing?”

“All’s well. It’s the waiting game now.”

“Have you picked out a name yet for my newest nephew to be?”

“We’ve narrowed it down to Max or Matt.”

“I like both.”

“Maybe our baby won’t look like either one and we’ll have to come up with something else.”