strong espresso coffee, and a mouth that made her think of sex, which was a little bit shocking because she never thought of sex. He might have a body that would make Michelangelo make a dash for the nearest chisel and a block of marble, but she was not going to be swooning or fainting any time soon.
No way.
She was going to show him he couldn’t just waltz into her house and tell her how high to jump.
Firstly, she couldn’t jump.
And secondly...well, a girl had her pride, didn’t she? She didn’t want to be handed over like a raffle prize. He didn’t want her. He wanted the land his father had sold to her father. He wanted it more than he was letting on.
That was the thing about being a wallflower. Teddy got to stand back and observe people. To see all the nuances that gave them away. He was better than most at keeping his cards concealed, but she knew he was a powerful and ruthlessly dangerous opponent. He had a winner takes all aura about him. He wore arrogance as easily as he wore his bespoke clothes. He would take risks but only if he was absolutely certain they would pay off. He was calculating and cool. Clever and far more attractive than any man had a right to be. Impressively tall, six-foot-four, and olive-skinned, with jet-black hair that was styled in a casually tousled way—not too short, not too long, but somewhere fashionably in between. His uncompromising jaw was lean and shaven but the regrowth that currently shadowed it suggested he was a twice a day shaver.
Somehow the thought of the rush of those male hormones surging through his body made her insides shift. She was aware of him in a way she didn’t want to own. Would not show. He was used to reeling in women like the catch of the day. He pulled them in and then tossed them away when he was done with them. She wasn’t going to be lured in by his potent charm and undoubted sensual expertise.
No-ho-ho way.
‘Señor Valquez, you seem to have the misguided notion that I am agreeable to any sort of marriage with you. I hate to slight your undoubtedly robust ego, but that is not the case.’
The right side of his mouth came up in an arrogant tilt, those bedroom eyes glinting so darkly the lining of her belly gave an involuntary quiver. ‘You have a lot to lose by rejecting my offer of a temporary marriage.’
Teddy kept her gaze trained on his. ‘So, it seems, do you.’
The only sign of his tension was in a muscle that moved near the left side of his jaw. It was barely more than a flicker but it told her much more about him than anything he had said so far.
He didn’t want to marry her any more than she wanted to marry him. He was playing a game. Getting control. He was ruthlessly determined. Powerfully motivated. He would do whatever it took to get what he wanted and he wouldn’t care who got hurt in the process.
The air tightened like a singing wire.
Sparks passed from his gaze to hers. She felt the impact of them as if he had fired a laser at her. It was all she could do not to blink. It was all she could do not to stare at his mouth. Had she ever seen such a masculine mouth? Such a beautiful mouth? That was the only word to describe it. It was like a work of art. Sexy and sensually contoured with its surround of dark stubble. A tempting mouth. A sinfully corrupt mouth. A mouth that took what it wanted because it damn well could.
Something deep and low in her belly got out of its tightly locked cage. It stretched its cramped limbs, started to move, to crawl around inside her, stirring her senses into wakefulness. It sent a tremor through her blood like a shockwave through a millpond. She could feel the tiny ripples moving over her flesh like the spread of a shiver.
His gaze drifted to her mouth, lingering there for a pulsing beat before re-engaging with her gaze with a zap she felt deep in her core. ‘I’ll give you twenty-four hours to make up your mind. After that the offer is off the table and a new one will take its place.’
Teddy worked hard to keep her expression masked. What other offer would he present to her? Dared she ask? His coal-black eyes were locked on hers in a silent challenge that made the air vibrate with soundless waves of antagonism. The back of her neck prickled as every tiny hair stood to attention like soldiers under the threat of enemy fire. She drew in a breath but the space inside her chest felt cramped, as if her ribcage was slowly but surely shrinking back against her spine. ‘You seem assured I will eventually capitulate to your wishes, Señor Valquez. Again, I would hate to unnecessarily damage your ego but I will not be told what to do.’
His slant of a smile ignited a satirical glint in his eyes. ‘It’s your call, Miss Marlstone. Today it’s a marriage on paper. This time tomorrow it will be the real deal.’ He handed her a business card with his contact details on it. ‘Let me know which you decide.’
Teddy took the card because she didn’t know what else to do. She couldn’t get her voice to work. Couldn’t get her brain to think. Couldn’t stop her body from feeling hot all over from the smouldering burn of his gaze.
Was he serious? Was he prepared to go that far? To make it a real marriage in every sense of the word?
To her?
Why would he do that? Why would he want that? Why would he want her? Or was he game playing, to see how far he could push her?
Teddy watched as he strode out of the door. Listened to him speak curtly with Henry, the butler, on his way out. Heard the front door click shut on his exit. Heard the roar of his powerful engine and the spin of his tyres on the gravel of the driveway as he sped away, throwing up a shower of stones that hit the side of the house like a spray of bullets.
She closed her hand over the business card and felt the edges bite into the flesh of her palm. It was a chilling reminder that in any further skirmish with him she would have to be better prepared. Armoured up. Invincible.
And she only had twenty-four hours in which to do it....
* * *
‘If you ask me, I think you’d be crazy not to marry him,’ Audrey, the long-time housekeeper said as she poked a blue delphinium into the arrangement she was making in the kitchen. ‘After all, what’s going to happen to all of our jobs if this place is handed over to your layabout cousin? He won’t keep Henry on at his age, not to mention me.’ She gave a little sniff as she picked up another bloom. ‘He’ll want some big-breasted young floozy to flounce around the place with a feather duster in her hand before she dives into his bed.’
Teddy chewed at her lip. She hadn’t got as far as thinking about the loyal Marlstone staff. They were a team. A family. Her family. Audrey Taylor was sixty-eight and had run the household ever since Teddy’s mother had left. She had fulfilled so many roles in Teddy’s life: nanny, friend, confidante, wise counsel and mentor.
Seventy-four-year-old Henry Buckington had worked for her father’s father before her parents were married. He was part of the furniture. The place wouldn’t be the same without his stolid presence.
Then there was Stan and Myles Harris, the father and son team who managed the garden and the rest of the estate.
Audrey was right. Teddy’s cousin would bring in his own staff, not keep the ones who had served her and her father so loyally for so long. They would be cast out and left to flounder.
But could she marry a man she didn’t know to save them? A man she didn’t even like? A man she detested for his cocksure arrogance?
Alejandro Valquez expected her to say yes. Any other woman would have said yes ten times over. That’s what was so galling. He expected her to feel grateful that he was so magnanimously offering his hand in marriage.
A paper marriage.
How insulting was that? Could he make it any more obvious he thought her a deformed freak? Of course he would offer her a paper marriage. What else? He wouldn’t want her in his bed...not that she wanted to be in his bed or anything. A girl might have the odd erotic fantasy, which was perfectly natural, but it didn’t mean anything. It wasn’t as if she was hankering after a red-hot affair with him just because he was so staggeringly handsome...but still.