Wedding Party Collection: Proposing To The Planner: The Argentinian's Solace

True, Maxie conceded worriedly. So it would have to be a short visit—just long enough to take a look-see and get out with her heart intact. ‘It shouldn’t take me too long,’ she mused out loud.

‘Good. I’m glad that’s settled,’ Diego agreed.

‘Can we slow down now?’

‘I thought you liked speed?’ Diego shouted back.

‘I like control better,’ she countered. And right now she was in danger of losing control of both the horse and her life. And that wasn’t a situation she could allow to continue.

‘Relax and it will all be fine,’ Diego assured her, reining in alongside.

Was he talking about the horse or the charity event? But wasn’t she a co-ordinator of fabulous events for other people to enjoy? This job in Argentina would take her business global, providing security for both Maxie and her father. She couldn’t afford to turn it down. She’d call the nursing home as soon as they got back. Depending on the news on that front, she’d make a final decision. Caring for her father always posed a dilemma. If she didn’t travel for her work she couldn’t afford his fees at the nursing home, but when she travelled away from home she felt guilty.

‘Stop dreaming, Maxie, and catch up.’

Diego had stopped beneath the sheltering canopy of a jacaranda tree. The frowzy purple blossom, dislodged by the wind, was drifting round him, creating a deceptively soft and dreamlike scene—but this was business, Maxie reminded herself as Diego explained that she would have the considerable weight of the Acosta name behind her in Argentina.

‘I’ve done very well so far,’ she said wryly, ‘but I’d appreciate any help you can give me. A charity event on the scale you’re proposing will need quite a bit of thinking about, and I want to check a few things before I give you my final answer.’

‘Don’t take too long,’ Diego warned.

‘Hey!’ she protested, when he turned his horse and nudged it from a standstill into a canter and her horse followed.

‘Have some confidence,’ he called back. Maxie was a natural horsewoman. It was something in the hips. His lips tugged in a smile. He was enjoying this uncomplicated time together, but something told him it wouldn’t last long.

* * *

The trip to Argentina went without a hitch. Maxie’s contacts had been able to put her in touch with people in Buenos Aires, and the nursing home had given her the nod, so she was good to go. Diego had promised to introduce her to people who might be able to help her business further and was full of practical advice. There was no danger to her heart at all—which should have reassured her, but which left her with a niggling sense of regret.

The jet landed in brilliant sunshine, and her head was soon spinning with all the new sights and sounds. The thought of visiting not just Buenos Aires, the Paris of South America, but the pampas, with the most exciting man she had ever known, was exciting. She would soon grow accustomed to the seductive samba rhythms and the intoxicating scent of spice and heat and passion, Maxie reassured herself as Diego strolled towards a sleek black limousine.

So why the sense of doom approaching?

‘Please excuse me, Maxie,’ he said, fielding a call as they settled into the limousine with what seemed like acres of kidskin between them.

‘No problem,’ she murmured, knowing she would probably have to take quite a few business calls herself before they arrived at their destination.

One of the first things she noticed as they drove out of the airport was the colossal billboards lining the road. It was the first inkling she had of Diego’s place in Argentina. The billboards featured the impossibly good-looking Acosta brothers. She recognised the groom, Ruiz, right away—smiling down with confidence. Diego’s older brother, Nacho, appeared aloof. Kruz looked so laid back it was hard to imagine him in polo-warrior mode. And then there was Diego.

The same apprehension she’d felt when she got off the plane was back again, because Diego radiated danger. It was something in his eyes, Maxie concluded, glancing sideways at him. There were ghosts in Diego’s life she couldn’t begin to understand, and as theirs was a business relationship she could hardly ask him. He was still very much a mystery man, dangerously attractive and maybe dangerous to know. She wouldn’t like to be his opponent on the polo field, or anywhere else for that matter, that was for sure.

‘We’ll be staying in Buenos Aires for a couple of nights,’ he explained, stowing his phone. ‘You’ll get a chance to familiarise yourself with the city and with our usual suppliers. Then we’ll travel to the estancia and you’ll get the chance to see your first polo match. A friendly with Nero.’

Maxie laughed. ‘Is there such a thing as a friendly polo match?’

Diego’s mouth tugged fractionally. ‘You’ll soon find out.’

‘Nero must be a good friend?’

‘One of my closest. I trust him to tell me—’

Diego stopped and stared away, but she knew what he had been about to say. Nero would tell Diego if he was up to playing at international level. ‘Either way it will be an important match,’ she said.

‘The most important,’ Diego confirmed.

He didn’t need to tell her that the chance to play at international level again meant everything to him. She knew as soon as he could after the accident Diego had been back on a horse, and he’d been training relentlessly ever since. His leg was so much better now she was sure he had nothing to worry about.

After they had been driving for a while he asked the driver to pull over. ‘Empanadas,’ he said, pointing to a street stall. ‘Delicious little savoury pastries,’ he explained. ‘You’ll love them, Maxie. I’m starving. You must be too.’

‘I’m always ready to eat,’ she agreed with a smile.

Diego was like a different man in Argentina. She should stop with the niggling doubts and make the most of this opportunity to do business with a man like no other. It would be something to hold on to when she went home to men with office pallor and perpetual sniffles, though she couldn’t help wishing that Diego had shown some inclination to kiss her again.

She laughed when he bought up half the stall. ‘This is crazy,’ she said as he shrugged, but the tiny pastries were delicious, and it was fun being together and relaxed for a change. She was amazed by how quickly people recognised Diego, and autograph-hunters were soon clustering round. ‘How do you cope?’ she asked him when they got back in the car.

‘I owe my success to these people,’ he said, dipping his head to wave out of the window. ‘I play to win for them.’

But when they drove off again, and a shadow crossed his face, she knew Diego was worrying that he might not live up to everyone’s expectations. He was returning to polo after a long time out through injury.

‘I’ll work on your leg right up to the match,’ she promised impulsively.

‘I’m counting on it,’ he said.

His dark, amused gaze made her heart thump like a jack-hammer. She was only doing a friend a favour, she reasoned, smoothing her jeans as an excuse to break eye contact. She had never risked getting too close to anyone, and she wasn’t getting close now. None of her relationships had lasted—partly because she’d chosen the wrong men, but mostly because she had never forgotten the way her father had treated her mother. Yes, her father had changed when her mother had become ill, but it would have been nice for her mother to have had some happiness before that.

When Diego glanced at her, as if suspecting she was visiting some past regret, she only wished she could explain what she was thinking. But they weren’t close enough for that—plus theirs was now a business relationship, and Diego had as many secrets as she did, Maxie suspected.

‘We’ll be staying at my apartment in the city,’ he explained, providing a welcome distraction. ‘You’ll have your own suite of rooms, and can come and go as you like while you’re in Buenos Aires.’

She had rather hoped Diego would show her round.

She pulled back when he suddenly wiped one firm thumb pad across the full swell of her bottom lip. ‘Crumbs,’ he explained.

The pastries, Maxie realised with embarrassment. ‘Is that it? Or am I covered in crumbs?’

‘I wouldn’t know,’ Diego murmured, his firm mouth tugging with amusement. ‘I can only see those on your mouth.’

And now her face was burning. Diego had definitely relaxed since they’d landed. Was he intentionally turning up the heat?

Whatever was happening, she had to keep her feet on the ground. She had a job to do, and for all she knew Diego had a squad of girlfriends waiting in Buenos Aires with another team on standby at the estancia. A man like Diego Acosta would hardly be without a significant other.

An idea she should waste no time getting used to, Maxie concluded when their limousine stopped at a junction and a group of young girls, spotting Diego, started making remarks and frowning as they tried to work out who he was with. Maxie couldn’t blame them for dismissing her. In his blue jeans, dark jacket and crisp white shirt, Diego looked like a film star—while if she was really lucky she might get a job sweeping the set. It was a relief when they drove off again.

‘Tell me how I can help you while you’re here?’ Diego suggested, seemingly oblivious to all the attention.

Maxie thought for a moment before speaking. ‘I’d like you to give me a taste of Buenos Aires.’

‘I’ll try to give you more than you expect.’