Free A Spanish Seduction by Alyssa J. Montgomery Page B

makeover.’
    ‘The man was an idiot.’
    ‘I had a lot of doubts even before my marriage. The kids at school always poked fun at my appearance because Mum insisted on cutting my hair really short. In my early teenage years I begged her to let me grow it. I told her I wanted to look good.’
    ‘And?’
    ‘She told me long hair wouldn’t suit me. She said I shouldn’t try to do anything to make myself look better. I thought it was her way of telling me I couldn’t look better. Obviously she was wrong.’
    ‘Jessica —’
    ‘When she had men after school hours, I was always banished to my room. She didn’t want them to see me. I think she thought her ugly looking daughter would reflect badly on her.’
    Ricardo regarded her with a thoughtful expression.
    ‘I remember hearing one of the men ask to meet me. She told him I was a dull, little mouse.’ Despite her recount of those belittling words, Jessica found relief in the confession. She’d never spoken of it to anyone. Even when the counsellor had urged her to speak of her mother, Jessica had erected firm barricades around that time of her life. Now, she found speaking of it, cathartic.
    For some reason it was also important to her that Ricardo understood why she’d never made more effort with her looks.
    ‘Another time I heard her refer to me as an ugly duckling. I don’t think she’d recognise me if she saw me now.’
    Ricardo placed his hands on her shoulders and the warmth travelled straight to her toes. ‘I may be wrong, but perhaps your mother was shielding you from those men?’
    All the air whooshed out of her lungs. Tears pooled in her eyes. Her mother had never been unkind to her. In most ways she’d been very loving and quietly encouraging. Could Ricardo be right?
    ‘I’ve never thought of it that way.’ She tucked her confused thoughts away to reflect upon in private.
    ‘You’re a desirable woman, querida . If your mother loved you, perhaps she feared she wouldn’t be able to keep you safe from the men she associated with if she allowed your beauty to show?’ He swallowed hard. ‘You’re a woman any man would desire.’
    ‘Including you?’
    Oh hell. Why an earth had she asked that?
    His jaw firmed. ‘Ours is a business arrangement. You know this isn’t personal between us.’
    Of course it was business only. That was all she wanted, wasn’t it?
    He cleared his throat. ‘You look so beautiful, nobody will doubt I’m attracted to you.’
    There was such sincerity in his tone and expression, she imagined she’d simply float off the ground any second now. While she may not be in super-model league, she wanted to go out on the road and find out whether her new look would stop traffic!
    ‘I think I’ll pass now as your girlfriend,’ she said with conviction. And when she’d finished playing Ricardo’s girlfriend, she wasn’t going to return to her dowdy old image. The new Jess was here to stay. No way would the cosmetics she was armed with find their way to the garbage bin.
    ‘Don’t think that how you look on the outside is more important than who you are on the inside,’ he told her a little briskly. ‘You’re still the same person.’
    He didn’t need to spell out that a change in appearance didn’t mean she’d fit into his world. She wasn’t stupid. She knew however he behaved toward her in public would all be an act.
    It didn’t matter. Ricardo was exactly the dangerous type of love-them-and-leave-them predator she needed to avoid.
    ‘I’m not sure I am exactly the same person,’ she said slowly. ‘I would never have believed that changing my appearance would have such a dramatic effect on how I feel inside.’
    ‘People judge by appearance,’ he responded. ‘Dress to blend in and you’ll be overlooked. Dress to impress, carry yourself with confidence, and you’ll be noticed.’
    ‘I know how superficial this will sound, but I actually feel more confident and more alive.’ She couldn’t stop herself from