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It would take more than a dress and a pair of castanets to help her out, Sadie thought, but the excitement of being invited into one of the beautifully decorated caravans really helped her to forget her embarrassment at misunderstanding Alejandro’s suggestion.
Marissa was so easy to get along with that they were soon chatting easily. It turned out they had a lot in common. They were both ambitious, and both equally wary of men—Sadie because her childhood had been so unhappy, forced to watch her father beating her mother when he was drunk, and Marissa because, she explained to Sadie, she was so unlucky in love.
The compact space was packed with clothes in every colour of the rainbow, hanging on rails and spilling out of wooden trunks. ‘Sit down,’ Marissa invited, ‘while I find you something to wear. Who needs men when we have music and dance, lots of clothes and good food? Let them ride their horses, and fight and swear. We know what matters, don’t we?’
Love, Sadie thought as she sat down on the small sofa while Marissa rifled through the various options on the rail. Love mattered, though friendship mattered hugely too, and for some reason she felt confident she and Marissa would become firm friends. There was something about the other woman that seemed familiar. She was certainly warm and couldn’t have been more welcoming.
‘I’m glad Alejandro brought you to us,’ she said, turning to smile at Sadie. ‘He is regarded as our King, but I’m lucky enough to call him brother.’
‘Your brother,’ Sadie exclaimed, realising now why Marissa seemed vaguely familiar.
‘We had different fathers, but the same mother,’ Marissa explained. ‘My parents were childhood sweethearts. I was born when my mother was barely eighteen. My parents broke up when she met Alejandro’s father. The price she had to pay was leaving me with my father’s family in the mountains. No one could have predicted that Alejandro would grow up to be a man who loved me as his sister from the start. I couldn’t have a better brother if I searched the entire world.’
Time passed swiftly as they chatted on, until Sadie realised they’d been talking for over an hour. Alejandro was with his friends and wouldn’t miss her, and just being with Marissa had made her feel confident in this new and very different environment, so it was time well spent.
‘For me?’ she exclaimed with pleasure when Marissa decided Sadie should wear a fabulous turquoise skirt. Heavily decorated with gold embroidery, it looked amazing with the fine white lace blouse she chose to go with it.
‘This will suit your colouring,’ Marissa promised as she held it up.
It would certainly showcase her assets, Sadie thought with amusement. The fabric was so fine it was completely see-through, and the flimsy garment tied in a bow at the neck, leaving very little to the imagination.
‘You wear it like this,’ Marissa said, demonstrating how the neckline should sit off the shoulders. ‘Provocative, huh?’ She laughed. ‘I used to work in an office in Madrid, so I know how it is there, but when you’re here...’ Marissa grinned. ‘Anything goes.’
‘Isn’t there anything more discreet?’ Sadie asked, losing courage briefly when she viewed her profile in the mirror.
‘Are you kidding?’ Marissa exclaimed. ‘Why aim for discreet when you can achieve fabulous? Or are you afraid of causing too much interest?’
‘I’m not afraid.’ Sadie laughed. ‘But I do work for Alejandro, and I don’t want him to get the wrong idea.’
‘Are you sure?’ Marissa’s eyes twinkled. ‘I’ve seen the way he looks at you. I can’t believe you’re not lovers yet.’
‘Whoa!’ Sadie exclaimed. ‘Not lovers ever,’ she assured her new friend.
With a shrug, Marissa smiled. ‘If you say so.’
‘I most certainly do say so,’ Sadie insisted, but then they both broke into laughter, and the moment was forgotten in the excitement of wearing such colourful and glamorous clothes.
‘And wear your hair loose,’ Marissa advised as she cast a critical eye over her protégée’s appearance. ‘For me, it is different,’ she added, as she smoothed her neatly pinned hair. ‘I’m taking lessons, while you’re—’
‘Not taking lessons,’ Sadie confirmed dryly. ‘I’m here to learn about recipes.’
‘Of course you are,’ Marissa agreed, straight-faced.
‘No, really, I am—’ She gasped as Marissa plucked out the pins from Sadie’s hair and ran her fingers through the gleaming red-gold locks.
‘That should generate some interest,’ Marissa commented as she stood back to admire her handiwork. ‘Alejandro will certainly notice you now.’
‘That is not what I want,’ Sadie said firmly, wondering whom she was trying to convince.
‘Then, it should be,’ Marissa insisted with a mischievous grin. ‘My brother is the most eligible bachelor in Spain. Take a look at yourself in the mirror. You should never tie your hair back. He’s going to go mad when he sees you.’
Sadie couldn’t believe the transformation and wasn’t sure she had the confidence to pull it off.
‘You look great,’ Marissa insisted, seeing her uncertainty. ‘Come on—we’ve wasted enough time in here already.’
So, she’d try out the new look on Alejandro, and let him try and mock her if he dared.
CHAPTER SIX
HE RODE BACK into camp just as Sadie stepped out of one of the oldest and most beautifully renovated caravans, where his sister Marissa kept her prized wardrobe collection. His reaction was sheer incredulity, mixed with a very primal urge to stake his claim on a woman who couldn’t have looked more incredible if she’d tried. Ditching jeans for a traditional flamenco outfit had brought about the most unbelievable transformation, turning Sadie from hot into stunning.
He took his horse to rub it down. It had been a short but vigorous ride with his friends, and the animals were steaming. The men gave no quarter, and he’d found the fast pace invigorating. His hackles rose when he realised his companions had also noticed Sadie. How could they not when her figure was shown to best advantage in the clothes she was wearing, with her unusual hair glittering in the sun as it cascaded to her waist in a thick fall of shimmering, fiery waves? Who wouldn’t want to tangle their hands through that? A group of admiring youths were starting to show her attention, he noticed, and some things were too special to lose. Having settled his horse, he bid goodbye to his friends.
* * *
Sadie had joined the team carrying platters and bowls for that evening’s feast to rough-hewn tables erected in front of the stage. She could feel Alejandro watching her as intently as she had watched him ride into camp. He looked every bit the Gypsy King, with his thick black hair barely tamed beneath a black bandana. The heat of his stare shot fire through every fibre of her being. She’d had enough! Turning suddenly, she levelled a stare at his arrogant face, only to have her heart go crazy when he acknowledged the challenge with an amused dip of his head.
His bronzed and muscular arms remained folded across the impressive width of his chest as he continued to stare at her, while low-slung jeans, secured by a heavy-duty belt, drew her gaze where it absolutely shouldn’t wander.
‘Are you okay?’ Marissa asked, snapping Sadie out of the trance. ‘Do you need some help with those dishes?’
Sadie had stalled on the path with her arms laden with platters of food, she realised now.
‘Oh, I get it,’ Marissa added in a voice ringing with humour. ‘My brother’s distracting you!’
‘Don’t be silly.’ Even to Sadie’s ears her laugh sounded unconvincing. ‘I’m here to collect recipes and organise your brother’s kitchen...and absolutely nothing else. What?’ she queried, when Marissa cocked her chin to give Sadie a disbelieving look.
‘I’ve never heard lust described as organising a man’s kitchen before,’ Marissa admitted. ‘I hope you get his pots and pans in order soon.’
* * *
It was good to see t
he two women laughing together. Sadie had fitted into camp life well. Heat surged between them as he stared at her and she stared back. She wanted him. Animal instinct, always a close ally, told him that. But delay was good, though it could turn into the very real physical pain he was suffering now. Even so, he wouldn’t rush her. Sadie would come to him in her own time, and he was tired of easy conquests. She was unique in that she was both refreshing and a challenge, and she couldn’t care less if he was a duke, a billionaire or a stevedore from the docks. Added to which, for the first time in his life, the outcome of any approach he made was uncertain—which only made the challenge of Sadie Montgomery all the more appealing.
He strolled across the camp to join the two women, and was only halfway to his goal when Marissa, seeing what he was about to do, slipped away, leaving him and Sadie alone. Straightening up, she lifted her chin to stare him in the eyes, as if demanding he explain himself. What was the situation? Sadie’s straightforward expression seemed to ask. Were they a duke and a professional chef, or simply a man and a woman? He knew which he preferred.
‘Join me at my table,’ he said as he halted in front of her.
‘I’m going to dance with Marissa first,’ she told him, ‘and then I can only sit down when everyone else has eaten.’
‘Can’t you forget your duties for once?’
‘Do you forget yours?’
