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It was so ludicrously hurtful that Addie laughed, a brittle, almost maniacal sound. She laughed even when his insult was digging into her heart and detonating it to pieces. “So what then, Guy? What do you want?”
“My family will go to Acantilados for Santiago’s birthday. We are to spend a week there, celebrating his life, celebrating him. It will distress him if I arrive alone, and more so if I bring one of the women I usually see – women he wastes no time in telling me are not right for me.” His smile was a small curl of his lips. “I do not want the complications of a relationship. I’ve never intended to marry, and I still don’t.” His eyes narrowed meaningfully. “Not once have I met a woman who could tempt me to change my mind.”
More insults. He was so good at slashing them across Addie that she wondered how he’d hidden this talent when they were first dating.
“What I need, Ava Peters, is an actress of your caliber, your lack of morality, too. I want a woman with me who will play the part of my doting girlfriend without feeling bad about deceiving my family, who will spend the week by my side, making my grandfather believe I am settling down, and expect nothing from me in return.” His eyes narrowed. “Except fifty thousand pounds, of course.”
She blinked her eyes shut at what he was suggesting. “You mean me?”
His laugh unnerved her. “Yes.”
“You’re saying you want me to lie to your grandfather?”
Guy’s lips were a slash in his stunning handsome face. “My grandfather has not been well. Though he is in remission now, his illness weakened him. I want to give him the happiness of believing me to be … reforming my ways.”
“So you do think there are certain circumstances that justify a lie?”
His head jerked back, his surprise evident. “I think this is the deal I am offering you. Come to Acantilados with me at the end of the month. Spend the week pretending to be my lover, pretending to love me, and the money is yours.”
Addie stared at him with a mixture of shock and surprise. Pretend to love him? That wouldn’t be difficult. She’d loved him with all her heart and when he’d left her, she’d grieved. But she hadn’t forgotten what he’d meant to her.
He was the first man she’d ever loved, the first man who’d ever driven her wild with desire. He was her fantasy and dream, but loving him was going to be a nightmare.
How could she fight for her own pride, how could she argue with him over his judgement of her, when he was offering her a chance for redemption?
For surely a week together would change things? Surely a week together would make him see that she was still the same woman he’d cared for?
It was a gamble. A risk. But all to her own heart, and her heart was already breaking for Guy, so perhaps there was no risk at all. “Okay,” she said quietly. “Fine. I’ll do it. Consider me your girlfriend for hire.”
CHAPTER THREE
ADDIE’S FIRST GLIMPSE of Acantilados was of the sheer white cliffs that ran along the western side of the island, forming an impenetrable barrier that rose almost as if straight from the sea. She stared at them, breath held, eyes glued, dark hair whipping her face as the luxurious yacht moved ever-closer, the high speed causing the wind to roar past her.
And suddenly, her pulse wasn’t running because of Guy. It wasn’t tearing through her body because she knew he was somewhere on this space-age yacht, because she knew she would soon see him again.
No, there was something in the view of this island that was speaking to her, whispering ancient promises and lyrical invitations.
It was, quite simply, breath taking. Her fingers curved around the railing and unconsciously she peered closer, her eyes narrowing as she looked beyond the cliffs, to the clearing at the top. She could just make out the hint of a roof, a flat white structure, and a garden that looked to be formal in nature.
Guy’s grandfather’s house, perhaps?
She had run an internet search on the island as soon as she’d left Guy’s house, wanting to know everything she could about the scene for their ruse, and the family that she would be fooling. There was surprisingly little information; apparently the notorious Rodriguez privacy extended back generations.
She had managed to discover that it was privately owned, bought by Guy’s great-grandfather at some point decades earlier. Other than that, there was barely a whisper of information online, and so she hadn’t really been able to ‘prepare’ for this week.
The sun was high in the sky and Addie stared at the cliffs with a growing sense of wonderment, dropping her sunglasses down over her face as the picture was so bright, it made her eyes hurt.
They’d been on the boat a little over an hour, and she was yet to see Guy. A driver had collected her from Valencia, meeting her at the gate as she disembarked from the first-class flight Guy had booked for her (despite her protestations that he didn’t need to do any such thing). The same driver had brought her to the marina, and seen her onto the boat, introducing her to the ship’s captain and a valet before driving off into the sunset.
Guy was on board, she’d been informed by the valet, but not to be disturbed as he was in the middle of work.
The middle of work!
He didn’t even have the decency to come and meet her?
Was this how he imagined the week would go? That he would ignore her whenever it suited? That he would pretend she didn’t exist?
Addie tucked her raven dark hair behind her ears, a nervous gesture she thought she’d long ago outgrown. She wished, suddenly, that she’d contacted him before now. That she’d called him.
