Armand’s brows shot to an extraordinary height.
Thinking he’d recognized her from the Aragon cologne ads, Libby raised a finger to her lips. She’d pushed her hair forward so those seated beside her couldn’t see her face clearly. She picked up the orchid corsage and buried her nose in it while Armand continued to stare. Ana had only asked for five minutes, and when Libby saw Maggie rejoin Rafael at Santos’s table, she assumed Ana must have already left in a taxi.
She sat up and smiled. “How silly of me. I seem to be at the wrong table. Please excuse me.” The orchid corsage remained in her hand as she left.
Santos stood as she came to the table, and he swept her with a puzzled glance. “I’d swear you were wearing pink when we arrived.”
Libby gave him a light kiss and returned to her place. “How perceptive of you. Ana Santillan and I swapped gowns.”
Maggie touched Santos’s sleeve. “I know your opinion of Ana, but she needed a favor, and we were glad to help.”
“Why would she need another gown?” Santos asked incredulously.
Rafael, Maggie’s husband, leaned forward. “Women think in an untranslatable language. Don’t try to understand them.”
“Save your advice for a man who needs it,” Santos shot back.
“Fine, because it doesn’t come cheap.”
“Gentlemen, please,” Libby scolded. “This dessert is incredibly good. Let’s enjoy it in a peaceful silence. I’ll answer all your questions later, Santos. I promise.” She gave her lips a sau
cy lick, and as expected, Santos’s dark gaze lightened to a sexy smolder.
The Aragon beach house was designed by a protégé of Antonio Gaudí and was a stunning example of surrealist architecture. With curves rather than sterile straight lines, the home had the perfection of a seashell nestled along the shore of the Mediterranean. Libby and Santos went back and forth between her room and his so often they had to sit up and look around in the morning to discover whose bed they’d chosen.
She turned her back to him and lifted her hair in an invitation to unzip Ana’s gown. “Thank you.” She stepped out of the slinky silver dress and folded it over her arm. “Someone has been sending Ana roses without including a card. She thought he might be there tonight and wanted to leave before he approached her.”
Santos responded with a rude snort. “She has very low standards. I can’t believe she’d shun a man who’d send flowers.”
She poked him in the chest. “Don’t insult her. We have the same taste in men.”
He caught her hand and pulled her close. “Avoid her. Tonight she wanted your dress. Who knows what she’ll ask for next time you meet?”
She rubbed her hips against his. “I love it when you go all macho. I won’t let her have another chance at you, and that’s all that matters.”
He growled against her throat. “Macho I can do.”
Her man was so easy to distract, and she was far too curious about Ana Santillan to avoid her indefinitely.
Maggie sat on the side of their bed and kicked off her heels. Rafael studied her wistful expression. “Didn’t you have a good time tonight? Should I have bid on something in the auction?”
Everything about the black-eyed gypsy fascinated her. His hands were as handsome as the rest of him, and she watched him unbutton his shirt. “It was a lovely evening, but we shouldn’t bid on expensive things we don’t need.”
He shrugged off his shirt. “It was a very good cause.”
“True, and I’m happy to help all the children’s charities, but I really thought we’d be on our way to having our own family by now.”
He took her hands to coax her up and helped her out of her fluid pale peach gown. The luscious color complemented her hazel eyes and hair, and her lingerie was a dreamy lavender with a smooth satiny feel. “The two of us are a family,” he insisted. “We were only married last summer, after you’d nearly bled to death.” He kissed the scars on her wrists. “You can’t rush nature. The babies will come in time.”
She swayed against him. “I hope so.”
He pulled her close and fondled her hair. “We’ll have all the babies you want, even if we have to rely on science to become parents.”
Her smile turned slyly seductive. “I prefer the old-fashioned method.”
“So do I, so let’s not waste any more of tonight.” He overwhelmed her with affection, and they were swiftly lost in love.
Ana made it home without being followed, but her mystery lover already knew her address. She paused at the security guard’s desk. “If someone arrives claiming I’m expecting him, please send him away. I don’t care who he is or how magnificently he’s dressed.”