Page 26

‘That… That would be amazing,’ she said, moved that he was so keen to help her. Recovering her memory was something she had struggled with, because she now suspected that, on a subconscious level, there were things in her past she didn’t want to discover. But with his support, surely it would be easier to face those truths? And to rebuild her life once their fling was over. ‘And so helpful… But…’ She hesitated, forced to state the obvious. ‘But I’m not sure how I’ll pay for that.’
Would they have to rethink their arrangement? He’d been adamant last night she couldn’t work here any more if they were sleeping together. But she would need a salary to cover the cost of Señor Pérez’s services, because she doubted they would be cheap.
His brows rose, and then he chuckled. ‘I will pay Señor Pérez, of course,’ he said.
‘But I can’t let you do that, Santiago,’ she said, her cheeks on fire again. ‘It’s really kind, but you’re not responsible for…’
‘Let me explain, Cerys,’ he interrupted. Then he pressed his hand to her shoulder, the way he had done all those weeks ago. The gesture had the same effect now as it had then, the warm weight making her insides clench and her pulse thunder in her ears.
‘I am not a kind man, Cerys. But I have always strived to be an honourable one…’ he added. ‘Which is why it is very important to me that you do not feel exploited.’
Exploited?What?Her heart smacked against her chest wall.
She’d always known Santiago had a strong moral code, ever since he had come to her rescue in Barcelona—even if she still couldn’t recall the details of that encounter. And now she knew why he felt that way. Because, from what Ana had told her, his father’s dishonourable behaviour had done so much damage to his family and their reputation. But she didn’t want him to feel he’d taken advantage of her last night. Because he hadn’t.
This had to be to do with her virginity. She had convinced herself it hadn’t bothered him after all, but now she recalled the stricken look on his face when he’d realised.
She was still trying to figure out a way to explain to him she had been more than willing, without embarrassing them both in front of their audience, when he continued.
‘That said, I also have an ulterior motive because, without proper ID documents, it will not be possible for us to be legally wed…’
‘For us to be…?Wh-what?’ she croaked, her throat constricting with shock.
She leapt out of her chair, not caring about their audience any more, as her anxiety went from a confused ten to a nerve-jangling ninety in a single heartbeat.
‘Wh-what did you just say?’ she asked, her voice raw.
He let out a low chuckle, apparently completely unfazed by the fact she was freaking out. Turning to their audience, he asked that the two of them be given some time alone, adding that María had prepared lunch in the main diningsalónnext door for everyone.
The men and women all filed dutifully out of the room. But as soon as the door closed behind them, Cerys’s stomach pitched and rolled over.
‘Did… D-Did you just saywed?’ she managed, sure now she must have been hallucinating.
He stepped towards her and grasped her hand. ‘Cerys, breathe,’ he said, the same way he had the night before.
She sucked in several precious lungfuls of air, trying to put a stranglehold on the panic. But it wasn’t as easy this time, especially with those chocolate-brown eyes searching her face, the approval in his expression only freaking her out more.
It had meant so much to her. His tenderness, his care with her… But this couldn’t actually be happening… Could it? Why would a man like Santiago want to marry her, and after only one night?
‘I should thank you,’ she began, her whole body racked by tremors she couldn’t control. ‘You were amazing last night. You made me feel so s-special. And I loved every minute of it, even the uncomfortable bits…’ She started to babble. God, was she actually making any sense at this point? She dragged in a few more breaths, trying to calm her rampaging heart before it could burst right out of her chest. ‘But you don’t have to marry me. I don’t expect it. You didn’t exploit me. Not at all. I’m not vulnerable or anything.’
His brows drew together.
‘Of course you are,’ he said, but then he took her other wrist to draw her back into the circle of his arms. His forehead rested on hers and her breathing hitched, the painful yearning in her abdomen becoming unbearable. She wanted his proposal to be real, but why? When it felt like too much, on so many levels.
‘You have no memory of who you are,’ he said gently. ‘And yet I made love to you anyway. Can you not see this makes you very vulnerable?’
‘But it doesn’t…’ She gulped in air, still struggling to breathe, the desire to belong to him so overwhelming it felt wrong too. Hadn’t she always been independent? Why would she want this? Need this to be true? ‘I don’t want you to feel like you have to marry me—that’s mad.’
‘Shh, Cerys. I do not feel Ihaveto marry you. Iwishto marry you.’
She jerked in his arms, the words like a shot to the heart. But even as they spread through her body on a wave of desperate yearning, she scrambled back.
‘You…you can’t be serious.’
Surely this had to be about her virginity. But that would benuts… They were living in the twenty-first century, not the nineteenth.
‘I am very serious,’ he said, his pragmatism finally starting to calm the tremors racking her body. ‘I require a wife, Cerys. Someone who can manage my home, bring some much-needed stability to my family and, most of all, someone who can be a good role model for Ana…’ An affectionate smile edged his lips. ‘Handling Ana is not an easy task, and yet you have proved remarkably adept at it in the last three weeks.’