Kept at the Argentine's Command

‘If it makes you feel better, hermosa, I’ll pee in sympathy.’

She glared at him. He might not be able to see her eyes, but her mobile little mouth was doing the expressions for her.

‘I’ll make it good for you,’ he coaxed. ‘Put you up in a nice hotel…you can do some shopping. Buenos Aires is big on fashion—right up your alley.’ He indicated her pretty frock.

Lulu stared at him in disbelief. She had cried on and off all night. Hence the sunglasses she wouldn’t be removing. But, seeing him again this morning, she had felt her blasted heart jump up and down and she’d really hoped he might say something that would make this a little better. Then she would apologise for going off like a firecracker yesterday, and they could talk like grown-ups about how best to handle this.

Only now she’d been pulled into a corner and dictated to. No mention of them—it was all about this non-existent pregnancy. Because, really, how unlucky could he be?

Stuck with some girl he’d got lucky with on his drive in to Dunlosie?

He couldn’t make it any clearer.

Instead of going out of his way to visit her in Paris, he wanted her to upend her life and go to Buenos Aires and not inconvenience him!

Did he really think she was so shallow that shopping for clothes was all she thought about?

Lulu wondered how on earth he’d got her so wrong.

Because he barely knows you. He’s not even interested in getting to know you, whispered a caustic voice. You’re just the next girl in a line of girls and he can’t move on from you because of a condom malfunction.

It really wasn’t making her feel special.

It was making her angry.

‘Why on earth would I come to Buenos Aires?’

‘Because I have to work and we have a problem.’

‘You may have to work, but so do I.’

‘The cabaret season’s ended.’ At her surprised look he added, ‘Your little blonde friend was full of information last night. You’re a lady of leisure for the next month.’

This provoked a choking noise.

He glanced at his watch. ‘Let’s get out of here.’

‘No!’ She folded her arms. ‘I’m not going anywhere with you. I will take a test, and I’ll let you know if there’s anything that concerns you.’

He glowered down at her. ‘What the hell’s that supposed to mean?’

‘Just what I say. I don’t need you standing in the bathroom with me.’

Lulu tipped up her chin. It was certainly easier staring him down from behind the shades, and she wished she’d had them yesterday.

‘I won’t be bullied,’ she added, ‘and I won’t be made to feel I don’t have a choice.’

‘In what way am I bullying you?’

‘Going behind my back, finding out about my schedule. We don’t have a relationship, Alejandro, we just have a problem. And I can deal with it.’

He gave her a long, unsettling look. All the m

ore unsettling because, unlike her, he could hide what he was thinking. Then he seemed to make up his mind about something. His mouth curled into a tight smile that somehow held no humour and his eyes searched her face.

‘You’re right, Lulu, we don’t have a relationship.’

To Lulu’s astonishment her stomach dropped.