Contracted For The Spaniard's Heir

They were on her wavelength. They were all part of the greater caring community who didn’t rush to put themselves first.

Luca Ross was part of the cut-throat community who thought nothing of taking what they wanted whatever the cost. He was arrogant, ruthless and manipulative. She’d been in his company for a handful of hours and already she felt wrung out.

‘I’m not talking about a long-term position,’ he clarified, still fully confident that he was going to get what he wanted because, frankly, he always did. ‘Of course, a suitable nanny will be found in due course, but that’s going to take time, and this time around I will have more input to the procedure than previously.’

Ellie was making a mental list in her head of all the things she disliked about him and she tacked this new one on. He probably left choosing the nannies to his secretary because he was too busy and couldn’t be bothered...

‘I’m sorry,’ she said, standing up so that he could take the hint that their conversation was at an end. Her body broke out in light perspiration as he slowly rose to his feet. He strolled towards her, in no hurry.

His long, lean body oozed latent strength and suffocating masculinity. She could almost see the flex of sinew and muscle under the charcoal-grey trousers and the white shirt, which he had cuffed to the elbow. His forearms were liberally sprinkled with dark hair. She wondered whether his chest would likewise be sprinkled with dark hair and she furiously stopped herself in crazy mid-thought.

He cast an ominous shadow as he finally paused to stand in front of her, and Ellie had to will herself not to cower.

The mental checklist of things she disliked about the man was growing by the second. Not only did he think he could get whatever he wanted but he was not averse to using sheer brawn and intimidation tactics to get there.

‘Sorry?’

‘I’m not interested in working for you.’ She cleared her throat and their eyes collided, causing the air to rush out of her body in a whoosh. ‘I appreciate the offer, but you’re better off going back to the agency, and maybe taking more of a hands-on approach this time, because you seemed to imply that you hadn’t on the previous occasions.’

‘How can you appreciate my offer when you haven’t heard the details?’

‘I don’t need to.’

‘Care to tell me why?’

‘I know you think that you can get whatever you want because you’re rich, but you can’t.’ She tore her eyes away with difficulty. He was standing so close to her that she could breathe in whatever woody, intensely masculine aftershave he was wearing.

Breathing was proving to be a problem. It was unnerving. She forced herself to remain calm and composed because he was just standing there; he wasn’t trying to prevent her from leaving the room. She remembered how to breathe and then looked at him.

‘Jake ran away for a reason.’ Her voice, thankfully, did not betray the utter turmoil his proximity was bringing on. ‘Okay, so maybe he didn’t like the nanny very much, or perhaps he got bored and decided to venture out, but the bottom line is that there’s obviously something missing on the home front and that something can only be provided by you.’

‘We’re going round in circles.’

‘Because we’re on completely different wavelengths.’ She cleared her throat and wished that he would back off by even a couple of inches so that she could get her act together. ‘And that’s just one reason why I could never work for you. We’re from different worlds.’

‘Since when do people have to think alike in order to have a satisfactory working arrangement?’

‘It matters to me,’ Ellie persisted. Since she had nothing to lose, she said, bluntly, ‘I don’t like what you stand for. I’m not into money and I don’t approve of people who focus all their energy on making it. I’m happy doing what I’m doing, and I wish you all the best in your search for a replacement for the nanny you sacked.’

Luca stared at her in silence then he nodded slowly.

He backed away, leaving a cool void behind him. Desperate to leave only seconds earlier, Ellie now hovered uneasily. He had moved back to the desk but was now perched on the edge and was watching her with a thoughtful expression.

‘So...’ She licked her lips nervously.

‘You were on your way out?’

‘Yes, I was!’ She pulled open the door and an odd thought suddenly sprang into her addled brain—this will be the last time you set eyes on this man. She blinked, surprised and bemused at the discomfiture that thought provoked out of nowhere.

Ellie thought he might have tried to stop her, one last stab at persuading her to hear him out, and she was disconcerted to find that she was almost disappointed when he remained in the office while she let herself out of the house, pausing and looking up the stairs on her way out.

Should she try and find Jake? Say goodbye? She wanted to. In a short space of time, he had touched her with his shy overtures of friendship.

No. She’d already become way too involved in his backstory. She’d done her good deed for the week and delivered him back to his home and it was doubtful she would lay eyes on him again.

Whatever nanny Luca got, Ellie’s money was on the poor girl being monitored more closely than a convict on parole. She would be manacled to the poor child while Luca carried on making money and kidding himself that he was being a good guardian by flinging cash at the problem that had landed on his doorstep.

Hateful and obnoxious, she thought, barely aware of the walk back to the park and then on to the nearest bus because she was so busy thinking of him.

Ellie shared a house with three other girls. Every time she approached the front door, she recalled the far nicer little place she had rented previously where she had been able to relax in peace; where she hadn’t had to jostle for space in the fridge; any time she wanted to herself now had to be spent in a bedroom that was only just about big enough for a bed, a chest of drawers and a wardrobe that was a whisker away from being held together by masking tape. But needs must.

She wondered, but only briefly, whether she should have listened to whatever offer Luca had been prepared to put on the table...

* * *

Twenty-four hours later, Ellie was on her way back home when she noticed a long, sleek, black car pull away from the kerb, picking up speed and then slowing down until it was right alongside her.

The persistent rain of the past couple of weeks had stopped and, at a little after six-thirty in the evening, a watery sun was trying to remind everyone that it was still summer.

The road was quiet, practically deserted, and with a flare of panic she quickened her steps, only almost to collide into the passenger door of the car which had been flung open, barring her path.

‘Hop in, Ellie.’

She recognised the voice instantly and, when she peered inside, her heart did a quick flip and her breathing hitched. Luca was the last person she had been expecting to see again.

The tinted windows had prevented her from seeing the driver and now she wondered how on earth he had managed to do that? Show up just when she was on her way back to her house. Did he have some sort of telepathic X-ray vision?

She blinked, her mouth opening and shutting while Luca looked at her in total silence.

‘How did you find me?’

‘Hop in.’

‘No!’

‘Don’t slam the door. Just get in the car and listen to what I have to say.’

‘How did you find me?’ she repeated, reluctant to get in the car yet not wanting to draw attention to herself. She slid into the passenger seat and slammed the door behind her.

In the enclosed space, she was uneasily conscious of the raw sexuality that had accosted her the last time she had been in his company. He was so staggeringly male, so devoid of any soft side, so unapologetically masculine.

She looked at him and didn’t know whether it was because he had been on her mind, or whether it was just the shock of seeing him when she hadn’t expected to, but her body was suddenly filled with a disturbing electric charge.

Her nipples pinched, scraping against her tee shirt because she seldom wore a bra except to work. What was the point when there was precious little to hold in place? And there was a stickiness between her legs that horrified her, made her want to slam her thighs together tightly.

‘Don’t forget, I know where your dog-walking clients live,’ Luca intoned smoothly. ‘I asked them whether you were out with their dogs. Actually, I struck jackpot with owner number one. You’re a creature of habit, Ellie. Same routine. It was a pretty simple process of deduction that you would be heading back to your house around now. Mrs Wilson was kind enough to let me have your address. She also gave me your mobile number but I thought it best if I surprised you.’

‘She had no right to hand over my private details!’