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“Fanfare is fine; fanfare I have no problem with, but you are hosting something akin to an Olympic opening ceremony.”
“Nonsense. Just a few hundred people!”
Addie almost choked on her tapas. “A few hundred people?” She repeated, trying to think if she even knew that many people.
“Who could I exclude?” She directed the question to Santiago but from the way Carlos and Guy were looking at her, Addie gathered this was a long-running behavior for the Spanish beauty. “My family? My sisters and cousins? Their children?”
“Perhaps their next-door-neighbours, though,” Guy said with indulgent amusement.
“Oh, hush, I’m not so bad.” She turned to Addie. “You, surely, can understand my predicament. Santiago has so many friends and admirers. It was impossible to plan his birthday without inviting…”
“Half of Spain,” Santiago cut in with a throaty laugh. “I’m only teasing, Luciana. Do not make Ava defend you, for I know she feels as I do.”
“Oh, I do, do I?” Addie asked with a grin, leaning forward and reaching for another croquetas.
“Si, for you do not like fuss either.”
“How do you know that?” Addie asked.
“I can tell,” Santiago lifted his champagne glass and almost instantly a man appeared, topping it up to the rim. He did the rounds then, re-filling any that were low.
The comment refocused attention on Addie. She felt all of their gazes lock to her, except Guy’s, who was doing the perfect imitation of an attentive lover, just as he’d promised he would.
“So,” Luciana’s smile was somewhat tight on her beautiful face. “I have many questions for you.”
Did she imagine the way Guy stiffened beside her? It was almost imperceptible, but not quite, and Addie was attuned to his every tiny movement.
“Such as, mother?” Guy drawled, but he seemed relaxed enough, so Addie took a breath and calmed her fluttering nerves.
“Well, this is all very new, and yet I understand you’re serious about one another?”
“Luciana,” Carlos laughed good-naturedly. He lifted his eyes heavenward as he addressed Addie. “You’ll have to forgive my wife, Ava. It’s been a long time since our son has shown any interest in a woman for more than a month.”
A month? The harmless throwaway explanation brought a frown to her face. They’d dated for a month, and to Addie, it had been a life-changing collection of days and nights. But was that his usual degree of interest? Might he have bored of her soon enough, even without the discovery of her ruse?
He’d been so hung up on her dishonesty and yet, what did she know of him? What did she know of his dating past? She certainly knew she’d been replaced quickly enough – he’d thrown that little tidbit in her face himself.
Shame at the way she’d fallen apart at his touch filled her now. He’d looked at her and her insides had slicked with heat and lust – fueled by the foolish love that clung to her soul – had made her responsive, when she should have been cool. Cautious, at least.
“It’s only natural that I should be curious,” Luciana’s response was defensive. She didn’t realise, obviously, that Addie’s own hackles had been raised by Carlos’s throwaway comment.
“Of course,” Addie murmured, distracted.
Beside her, Guy reached for her hand, lifting it to his lips. His kiss shot fireworks under her skin, all the way through her body, but she resented that quick response.
Would it always be like this for them? That instant, soul-searing responsiveness?
Only for another week, her inner-voice remonstrated. A week. No, not even. Her heart thumped wearily against her chest. She’d been so confident that she could win Guy back, but now? She wasn’t so sure. And the idea of leaving him again made her feel like she was suffocating.
“How did you meet?”
Addie swallowed. That part was easy. “At a party.”
“Surrounded by singers and film stars and Ava outshone each and every one of them,” Guy drawled, only Addie could detect the feint hint of disparagement beneath the apparent praise.
“I was there with my cousin,” Addie murmured. “I definitely wasn’t looking to meet anyone,” her eyes flicked to Guy’s, and she wondered if he could hear the conviction of her words, if he could understand the truth in what she was saying.
“But dressed like you were, it was inevitable,” he said simply. Desire spun around them like a web they were both powerless to cut through.
