Passionate Protection

/> 'I remember it as though it were yesterday,' he assured her. 'You were then a bride of six months, and how I envied my cousin! Just as I'm sure many men must envy Sebastian,' he added gallantly, turning to Jessica. 'Jorge tells me that he has to work but that he will return in time for dinner. You must not let him work so hard—all work and no play, don't you English have a saying about that?'

'Sebastian has a black monkey on his back at the moment,' Jorge interrupted cheerfully. 'Poor Lisa felt the weight of his temper yesterday, and all because of that cat Pilar Sanchez.'

'Ah, Pilar!' Senor Alvarez grimaced. 'A very feline woman, is that one. I shall have to take care to guard my little Luisa from her claws!'

He drew his daughter forward to be introduced, and Jessica noticed the look in Jorge's eyes as they rested on her. Small and dainty, her glossy black hair was drawn back off her face, her huge pansy-brown eyes were nervous and hesitant as they were introduced. She couldn't be more than eighteen, Jessica reflected, but already she had the ripeness, the innocent sensuality of Latin women.

At Jorge's suggestion she allowed herself to be detached from the others to explore the courtyards. The hacienda was so different from the style of architecture she was accustomed to that she was eager to explore.

'Your daughter is extremely lovely,' Jessica commented warmly when they had gone.

'She is a crimson velvet rose,' her father agreed poetically, 'but many men prefer the beauty of the golden rose that grows best in the cooler climes of the north.'

Senor Alvarez had come to Spain on business as well as pleasure, and when he discovered that Jessica had been helping Sebastian with his new designs he started to talk to her with great enthusiasm and interest about wool and South America. Jessica found it all fascinating; he was an entertaining companion; scholarly, and yet worldly enough to add a little salt to his speech, and like all Latins, he was an expert at turning a neat compliment. Sebastian had never complimented her, Jessica realised with a shock. He had never flirted with her either. The tiny cold lump of unhappiness she had felt on waking and discovering that he had gone grew and refused to be banished.

Sebastian eventually returned to the hacienda just before dinner. Pilar had been invited to join this celebratory meal, mainly because she knew the Alvarez family well, and as she was a widow, it was perfectly permissible for her to join a family party without a male escort.

She arrived just as they were sipping sherry in the sala, her black silk evening dress a perfect foil for her dark beauty and curvaceous figure. In comparison, Jessica felt pale and insignificant in her softly draped cream chiffon suit with its camisole top and loose jacket, even though she had loved it when she tried it on in the shop.

Luisa, as befitted a young girl, was wearing a plain dress in white, and pretty though it was, Jessica didn't think it did the younger girl's complexion justice.

Sebastian had been late joining them and had come into the room only minutes before Pilar, who, the moment she saw him, made a beeline for him, linking her arm with his in a very proprietorial manner, scarlet fingernails like drops of blood against the darkness of his jacket, as she laughed and joked with Senor Alvarez.

'Have you been in to see Lisa?' Jessica managed to ask Sebastian quietly before they went in to dinner. 'She's been moping all day because you were so cross with her.'

She didn't think anyone else had heard her until Pilar turned round suddenly, her eyes raking Jessica's face coldly, her voice falsely sweet as she said smoothly,

'I must go up and see her too before I go. Lisa is suddenly displaying a very naughty strain,' she added for Senor Alvarez' benefit. 'I'm afraid I had to be quite cross with her yesterday.'

Sebastian hadn't answered her question, and Jessica was afraid to ask it again. All her hopes that somehow last night might have had a softening effect on his attitude to her had been destroyed the moment he walked into the sala, his face grimly blank as he sought her out and with meticulous politeness enquired about her day. His very politeness seemed to hold her deliberately at a distance as though he wanted to warn her not to try to come too close. Had his love for Manuela been such that he could never love anyone else? Had her death frozen his emotions, making it impossible for him to feel anything other than desire for another woman?

Jessica sighed, reflecting that the evening ahead wasn't likely to be an easy one. Already she could see that Jorge was being more than simply politely attentive to Luisa and that she was responding with glowing eyes and happy smiles. Sebastian hadn't noticed yet, but when he did… Jorge hadn't been forgiven for refusing to marry Barbara, although privately Jessica thought it was very wrong of Sebastian to attempt to dictate to his brother whom he should marry. But of course that was the Spanish way.

The night was hot and stuffy, thunder growling in the distance. Halfway through the meal Jessica was attacked by a wave of nausea and dizziness, which, fortunately, she managed to fight off. She didn't believe anyone had noticed, until she realised that Pilar was watching her with narrowed, assessing eyes. Trying to dislodge the cold feeling of disquiet she always felt when the other woman watched her, Jessica discreetly refrained from eating much more. Doubtless it was the overpowering heat and threatening storm that was making her feel so odd, and at least Sebastian seemed more relaxed, as he chatted to his godfather. She heard him mention her name and listened, wondering what was being said.

'Your husband has just been praising your ability as a designer,' Senor Alvarez told her, with a smile. 'He tells me that your ideas are nothing short of inspired.'

Again Jessica was conscious of Pilar's malevolent regard, but she tried to ignore it. Sebastian praising her! A tiny thrill of pleasure lightened the ice packed round her heart. Perhaps after all there might be some future for them; some basis on which they could build the foundations of a relationship.

* * *

CHAPTER NINE

'Tia Sofia, have you seen Lisa?' Jessica had been looking for the little girl for half an hour, but no one had seen her since lunchtime. She glanced out of the window at the black sky and pounding rain. Surely Lisa wouldn't have ventured outside? The rain fell in sheets rather than drops, bouncing on the hard dry earth, and on the radio there had been flood warnings.

Sebastian had been concerned for the vines, although he explained that fortunately they were not at a stage in their development when too much damage would be done. The poorer growers might suffer some losses, Jorge had told Jessica later, but Sebastian, together with other wealthy landlords, had formed an association that could help the small growers through difficult patches.

'He takes his responsibilities as head of our family very seriously,' Jorge explained to her. 'Too seriously, I sometimes think, perhaps because he was so young when he had to take over from our father.'

And he had had to take over alone, Jessica reflected without Manuela at his side.

'I'm getting worried about Lisa,' she confided in Sofia with a frown when no one could remember seeing the little girl. 'Where can she be?'

'She has been very upset recently,' Sofia agreed, echoing Jessica's concern. 'I told Sebastian he had been too harsh with her, but he seems to have devils of his own to fight at the moment.'

'I think I'll go upstairs and check again that she isn't in her room—she might just have slipped out,' Jessica commented. 'If you don't find her, we'll organise a search.Children get odd ideas into their head when they're upset—even the most sensible of them.' Lisa wasn't in her room, but Jessica bumped into the girl Maria, who looked after her, as she came out. She looked worried and upset. 'Have you seen Lisa?' Jessica asked her.

The girl shook her head. 'Not since morning,' she told Jessica. 'She was very upset, the little one. Last night…' she bit her lip, flushing and hesitating. '