‘Is this your husband?’ she said as she looked him over.
‘I certainly am,’ Alejandro answered.
Lucy turned to me and grinned. ‘Way to go, Alana,’ she said and gave me a fist bump.
Alejandro slipped his hand around my waist, skimming my ass as he did and sending a shockwave of electricity through me. He pulled me towards him. ‘How about you show me around this place?’
‘Of course, come on,’ I said and we excused ourselves.
I had almost given Alejandro the full tour, which had taken some considerable time as I’d had to introduce him to every single person we met along the way. He was charming to everyone and I saw a glimpse of how the outside world must see him – the King of L.A. No wonder he had people constantly fawning all over him.
We were walking down the hallway, when Alejandro pulled me into the store cupboard, closing the door behind us and pressing me up against it before kissing me greedily. His hand slipped over my ass and he squeezed hard.
‘Not here,’ I breathed as I broke our kiss.
‘I know,’ he said as he lifted his hand and gently dusted his knuckles over my cheek. ‘I just had to kiss you, that’s all. I can wait until we get home to fuck you, or at least until we get in the car,’ he flashed his eyebrows at me.
‘You have sex on the brain,’ I said although I pulled his body closer and could feel the growing hardness through his jeans.
‘I have you on the brain, Mrs. Montoya,’ he said as he pulled his hips away from me and nipped my shoulder blade. ‘And seeing how much these people love you is only making me want to take you home and remind you that you’re mine.’
‘How could I forget?’ I said, placing my hands on his hard chest.
‘So, how much is this place costing me?’ he said with flash of his eyebrows.
I blinked at him. ‘What?’
‘This new shelter. How much am I in for?’
Sometimes, I could hardly believe the arrogance of this man. ‘Nothing,’ I said as I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to create some distance between us.
‘Nothing?’
I saw the surprise on his face and felt the satisfaction at him being completely clueless for once.
‘I have fundraised for every cent in this place. I haven’t used any of your money. I don’t need your money, Alejandro.’
‘What? Why haven’t you at least asked for a donation from the business.’
I shrugged. ‘I wasn’t sure that you’d be interested.’
‘You didn’t think that I’d be interested in helping abused women and children?’ he said with a scowl.
‘No,’ I replied.
His face changed in an instant and now it was full of anger and fire. He reached behind me and opened the door handle. ‘Let’s go,’ he growled.
I stepped out of the store room and he followed close behind me. I was about to say something to ease the tension that was now between us, but before I could he’d pulled his phone out of his pocket and had it pressed to his ear. A few seconds later, I heard him barking orders in Spanish.
Kristen and another of the workers, Casey, approached us as Alejandro put his phone away and he smiled at them, his mask firmly back in place.
‘Alana, I need to show you the TV in the rec room,’ Casey said. ‘It’s huge!’ She grabbed my hand and I gave Alejandro an apologetic shrug and left him talking to Kristen.
Twenty minutes later, I was chatting to a few of the kids in the den when Alejandro approached me.
‘Alana, it’s time to go,’ he said softly.
I checked my watch. It was getting late and I supposed I’d taken enough of his time. ‘Okay,’ I said.