The Spanish Aristocrat's Woman (4 page)

“Pardon me, Count de Cuaron, but I need a word with Kara.”

Gui gave Kara a kiss and then let his hand drop away. But she wasn’t sure he was going to walk away until he said, “I will see you shortly.”

He bowed to Courtney before turning on his heel and striding away from them, disappearing into the well-shod crowd celebrating Tristan and Sheri’s wedding.

As soon as he was out of earshot Courtney said, “What is that all about? I didn’t think you even knew him.”

“Of course I know him. I said I did,” Kara said, regretting it more than ever.

“Yes, but you also said that you knew David Beckham.”

“Well, Rina does know him, and I met him once.”

“You’re not Rina.”

“No, I’m not,” she said, aware that she was letting the conversation go into that crazy land where she’d not have to talk about Gui.

Her lips still tingled and she didn’t want to dwell too much on the fact that, when he’d held her the last time, she hadn’t wanted him to let go.

“So what’s up with you and the Count? Emily heard someone talking in the bathroom about an engagement.”

“Oh my God.” She was going to be utterly humiliated if everyone was talking. There wasn’t going to be a graceful way for her to back out of the “engagement.” And no matter what the truth was, if the engagement ended, everyone would think Gui hadn’t wanted her.

“What? Is it
true?
” Courtney asked, and for once Kara had no answers.

Kara shook her head, unwilling to lie to her friend, but the truth…she really had no idea what it was at this moment. “I have no idea.”

“Um…Kara, dear, you really should know if you have a fiancé.”

“It’s complicated.” God, she had no idea how she was going to explain this. If she told her best friends that she wasn’t engaged and Gui had used her to make another woman jealous, they’d go after him. And if she said she
was
engaged…Heck, she wasn’t going to say that.

“Explain
complicated,
” Courtney said.

“He and I may or may not be engaged. We’re going to discuss it later.”

“Holy hell.”

“Courtney!”

“I think even Sister Rita Lynn would forgive me this once.”

“What would Sister Rita Lynn forgive?” Katie asked as she and Emily joined them.

“My saying holy hell. Kara here may or may not be engaged to the Count.”

“Don’t call him that,” Katie said with a little laugh. “All I can think of is the count from
Sesame Street.
”

“That sexy man reminds you of the Count?” Courtney asked.

“Enough, you two,” Emily said. “We need to focus on Kara and her fiancé. When did this happen?”

Kara shook her head. This was the part that was going to sound really strange to her friends. “Today.”

“The engagement happened today?” Courtney said. “Wow, I guess you really do know him.”

“Gui is impetuous,” Kara said, having absolutely no idea if that was usually true or not.

“Well if that’s the case then it’s only you that brings out that side of him,” Katie said.

“What do you know about him?”

She glanced around the ballroom then leaned in close to Kara. “See that woman over there—the beautiful one in the center of that group of men?”

“Yes,” Kara said. Elvira. The one who’d shaken Gui and called him
querido.
“Who is she?”

Katie glanced at Kara, and there was something in her gaze that warned Kara she might regret asking. “That’s the woman he’s rumored to have loved and lost. Elvira de Castillo y Perez…She’s married to Count Juan de Cuaron y Perez.”

“De Cuaron? Is he related to Gui?” Kara asked.

“They’re cousins by marriage,” Katie said. “Juan is related to the Enfanta of Spain—Gui’s sister-in-law.”

“So what does that woman have to do with Kara?” Emily asked.

“Yeah, so what if he loved her and lost her? Clearly that’s ancient history, right?” Courtney asked.

“It happened over ten years ago. Apparently Elvira tried to use jealousy to force Gui to marry her and he refused, so she married Juan.”

“Well, then there’s nothing to worry about there,” Kara said.

“I wouldn’t say so. Rumors are all over the Spanish Court and practically every court in Europe about Elvira and Gui. Seems marriage didn’t stop them from continuing their affair,” Katie said.

Katie worked for a European news network and was the host of a nightly celebrity show similar to the
Ten Spot
on E! She always knew the best gossip and usually was able to tell the truth from the rumors.

“Really?” Kara asked.

“That’s the rumor. The thing is, aside from Juan’s jealousy, no one else can substantiate anything about the alleged affair. His friends all say that Gui respects the bonds of marriage.”

“That’s something,” Courtney said.

“Yes, it is,” Kara agreed. But a part of her wondered if respecting the bonds of marriage was enough to keep Gui from the woman he’d loved and lost. Because she’d sensed there was more to him and Elvira than simply old friends when they’d talked on the dance floor.

She turned with the crowd to watch Gui at the mike, offering the wedding toast along with Christos, charming the crowd. He was eloquent and a tad romantic without being patronizing. The kind of man she’d dreamed of finding.

She glanced around the ballroom and knew the gap between her and Gui was literal. He fit here in their social world the way she never had. And now that she knew more of his past, she wondered what exactly he thought pretending to be engaged to her was going to accomplish. Because Kara knew one thing with absolute certainty—she wasn’t the type of woman who’d make Elvira jealous.

“With Kara deMontaine?” Christos asked.

“With any woman,” he said, not ready to discuss anything involving Kara with his friends.

“Rumor has it you’re engaged,” Tristan said.

“How the hell did
you
hear a rumor? You were supposed to be completely enthralled with your beautiful bride.”

“I was. Blame my sister. Blanche is good friends with Rina deMontaine…”

“Those women are faster than CNN at spreading news,” Gui muttered. He crossed the room to the wet bar and poured himself two fingers of Scotch. He swallowed the drink quickly.

“So is it true?” Christos asked, coming up next to him.

“Yes,” Gui said. He would have to convince Kara that engagement was next for them, and God knew how he’d do it. But there was no way he was going to tell his friends that in a moment of weakness he’d claimed her as his own.

“What about Elvira?” Tristan asked.

“Last time I checked, Tris, she was married.”

“You know what I mean.”

Gui scrubbed a hand over his face. “It’s past time for me to move on.”

“I agree. Kara’s a good choice for you.”

“She is?” Gui asked. He knew nothing about the woman except that she had the softest lips he’d ever tasted and when he kissed her he forgot that all other women existed.

Not a bad start to an affair, but marriage…Damn, was he really considering marrying her? With Tristan’s words echoing in his mind, he knew that he was indeed considering it. It made sense to him.

His friends were all married now, and he wanted the dynamic between the three of them to stay the same. If he were the only bachelor, there would be things he couldn’t participate in with them. Couple things. The very things Gui had spent his entire adult life avoiding.

But now…now those things seemed appealing for some reason, and Kara deMontaine…well, she was someone he could easily see by his side.

“What do you know of her?”

“She’s active with several women and children’s groups. All of her charitable work is focused on family,” Tristan said, pouring a glass of Scotch for himself and taking a sip.

“She’d make a good addition to the Cuaron Foundation,” Gui said. He’d started the Cuaron Foundation nearly ten years ago to help keep kids off drugs through getting them outside and active in extreme sports. The foundation was based in Madrid, and most of the work he did was in Europe, but he had started a second location in Australia last year. And he’d always planned to bring the foundation to the United States.

“She would,” Christos said. “I remember when I talked to her at Rina’s birthday party last year that she was intelligent and very well-spoken if a bit shy.”

Gui knew the root of that shyness. And wasn’t surprised that she’d overcome it to talk to Christos. She was too bold a spirit to let anything hold her back when she was passionate about something. And she must be about her work.

“When is the wedding to take place?” Tristan asked.

Gui poured himself more Scotch. He wasn’t even sure he could convince Kara to marry him. And he knew that she wouldn’t just agree because of who he was, as a number of other women would. That knowledge only made her more appealing. He realized that, for the first time since he had met Elvira, another woman and her passion were consuming him.

He was concerned, because passion like that burned bright and fast and usually left burn marks to match. Gui had learned a lot in the last ten years of being relegated to the sidelines of the life of a woman he’d wanted so passionately.

What exactly had he learned? he wondered.

“We haven’t picked a date. I don’t know that it’s going to be a big ceremony,” Gui said.

“Are you kidding?” Christos said, reaching around to pour himself a drink before going back to the couch and sitting down. “Rina’s not going to let her baby sister get married in a quickie ceremony. And I doubt your mother would be too pleased if you didn’t give her a proper ceremony to attend.”

Christos had a good point. This was getting too damned complicated. If he was going to control Kara and the situation the way he wanted to, he was going to have to sweep her off her feet and have a whirlwind courtship and marriage.

Marriage, he thought again. To Kara deMontaine? He’d thought to never give his name to a woman. But he knew he’d have to produce an heir, because his older brother’s offspring were heirs to the royal throne and it fell to Gui to produce heirs for his family.

“We’re not going to let my mother or Rina decide anything about our wedding,” Gui said.

Christos choked on his drink. “Women look at these things differently, Gui.”

“Some women might, but Kara isn’t like that. She’s in love with me and will follow my direction on this,” he said.

“Every woman in love dreams of a big wedding to her man,” Tristan said. “I have a sister, I know this…you should, too.”

“Some situations are more delicate and require a quicker timeline.”

Christos put his glass on the coffee table and stood up. “Are you saying she’s with child?”

“No, she’s not with child. She’s in love and has insisted we get married as quickly as possible.” Gui started to lift the Scotch glass to his mouth but put it down. He needed to stop drinking and start thinking things through.

For one brief moment, as she watched him standing to the side of the other couples in the party, she felt a pang. He looked so distant and alone. And a part of her recognized that loneliness, because she’d experienced the same thing many times.

Heck, that was the reason he’d singled her out earlier today.

“Ms. deMontaine?” The man who spoke to her was shorter than she was and at least fifty years old. He was dressed in a very fashionable suit and tie, all black and white, and she could tell just from the way he carried himself that he probably worked for one of the families in attendance here.

“Yes?”

“I am Vincent Montez,” he said with a slight bow. “Count de Cuaron has asked that you meet him upstairs.”

She smiled at the older man. “Please give the Count my regrets.”

He nodded and bowed once more before leaving her. Kara knew that her time to get gone was shortening. This situation, which had never really been in her control, was close to getting completely out of it.

She had ridden to the ceremony with Courtney but, when she glanced over at her friend, she noticed that the redhead was in an intimate conversation with a man. Kara took out her cell phone and sent a quick text message to Courtney, telling her she’d call in the morning, and made her way out of the ballroom.

She’d have a good night’s sleep and then worry about her rumored engagement in the morning. She’d been amazed at how quickly gossip had spread at the reception. Everyone was talking about her and Gui, and Kara wasn’t in the mood to keep her happy smile in place for another second.

She would hail a cab and go home and then break the box of special dishes that she kept on hand for exercising her temper. Because she didn’t believe in wasting anything, she only broke plates that the kids at the shelter could use to make mosaic birdbaths.

“Kara.”

“Damn.”

“Damn? You don’t strike me as a woman who curses.”

“Count Guillermo, tonight I am.”

He chuckled. “Long one?”

“Yes. Funny how a rumored engagement to a very eligible bachelor can do that to a girl.”

“May I give you a lift home?”

“Do you have a car?”

“Indeed.”

“That’d be lovely. I was going to take a cab.”

“Then allow me.”

“I will. It’s the least you can do for your
fiancée.
”

“If my
fiancée
wasn’t so stubborn—”

“I’m not stubborn. I just know my mind.”

“Stubborn,” he said under his breath.

“The same could be said of you.”

“To be honest, it has been,” he said.

She almost smiled at him, because this was the first moment when she saw him as more than a sexy man. She saw the real man beneath the aristocratic title and charm.

“Where’s your car?”

“I sent Vincent to get it.”

She nodded. “I guess he delivered my message.”

“Yes, he did. Why wouldn’t you come upstairs to see me?”

“Because I’m American and I prefer to be asked by the man who wants to see me and not his servant.”

“Vincent is more than a servant. He’s a friend and trusted advisor.”

“My mistake.”

“How could you ever doubt your appeal to the opposite sex?” he asked.

“Easily,” she said. “I’m usually very shy around men. But somehow, knowing you are my…whatever, has loosened my tongue. Either that, or all the martinis I had earlier. I wonder if I’ve had too much to drink?”

“You haven’t.”

“How do you know?” she asked. She doubted he’d been paying much attention to her all night long.

“A man likes to think he knows his own fiancée.”

“Yeah, but I’m not really—”

“Not really what?”

Kara heard the haughty feminine voice with that sexy Spanish accent and knew that Countess Elvira was there behind them. She put her hand on Gui’s forearm and glanced back at the other woman.

She wanted to tell the woman to mind her own business. And Kara was sure she saw something in the other woman’s eyes that indicated she knew the truth. Somehow Elvira knew that she and Gui weren’t really engaged.

“I’m not really tired,” Kara said at last.

Gui wrapped an arm around her waist and drew her back against his body, dropping a kiss along the side of her neck. “We’ll think of something to do when we get back to your place.”

Any other woman would have looked away, but not Elvira. Kara knew, because she saw the flush of anger in the other woman when she opened her own eyes.

“Gui is an excellent lover, isn’t he?”

Kara felt the blush that climbed up her neck and face. She traveled on the very outer edges of this sophisticated crowd, but she wasn’t jaded. She never had been.

“Leave her alone, Elvira.”

“
Querido,
have your tastes changed so drastically?”

“Not at all,” he said.

“Then how can you be with…”

“She’s the woman I’ve been waiting for, Elvira. A woman worth marrying.”

Gui led her away from the other woman and out the front door where Vincent had a Rolls-Royce waiting for them. They climbed in the backseat without saying a word, but Kara’s mind was busy with the thought that there were worse pains than embarrassment, and if she didn’t watch herself around Gui, she might end up with a broken heart.