Diego’s gritted teeth suggested Maxie would pay for this.
CHAPTER SEVEN
‘SO, YOU’RE frightened of me?’ Diego observed—a little smugly, Maxie thought—when Maria had left them.
‘Rubbish,’ Maxie protested, concentrating on loading the dishwasher. She had offered to clear up, knowing how busy Maria was. She had taken up enough of the good-hearted housekeeper’s time already.
‘You can’t trust yourself to touch me,’ Diego mocked as he reclined in his chair.
‘You wish,’ she murmured under her breath.
‘Why else would you deputise Maria?’ Diego challenged.
‘You’re going to trip over that ego of yours one day,’ Maxie observed coolly, stretching up on tiptoe to put some bowls on the top shelf. ‘The only reason I asked Maria to help is so you won’t be left stranded when I leave.’
‘When are you planning to leave?’
Diego’s sharp tone surprised her. ‘My work here is almost done,’ she pointed out, turning to face him. ‘All the suppliers I need are in place for the wedding, and I’ve got a full programme of events planned. I’m only waiting for Holly’s go-ahead.’
‘Great,’ Diego said, without enthusiasm.
Springing out of the chair, he stalked to the window to stare out. She couldn’t leave. There was too much unfinished business between them. He wanted to know more about Maxie—who she was, and why she was so reticent about talking about her family. He wanted to unearth Peter Parrish, and there was always that faint chance that Maxie might be able to lead Diego to him. Either way, he wasn’t ready to let her go.
‘Good,’ he said, changing his plans as he swung round. ‘It’s time for me to go too. I’ve been here long enough, and thanks to you my leg is almost better. I’m match-fit and my horse has recovered. What point is there in staying?’ He shrugged, a little pleased to see the surprise in Maxie’s eyes.
She had put her challenge out there, hoping, she supposed, that Diego would talk her out of it, only to learn that he wasn’t going to. So this extraordinary adventure was over.
Moving things round at the sink so he couldn’t see the disappointment on her face, she resigned herself to a life of fantasy. She had seized life briefly, but then had taken fright and let it go again. ‘It will be good to get back,’ she said brightly.
‘You’re a terrible liar, Maxie.’
‘I always tell the truth,’ she argued as Diego’s lips tugged in a smile.
‘Do you?’ he said.
‘Yes,’ she said hotly.
‘I like that,’ he commented, angling his stubble-blackened chin to stare at her.
‘What?’ she said, still churning inside.
‘I like the way you’ve changed since you first arrived on the island. I like the way the buttoned-up businesswoman has lost her bit and bridle on the island.’
Yes, but he didn’t want to take advantage of it. ‘It’s just a shame you haven’t changed from the charmer who met me on the dock,’ she countered.
‘I think we’ve both changed,’ Diego argued thoughtfully. ‘But don’t change the subject, Maxie. We’re talking about you—not me. I want to know more about you.’
‘Like what?’ she said defensively.
‘I’d like to know why you shrink back into that same defensive shell every time you take a call from England.’
‘I don’t!’
‘Don’t you?’
She exclaimed with shock when Diego dragged her close. ‘So who is the real Maxie Parrish?’ he demanded. ‘Is it the buttoned-up businesswoman with the weight of the world on her shoulders? Or is it the firebrand who tore up the road on my bike?’
She tried to fight him as he kissed her, savagely and without break. Balling up her fists, she thrust them against his chest, only to encounter solid rock, but Diego broke away as quickly as he had claimed her.
‘When are you going to be honest with yourself, Maxie?’
She was still shaking, her hand across her mouth as if that could hide the proof her arousal. How could she have allowed this to happen again? She stared at Diego with furious eyes, wanting to throw a punch at his arrogant mouth. She wanted to spit in his black, piratical eyes. She was panting and furious and—and inconveniently aroused, Maxie admitted silently as she fought for control. And while the urge to pummel the living daylights out of Diego was certainly one option, he had lit something inside her that refused to be extinguished.
Grabbing hold of him, she yanked him close and took what she wanted, and as much as she wanted, for as long as she wanted, until with a fierce, angry sound she let him go.
‘Dios!’ Diego murmured, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand as he stared at her in amazement. ‘I knew I was right—but not that right!’
‘Don’t flatter yourself,’ she flashed.
Turning abruptly, she left the room.
What now? Maxie asked herself, furious at her loss of self-control as she stalked across the courtyard on her way to who knew where. By the time she reached the fence surrounding the paddock where the horses were grazing she was ready to admit she had actually followed her inclinations for once.
Climbing up a rung of the fence, she leaned her chin on her arms. Actually living life wasn’t half bad, she reflected, tentatively examining her lips with the tip of her tongue, though perhaps in future she should spend a little more time thinking about the consequences of her actions before putting them into practice. Diego had turned the tables on her pretty comprehensively, leaving her lips with a swollen and throbbing reminder of how thoroughly she’d been kissed. Plus, he was right again, Maxie conceded with a rueful sigh. There was definitely passion lurking inside her somewhere.
‘Now you’ve got that out of your system, are you ready for your first riding lesson?’
A lightning strike couldn’t have shocked her more. Wheeling round, she took in Diego’s dark, amused gaze at a glance. ‘Riding lesson?’
‘Unless you don’t feel up to it?’ he said, lips pressing down in a mocking reminder of her exhaustive assault on him.
She held the stare with a cool one of her own. ‘I’m up to it,’ she said, wishing the imprint of Diego’s hands on her body hadn’t left quite such a searing brand.
‘I have just the horse for you,’ he said, smiling pleasantly, which in itself was enough to make her suspicious.
‘Would that be a stamping stallion to cart me off? Or a donkey?’
‘You’ll just have to rely on my judgement,’ he said, and with one last amused look he vaulted the fence into the field.
Maxie studied Diego’s powerful, athletic body as his easy stride ate up the distance across the field. Riding lessons had never been like this before. He returned with a mild grey pony and, tacking up, showed her how to hold the reins. Cupping his hands, he offered her a leg up. She was careful not to touch any part of him she didn’t have to as she lowered herself gently onto the saddle.
‘Are you listening, Maxie?’ Diego demanded after they had been walking for a while.
‘Of course I am.’ She dragged her gaze from his wild, thick hair.
‘Then loosen the reins,’ he said impatiently.
She did so as she took in the wide sweep of his shoulders. Diego was such a big man. If a man that size made love to her would she enjoy it, or would he prove too big for her?
‘Put your heels down,’ Diego rapped in a voice that definitely suggested she had missed something. ‘Aren’t you listening to a word I say?’ he demanded.
‘I’m hanging on your every word,’ she said solemnly, and for the pony’s sake she would try. She was enjoying the gentle rocking movement of the horse—enjoying the chance to be close to Diego too, without the need for combat or conversation.
‘You’re a good pupil,’ he remarked when he drew the pony to a halt.
‘With an excellent teacher—even if he is a little impatient.’
Diego’s glance sent heat streaking through her. She should know better than to chal
lenge him. ‘Well,’ she said, turning in the saddle to gaze back at the house, ‘I should be getting back.’
‘I thought you said you had finished your work?’
‘I have, but—’
‘You have calls to take?’ Diego suggested.
Warning signals flattened her enjoyment of the last hour. ‘I’m due to ring Holly with a report,’ she said quickly.
Diego released the pony into the field, and they were walking back to the house when he started to ask her more questions about her family. She didn’t want to lie, but she wasn’t going to betray her father’s trust, either. ‘There’s just me and my father.’
‘And that’s it?’ Diego pressed, frowning. ‘No husband? No partner? No special boyfriend?’
She laughed. ‘No one. Don’t look so surprised. It works for me.’