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She’d had many other people make similar comments, particularly those in the industry, but never had it impacted her so strongly. She felt caressed by the words spoken in his beautiful, deep voice. They also made her feel beautiful and she realized she could not remember the last time she’d felt that way deep inside.
Not just been aware of her outward beauty as a tool for career’s ambitions, not like a stunning model in strong demand, but actually felt like abeautiful woman . She liked the feeling. A lot.
Miguel’s home turned out to be a penthouse apartment in an exclusive area on the outskirts of the city. So, she’d gotten her wish and had a wonderful look at Barcelona while they drove. They talked the whole time, mostly about her work, which made her feel like he really appreciated who she was, not just what she looked like. And the city, which she enjoyed immensely. He truly was as knowledgeable as any tour guide.
When they reached his apartment, he informed her that the housekeeper who greeted them did not live on premises and would be leaving before dinner. “She’s prepared our meal, but we will be serving ourselves.”
“That works for me,” she said as she looked around her.
The apartment had obviously been decorated by a professional, but it had Miguel’s personality clearly stamped on it. And his wealth.
He smiled. “I thought it might.”
Dinner…the whole evening was wonderful. They talked more—about everything from business to family. Miguel’s parents played a strong role in his life just as Amber’s mother did hers. He obviously loved them and that increased her respect for him. As the evening progressed, she found herself liking him more and more.
And when he took her home early as promised, her opinion of him was in the stratosphere. Maybe even beyond. He could have pushed for intimacy, but by not doing so, he showed his respect for her and his desire to pursue a real relationship, not just sexual fulfillment.
Miguel smiled as he drove back to his home after dropping Amber at her hotel. She was an incredible woman.
He regretted the fact they would have so little time together before he had to fly to Prague. This was a woman he could see spending a great deal of time with for weeks, maybe even months before the initial attraction began to wear. It was a strange feeling and he wished he’d met her earlier, but he was not about to allow regrets to lay a pall over his current enjoyment of her company.
He doubted she expected their association to last beyond her trip to Spain, certainly not more than in a casual sense anyway. Neither of them was in a place to enter a committed relationship. It might be selfish of him, but he did not want to dampen the pleasure by talking about their future parting so early on. The right time would come for such a discussion, but before they had even made it to bed was not it.
Amber stacked the tourist brochures she planned to show to Miguel in a pile in the center of the small table in her suite’s living area. The shoot had taken even less time than she had anticipated and she’d had plenty of opportunity to plan her campaign for the day. Miguel had offered to be her tour guide and she was going to take him up on it.
He had not shown up at her shoot today, not that she had expected him to. If he was going to take the rest of the day off to spend it with her, she was sure a man of his responsibilities would have quite a bit to do to make that happen. It made her feel special that he wanted to.
Even so, she wasn’t ready to fall into bed with him. Not mentally anyway. Her body was another story and if they went back to his apartment or stayed in her hotel suite even briefly, in bed with him was exactly where they were going to end up.
She wanted to see Barcelona, but even more than that, she wanted to get to know Miguel better before taking the irrevocable step of allowing him into her body. She knew that for her, such a step would be life altering.
She wished she could call her mom, but it was still the middle of the night in California. She considered going down to the hotel’s business center and sending an e-mail. She glanced at her watch. Making a quick mental calculation, she decided she had just enough time.
She grabbed the brochures, tucked them into the large over the shoulder bag she’d prepared earlier with things she thought she might
need for a day spent with Miguel…and possibly a night. While she wasn’t mentally prepared to fall into his bed, she didn’t try to fool herself into thinking that there was no possibility of that happening. If he kissed her again like he had last night, there was no saying she’d have the wherewithal to call a halt a second time. So, she’d decided to be prepared for the eventuality rather than blindsided by it.
But she would put it off with sightseeing for as long as possible.
Sitting down at the computer, she made another decision and when she logged onto her e-mail, she sent a message to her agent first. It canceled her upcoming jobs and extended her vacation for an additional week with the promise that she would be back in Southern California for the major trunk show she’d agreed to participate in.
The e-mail to her mom took very little time to write. Amber simply wrote that she thought she might have found “the one” and planned to spend the day with him, getting to know him better. She also told her mom about the change in her travel plans. She thought the fact she was elongating her vacation by a week and canceling two jobs for the first time ever spoke loudly about the seriousness of her feelings. Her mom would get the message.
When Amber finished with her e-mails, she went outside to wait for Miguel. There was no reason to have him park his car if they were going to go sightseeing. Besides, if he did…the temptation to take him upstairs to her room would be too great.
An expensive-looking sedan with darkly tinted windows pulled up in front of where she stood. She stepped back, not wanting to be in the way of the occupants when they got out.
The rear door near her opened and Miguel stepped out, smiling. “You are waiting eagerly for me, I see.”
Her eyes drank him in. His tall, muscular body was encased in a tailored suit he wore as comfortably as he had the more casual clothes he’d had on the day before.
“I thought it would be silly for you to have your car parked if we were going to leave right away again.”
“We were thinking alike then. I brought a driver for similar reasons. He will make our excursions much easier to navigate.”
“I’m sure he will.” But she looked dubiously at the car, though. Somehow the thought of having a driver in the car with them made her feel skittish.
His dark brow quirked. “You are not used to this kind of transport, are you?”
