The Valquez Seduction

Luiz strode over to the window to check if any more press had turned up outside the hotel complex. He could feel Daisy’s clear blue gaze studying him from behind. Never had a woman’s presence disturbed him so much. She was sweet and innocent and yet impossibly sexy, a potent combination he had never encountered before. The taste of her kiss lingered in his mouth like a delectable dessert he hadn’t had enough of. His taste buds were zinging, his lips buzzing, his blood thrumming. Last night had been the first time he had spent the night with a woman without making love to her. The need to do so was still thundering in his body. But it wasn’t just the lust that worried him. The spill-all conversation over breakfast… Why had he done that? What was it about her that made him reveal so much about his past?

‘So, what’s the plan?’ she said in an eager voice. ‘What are we doing today?’

He twitched the curtains back across the window and faced her. ‘How many lovers have you had?’

She momentarily sank her teeth into the pillow of her lower lip. ‘Depends what you mean by lover.’

His brows met over his eyes. ‘Have you had sex?’

‘Technically, yes, but not with a human.’

No wonder her old man didn’t let her out without a SWAT-trained security team, Luiz thought. ‘Want to elaborate?’

Her cheeks were a fiery red but her blue eyes were unapologetic as they held his. ‘A girl has the right to pleasure herself if there’s no one else about. You men do it all the time. It’s perfectly normal. A vibrator is good practice for the real thing…or that’s what I’m hoping.’

Luiz was having trouble keeping his jaw off the floor. ‘Are you saying you’ve never had sex other than with a vibrator?’

She gave him a huffy look. ‘What of it? It’s safe. At least I won’t pick up any nasty infections. And he doesn’t cheat on me.’

‘He?’

‘Edward.’

‘You called your vibrator Edward?’

‘What’s wrong?’ she said. ‘It’s a good old-fashioned name. I admit it’s a bit on the conservative side but I didn’t want to sleep with a nameless object. It’s…dehumanising.’

Luiz couldn’t hold back a laugh. ‘You are such a crazy girl. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone quite like you.’

‘Same goes.’

‘Meaning?’

She gave him a forthright look. ‘You’re so confident and upfront about what you want. Some would say brazen.’

‘I thought you didn’t like that about me?’

‘Not if you were to be my life partner, but as a casual fling candidate you’re perfect because it would be well-nigh impossible to damage your hubris.’

Luiz wasn’t sure if she was insulting him or complimenting him. He wasn’t sure why he even cared either way. ‘So you ultimately want a life partner?’

Her expression was completely guileless. ‘Doesn’t everyone?’

‘Not me.’

‘Why not you?’

He lifted a shoulder. ‘You said it yourself. I’d make a terrible husband.’

‘You could be trained.’

He gave a wry laugh. ‘You make me sound like a wild animal.’

Her beautiful blue eyes twinkled. ‘Don’t worry. I won’t be in your life long enough to domesticate you.’

Something about the way she was calling the shots sat uncomfortably with him. He was the one who did the checking in and checking out. He didn’t leave it to other people to come and go in his life. That was his prerogative. ‘Why me?’ he asked. ‘Why not the other guy?’

‘The Ealing guy?’

‘Yeah. Him.’ Luiz could barely think of that creep without wanting to punch something. Preferably him. Hard.

‘I can’t have a holiday fling with a compatriot. It’s not half as exciting or exotic.’

‘I’m not sure I’ve been called exotic before,’ he muttered drily. ‘Exciting, yes.’

She grinned at him. ‘You’re exotic to me because I’ve never even talked to an Argentinian before.’

‘I can assure you we’re situated on much the same level on the evolutionary chain as you Brits.’

‘Oh, I wasn’t implying you’re not civilised,’ she said sweetly. ‘Look at how you conducted yourself last night. You were the perfect gentleman.’

‘You only have my word on that.’

‘Exactly my point.’

‘I could be lying to you,’ he said.

‘But you’re not.’

‘You can tell that, how?’

‘Your eyes,’ she said, looking straight into them. ‘You have the darkest brown eyes I’ve ever seen. But they don’t shift about as if you’re trying to hide something. And they laugh a lot. I find that really attractive. You look like a man who really enjoys life.’