The Valquez Bride

Maybe a short-term marriage on paper would be worth considering after all.

He wanted that land.

It was a thousand hectares of prime real estate that had been in his family for generations, and would still have been except for Teddy’s father’s underhand dealings. Alejandro’s plans to extend his polo pony-breeding stud with an exclusive resort attached couldn’t go ahead without that land. It was perfectly positioned, with good grazing and access, and wouldn’t interfere or compromise the rest of his estate. Sustainable farming was an important issue to him and without that land being returned to his possession he couldn’t rest easy that it would be taken care of in the best way possible. What if Teddy’s relative sold it to a developer? There were plenty about, looking for properties to exploit. The place would be desecrated and his along with it. He had to stop that happening. He would do anything to stop that happening.

Almost anything.

‘Are you really prepared to throw all of this away?’ He waved a hand to encompass her gracious surroundings.

She eyeballed him with that same piercing intensity. ‘Are you really prepared to marry a perfect stranger in exchange for a plot of land?’

He sent his gaze over her in a long lazy sweep, taking in the swell of her small pert breasts the voluminous sweater couldn’t quite conceal. ‘I’m thinking about it.’

Her eyes flickered and then widened as if she couldn’t quite believe her ears.

Alejandro was with her on that. He couldn’t believe his either. Had he really just said he was thinking about it? Red flag. Panic button. Exit stage left.

He was thinking about the M word?

‘Why is the land of such importance to you?’ she asked.

The one thing Alejandro had learned in business was not to show how much you wanted something. It gave the opposition too much power. It was better to act cool and indifferent, as if this was just another business transaction. Nothing out of the ordinary. Easy come, easy go.

‘The land is not the issue. The issue is whether I would feel comfortable watching you lose everything for the sake of six months in a paper marriage.’

Her throat rose and fell again as she made a little gulping sound. ‘Did you say...paper?’

CHAPTER TWO (#ulink_f7ba8513-0b46-5e75-b8ec-271c7fae31bd)

‘BUT OF COURSE.’ Alejandro hooked a pitch-black eyebrow upwards. ‘You surely weren’t expecting anything else?’

Teddy tried to read his glinting expression. Was he mocking her or baiting her?

It didn’t take her long to decide. He was mocking her. Bastard. Did he have to make it so plainly obvious she was not his type? Grr. She had deliberately made herself look as unappealing as possible when she’d seen his top end sports car prowl up the long driveway. Well, even more unappealing given her damaged hip was no doubt the biggest turn-off for a man who only dated long-legged blondes.

The arrogance of him! He hadn’t even called first to make an appointment to see her. What sort of person did that? What did he think she did all day? Swan around the manor with a champagne cocktail in her hand?

How hard would it have been to call and make a time? What right did he have to come barging in demanding she see him? Did he think she was hanging out here with her heart all aflutter, waiting for him to turn up and dash her off to the nearest register office?

If so, he had better think again. She was determined to show him she wasn’t one of his brainless bimbos who drooled at the mere sight of him.

He might be quite possibly the most gorgeous-looking man she had ever seen, even more gorgeous than those hot male models who advertised aftershave or designer brand sunglasses. He might have the most amazingly dark brown eyes that made her think of strong espresso coffee, and a mouth that made her think of sex, which was a little bit shocking because she never thought of sex. He might have a body that would make Michelangelo make a dash for the nearest chisel and a block of marble, but she was not going to be swooning or fainting any time soon.

No way.

She was going to show him he couldn’t just waltz into her house and tell her how high to jump.

Firstly, she couldn’t jump.

And secondly...well, a girl had her pride, didn’t she? She didn’t want to be handed over like a raffle prize. He didn’t want her. He wanted the land his father had sold to her father. He wanted it more than he was letting on.

That was the thing about being a wallflower. Teddy got to stand back and observe people. To see all the nuances that gave them away. He was better than most at keeping his cards concealed, but she knew he was a powerful and ruthlessly dangerous opponent. He had a winner takes all aura about him. He wore arrogance as easily as he wore his bespoke clothes. He would take risks but only if he was absolutely certain they would pay off. He was calculating and cool. Clever and far more attractive than any man had a right to be. Impressively tall, six-foot-four, and olive-skinned, with jet-black hair that was styled in a casually tousled way—not too short, not too long, but somewhere fashionably in between. His uncompromising jaw was lean and shaven but the regrowth that currently shadowed it suggested he was a twice a day shaver.

Somehow the thought of the rush of those male hormones surging through his body made her insides shift. She was aware of him in a way she didn’t want to own. Would not show. He was used to reeling in women like the catch of the day. He pulled them in and then tossed them away when he was done with them. She wasn’t going to be lured in by his potent charm and undoubted sensual expertise.

No-ho-ho way.

‘Señor Valquez, you seem to have the misguided notion that I am agreeable to any sort of marriage with you. I hate to slight your undoubtedly robust ego, but that is not the case.’

The right side of his mouth came up in an arrogant tilt, those bedroom eyes glinting so darkly the lining of her belly gave an involuntary quiver. ‘You have a lot to lose by rejecting my offer of a temporary marriage.’

Teddy kept her gaze trained on his. ‘So, it seems, do you.’

The only sign of his tension was in a muscle that moved near the left side of his jaw. It was barely more than a flicker but it told her much more about him than anything he had said so far.

He didn’t want to marry her any more than she wanted to marry him. He was playing a game. Getting control. He was ruthlessly determined. Powerfully motivated. He would do whatever it took to get what he wanted and he wouldn’t care who got hurt in the process.

The air tightened like a singing wire.

Sparks passed from his gaze to hers. She felt the impact of them as if he had fired a laser at her. It was all she could do not to blink. It was all she could do not to stare at his mouth. Had she ever seen such a masculine mouth? Such a beautiful mouth? That was the only word to describe it. It was like a work of art. Sexy and sensually contoured with its surround of dark stubble. A tempting mouth. A sinfully corrupt mouth. A mouth that took what it wanted because it damn well could.

Something deep and low in her belly got out of its tightly locked cage. It stretched its cramped limbs, started to move, to crawl around inside her, stirring her senses into wakefulness. It sent a tremor through her blood like a shockwave through a millpond. She could feel the tiny ripples moving over her flesh like the spread of a shiver.

His gaze drifted to her mouth, lingering there for a pulsing beat before re-engaging with her gaze with a zap she felt deep in her core. ‘I’ll give you twenty-four hours to make up your mind. After that the offer is off the table and a new one will take its place.’

Teddy worked hard to keep her expression masked. What other offer would he present to her? Dared she ask? His coal-black eyes were locked on hers in a silent challenge that made the air vibrate with soundless waves of antagonism. The back of her neck prickled as every tiny hair stood to attention like soldiers under the threat of enemy fire. She drew in a breath but the space inside her chest felt cramped, as if her ribcage was slowly but surely shrinking back against her spine. ‘You seem assured I will eventually capitulate to your wishes, Señor Valquez. Again, I would hate to unnecessarily damage your ego but I will not be told what to do.’

His slant of a smile ignited a satirical glint in his eyes. ‘It’s your call, Miss Marlstone. Today it’s a marriage on paper. This time tomorrow it will be the real deal.’ He handed her a business card with his contact details on it. ‘Let me know which you decide.’

Teddy took the card because she didn’t know what else to do. She couldn’t get her voice to work. Couldn’t get her brain to think. Couldn’t stop her body from feeling hot all over from the smouldering burn of his gaze.

Was he serious? Was he prepared to go that far? To make it a real marriage in every sense of the word?

To her?

Why would he do that? Why would he want that? Why would he want her? Or was he game playing, to see how far he could push her?

Teddy watched as he strode out of the door. Listened to him speak curtly with Henry, the butler, on his way out. Heard the front door click shut on his exit. Heard the roar of his powerful engine and the spin of his tyres on the gravel of the driveway as he sped away, throwing up a shower of stones that hit the side of the house like a spray of bullets.

She closed her hand over the business card and felt the edges bite into the flesh of her palm. It was a chilling reminder that in any further skirmish with him she would have to be better prepared. Armoured up. Invincible.

And she only had twenty-four hours in which to do it....

* * *

‘If you ask me, I think you’d be crazy not to marry him,’ Audrey, the long-time housekeeper said as she poked a blue delphinium into the arrangement she was making in the kitchen. ‘After all, what’s going to happen to all of our jobs if this place is handed over to your layabout cousin? He won’t keep Henry on at his age, not to mention me.’ She gave a little sniff as she picked up another bloom. ‘He’ll want some big-breasted young floozy to flounce around the place with a feather duster in her hand before she dives into his bed.’

Teddy chewed at her lip. She hadn’t got as far as thinking about the loyal Marlstone staff. They were a team. A family. Her family. Audrey Taylor was sixty-eight and had run the household ever since Teddy’s mother had left. She had fulfilled so many roles in Teddy’s life: nanny, friend, confidante, wise counsel and mentor.