Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Kara woke in her own bed alone, to the smell of freshly brewed coffee. The automatic blinds on her window were still closed so she knew it was before nine, which was when she normally woke and started her day. As she sat up, the covers fell to her waist and she was startled at her own nudity.
Then everything rushed back to her. Gui and the night they’d spent in each other’s arms.
“Good morning, mi dulce. Did you sleep well?”
She glanced to the sitting area to the left of the bed and found Gui on her chaise longue, a breakfast tray with coffee and scones next to him, the New York Times neatly folded on his lap.
She gulped. And tried to find words. She’d been so in control in her den…Ha. She hadn’t been in control for a single moment since she’d met Gui.
“I slept fine,” she said.
“Coffee?”
“That would be nice.”
“Cream or sugar?”
“Just cream,” she said, then wrapped the sheets around her body and leaned back against the headboard. The two men she’d had as lovers before Gui had never spent the night, and frankly she had absolutely no idea what to do with him this morning.
He brought her a cup of coffee with a saucer. When she reached for it, he held it just out of her reach.
“May I please have the coffee?”
He handed it to her and sat on the bed. He was so close that she worried about her morning breath. Then she worried about her hair, which often resembled Medusa’s snakes first thing in the morning. Then she wondered if she had a crease in her face from the pillowcase.
She set her coffee mug down on the nightstand. “I need a minute in the…” What did they call the bathroom in Spain? In the UK it was the toilet or water closet and she was making a complete mess of this when all she wanted was for everything to be perfect.
“Of course. Where is your robe? I’ll bring it to you.”
“Hanging in my closet on a hook to the right, but, um…you don’t have to go get it.”
“Forgive me,” he said with a slight bow. “I’d much rather see you naked.”
She blushed. Seriously blushed. “The robe would be very nice.”
He chuckled as he walked away. Last night, when he’d made love to her, she’d forgotten her body issues, but this morning they were all back.
She leaned over the edge of her bed, trying to catch a glimpse of herself in the mirror over her dressing table.
Her hair was as bad as she’d feared. Repeated pats wouldn’t make it stay down.
“My lady,” Gui said as he returned.
She stopped messing with her hair and tried to smile at him, but it had to look strained. She took the robe he held out to her and drew it on while trying to keep the covers in place.
She finally had it wrapped around her and got out of the bed. As soon as she did Gui drew her into his arms and kissed her.
She forgot about the fact that she had morning breath and Medusa hair. She wrapped her arms around his lean waist and rested against him for a moment. She knew this was an illusion, that they weren’t a couple in the throes of falling in love, but for this one moment she wanted to pretend they were.
“We didn’t make any decisions last night,” she said when he drew back.
“Go take care of your business and then we will talk.”
“I’m not sure that talking is going to help us.”
“Trust me, it will. Our engagement is on Page Six of the Post. At this point I think we need to decide how we are going to handle it.”
“Are we engaged?” she asked. She still wasn’t sure after last night. He’d held her close, slept with her all through the night, waking her twice to make love to her again. Each time she’d welcomed him into her body—and, she admitted to herself, into her heart.
She’d wanted to wrap her legs and arms around him the last time and keep him there forever. Because when Gui made love to her, she forgot all the insecurities that dogged her the rest of the time.
“What are you thinking?”
“Um…nothing.”
He shook his head. “Your eyes are so expressive, bebe. Do you know that?”
She shook her head.
“Well, they are.”
“What do you think you see in my eyes?” she asked.
“Passion. Do you want me again, Kara?” he asked, drawing his finger along the edge of her robe.
She shivered under his touch. Of course she wanted him. And his touching her only brought the passion in her to the fore. She leaned toward him, going up on her tiptoes to meet his mouth as it came down toward hers.
He tasted of minty toothpaste and coffee. His tongue tangled with hers and then stroked into her mouth with long languid kisses.
His arms came around her, drawing her more securely into the curves of his body. She held on to his shoulders and knew that, whatever was happening between them, they were definitely still going to be lovers.
The bedroom door opened with a loud bang. “Kara—”
Gui took his time finishing the kiss even though Kara tried to pull free as she recognized her sister’s voice.
“Good morning, Rina,” Gui said. He hugged Kara close and dropped two more kisses on her mouth. “Go, mi dulce. I will entertain your sister until you come back.”
Kara hesitated for a second, but seeing the shocked look on Rina’s face made up her mind. She needed to brush her teeth and hair before she took on Rina and Gui. And she had a feeling she was going to need more than one cup of coffee to deal with the world this morning.
“Count de Cuaron, what are you doing in Kara’s bedroom this morning?”
“I’m her fiancé, Rina. Where else would I be?”
“Don’t mess with me. I’m not sure what’s going on here, but if you think for one minute that I’m going to let you use Kara in the game you’re playing with Elvira—”
“Kara has nothing to do with Elvira.” Gui cut her off. His original announcement might have been made in reaction to Elvira’s presence at Tristan’s reception, but the situation no longer had anything to do with his old lover.
He’d never sleep with Kara just to prove something to Elvira. He’d seen firsthand how out of control that kind of situation could become. And he wasn’t interested in seeing Kara hurt.
“It doesn’t look that way to me, or to the rest of polite society.”
“I don’t care what the world thinks.”
“Well, I do. Kara has spent her entire life avoiding the spotlight. She doesn’t deserve to be thrust into it because of your indiscretion.”
“What exactly are you objecting to? Your sister is my fiancée.”
“I’m objecting to the fact that she has no ring. That I haven’t heard the first word about you from my sister’s lips. And finally, I’m objecting because I don’t trust you, Guillermo.”
Gui tamped down on his temper as he listened to Rina going on about how he needed to realize that Kara wasn’t alone or vulnerable.
He heard the snick of the bathroom door and turned to see Kara standing there.
She was dressed in a long skirt and a slim-fitting sweater.
She had her hair pulled back at the base of her neck and he noticed she’d put on makeup.
“Rina, I’m not twelve anymore. You don’t have to rush to my rescue and fight my battles.”
“Indeed, she doesn’t. I’m here to fight them for you now,” Gui said, because he wanted Rina to realize that she’d been replaced in Kara’s life.
Did he really want to be responsible for this woman’s happiness?
A quick glance at her left him confused.
He wanted her. Marrying her would give him what he wanted and needed to stay a peer with his best friends.
But to be honest, he’d never had to worry about anyone save himself, and he liked it that way.
“Really, Count? Because I had a very interesting conversation this morning with Count Juan, and he assures me that you were sniffing around Elvira just last week. So when exactly did you become engaged to my sister?”
“Rina, back off. We need a minute and then we’ll meet you downstairs in the breakfast room. Please ask Cynthia to prepare my usual breakfast.”
Rina looked like she didn’t want to leave, but Kara stood her ground and Gui found a new respect for her. She might seem to be a soft, sweet girl, but there was a core of inner strength to her.
“Fine. But I don’t have all day. I’m due at the club for tennis in little over an hour.”
“Understood. We’ll be right down.”
Rina left the room, closing the door firmly behind her. Kara crossed to her coffee cup and took a long sip. “Is there anything else I should know about you and Elvira before we go downstairs?”
“There is nothing between Elvira and me, and there hasn’t been in over ten years.”
“Are you pining for her?”
“No. And I’ve told you I won’t discuss her with you.”
Kara nodded. “Okay. Then I have only one more question for you.”
“Go ahead.”
She took another sip of her coffee and then crossed the room to put her cup and saucer on the tray before looking at him again.
“Do you want to marry me?”
He considered it one more time, because he knew that once he committed himself to Kara, he’d have given his word, and his word was one thing he prided himself on keeping.
“Yes,” he said at last. “I do want to marry you, Kara. I think we’d make a good match, and we have passion between us. There’s little more that any couple can ask for.”
She bit her lower lip. “What about love?”
He opened his mouth to respond, but she laughed before he could.
“That’s right, you don’t believe in romantic love. Well I’m a bit of a silly girl at times, Gui, and I do believe in it. So I’m going to have to ask you one more question.”
“Go ahead.”
“If you marry me, will you be true to our marriage vows? Because the one thing I can’t stand is infidelity. If you fall in love with someone else, I’d expect you to come to me and tell me.”
“What would you do if that happened?” he asked, knowing it wouldn’t, because he had never felt even the slightest twinge of love for a woman. Passion, lust, fiery temper, obsession, sure, but love? Never.
“I would be upset, of course, but we’d divorce and I’d give you leave to pursue the woman you loved,” she said at last.