With his incredulity stretched to the limit for a moment, he could only think of barging in and dragging her out—but then reason kicked in. Lucia wanted responsibility, something he’d been loaded with at an early age. It hadn’t done him any harm. Perhaps he should keep a watching brief and leave her to it.
He could do something here, Luke realised as his mind turned to practical matters. Energy flashed through him as ideas crowded his brain. He was eager to begin restoring the guest house to its former glory, but first he had to make sure Lucia was safe.
Switching off the lights, he freewheeled down the track. Halting behind some trees, he climbed out. Closing the door with barely a click, he walked up to Lucia’s caravan and walked round it, examining it with the light from his mobile phone. There wasn’t a lot he could do in the dark without tools, but he could improvise. He found rocks to place behind the wheels to act as chocks and, knocking the dirt off his hands, decided that, whether Lucia thanked him for his interference or not, he would definitely be back in the daylight to check everything out properly.
So this has nothing to do with sexual hunger and a desire to see Lucia again?
Not much, he mused wryly.
Staring round, he let his restless gaze linger on the moonlit beach and dramatic cliff line. Everything he could see increased his determination to do something to help the village that had once meant so much to him. It would take money and time, but …
Money he had in plenty. But time?
Maybe he could spare a few more days if Margaret agreed to his plan. He had a team of men who could turn around a place like this in no time flat. And when he went back he could steer the project from a distance, no problem, which would give him some much needed space from Lucia.
Lucia …
His concerns for her were back with a vengeance. Lucia lived in great comfort with her brothers in Argentina, so there had to be a very good reason for what she was doing here. Breaking free of four brothers he could understand, but hiding away in a tumbledown caravan out of season when there was no proper work to be had …
Her reaction to the drunk tonight had made it seem that Lucia was frightened of men, but Lucia, of all the women he knew, could handle men with both hands tied behind her back. There weren’t many men as fierce as her brothers. Something didn’t fit. He was going to hold that next call to Nacho until he’d made his own enquiries.
She woke the next morning, feeling something wasn’t quite right. Then her brain kicked into gear and she buried her hot face in the pillow as the whole wonderful, terrible evening with Luke played out in her head. The last thing she wanted was Luke alerting her brothers to a problem. Or, worse, Luke riding in on his white charger to save her and sweeping her away. This was something she had to do alone.
As the phone trilled she tossed the pillow aside and made a lunge for it, then pulled a worried face when she recognised the number. ‘Luke. I was about to ring to say thank you for last night.’
‘So I beat you to it,’ he said, in the low, husky voice that could always make her toes curl. ‘No big deal. I take it you’ve just woken up?’
‘How did you guess?’ she said carefully, testing her still swollen lips with the tip of her tongue. ‘Last night was wonderful, Luke.’ She held her breath.
There was a pause, then Luke said with matching restraint, ‘My pleasure, Lucia.’
‘So,’ she said, sitting up and raking her hair into some semblance of order, as if her brain cells might oblige and follow suit, ‘what can I do for you, Luke?’
‘Put the kettle on?’
‘I’m sorry?’
‘Put some clothes on too.’
‘That’s a little high-handed of you. This is my one morning off. What’s the rush?’
‘You might want to take a look outside.’
Wiping the condensation off the window with her sleeve, she felt her heart go into flight mode—though she gave a theatrical groan for Luke’s benefit. ‘Couldn
’t you sleep?’ He was sitting outside in his vehicle.
‘Not as well as you, clearly,’ Luke said dryly.
Luke’s voice sounded so close to her ear a blast of heat spiralled through her at the thought of his touch … his kiss …
Forget all that. Luke arriving in daylight, seeing how she was living, was the last thing she wanted. He couldn’t know that she was going to clear a room for herself at the guest house just as soon as she’d sorted something nice out for Margaret. This was only the start of her new life and she couldn’t risk Luke interfering.
‘Aren’t you going to invite me in, Lucia? Much as I love sitting out here in the rain …’
‘Hang on. I’ll just operate the electric gates.’
She could imagine Luke’s report to her brother. She could even write it for him. But whenever she found herself between a rock and a hard place her choice would always be to stand and fight.