On Monday evening, Alejandro handed the rental car keys to the valet parking attendant outside the Robinson estate and accepted his claim check. He’d been to functions at the sprawling estate when his brothers, Matteo and Joaquin, had married Rachel and Zoe, but the magnitude of its grandeur still rendered him awestruck.
The place made a statement about who Gerald Robinson was and what he stood for: a man who had started with nothing and built himself an empire with his brainchild, Robinson Computers. The man was brilliant. Alejandro might have found him intimidating if he hadn’t been so intriguing. As an entrepreneur himself, Alejandro devoured biographies of successful businesspeople. Seeing how someone else created an empire was better than any business course he could take.
He would’ve been lying if he’d denied wanting all of this for himself. He wanted it so badly he could taste it.
Someday, he thought, as his shoes hit the pavers of the cobblestone path that was lined with tiki torches and directed people to the back of this castle of a house.
“Aloha. Good evening.” Two attractive women dressed in loose-fitting Hawaiian-print dresses greeted Alejandro with warm smiles. Both had tucked a white flower into their long, dark hair. The print of their matching dresses reminded him of a shirt he used to wear back in his college days—only it looked much classier on them.
“Welcome to the wedding luau,” the one holding a lei said.
She stepped forward and placed it around his neck and her dark hair glistened in the golden tiki-torch light, reminding him of Olivia and the unfortunate way they’d parted. He regretted grilling her the way he had yesterday morning. As soon as she’d walked away, he’d been planning his apology. He’d been out of line debating her sister’s obviously fragile state. He knew it, he owned it and he would apologize for it. He didn’t want anything to detract from the wedding festivities—certainly not bad blood or resentment stemming from yesterday’s disagreement. Or Saturday night’s kiss, either.
All day, the two events had played tug-of-war in his mind. He’d had to hyperfocus during his business meeting at Hummingbird Ridge. It was a rare occasion when he allowed anything to distract him from business. But he hadn’t exactly invited Olivia into his brain. She’d barged in unbidden, as strong a presence when she wasn’t in the room as when they were standing face-to-face.
As soon as the woman who had presented him with the lei stepped away, her cohort stepped forward and offered him a drink served in a hollowed-out pineapple. The beverage was adorned with exotic flowers, a blue plastic straw and a tiny umbrella.
He took a sip. The rum and tropical fruit juices combined for a delicious drink. The Fortune Robinsons seemed to have cornered the market on signature cocktails. He certainly wasn’t complaining since he was on the receiving end of all this libation creativity.
But since signature cocktails and Olivia Fortune Robinson had proven to be a rather explosive combination, he decided he needed to exercise the utmost caution tonight. Then again, given Olivia’s demeanor the last time he saw her, he probably didn’t have to worry.
The woman who had handed him the drink gestured to her right. “Please follow the torch-lined path around to the tent on the rear lawn and enjoy the festivities.”
“Thank you,” he said, raising his pineapple in an appreciative toast.
He followed the path and the sound of music. As he rounded the corner and the tent came into view, he took a deep breath and inhaled the sweet scent of gardenias mingling with delicious, smoky BBQ and firewood burning in outdoor fireplaces. A crowd of people mingled on the manicured lawn as a country band played on a stage in front of a parquet dance floor that had been laid out on the grounds.
Alejandro’s gaze scanned the crowd for familiar faces. His stomach growled and he realized he hadn’t eaten since breakfast. The meeting with the fine folks of Hummingbird Ridge had lasted through the lunch hour. He’d taken some time to drive around the area to get a feel for the town, which was located about a half hour west of Austin. Once he’d returned to the hotel, he’d been tied up on calls with investors, bankers and his partners—his cousins Stefan and Rodrigo Mendoza. Before he knew it, he’d had just enough time to shower, shave and get dressed for tonight.
Skipping lunch was a small price to pay because today he had taken another step toward creating his own empire. The trip out to Hummingbird Ridge had proven that the winery and its acres of thriving vineyards were, indeed, a good investment. The Texas Hill Country was one of the country’s upcoming wine destinations.
Alejandro’s interest in the wine business had started as a fluke. When he was in college at the University of Florida, he used to come home for the summer. Between his freshman and sophomore years, he’d taken a summer job at a South Beach wine bar to save money for tuition. What he’d thought would be a fleeting means to an end had sparked a passion in him, triggering him to change his major to agricultural operations and eventually get a master’s degree in viticulture and enology. Not only had he learned the complexities and distinctions the different grape varietals lent to the bottled end product, he’d become educated on theories such as terroir—how the climate and land of an area worked together to make wines unique. He had spent a summer in France interning at a vineyard and another summer at a winery in the Napa Valley. Winemaking fascinated him, but he’d known if he wanted to make enough money to one day buy his own vineyard, he needed to be in sales. After scrimping and saving and working his ass off for a decade, his dream was close to becoming a reality. In fact, it was so close he could almost taste the wine.
Alejandro accepted a bacon-wrapped scallop off an hors d’oeuvre platter passed by a server dressed in Polynesian garb. As he bit into it, he continued to scan the crowd for familiar faces. Hundreds of friends and relatives had started to trickle in for the week of prewedding festivities outlined in the itinerary he’d received when he’d checked in at the Driskill. The information packet had included a schedule of events with dates and times for romantic couples’ massages, rounds of golf and dinners. If nothing else, they would be entertained and well fed while they were here.
He hadn’t forgotten his promise to check into the logistics of an informal wine tasting at Hummingbird Ridge. Even if the wedding party couldn’t fit it into their schedule, which was pretty packed, it would be a great opportunity to spend some time with his father, his brothers and their wives. The Mendozas were a close-knit bunch and he didn’t get a chance to see his siblings much now that they were married. His three brothers, Cisco, Matteo, Joaquin, their sister, Gabriella, and their dad, Orlando, had traded in Miami and moved to Texas. If everything panned out with the winery, Alejandro might be following suit, or at the very least visiting more often.
Before Alejandro could locate his family—his brothers and father were there, but his sister, Gabi, and her husband, Jude Fortune Jones, would arrive Saturday morning for the wedding—Kieran Fortune Robinson and Dana joined the band onstage. Kieran accepted the microphone from the guitar player.
“Good evening, everyone,” Kieran said. “On behalf of my beautiful fiancée, Dana, my little sister Sophie and her fiancé, Mason, I’d like to welcome you to the start of our wedding week celebration. We are so glad you could join us as we count down the days leading up to the big event. Unfortunately, Sophie is a little under the weather tonight. She stayed home to rest up so that she’ll be back to one hundred percent for Saturday.”
Alejandro flinched as he recalled Olivia’s frantic search for Sophie yesterday morning. Olivia had been so certain that her sister would be fine that Alejandro hadn’t even considered the possibility that Sophie might not be here this evening. Was she still having second thoughts about the wedding?
Obviously Kieran and Dana’s nuptials were still on. Alejandro watched the couple kiss when the crowd interrupted Kieran’s welcoming remarks with chants of “Kiss her! Kiss her! Kiss her!” Kieran grabbed Dana and rocked her back as he planted a smooch on her lips.
The spectacle reminded him of kissing Olivia Saturday night at the Driskill Hotel. He immediately shook away the image, because thoughts like that could only lead to trouble.
Instead, he trained his focus on Kieran and Dana, who looked so happy together. Alejandro understood how they felt; he’d been there before, a long time ago. Were they so caught up in their own happiness they didn’t know that Sophie was having second thoughts? Then again, for all he knew, maybe Olivia had found her sister and everything was just fine. Maybe she really was under the weather and the illness was what had driven her away from the Driskill Sunday morning.
Obviously he needed to find a friend here at the party if he’d been reduced to standing here alone pondering situations that had nothing to do with him.
“Please, help yourself to some barbecue and the open bar,” Kieran said once he and Dana had come up for air. “In fact, if everyone could grab a drink, I would like to make a toast.”
* * *
Olivia had groaned when Kieran had dipped Dana back in that shameless public display of affection. She’d groaned and then she’d been ashamed of herself. She’d wished she could take back the ugly sound as she’d glanced around to see if anyone had heard her.
They hadn’t.
Of course not. Everyone was too busy oohing and ahhing over the blithe display of love. Good grief. Her brother had no shame.
As inappropriate as the groan had been, what she’d really wanted to do was shout Get a room! She’d been tempted, but she’d never actually do it. The groan had been the slightly less inappropriate compromise. Her attempt at good party manners.
Right.
She wanted to be happy for Kieran and Dana—and she was. Really, she was. But she was so wrecked over Sophie not being here tonight that her guilt was pretty much all-consuming.
She wished she could borrow some confidence from Mason. He loved Sophie so much and he was determined to stand by her while she figured out her heart.
Mason was willing to fight for Sophie’s love—even if that fight entailed him attending the barbecue solo and keeping up the cover that Sophie was home sick with the flu and would be good as new by Saturday. His resolute love made Olivia do a mental double take. No one had ever been willing to fight for her like that. Every person she’d ever allowed herself to feel anything substantial for had walked away when the going had gotten tough. Most of the men who had hurt her—two of them in particular—had been more interested in cozying up to her father, who they’d believed could help them get ahead. When that didn’t pan out, they’d left. No one had ever fought for her or believed in her the way Mason believed in Sophie. Sophie and Mason had something special and while it didn’t alter Olivia’s own thoughts on love, she was willing to concede that her little sister might have actually lassoed the unicorn.
Men like Mason were rare, almost mythical, and Olivia wasn’t about to let Sophie make the biggest mistake of her life by letting Mason get away.
Even so, with Sophie refusing to attend the party tonight, Olivia was enough of a realist to know that nothing short of a miracle was going to change her sister’s mind. Nothing less than Olivia being struck by lightning...or cupid’s arrow. But that wasn’t going to happen. She needed to come up with another plan.
Olivia racked her brain, but she kept coming back to one thing. Cupid’s arrow. She had a feeling that the only way she was going to make amends with Sophie was by convincing her that she believed in love, that somehow, overnight, she’d had a total change of heart. It was crazy, but it might work. What did she have to lose? Olivia had to take action or otherwise risk earning the title of Prewedding Homewrecker—and carrying around the guilt from being responsible for ruining Sophie’s life.
But how in the world could she pull it off? How could she make her sister believe she thought true love was possible?
Olivia was in full panic mode as she scanned the crowd of guests who had gathered for the barbecue, as if the answer lay in the midst of people—both familiar and those she’d never met—who were enjoying the hors d’oeuvres and raising glasses in anticipation of Kieran’s toast and in honor of the soon-to-be newlyweds.
Her gaze lit on her sister Rachel, who was talking to her husband, Matteo. Next to them, Zoe was flirting with her husband, Joaquin. There, like a very handsome third wheel, stood Alejandro, bedecked in an orchid lei and holding his pineapple cup.
The last single Mendoza.
Olivia’s mind replayed the kiss they’d shared on Saturday night. In an instant her lips tingled as the feel and taste of him came flooding back, as if he’d kissed her only a moment ago.
That kiss... That. Kiss.
Suddenly, she was struck by a bolt of sexy inspiration. The idea was crazy—and a little bit naughty—but it just might work. As long as Alejandro went along with her plan.
* * *
Servers appeared with trays of champagne flutes. As Kieran gave the guests a moment to arm themselves with libations, Alejandro sensed someone standing too close behind him, invading his personal space. Before he could turn around a pair of feminine arms encircled his waist and a sultry voice that sounded a lot like Olivia’s whispered in his ear.
“I know this sounds crazy, but I need you to kiss me right here, right now, and make it look real. Please just go along with it and don’t ask questions.”
Was this some kind of a joke?
“What?”
She didn’t answer him. She simply moved around so that she was standing directly in front of him. She took the pineapple drink from his hand and set it on the tray of a passing server then she cupped his face in her hands and laid one on him with the same ferocity she’d shown Saturday night.
As she opened her mouth, inviting him deep inside, he obliged. And the rest of the world—and all the questions that had popped into his head as Olivia had whispered her request—faded away. Alejandro pulled her in flush with his body and did exactly as she had asked. There would be plenty of time for questions later. Right now her wish was his command.
The kiss was a lightning bolt that seared Alejandro to his core. He wasn’t sure how long they’d stood there, lip to lip, locked in each other’s arms, breathing each other’s air, but he was vaguely aware of distant cheering as he and Olivia slowly broke the kiss and separated. People were, in fact, cheering, and it wasn’t for Kieran and Dana. Everyone who was standing near them was looking at them.
Everyone except for his brothers. Cisco, Matteo and Joaquin weren’t cheering; they were piercing him with looks that screamed What the hell are you doing?
What the hell was he doing?
That was all it took to sober him up. But then Olivia, who still had her arms draped around his neck, leaned in and whispered, “Thank you. Please just keep up the act. I’ll explain as soon as we’re alone.”
Alejandro understood that her version of being alone probably wouldn’t include more kissing. But that wasn’t the most pressing problem at the moment.
“Quiet down, everyone,” Kieran instructed the buzzing crowd. “Olivia, is there anything you’d like to tell us?”
All eyes turned to Olivia, who still had her arms draped over his shoulders. She just smiled sweetly and made a show of shrugging in a noncommittal way that only fed the fire of speculation.
What was she doing? She seemed too smart and sure of herself to be unstable. Olivia clearly knew what she was doing. She was up to something and she was pulling him into it. Yesterday, she was arguing with him and asserting that they needed to act like the kiss had never happened, that everyone would be better off if they kept their distance from each other. Then today she was stealing her brother’s thunder and making a spectacle of kissing him senseless.
“Should we start making plans to accommodate a third bride and groom?” Kieran said into the microphone.
As Olivia turned toward her brother, her arm dropped to Alejandro’s waist and she held on. He followed suit, putting his arm around her.
One of the servers appeared in front of them with a tray of champagne flutes. They both took one.
“This is your night, my dear brother. Yours, Dana’s, Sophie’s and Mason’s,” she said. “To you and to your love and happiness.”
The crowd cheered again and raised pineapple drinks and champagne flutes in tribute. The collective attention shifted back to Kieran and Dana.
“Thanks, sis,” Kieran said. “That was a perfect toast. I couldn’t have said it better.” He sipped his champagne. “We hope everyone enjoys this magical week with us. Obviously we’re off to a great start.” He gestured with his head toward Olivia.
Alejandro felt a little uneasy being dragged into the spotlight. He was happy helping Olivia with whatever she was trying to accomplish—especially if it involved kissing her—but he’d prefer to know what he was working toward.
As everyone settled back into their groups and others made their way toward the food, Rachel, Matteo, Joaquin and Zoe cornered them.
“Hello?” Zoe said. “I think the two of you have some explaining to do.”
“What do you mean?” Olivia asked. Alejandro both admired and resented her poker face. He wanted an explanation, too.
“Um, this?” Zoe gestured back and forth between Olivia and Alejandro with her manicured fingers. “When did this happen? What exactly is happening? And when were you going to tell us?”
Alejandro gazed down at Olivia. This was all her show. He smiled the message to her when she glanced up at him, looking every bit like the smitten lover.
Without missing a beat, Olivia said, “Surprise! We just sort of fell into this. Isn’t it great?”
As the quartet uttered sounds of confused surprise, Alejandro said, “Yes, we just couldn’t resist each other.”
Spoken aloud, the sentiment didn’t quite sound as convincing as it had in his head.
“Will you excuse us for a minute?” he said before he could say anything else inane. “Olivia and I were getting ready to—”
Getting ready to what?
“We were getting ready to take a tour of the house,” Olivia said. “Come on, sweetheart. Let’s do that now so we can get back and have dinner.”
As Olivia slid her hand into his, Alejandro said, “Excuse us. We’ll be right back.”
They walked hand in hand in silence, across the lush green lawn to stone steps that led past the pool to a travertine porch. Alejandro looked back at the grounds and the lake that bordered the massive property.
“Is that Lake Austin?” he asked.
“It is,” she said as she opened the back door and they stepped inside the house. Alejandro thought they’d be alone once they were inside, but staff milled about everywhere, carrying platters of food and drink and working purposefully. The buzz inside the house, coupled with the sheer grandeur of the place, stunned him into silence.
Alejandro did not speak another word until Olivia had shut them inside a room on the second floor. It was larger than his first apartment.
He blinked as Olivia flicked on a light. The expensive-looking feminine decor registered on him. “Is this your bedroom?”
“It is,” she said. “Or it used to be. I have my own place now.”
“It’s nice that your folks kept it the way you left it. You know, that they didn’t turn it into an exercise room or a man cave.”
Olivia shrugged. “The house has always had a gym and my father has three man caves. My parents aren’t sacrificing anything by keeping my space intact. It’s not as if they kept it like this as a shrine to me. It’s just not beneficial for them to change it. You know, it was easier to just shut the door. But that’s not why I dragged you up here.”
She bit her bottom lip again, pulling it into her mouth, a gesture he was beginning to associate with her pensive side.
“Did you bring me in here to make out?” he joked.
“No, I didn’t.” The sharpness of her tone shouldn’t have surprised him, but it did.
He crossed his arms. “Would you care to share why you felt compelled to put on that display out there? You made it look like you couldn’t wait to jump my bones.”
She looked visibly deflated, but she nodded toward a black chair situated across from a plush sofa and a glass coffee table. The decor looked like it could’ve been featured in one of those designer house magazines. The sleek, sophisticated, expensive look of it perfectly reflected Olivia’s own style.
After they’d seated themselves, she confessed, “I do owe you an explanation and a debt of gratitude. I just don’t quite know how to say this. And before I say anything, I need you to swear on your family’s life that you can keep a secret. Because if one word of this gets out, it would be very hurtful to certain members of my family.”
He made a cross over his heart with his right hand. “I would offer to stick a needle in my eye, but I don’t like needles.”
She cocked a dark brow. “What? A big, strong, tough guy like you is afraid of needles? I don’t believe it.”
He wanted to say that needles didn’t scare him nearly as much as she did. It was becoming clear that she addled his brain so much that she was able to lord some kind of power over him.
“Look, this has nothing to do with needles,” he said. “Why don’t you just tell me what’s going on? Why did you kiss me like that out there?”
“I did it because I need everyone to believe we’re in love—or that I’m in love with you. No, it would be better if they believed that we love each other, you know, mutually.”
“But, Olivia, you don’t love me. Why do you want everyone to think you do tonight, when yesterday you made it clear that me kissing you again was strictly forbidden? Because it would detract from the wedding, take the focus off the brides and grooms?”
When she didn’t answer him, he said, “You’re a beautiful woman. You’re smart and funny and you’re a hell of a good kisser, but I’m starting to think you’re off your rocker.”
“Oh, well, there you go,” Olivia said. “For a second there I was tempted to think you were paying me a compliment. You know, calling me a beautiful woman.”
“I was. You are. But I’m a little confused here. I was prepared to make the sacrifice of never kissing you again—for the greater good, for your sister’s happiness, but—”
“You wanted to kiss me again, Alejandro?”
“Of course I did.”
“Oh. That’s good. Then how do you feel about being my pretend lover for the duration of the wedding? You know, my boyfriend—or my intensely romantic date. No, it needs to be more than just a date. I need for Sophie to believe that I’ve fallen in love with you. I messed up big-time Saturday night. Because of my big mouth, my sister has lost all faith in love. I figure the only way to undo the damage I’ve caused is by making her believe that I’ve had a change of heart about love. It’s the only way to renew her faith. Would you be willing to do that for me...for my sister?” She suddenly looked very small and fragile, but she looked at him intently. “I promise I will make it worth your while.”
Now it was his turn to cock a brow and mess with her. “And just how would you make it worth my while? Can you please be more specific? I’m talking details. The more vivid the better.”
His mouth crooked up on one side and she obviously caught his drift because her cheeks flushed the same color as the hot-pink area rug under their feet.
“Certainly not in the way I think you’re implying. You have a dirty mind, Alejandro.”
“Hey, I didn’t say a word. I was thinking along the lines of dancing and being dinner partners. So the hordes of adoring women will think I’m taken and leave me alone.” He was smiling so that she would know he was joking. “That’s what I was thinking. However, I am not responsible for whatever that mind of yours conjures up. If you’d like to try out your thoughts and see if it works for you, I’m happy to be at your service.”
Her mouth fell open and he could tell she was trying to feign disgust, but the pretense hadn’t reached her eyes. “Why are you making this so difficult?”
“Because watching you squirm is so much fun.” He held her gaze as he grappled with a peculiar feeling in the pit of his stomach. Something he hadn’t felt in ages. Interest and attraction. Maybe this wedding was going to be more interesting than he’d thought. At the very least, it would be fun.
He’d go along as her pretend boyfriend. It wasn’t as if he was agreeing to marry her.
He shrugged, to appear not too eager. “I guess I’ve had worse offers,” he said. “I’d be happy to play the role of your lover for the duration of the wedding.” But he couldn’t resist needling her a bit. “Just how deeply into character would you like to go?”