‘Jerk!’ she snorted.
‘Hey, did I tell you I ran into him the other week. He’s some tech millionaire now.’
‘Really? Bobby the jock a tech geek? No way!’
‘Yes way. He was the keynote speaker at some convention at the hotel.’
‘I bet Alejandro loved that,’ she started to laugh. ‘You running into your handsy ex-boyfriend.’
‘He is not handsy,’ I insisted.
‘Whatever! So, did Alejandro like him?’
‘No,’ I grinned at her. ‘Not even a little bit.’
‘Good,’ she said as she raised her glass in a toast. She read magazines as much as I did, and knew all about the legions of women Alejandro had dated before me. I had also told her that we bumped into them frequently.
‘You certainly seem to have picked a good one now, though,’ she said with a smile. ‘He adores you, honey.’
I smiled back. ‘You think?’
‘Girl, I know! He can hardly keep his eyes or his hands off you. And why wouldn’t he. You’re a knockout. But, it’s more than that. The way he looks at you. It’s everything,’ she sighed dramatically. ‘Every woman deserves a man who looks at them the way Alejandro looks at you.’
I smiled at her. ‘Sometimes, I can’t believe he’s my husband, Kels. He is just … he is everything I have ever wanted, and everything I didn’t even know I wanted rolled into one hot package of fine ass man!’
‘Speaking of a fine ass man,’ Kelsey nodded towards the French doors and I looked up to see Hugo walking out into the garden.
‘I’m signing off, Alana. Hank, Ray and Max are here in the house and the patrols are outside as usual. Lucia is studying in her room and Mr Montoya asked me to tell you that he’ll be home after dinner so not to wait for him to eat.’
‘Thanks, Hugo,’ I said.
‘You fancy sticking around for a quick drink, Hugo?’ Kelsey asked as she lifted the half empty wine bottle.
He cleared his throat. ‘I’d better not,’ he said but his eyes were drawn to Kelsey’s legs as she crossed them, exposing the skin at the top of her thighs in her short sundress.
‘I’ll see you tomorrow, ladies,’ he mumbled as his cheeks flushed a light shade of pink.
Kelsey stared after him as he walked back into the house. ‘Oh, I would climb him like a tree,’ she said as she fanned herself with her hand.
I laughed at her. Having her here made being confined to the house so much easier to bear. I suddenly remembered that she had to go home in two days and felt a wave of sadness.
‘What time is your flight on Monday?’ I asked.
‘Eight am. I’ll be home in time for my shift on Monday night.’
‘I’ll miss you.’
‘I’ll miss you too, honey. But now that I know my bestie has her own freaking jet, you can send it for me next time I have some time off work,’ she said as she poured us each a fresh glass of wine.
‘Sounds like a great plan.’
‘Hey, I meant to tell you I saw your mom last week.’
I swallowed. I hadn’t spoken to my parents since the morning I had confronted my father and he had admitted that Alejandro had paid him three million dollars to marry me. He had sold his only child and I had told him that I never wanted to see him again. I had no idea if my mother had even found out about my visit that morning, but she hadn’t contacted me either way. I was done with the two of them, but it was hard to cut them out of my life, even though I knew it was the right thing to do.
Kelsey had no idea about what had happened with my parents, or the fact that my marriage to Alejandro hadn’t started out anything like the fairy-tale she believed it to be.
‘How was she?’