Santos backed a white Mercedes GLK 350 SUV out of the four-car garage and parked it in the gravel driveway. He got out and opened the rear door for their luggage. “The Hispano-Suiza is for special occasions only. Convince Mondragon to drive his own car so I don’t have to put up with his tedious company the whole way to the ranch.”
“How long a trip is it?” Maggie asked.
Fox was seated on his duffle bag on the edge of the patio playing a video game on his phone. “The ranch is on this side of Zaragoza, so we can make it in an hour and a half, a little less if Santos has a girl waiting for him.”
“You meet your girlfriends at the ranch?” Maggie asked.
“Sure, why not?”
“I thought you went there to train for fights.”
He winked at her. “It’s good to have an appreciative audience.”
“If you say so.” She thought a man in a ring with a bull ought to concentrate on the damn bull, not some pretty girl leaning over the rail. He didn’t need her advice, so she kept still and vowed not to set a foot out of the ranch house. The prospect of a scholarly perusal of her grandfather’s memoir was looking better every minute. She kept her eye on the road out front, waiting for Rafael to arrive. She didn’t even know what she’d packed. Her stomach growled as her body betrayed her by craving food while her emotions were tangled in painful knots.
“You ought to eat,” Fox prompted. “Not that the food isn’t good at the ranch, but it’s a working cattle ranch, and there’s only so many ways to prepare beef.”
“I’ll get by on bread and water.”
“You’ll like it there,” Santos insisted. “Here’s Mondragon now, so let’s go.”
Uncertain what to expect, she held her breath, but Rafael wore a cocky grin as he approached her. Each time she saw him he got better looking, which had to be impossible. He grabbed her carry-on bag. “Magdalena is coming with me. Do you have the directions?”
Santos had them ready and handed them to Maggie. “You can follow me.”
“I’d rather not,” Rafael replied. He tossed her bag into the backseat and opened her door. He got in on the driver’s side, backed out of the driveway and turned toward the road to the freeway. He reached for her hand and brought her fingers to his lips. “How did you convince your father to back my Alternativa? He fell asleep the last time I asked him.”
So that’s why he’d been smiling. He’d been looking forward to the fight, not to seeing her. He’d just shown his true colors, but when she’d relegated him to a week long fling, she didn’t have any room to complain. Still, she was disappointed and pulled her hand free. She’d be damned if she’d take second place to a bull. “I can’t take the credit. It was his idea to see if you’re ready, not mine.”
He shot her a skeptical glance. “You’re sure?”
“Positive. We’ve just met. He doesn’t ask for my opinions.”
“You must have told him you like me.”
She had mentioned his name. “Of course I like you. I just don’t want to see you in a ring with an enraged bull.”
“So I should make free time for you?”
“If you’re alive to do so. I’m tired and need a nap.” She snuggled down in her seat.
“Do you want me to pull over so you can get into the backseat?”
“No, thank you, I’m fine here.” She peered into the side
mirror, but there was no sign of Santos’s SUV. She closed her eyes. The radio was as soft as a lullaby. The car held a faint hint of Rafael’s scent, which ought to have a lethal rating. “What’s the name of your cologne?”
“It’s a custom scent made for your father, and he gave me some. If it has a name, I’ve not heard it. Do you like it?”
“It’s haunting.”
“Could a ghost wear cologne?”
“Probably not, but it’s a memorable scent I’d recognize anywhere. Santos wears it too.” She covered a yawn and sank deeper into her seat. She’d meant to close her eyes for a catnap, but she slept all the way to the ranch. When Rafael touched her shoulder, she sat up with a start and looked around. “I’m sorry not to have been better company.”
His smile slid into a teasing grin. “You’re forgetting I knew why you were so tired. I took it as a compliment.”
“Yes, you should.” She supposed the spring in his step as he circled the car to her door was a compliment for her too. Sex energized him and left her as limp as a jellyfish floating aimlessly in the sea.