The Valquez Seduction

‘So you stayed.’

‘I stayed.’

A silence crept in from the four corners of the room.

There was no outward sign on his face but Daisy got the impression he regretted revealing so much about his background. His fingers began to drum on the arms of the chair he was sitting on. It was barely audible but it spoke volumes. He wasn’t a man to sit around chatting. He was a man of action. He lived life on the edge. He didn’t sit on the sidelines and ruminate about what might have, could have, or should have been.

‘Why did you come to my rescue last night?’

His eyes took on that teasing glint again but she noticed his smile looked a little forced. ‘You seemed like a nice kid. I didn’t want you to come to any harm on your first night in Vegas.’

‘So you tucked me safely up in bed and gallantly slept on the sofa.’

‘Correction. I didn’t sleep.’

She frowned. ‘What did you do?’

‘I kept an eye on you.’

‘Why?’

‘Your drink was doctored. I heard it from the horse’s mouth.’

Daisy’s mouth dropped open. ‘You mean a drug of some sort?’

‘He only confessed to getting a friend to put a couple of extra shots of vodka in your glass while you weren’t watching,’ he said. ‘I asked the hotel doctor to give you the once-over. He seemed pretty confident it was just a case of a little too much to drink. Your pupils and your breathing were normal.’

She stared at him with burgeoning respect. How had she got it so wrong about him? He had acted so responsibly last night. Taking care of her. Protecting her. Sacrificing his evening to stay with her. How had she thought he was shallow and arrogant? He wasn’t the devil she had taken him for. He was a guardian angel. Her guardian angel. ‘I don’t know how to thank you for watching out for me.’

‘Yeah, well, how about being a little more careful when you’re out on the town? They’re a lot of opportunistic guys out there who’d not think twice about taking advantage of a girl who’s three sheets to the wind.’

Daisy chewed her lower lip. ‘I can see now why my father always insists I travel with a bodyguard.’

His brows snapped together. ‘You have a bodyguard?’

She gave him another sheepish look. ‘I did up until last night. I slipped away from him to join the girls in the nightclub downstairs.’

‘Where is he now?’

‘Probably handing in his notice to my father.’

His frown cut into his forehead like a deep V. ‘Don’t you think you should call him to let him know you’re safe?’

‘I guess…’

He snatched up her purse where her phone was stored. ‘Better do it before the cops put out a missing person’s alert—if they haven’t already.’

Daisy took out her phone to find thirty-three missed calls from her father. She had forgotten she’d put her phone on silent before she met the girls last night and hadn’t got around to turning it back. She pressed the call button and mentally counted to three to prepare herself for the fallout. ‘Dad?’

‘Where the hell are you?’ her father blasted. ‘I’ve been worried sick. I was about to get every cop in Vegas out looking for you. Are you all right? What happened last night? Bruno told me you gave him the slip. Just wait until I see you, young lady. Do you think I’m not serious about your safety? There are creeps out there just waiting to get their hands on a good old-fashioned girl like you. I swear to God if anyone’s hurt my baby girl I’ll have their balls for breakfast.’

‘I’m fine, Dad, please stop shouting.’ Daisy tried to cover the mouthpiece but it was obvious Luiz had heard every word because he was grinning. ‘I’m fine, really I am. Nothing happened. Nothing at all.’

‘Where are you?’ her father demanded.

‘I’m at a hotel with a…a friend.’

‘Which friend? You don’t know anyone in Vegas apart from those silly girlfriends of yours.’

‘A new friend.’ Daisy looked at Luiz with a can-I-mention-your-name? look but, before he could give her an answer, she told her father, ‘I’m with Luiz Valquez, you know, the famous polo champion?’

‘What?’ her father roared.

‘I met him last night. He was terribly nice and took me to his—’

‘That profligate time-wasting party boy?’ Her father was apoplectic. ‘Wait till I get my hands on him. I’ll tear him limb from—’

Luiz signalled for her to give him the phone. ‘I’ll talk to him.’

Daisy gingerly handed the phone to him as her father continued his audible tirade. ‘Sorry,’ she mouthed.