THE VALQUEZ SEDUCTION Read online

  ‘No.’ Daisy softened it with a brief smile that didn’t show her teeth. ‘Thanks anyway.’

  Something in his pitch-black eyes sharpened. His nostrils widened as if taking up the challenge of getting her to change her mind privately excited him. His charming smile, however, didn’t falter. ‘You’re with someone?’

  ‘No…I mean yes. My friends from school. The school I teach at. We teach at. In London.’ Daisy pointed at her friends, only to find they weren’t there. They had slipped off the bar stools next to hers and were currently dancing on the dance floor with two men she’d seen them chatting to as she’d come in from shaking off her bodyguard.

  Thanks a bunch, girls.

  He followed the line of her gaze. ‘They look like they’re having fun.’

  What did he mean? That she wasn’t? That she was too strait-laced and uptight to have a good time? She might not be used to colouring outside the lines but she had her crayons sharpened. But she was going to use them on someone a little less self-assured than him. ‘Yes, they are.’ Her chin went up. ‘So am I.’

  The meshing of his brown-black gaze with her blue one felt like a taser shock to her system. Her whole body reacted with a zinging fizz that whizzed through her blood like a missile. ‘Is this your first time?’

  Daisy felt her blush spread a little further until her whole body felt as if it was being engulfed by fire. How could he know that? How could he possibly know that? ‘Erm…in Vegas, you mean?’

  His slow smile tilted the side of his mouth. It tilted her stomach as well, like a paper boat on a tidal wave. ‘Sí.’

  Oh, God, please don’t keep speaking in Spanish or I will sleep with you. Here. On the floor right in front of everyone. ‘It’s my first time to the US, and yes, to Vegas as well.’

  ‘What do you think of it so far?’

  Daisy kept her gaze locked on his, not that she had any choice in the matter. Her eyes weren’t responding to the message from her brain to stop staring at him like a star-struck fan in front of a Hollywood superstar. ‘It’s bold and brash and in-your-face. Vegas, I mean. Not the States in general. I haven’t been anywhere else except LA and that was only when we landed at the airport.’

  ‘Did you fly or drive down?’

  ‘We came by bus.’

  His half smile was still doing weird and exciting things to her insides. His smell was doing equally weird and exciting things to her senses. His citrus-based cologne had grace notes of a rain-washed cypress pine forest that was powerfully intoxicating. For a tiny moment Daisy wondered if she’d done the wrong thing in knocking back his offer of a dance. She was supposed to be fluttering her flirting wings. What better way to get off the ground than with a bad boy who did nothing but flirt and have fun? But then she saw the anticipatory glint in his eyes. He thought he had her in the bag—erm, bed. Damn him.

  ‘How long are you staying in Vegas?’ he asked.

  ‘Four days.’

  His eyes moved over her face again, as if memorising her features. He lingered a little too long on her mouth, making her itch to send out her tongue to moisten her lips. Daisy had never been more conscious of her body language. She knew it had the potential to contradict every word she said. If it hadn’t already.

  ‘If you change your mind about that dance I’ll be over there.’ He jerked his head towards the area of the bar he had come from.

  She raised her chin again, giving him a pointed look. ‘With your date?’

  He gave a negligent shrug of one of his broad shoulders. ‘She’s someone I just met.’

  ‘And will sleep with just the once before you move on to the next candidate?’

  His smile widened. ‘You’ve heard about me?’

  Daisy gave him the sort of look she would give one of the naughtiest boys in her kindergarten class. ‘It’s not a reputation to be proud of. Sleeping your way around the world with a bunch of nameless women you’ll never see again.’

  His eyes glinted wickedly. ‘It’s a tough gig but someone’s got to have the stamina to do it.’

  Do it. The words triggered a flood of erotic thoughts to her mind. Him doing it. Her doing it. With him. Their naked bodies wrapped together, his hair-roughened thighs entrapping hers, his hands cupping her breasts, touching her in that secret valley between her thighs.

  Daisy suppressed a whole body shudder, somehow keeping her features in her best haughty schoolmistress mask. But, looking at his dancing black eyes, she suspected he knew exactly the effect he was having on her. It was the same effect he had on any woman with a pulse. He was utterly gorgeous. Über-sexy. Terrifyingly irresistible.

  She gave him another one of her stiff on-off smiles to disguise the torment of temptation currently assailing her. ‘Will you excuse me? I’m falling behind my friends in the having-a-good-time stakes.’

  He didn’t move a millimetre, which meant she had to sidle down off the stool and brush past his tall muscle-packed frame. The shock of his body against hers was like coming into contact with an electric fence. She glanced up at the laughing gleam of his gaze and another fiery blush swept over her entire body.

  ‘A word of advice before you go.’

  Daisy pursed her lips. ‘Go on.’ If you must. She didn’t say that bit out loud. She didn’t need to. Her folded arms and rolled eyes said it for her.

  He pointed to the drink she had left behind. ‘Don’t leave your drinks unattended.’

  She gave him an irritated glance. How galling to have him point out her oversight. It made her feel all the more foolish and gauche. ‘I have been out at night before.’

  ‘Maybe, but some of the nightclubs along the strip have had a problem with drink spiking. Better to be safe than sorry.’

  ‘I know how to take care of myself.’

  His eyes had the most annoying habit of staring at her mouth, which made her want to stare at his. She fought the impulse but within a heartbeat her gaze had tracked to the sensual seam that was no longer smiling but set in more serious lines. For some reason it made him even more stop-the-traffic gorgeous. She drew in a breath that felt as if it had thumbtacks attached. The ear-throbbing music faded into the background. The sweaty, gyrating crowd on the dance floor might have been in another state for all the notice she took of them. In spite of all the competing aftershaves and expensive perfumes, she could still smell him. The sharp fresh tang of his cologne was imprinted in her brain and she knew she would never be able to walk past a cypress pine without wanting to hug it. It was a shame he was so arrogant. A little fling with someone like him would have been fun to talk about with the girls when she got home.

  But a one-night stand?

  Out of the question.

  Daisy gave him an arch look. ‘Do I have lipstick on my teeth or something?’

  ‘Why don’t you smile so I can check?’

  She pressed her lips together. Where was a naughty step when you needed one? ‘Why did you come over to talk to me?’

  His eyes twinkled as they held hers. ‘I saw you staring at me.’

  ‘I wasn’t staring!’ Daisy spluttered. ‘My friends pointed you out and I merely glanced at you to see if I recognised you, which I didn’t. Sorry if that upsets your ego.’ She wasn’t one bit sorry.

  A hint of a smile still lurked in the black ink of his eyes. ‘It doesn’t.’

  ‘No, I imagine not.’ She knew she sounded ridiculously prim but she couldn’t seem to help it. The words kept coming out in a steady stream—sounding scarily like Miss Edith Cassidy, her starchy soon-to-retire headmistress. ‘I expect you’re used to young women the world over dropping into a swoon when they see you but I’m not one to be impressed by outward appearances.’

  ‘What does impress you?’

  Daisy paused as she thought about it. ‘Erm…’

  He leaned back against th
e bar and crossed one ankle over the other as if prepared to settle in for the night. ‘Money?’

  She frowned. ‘Of course not.’

  His mouth curved in a cynical arc. ‘What, then?’

  ‘Manners. Intellect. Morality.’

  His smile became an amused chuckle. ‘An old-fashioned girl hanging out in Vegas. Who would’ve thought?’

  Daisy was sure she would have permanent lines around her mouth from all the lip-pursing she was doing. ‘Were you born naturally obnoxious or is it something you’ve worked on over the years?’

  He pushed himself away from the bar and ran an idle fingertip down the length of her bare arm from her shoulder to her wrist, still with that mocking smile curving his mouth. ‘Save the last dance for me, querida.’

  Daisy gave him a withering look as she brushed past him to join her friends, ‘Dream on.’

  * * *

  Luiz decided to leave the nightclub at 3:00 a.m. He’d lost sight of the English girl when he’d stopped to chat to someone he knew on the polo circuit. By the time he’d turned around again she had disappeared. He refused to acknowledge the strange little pit of disappointment in his belly. Easy come, easy go. There were plenty of other girls he could pick up if he could be bothered.

  He wasn’t sure what it was about her that fascinated him so much. She wasn’t his usual type with her girl-next-door looks and prim goody-two-shoes manner. But her chestnut hair had highlights that shone like spun gold and her darkly lashed intensely blue eyes reminded him of the Aegean Sea. Her skin had that roses and cream bloom young English women were famous for and her mouth was generous and full, suggesting a passionate nature behind the haughty I’m-too-good-for-the-likes-of-you air she affected.

  He’d spent most of the evening watching her watching him. It amused him to see her try and disguise her interest. Hiding behind a drink she barely touched or the shoulder of one of her friends. Pretending to be having a good time when clearly the nightclub scene was not her usual stomping ground. For all that she’d dressed for the part in a little black dress and high heels, she looked out of place. She reminded him of Bambi pretending to be Barbarella.

  Luiz walked back to his hotel room alone. He’d had plenty of offers he could have taken up but for once he wasn’t in the mood. He was still shaking off the jet lag from when he’d flown in from Argentina, where he’d spent some time with his older brother and his new wife, Teddy. Seeing his brother so happy had triggered a restless feeling he couldn’t block out with endless partying. It used to be just him and Alejandro. They were a team. The playboy Valquez brothers, notorious the world over for having a good time. Women flocked to them wherever they went.

  Now Luiz was on his own, wandering around the globe in search of the next victory on the polo field. Trophy after trophy lined the bookshelves at his villa—the villa he only ever visited when the polo schedule allowed. He lived out of an overnight bag; he didn’t stay long enough in one place to warrant a suitcase. He checked in and checked out of hotels like he checked in and out of relationships. One-night stands were his speciality. What was the point of hanging around for someone to do the check out on you? He had seen his mother do that to his father. He had seen his brother suffer the public humiliation of being jilted at the altar ten years ago. Sure, Alejandro was happy now, and Teddy seemed like a top sort of girl, but that sort of commitment wasn’t for him.

  No one was ever going to have the power to hurt him. Again.

  Luiz was five doors away from his suite when he saw her—the English girl with the cut-glass accent. She was with a man who was leading her by the hand towards a room on the other side further down the corridor. However, something about the little tableau didn’t seem right. The English girl was not steady on her feet and her blue eyes were no longer clear and bright but glazed and disoriented.

  ‘What are you looking at?’ the man with her snarled at Luiz.

  Luiz glanced at the English girl. ‘Are you all right, querida?’

  The girl looked at him vacantly, her head lolling to one side. ‘I need to go to bed…’

  ‘In here, sugar,’ the man said as he shouldered open his door.

  Luiz put his arm across the door jamb like a blockade. ‘You want me to call the cops or will you let her go quietly?’

  The man breathed alcohol fumes over Luiz’s face. ‘She wants to be with me. She said so earlier.’

  Luiz wanted to punch the man’s teeth into the back of his preppy pretty boy head. ‘She’s not capable of saying anything and you damn well know it. Did you do this to her? Give her something in her drink to make her come with you?’

  The man gave him a cool it look. ‘Hey, man, what’s your problem? Is she yours or something?’

  Luiz felt a sour taste come up in his mouth. Anger came up with it, moving through his body like a bloated tide. What sort of man treated a woman like a toy they could pick up off a shelf? You do, a little voice piped up. He brushed aside the pricking arrow of his conscience and directed his ire where it belonged right now. ‘I’m going to ask you again. Did you do this to her?’

  The man’s eyes darted either side of the corridor. ‘Is this a sting or something? Are you undercover?’

  Luiz grabbed the man by the throat and pushed him back against the wall so hard all the pictures hanging along the corridor rattled in their frames. ‘I’m going to give you three minutes to check out of this hotel. After that I’m calling the cops. Got it?’

  The man swallowed against the heel of Luiz’s hand. ‘I didn’t do it. It was my mate. He said it wouldn’t hurt her. He put a few extra shots of vodka in her drink when she wasn’t looking. I wanted her to loosen up a bit. She was acting all stuck-up. Said she wasn’t interested, but I know she was. They all are in Vegas. That’s why they’re here. To have a good time.’

  Luiz bared his teeth like a wolf against a rival. ‘You come anywhere near her again and I’ll make sure you’re sipping your meals through a straw for the rest of your life. Understood?’

  The man nodded as he rubbed at his throat, slinking away like a cowed animal until he disappeared into one of the elevators.

  Luiz muttered a curse and bent down to where the English girl had slumped to the floor. He touched the side of her creamy cheek with a light fingertip. She was a ghastly shade of white and her skin was clammy but her breathing was normal. ‘Are you staying in house?’ he asked.

  She blinked owlishly at him. ‘Have we met before?’

  ‘Briefly.’

  She cocked her head and narrowed her gaze as if trying to place him. ‘You look kind of familiar…’

  ‘Your room number?’ he prompted.

  Her smooth brow wrinkled for a moment as he helped her to her feet. Luiz tried not to notice the way the skin of her hand felt against his, soft as the petals of a magnolia.

  ‘I think it has a seven in it.’ She gave him a bright smile. ‘That’s my lucky number. I once won a day spa package in a raffle we had at school. It was so relaxing I didn’t want to leave. It was the first time I had a Brazilian. Belinda talked me into it. It hurt like hell. Funny thing is I get them all the time now. I guess my pain threshold has risen or something. Normally I’m the biggest coward out. I cry when I take a plaster off. It’s pathetic.’ Her dazzling smile faded a little as she added, ‘I blame it on losing my mother so young. She died in an accident when I was ten…’

  ‘I’m sorry to hear that—’

  ‘My father never remarried,’ she went on as if he hadn’t spoken. ‘I thought he would replace her as soon as he could, but no. He never did. Not that he hasn’t had lovers. He’s had lots and lots of them. No one ever likes to think of their parents doing it, do they? It’s gross. My dad is over sixty. I mean, what is he thinking? Isn’t it time to put his tackle away and have a rest?’

  ‘I guess boys will be boys, no matter what their
age.’

  She gave him another angled look. ‘Am I keeping you from something? Someone?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘No hot date?’

  ‘Sadly, no.’

  She scrunched up her forehead again. ‘Why not?’

  ‘I asked a girl to dance with me but she turned me down.’

  She made a sympathetic sound. ‘Oh, poor you. Were you terribly crushed?’

  ‘Irreparably.’

  She put a hand on his arm, sending a shock of electricity straight to his groin. ‘Never mind. I’m sure you’ll find someone some day. I think there’s a soulmate out there for each of us. We just have to be patient and wait until the planets align. Or at least that’s what I keep telling myself.’

  Luiz momentarily lost his train of thought as he looked at the soft and generous bow of her mouth. Her lips were still glossy from a recent coating of lipgloss, making them look even more luscious and tempting. He could smell the flowery scent she wore, a mixture of gardenia and honeysuckle that teased his nostrils and made him think of sultry summer nights. ‘How much did you have to drink?’ he asked.

  ‘Hardly anything. I’m not a big drinker. I talk too much when I have wine. I guess that’s why it’s called truth serum, huh? In vino veritas. That’s Latin, by the way. The truth is in the wine.’ She gave him another megawatt smile. ‘That’s why I stuck to vodka. One shot with orange juice and I didn’t even get to finish it because I was too busy dancing. Did you see me? It was awesome. I’ve never been able to do the Macarena before.’

  Luiz felt like a parent handling a wayward teenager after a night out on the town. ‘Do you have your room key with you?’

  She fished around in her purse, her brow doing that little crinkly thing again, her teeth embedded in her lower lip. After a fruitless search she dropped her purse and reached inside the left hand cup of her bra and handed him a card key with another broad smile. ‘I knew I put it somewhere safe.’