Free A Devilishly Dark Deal by Maggie Cox Page B

perfectly dressed for what I have in mind today. Some time ago I received an invitation from a business acquaintance of mine to attend a garden party she is having. At the time I told her I wasn’t sure whether I would even be in the country, but now that I am and you have agreed to be my companion … I think we will go.’
    ‘A garden party, you say?’
    Still holding onto her hands, and noticing the brief flare of doubt in her eyes, Marco smiled. ‘You know …? Champagne, exquisite food, music played soothingly in the background by a specially hired professional ensemble and some amicable conversation with our host and the other guests in a setting just as beautiful as this … It’s the perfect way to start our holiday together, don’t you agree?’
    ‘It all sounds rather grand. The garden parties I’ve personally experienced have been on a much more modest scale … usually thrown by my mum and dad. My mum spends the entire week before frantically cleaning the house and planning what food to buy, while my dad is relegated to the garden to cut the grass and make sure the barbecue is clean and ready for use. The guests are generally extended family and friends—some of whom have young children. There’s no soothing music playing, but generally there’s plenty of hilarity and laughter amongst the children playing on my dad’s pristine newly cut lawn.’ Grimacing, she gently tugged her captive hands free to smooth them down over her dress, ‘I’m sorry … I’m babbling again. That’s because I’m nervous.’
    ‘Am I so intimidating that you have to be nervous of me?’ Marco frowned, quite charmed by her sharing of the experience of garden parties with her parents and their friends. Silently he attested to feeling rather envious of Grace’s very normal-sounding and happy family life. In contrast to growing up without parents or any other family at all how could he not ? ‘Now that you have accepted my invitation, I’d like to think you can relax and just be yourself around me. If you are wary of me for any reason then you will put up a guard, and that is the very last thing I want.’
    ‘I’ve never met anyone like you before, Marco.’ He heard the quiet intake of breath she softly released. ‘And I’ve certainly never been around great wealth or fame before. I’ll try not to be intimidated by you, or the company you keep, but I can’t pretend it won’t be a challenge. I’m a girl from a very ordinary background, and I’ve never mixed with the kind of people who inhabit your world. I still can’t understand why you’d even ask someone like me to spend time with you. Surely you must … you must know plenty of much more suitable women?’
    ‘If you knew these so-called “more suitable” women, you would not even ask me that question, Grace.’
    Folding his arms across his chest, Marco realised he was feeling quite bereft because she’d withdrawn her hands from his clasp. He yearned to grab them back and hold them again. Already he was addicted to the touch of her peerlessly soft skin.
    ‘Now I have to go and locate my bodyguard José. I regret we have to attend this function with a third party accompanying us, I really do. But I know for a fact that the paparazzi will be very much in evidence this afternoon, and they can be intimidating—even to those of us who are quite familiar with the lengths they will go to in order to get a picture. Sit down, relax and enjoy the sunshine. I will be back soon.’
    There … she’d done it. She’d said yes to Marco Aguilar’s astonishing invitation to spend the remainder of her holiday with him in the full knowledge that she was also agreeing to a short affair.
    Just the thought made her feel weak. But it wasn’t the kind of weakness that emanated from being frightened, she realized. Quite the opposite , in fact. A frisson of shivering excitement ran through her. She was twenty-five and had not yet experienced having a lover. Because of her