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She’d find out soon enough. Tomorrow the dark and dangerously alluring Duque de Alegon would be holding his annual flamenco party for the great and good, here at his fabulous mountain retreat.
* * *
The following day, Sadie was flooded with mixed emotions. And knowing Alejandro was close by made her heart go crazy. She couldn’t wait to tell him her news and was impatient to gauge his reaction. If he turned his back, she was quite capable of going it alone. If he wanted to be part of everything, she had to handle him so he didn’t march in and take over.
So, not too many problems ahead, Sadie reflected dryly as she walked around the beautifully dressed dining tables she had arranged on the terrace outside to a meticulous plan. Satisfied with her final checks, she was able to stand for a moment looking out over the twinkling lights of the village far below. It was a perfect summer’s evening for a celebration. The sky was a deep midnight blue, and the Milky Way was like a gauzy chiffon scarf billowing overhead. Fairy lights strung high above the tables competed with diamond stars crowning the snowy peaks of the Sierra Nevada, while crystal and silver, polished to the highest sheen, glinted on crisp white damask lit by mellow candlelight. All in all, the scene was beautifully warm and inviting.
The guests would arrive soon, Sadie reminded herself as she snapped into action, and she had yet to see Alejandro. Maria had said he would be checking the final details for the flamenco performance after dinner tonight. Sadie could picture him reassuring everyone and encouraging the performers to give of their best. She was looking forward to the show. The only snag was that it would take them into the early hours of the morning, cutting down her opportunities to speak to Alejandro.
At least he trusted her with arranging his party. Finally satisfied she’d done everything possible to please even the most discerning guest, Sadie returned to a kitchen that was now sparkling and efficient, with every conceivable appliance on hand to help Alejandro’s staff. As she settled into the rhythm of cooking, every thought seemed to lead back to him. Would he like the menu—how she’d designed the kitchen—the way she had decorated the tables—the flowers, the candles, the special touches like the small personal gifts she’d put on each place setting? This was the biggest private occasion she’d handled to date, and she was keen to improve on anything she’d done before, so Alejandro’s guests remembered the night as a momentous occasion, as it would be for them when she told him about the baby.
She was out on the terrace, quietly supervising the service of canapés and champagne to a group of early guests, when the performers began to arrive. Sadie knew some of them already and greeted them with hugs and smiles. The women’s brilliantly coloured dresses were hidden for now behind black capes. The men also wore capes over their severe black outfits as a type of uniform. The dancers’ air of professional dignity spread excitement throughout the assembled guests. But Sadie was beginning to panic. Where was Alejandro? He was never late.
Discreet enquiries reassured her that he had stayed behind at the flamenco camp to make sure that everyone had transport both to and from the party. They’d had their differences but she had seen this caring side to Alejandro, and only hoped it would come to the fore when she told him her news. Each meeting between them was combative and exciting, but this time would be different, because so many hopes and dreams were wrapped up in his reaction.
Sadie’s table plan placed Alejandro between his sisters, Annalisa and Marissa. No one could have fiercer bodyguards, she reflected wryly. Both women were lovely, and she hoped they’d share her joy. The sound of a helicopter approaching interrupted these thoughts and silenced the buzz of conversation on the terrace. As everyone stared up, Sadie shaded her eyes against the landing lights of the sleek black aircraft as it descended slowly to its roost on the top of the building.
The crackle of rotor blades and the rush of the wind they created threatened to put out the candles she’d lit, but somehow they survived. Having been flattened and almost extinguished by the arrival of the noble Duke, they sprang back to life and seemed to blaze more brightly than ever. As she must, Sadie determined as the impossibly good-looking father of her child jogged nonchalantly down the steps from the roof to join his guests.
In form-fitting trousers and a crisp white shirt open at the neck, and with a pale linen jacket slung over his shoulder, Alejandro was the epitome of style. She, red-faced from cooking, with her hair hidden behind a tight-fitting cap and sensible kitchen clogs on her feet, couldn’t have provided a greater contrast. She could only imagine the type of child they’d produce. A tomboy, she suspected, if they had a girl, who would have laughing eyes and a stubborn chin, and possibly a shock of red curls, while a boy would no doubt stretch her nerves to breaking point with his daredevil antics.
Her heart turned over as Alejandro, who was surrounded by admirers, found her on the fringes of the crowd and flashed a look that scorched her from the inside out. Never had a more contrasting couple come together to produce a child, Sadie suspected with a brief acknowledging smile as she hurried back to her duties in the kitchen.
* * *
The event was a huge success. Annalisa insisted on leading the boisterous guests in noisy appreciation of Chef Sadie. The only person to remain silent throughout was Alejandro, but he was quiet in the way a volcano simmered before exploding into life. Each time she left the kitchen to check the progress of the banquet, he was watching her. She was tuned to him, and he to her. He was the flame, and she was—if not the moth, then in serious danger of getting her fingers burned.
Standing in the shadows to applaud the parade of Baked Alaska puddings as they left the kitchen, Sadie became hotly conscious of the fact that, as the guests watched the waiters carrying the dishes on high, Alejandro was watching Sadie.
Something had to give. Someone. Her body made a few honeyed suggestions. She ignored them. There was too much at stake for her to be distracted from her purpose tonight, which was to tell him about the baby, and when he left the table, she followed him into the house.
Feeling her behind him, he halted in the hall and turned to face her. ‘Why have you been blocking my calls?’
‘You—’
‘I what?’ he snapped, making her jump. His manner not what she’d hoped it would be when they began this conversation. ‘I seem to remember you walked out on me. What was that about, Sadie? Keeping count? Hitting back? What type of childish game did you think you were playing?’
He was right, so she didn’t pick him up on that point. ‘I did try to call you, but you were away, I was told.’
‘I’m often called away at a moment’s notice,’ Alejandro told her in a cold and distant voice that chilled her through. ‘That’s the nature of my business. I have responsibilities across the world.’
So, no time for a baby, Sadie thought, her hopes for some variation on the theme of happy family shattered. ‘You didn’t try to contact me,’ she countered.
‘As a matter of fact, I did,’ he argued. ‘I wanted to make sure you were okay, but you blocked my calls, so, we’re quits,’ he said coolly.
Did she really want to argue with him? ‘I’m sorry.’
‘And so am I,’ he admitted, and sincerely,
she thought.
They stared at each other long and hard until music sliced through the heavy silence. ‘Shouldn’t you be watching the performance with your guests?’ she asked tensely.
Alejandro shrugged. ‘I watched the dress rehearsal, so I know how good they are.’
‘Maybe they’d appreciate your attendance,’ she suggested.
His lips pressed down as he considered this. ‘The performers’ concentration is so profound,’ he explained, ‘that they wouldn’t even know I was there.’
‘Still—’
‘Must you challenge every word I say?’
The tone was sharp, but a touch of humour had crept into his eyes that both thrilled and warmed her. So many feelings were swirling inside her head, making her wish they could start over with a clean, blank sheet.
‘If you want to talk to me,’ he said, ‘I suggest we talk in here—’
It was the closest door, and it opened onto his fabulous leisure block. The space was vast and shady, with blue safety lights reflecting on the tranquil water of a massive swimming pool. It was the most amazing facility, with clusters of comfortably padded loungers arranged around the edge.
‘Sadie...’
Before she had chance to take it all in, Alejandro drew her into his arms. Contact between them was always electric, but today it seemed stronger than ever. Perhaps because of the baby joining them, though Alejandro gave her no chance to dwell on this thought before kissing her until nothing was left except him.
‘You need me,’ he husked in her ear, his hunger raw and obvious. ‘You need this...’
It wasn’t a question, but a statement of fact, and as he cupped her she rubbed herself against him.
‘Does that moan signal your agreement that, in the short time I can spare from the party, we should stop arguing, and, in fact, do a lot more than talk?’ Alejandro suggested with a curving smile on his lips.
