Heart thumping, Luis gazed down at her. Had she guessed? Could she possibly feel the same way?
For perhaps a fraction of a second he thought about answering her truthfully. Telling her that he couldn’t bear the idea of her not being there, and that he wanted to be there for her when she met her estranged father.
That in fact he wanted to be there for her always.
But, looking into her eyes, he knew it was not the right time. She needed his support—not some out-of-the-blue emotional outburst that he couldn’t really explain to himself let alone her.
He shrugged. ‘I pushed you into telling me about your father. That makes me kind of responsible.’
‘For me?’
Cristina gazed up at him. For so long she’d had to be tough, to fight for what she wanted, and now here was Luis, offering to go into battle with her like some fairy-tale prince.
He tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. ‘For what happens next. Now, I think we should go back to the house. You need to pack, and I need to tell Tomas to get the helicopter ready.’
As they walked back up to the house she felt dazed. She couldn’t stop thinking about the look in his eyes as he’d offered to come with her. He had seemed so serious, so intense—it had felt almost as though he was offering her something else…something more than just sex.
Her breath caught.
Like a future together.
For a moment she thought about what that would mean. What it would feel like to have a place in Luis’s life and in his heart.
Her pulse stalled. It would be incredible. He was smart and sexy and sensitive, and she liked him. She liked him a lot. And it seemed like a harsh twist of fate that at the very moment she realised that fact there was no time to think, let alone act on it.
But after so many years of waiting and hoping, and pretending that she didn’t care one way or another, her father finally wanted to see her—and right now that came first.
CHAPTER NINE
‘WOULD YOU LIKE to go round the block one more time?’
Looking up at Luis, Cristina felt her heart thump inside her chest.
Laura had emailed her the address of the private hospital where her father was staying, and up until the moment the limousine had pulled up in a side street she had thought she was making the right decision.
But now even just looking at the gated entrance to the Hospital Virgen de la Luz in Madrid was making her throat constrict, and the palms of her hands felt damp against the leather of the bag she was clutching in her lap.
‘It’s okay,’ Luis said, his voice gentle. ‘I can text Laura…tell her we’re going to be a little late—’
‘No.’ She shook her head. ‘I’ve already messed her around enough. All those days of not picking up the phone—’
‘Come here.’ He curved his arm around her waist and pulled her against the hard muscles of his chest. ‘You haven’t messed anyone around. And another couple of minutes isn’t going to make much difference.’
The tension eased from her face.
‘That’s not what you said this morning,’ she said softly.
Her expression was innocent but her eyes were anything but, and desire rose inside him, swift and strong, his body hardening faster than quick-dry cement as he remembered how he’d pressed her against him in the shower.
Lifting her chin with his hand, he held her gaze. ‘Are you accusing me of being inconsistent?’
‘I think insatiable might be a better fit.’
He grinned, and Cristina shook her head, but she was smiling too. How could she not? He was just so gorgeously handsome and sexy. She liked it that he was wearing a polo shirt again—this time it was grey, perhaps a shade darker than his eyes. Liked, too, the way it clung to the hard definition of his muscles.
But now was not the right time to be giving in to the heat pooling inside her. Laura and her estranged father must take priority now.
Her pulse jumped and a flurry of fear spiralled up inside of her. Was she doing the right thing?