Chapter Ten #2
Hollie nodded and made her way towards the bathroom as Maximo’s words echoed inside her head.
Why wouldn’t they like you? he had asked—because he had no comprehension of what it was like to be her.
His world was very different and was inhabited by very different people.
Would they welcome an unsophisticated stranger like her into their midst, or would they wonder if Maximo had taken leave of his senses?
She turned on the power shower and let the warm water bounce off her skin, telling herself she mustn’t catastrophise the evening before it had even begun. Maximo’s staff had already welcomed her with open arms and there was no reason why his friends shouldn’t do the same.
She was feeling much better by the time she emerged from the bathroom, to see Maximo already dressed in a dark evening suit—a delectable sight which made her heart twist with predictable longing.
He was lounging back in one of the bedroom’s dark leather armchairs and looked up from his phone when she entered, clad in nothing but a snowy bathrobe.
‘I haven’t a clue what to wear,’ she said, rifling through the row of new clothes which someone must have hung neatly in the wardrobe while they were having lunch.
‘Wear the black,’ he said suddenly. ‘And put your hair up.’
‘I thought you liked it down.’
‘In bed, certainly—but tonight, no. Stop frowning at me like that, Hollie. There’s a reason.’
‘Am I allowed to know what the reason is?’
‘In time.’ He smiled. ‘Be patient, mia belleza .’
Hollie began to get ready, fixing her hair and pinning it in place.
Half an hour later and she was ready, a loose chignon coiled against the back of her neck, the black silk dress skimming her knees, and a pair of strappy shoes adding extra height.
As she leaned towards the mirror to apply a light coat of lip gloss, Maximo walked across the bedroom and placed a small box on the dressing table in front of her.
‘Why don’t you put these on?’ he said.
‘These’ turned out to be two long and sparkling columns—a pair of exquisite diamond earrings—and she stared down at them in confusion.
‘But you’ve already given me—’
‘Put them on,’ he emphasised softly. ‘I bought them at the same time as we got your ring. It’s your Christmas present, Hollie.’
‘But...but I haven’t given you anything!’ she protested, surprised when he leant over and placed the palm of his hand over her still-flat belly and their eyes met in a silent moment, reflected in the mirror.
‘Oh, but you have,’ he contradicted softly.
‘You have given me something money can never buy. My baby.’ There was a pause as she was caught in the ebony spotlight of his gaze.
‘Would it bother you if we announced it tonight? It would kill speculation and everyone is going to know about it sooner or later.’
Hollie didn’t answer straight away. She wasn’t sure she agreed because it still felt very.
..private, as well as very new. Yet it wasn’t as though it were a guilty secret, was it?
It was nothing to feel ashamed about. And if she was surprised by Maximo’s desire to tell people, she couldn’t think of any reason why he shouldn’t—she was past the danger zone, wasn’t she? ‘No, I don’t mind,’ she said.
He turned away then, but not before Hollie saw the flash of something unexpected in his black eyes. A look which was hard and dark and very macho.
Was it triumph?
Was that why she felt a faint flicker of foreboding to add to all the others which seemed to be building up inside her?
But she forced herself to push away her fears, determined to count her blessings instead.
Tomorrow was the first day of the new year and the man she was going to marry was the father of her baby.
Wasn’t that good enough to be going along with?
He took her to the drawing room, which was situated at the very top of the large house, where they sipped glasses of casera —a simple bubbly lemon concoction, which Maximo said was rarely drunk outside Spain and which Hollie found delicious.
Afterwards they were driven to the west of the city, to an upmarket area called Pozuelo de Alarcón, where the party was being held.
The house was large and modern and surrounded by enormous grounds, with clever lighting focussing on beautiful outdoor statues and surrounding shrubs.
Coloured bulbs were looped through the branches of trees, and as the line of luxury cars progressed up the long drive Hollie could see people laughing and drinking through giant plate-glass windows.
It looked just like a commercial and Hollie would have defied anyone not to have felt intimidated by it.
Did her shoulders stiffen with tension—was that why Maximo ran a reflective finger over her palm? ‘Everything okay?’ he verified.
‘I’m still nervous,’ she admitted.
‘Don’t be, mia belleza . Your innocence will be like a breath of fresh air.’
‘Not so very innocent any more,’ she reflected ruefully.
‘Everyone has to lose their innocence some time.’ He reached up and touched his fingertip against one of the diamond strands which dangled like a spill of stars from her ear. ‘You know that at midnight we have a big tradition in this country?’
‘Like the siesta, you mean?’
‘In its way, las doce uvas de la suerte is as important as the siesta, sí —because, to the Spanish, all traditions are important.’
Hollie nodded, wondering if that was because he’d grown up without any real traditions of his own.
As had she.
‘Everyone eats grapes at midnight on New Year’s Eve,’ he said. ‘One for each stroke of the hour—twelve grapes in all.’
‘Why do you do that?’
‘To bring us luck.’ He smiled. ‘Rare is the Spaniard who will poison his fate for the following year by failing to complete this simple task.’
‘In England, we might be tempted to call that superstition.’
‘Then I shall have to persuade you otherwise, won’t I?’ he said softly as the limousine slid to a silent halt, and she shivered as he whispered his fingertip over her thigh, as if to remind her of what delights lay in store for them later.
Heads turned as they walked into the party—where even the people serving drinks and canapés looked as if they had stepped from the pages of a fashion bible.
Please don’t let me make a fool of myself , Hollie prayed.
There was a split-second pause and then conversation resumed as a tall and very handsome man extricated himself from a group of people and came over to greet them.
‘Maximo,’ he said. ‘I’m glad you made it, though I confess to being a little surprised.’ His black eyes gleamed with curiosity. ‘Since the word is out that there are going to be a lot of very disappointed women here tonight.’
Hollie felt Maximo’s fingertips touch the base of her spine.
‘Javier, I’d like you to meet my fiancée, Hollie Walker. Hollie, this is Javier de Balboa, a very old friend of mine, who will probably do his best to cause mischief.’
‘Pleased to meet you,’ said Hollie, her hand straying to her cheek to push away a dangling strand of hair.
‘So it is true,’ breathed Javier, and Hollie knew she hadn’t imagined the surprise which flickered in his dark eyes as he spotted the large diamond gleaming on her finger.
‘Wow. I am delighted to meet the woman who has tamed this black-hearted rogue after so long. You do realise what you’re taking on, don’t you, Hollie? ’
‘I think so.’
Her tentative words made both men smile and suddenly Hollie felt a little more comfortable as she asked for a glass of casera .
‘You won’t have champagne?’ asked Javier.
‘Hollie’s pregnant,’ Maximo cut in.
‘Ah. Of course she is. My congratulations to you both. In that case, I will have someone prepare you a casera .’
After he had gone, Hollie just stood very still for a moment, breathing deeply and trying to compose herself.
What had Javier meant— Of course she is ?
That it was inconceivable the powerful bachelor would be contemplating marriage unless he was being shotgunned into it?
And wasn’t that the truth? She could see people watching them and wondered how they saw her.
As an upstart who had managed to get her claws into one of Spain’s most eligible bachelors?
One who was clearly out of her depth, despite her designer dress and the jewels which hung from her finger and her ears?
Maximo turned to talk to someone and, although a nearby couple were eager to chat to her, Hollie felt strangely isolated.
She watched as Maximo seemed to command the attention of everyone in the room.
People were trying to get near him and she felt as though she were melting into the shadows and gradually becoming invisible.
She realised that for him this was truly home, and always would be.
She did her best to join in with the lively party but couldn’t quite contain the nerves which were growing inside her.
She saw a huge dish of purple grapes gleaming rather menacingly in a corner and prayed she would be able to match everyone else in the room—although eating twelve grapes in such a short space of time did seem a big ask, particularly of someone who was pregnant.
She glanced around the room, thinking that she’d never seen so many stunning women congregated in one place, and found herself remembering what Maximo had once said.
He’d told her that if ever he met a woman he desired more than her he would tell her immediately and their relationship would end.
Looking around at the model-perfect array of females, she failed to see how that could not happen.
Surely once the allure of their brand-new sex life wore off, wasn’t it inevitable he would be tempted?
She wasn’t much of a drinker but right then she would have given anything for a small glass of wine to help quell her spiralling nervousness, but of course she couldn’t do that because she was expecting a baby.
And that was the only reason she was here.
All of a sudden Hollie felt as if she were adrift on a life raft, floating on a wide sea. Lost and all alone—despite the proud-featured man at her side who drew the gaze of every woman in the room.