The Twelve-Month Marriage Deal Read Free

looked at him and he allowed himself to smile faintly. Have no fear, Elena Benitez Valero, you’ll never walk away from me again.
    To think that he had almost married Reina!
    The thought hit him hard as he got ready for bed later that night. He had not spoken to Elena again, but he had watched every movement she made, saw the ease with which she talked to almost everyone present, flirting outrageously with the young men sitting either side of her at the dinner table.
    He had also noticed the way that she carefully avoided looking at him and was grimly amused. Perhaps it meant that she too had felt a spark ready to ignite? Could it be that beneath the arrogance she was Miss Fire and Brimstone? His body hardened at the thought of getting to know her—intimately. Very intimately.
    When he had agreed to marry her elder sister it had merely been a convenient partnership to form the merger of their banks. Reina had been willing and no oneexcept themselves, his brother and their parents had been aware that it was not a love match.
    But recently Reina had begun to have doubts. She wanted a real marriage, she said, she wanted to fall in love and live the fairy-tale dream. So he had done the honourable thing and released her from their engagement. Naturally, for Reina’s sake, he had let everyone believe that they had fallen out, and he had seen no reason why he should not still help her parents.
    In fact, he had been ready to put things into motion—until tonight when he met Elena!
    In an instant he’d had a dramatic change of heart. Elena would fit the bill as his wife perfectly. He had only to think of her delectable body, those fantastic breasts cupped in his hands, her incredibly long legs wrapped around him and those plump, delicious lips pressed hard against his, to know that he wouldn’t be satisfied until he had her in his bed.
    He had made up his mind.
    No Elena, no merger.
    He knew how worried her parents must be. They had no idea yet that he had been thinking of going ahead with the merger regardless of his marriage to Reina. Maybe this was the reason Elena was here. Maybe they were trying to persuade her to take her sister’s place!
    The thought brought a smile to his lips.
    All he had to do now was sit back and wait.
    Or maybe use a little light persuasion!
    Elena wouldn’t agree to it straight away, he was aware of that. She wouldn’t worry whether her parents’ bank prospered or sank. She had turned her back onthem. Goodness knew what she got up to in America. He didn’t know and he didn’t care.
    Regardless, she was a stunning woman now and all he wanted was her beside him—every night.
    Vidal went to sleep with a smile on his face.
    Having met with Vidal again Elena was even more convinced that marriage to him was out of the question. He had changed almost beyond recognition. Gone was the young man she remembered. This man oozed sophistication. It crept out of his pores like an unwanted drug. His thick, dark hair, which had always refused to be tamed, now sat sleekly on his well-moulded head. And his powerful body suggested hours spent in a gym.
    His eyes hadn’t changed; they were still a startling grey and actually rather attractive. It was his arrogance that really annoyed her. He might be the president of El Banco de Marquez, but his manners and his attitude towards her had certainly not improved.
    She had known he was watching her across the room; she had felt his eyes on her the whole evening. It had sent cold shivers down her spine and a resurrection of the dislike she had felt for him when she was younger.
    But what she hadn’t expected was the way he had greeted her. Little girl indeed! Was that how he still saw her? Admittedly he had tempered his comment by saying she had grown up sensationally—but she guessed that was designed to make himself look good.
    And his suggestion that she wasn’t being fair on her parents had really got her back up. She rang them every day, for pity’s sake, and