“Oh…hi.” Teddy tucked a hand behind her elbow and tried to collect her herself. Tonight had been disastrous and Leo probably thought she was a screw-up, but none of it had been her fault. She could only hope he’d see it that way when she explained about Mr. Jove, especially since he’d spent the whole week lecturing everyone, especially her, on the importance of this crucial weekend. “What are you doing here?” she asked warily.
“I came to check on you. How is your burn?” Leo’s deep-set eyes flicked over her neck and shoulders.
Teddy lifted a shoulder in a half-shrug. “I put some petroleum jelly on it, but it still stings here,” she said pointing to the side of her neck.
He peered at her neck and shook his head. “It doesn’t look good. You need something stronger.”
She turned her eyes upward questioningly. He hesitated for a moment, his eyes unreadable.
“Come with me,” he said shortly.
Teddy nodded and kept silent as they entered the elevator. She watched him press P for the Penthouse floor. Her nerves were a jumble as they rode up surrounded by deafening silence. She searched his features for clues to his mood, but Leo’s eyes remained focused forward.
The first thing Teddy noticed upon entering what used to be her Presidential Suite was the gorgeous fresh floral arrangement on the Chippendale entry table. She flinched as she compared his well-ordered, spacious suite to her cramped, messy room. Good thing she’d already closed the door when she bumped into him just outside her room or his image of her would have sunk even further.
With a stab of resentment, she took in every detail of the beautifully refurbished suite. Tasteful artwork graced the ecru walls of the elegant living room. Cool neutral tones predominated in the drapes, carpet and upholstery fabric. She entered further and ran her fingers across the luxurious pearl gray sofa back. The faint scent of Leo’s manly cologne lingered in the luxuriant surroundings, a subtle reminder that it was his domain now.
She glanced up and caught Leo staring at her. A tremor ran through her and she froze as reality sank in. She had been in denial all week, hoping her dire circumstances would change at any moment. But as she stood before him, helpless and vulnerable, the truth hit her—this formidable Spaniard had the power to break her.
She hated what he was making her go through, but she couldn’t stop the wild attraction singeing her veins when they were together. Even more frustrating was the strong magnetism that pulsed between them with no gratification in sight.
Leo took off his tuxedo jacket and placed it on the back of a high back chair. With measured movements, he removed his cuff links and dropped them into his pants pocket before rolling up his shirtsleeves. Teddy’s gaze riveted to his strong, tanned forearms and lean, square hands as he approached her.
Did he realize how badly she felt about the whole evening? Crushed, she wished she could erase it from his memory forever, but it was impossible. Hoping to take the focus off of her transgressions and regain some dignity, she straightened her spine and gestured to the room.
“You’ve taken over what is rightfully mine,” she said in a flat tone. It was more a statement than accusation, but it had to be addressed. A flicker of annoyance passed over his granite eyes. For several heated moments, he studied her, his arms folded across his chest, his features locked and harsh.
When he remained silent, Teddy changed course and addressed her recent mishap. “I feel terrible about what happened to Mr. Jove. I was covering for Liz as a last minute replacement. You do realize it was an accident, don’t you?” she said, watching him warily.
She held her breath as he loosened his bow tie and opened the first two buttons of his starched white shirt. After tonight’s disaster and her rocky week of mistakes, Teddy’s self-esteem was in tatters and she was in desperate need of assurance.
“Yes,” he said after a weighted pause.
Yes. Teddy’s fretfulness lifted a bit just hearing him utter the one word that told her he understood it had been an accident.
Leo expelled a heavy breath and dragged a hand through his hair leaving it sexily rumpled. “It was a major screw up, one we couldn’t afford tonight.” With his head tipped backward, he massaged the muscles at the back of his neck, a tick pulsing in his jaw. “You shouldn’t have been serving tonight.”
She flung her hands in the air. “The tray was heavy and I was worried about handling the desserts with the lit sparklers. I didn’t choose to serve Mr. Jove. If I’d known his table had been assigned to Liz, I would have switched with someone else. But everything happened so quickly I just went along with it,” she continued cautiously. “I probably should have asked more questions.”
Leo shot her an ironic look. “Probably, but it’s too late now. Sit on the couch while I get the ointment.” His tone was level, but thankfully, not unkind.
Teddy exhaled slowly as she sat on the edge of the couch, trying to calm her racing heart as he walked to the bathroom. She wished he’d relax his stance, but the set of his shoulders remained rigid. From a distance, she heard him open and close a cabinet door, and then wash his hands.
Seconds later, Leo joined her on the sofa. He sat beside her and lifted her hair from her neck. “It’s singed here.” He blew on the spot, his warm breath fanning the tiny hairs on her nape and sending shivers down her spine. Ripples of pleasure spread over her sensitized skin as her thighs clamped together to harness a heady onslaught of desire.
He uncapped the tube and gently spread a bit of ointment on her neck. Teddy froze the moment he touched her neck. She didn’t move a muscle as Leo’s tender ministrations turned her skin to gooseflesh. She bit her lower lip to lock the moan of pleasure deep in her throat as her body went boneless under his gentle, masterful touch.
He put a bandage over the wound. “There. That should do it,” he said, recapping the ointment tube. “Feel better?”
She tilted her head and gazed into his dilated irises. “It does. Thank you.” Inhaling shakily, she drew strength for a suitable apology. “I feel awful about what happened with Mr. Jove. I’m sorry,” she said sincerely.
“You’re forgiven. Just don’t do it again.”
“I won’t. You can be certain of that!” The amused glint in his dark eyes lifted her spirits. She pointed to a crystal decanter on the sideboard. “Is that whisky in there? If I ever needed a drink, I do now.”
Leo’s eyes crinkled at the corners, relaxing her frayed nerves long enough for her to slump against the sofa back. He walked to the sideboard, poured two glasses of whisky and returned to her side. Handing her a glass, he kept the other. “Drink up.”
It probably wasn’t wise to drink on an empty stomach, but she would do anything to prolong their intimate moment. She raised her glass and peered into his inky eyes. “Salud, pesetas y amor y tiempo para gozarlos.” Health, money and love and time to enjoy them—Teddy meant every word as she clinked her glass against his.
Leo knocked his whisky back in one neat swallow. He set the glass on the coffee table and leaned back to watch Teddy as she drank hers in measured sips. Whisky wasn’t her drink of choice. Normally she would have preferred champagne, but tonight she welcomed the burn that dragged all the way to her stomach.
“Leo…about today and everything that went down.” She glanced at her clasped hands and then raised her gaze to meet his. “I realize how important the success of the Riviera is to Daddy and it’s equally important to me. But…”
Black brows drew together over curious eyes as he watched her. “But what?”
She hesitated, and then decided not to wimp out. She shrugged. “I was going to ask you a personal question. Is that OK?”
“I have a feeling you’ll ask me anyway,” he said dryly. “Go ahead.”
“Why does it mean so much to you to win the Platinum Medal? I mean, other than the big investment of your money, is there something else?” She was eager to know the driving force behind his obsession with the Riviera’s success.
Leo got up and brought the crystal decanter back with him. “Do you want another whisky?”
“No, thanks. I’m good.” She waited for his answer as he poured a shot into his glass.
He downed it and looked away, his eyes distant. After a reflective moment, he expelled a heavy breath and looked down at his hand clenched around his glass. “I have to prove I’m as good as—or better—than the infamous Don Esteban de Aragón.”
“Who’s that?” she said, puzzled by the way Leo spat out the name.
His upper lip curled. “My birth father.”
“Oh.” She couldn’t think of anything to say after he shared something so personal. She noted the flash of shame in his eyes and how he covered it with a proud lift of his chin. “Why is he infamous?”
“It’s complicated.” Leo’s eyes burned with bitterness.
“I’m listening,” she said softly. Teddy smiled into his eyes. An encouraging smile that she hoped would make him open up. She was broaching a sensitive subject, but she was eager to know more about this enigmatic man who was turning her life upside down and her thoughts inside out.
Leo breathed in forcefully and let the air out slowly. “He’s the most successful and influential hotel magnate in Europe.”
“So you’re a chip off the old block,” Teddy quipped to lighten the mood.
He gave a caustic laugh. “Unfortunately, yes. The irony is that out of all his sons, I’m the most like him, but he refuses to acknowledge me.” He shook his head. “I look like him, I sound like him and I share his interest in and passion for international commerce. But the stubborn old mule scorns all of it.”
“That’s his big loss,” Teddy said, incensed on Leo’s behalf. What kind of father would scorn a son as magnificent as Leo? She studied her hands and considered her options before looking up to meet his gaze squarely. “Maybe I should just leave now.”
He watched her steadily, his eyes rich with interest. “Why?”
“Because I’m a liability you can’t afford.” Her chest tightened. “If you want that Platinum Medal to validate your -earned success, I should probably…” She hesitated and gazed at him wide-eyed. “Go back to my Paris flat,” she finished, regretting everything that had gone wrong already. Maybe it was too late to fix things. “I’ll find another way to pay you back what I owe you,” she added, voicing the troublesome thoughts that plagued her.
Leo arched a sardonic brow. “Quitting so soon? I’m not letting you off that easily, Princesa.”
Teddy tucked her hair behind one ear and fiddled with her earring. “I wasn’t quitting. I just figured you’d had enough.”
“Of you? I’ll decide that,” he said, surprising her.
“You don’t want to be rid of me?” She searched his eyes. “Why?”
A warm glow suffused her skin as the whisky took effect. She lifted her hair from her neck and fanned herself. Leo’s shadowy gaze descended on her exposed neck and she wondered if he could see her rapid pulse. God, he smelled good. What would it feel like to be tucked in his strong embrace? She hugged herself tightly at the delicious fantasy.
Leo took the empty glass from her and set it on the table. Clasping her cold hand in his, he rose and pulled her up. Lightheaded, she allowed him to draw her toward him, so close she could feel his tense energy and the heat in his strength.
He expelled a heavy breath. “Why?” he said pensively. “I don’t know why. You are a thorn in my side, Princesa.” He gazed into her eyes and sighed heavily. “What am I going to do with you, Teddy?”
Teddy. Teddy’s heart skipped a beat. He had never called her by her nickname and hearing it in his husky tone excited her. Emboldened by his words and mellowed by the whisky, she rose on her tiptoes and brushed her lips against his. “Thanks for tending my burn.”
He bent his dark head and ever so gently kissed the bandage over her burn. A kiss so tender it nearly brought tears to her eyes. The fleeting kiss might have been impulsive on Leo’s part, but it meant the world to Teddy…it meant he cared for her.
“And thanks for the kiss to make it better,” she whispered dazedly. She met his gaze and caught the stark desire burning in his midnight eyes. Stunned, Teddy’s heart hammered in her chest as she felt Leo’s tautly controlled lust threaten to burst forth. His eyes smoldered and carnal heat seeped from his rigid body into hers.
Leo wanted her. Her! Theodora Behr, the thorn in his side.
She closed her eyes as his hand slid around her nape and his face lowered toward hers. His warm lips kissed one corner of her mouth and then the other before sucking her lower lip into his mouth and nipping it lightly.
“To answer your question, Teddy, no, I haven’t had enough of you. You are a fire in my blood that I can’t put out until I have you,” he said hoarsely. “I want you.”
His gruff admission made her ache for him even more. “I want you too,” she moaned into his mouth. Her hands slid up his muscular back and locked around his neck.
Leo’s tongue teased the seam of her lips and they parted willingly. The voluptuous slide of his tongue around hers made her knees buckle. Swaying on her feet, she clutched his shoulders as he languidly tasted her. Pinpoints of excitement danced along her skin and an insistent throb tensed her core. He spread his feet apart as his broad hands slid down her back and curled over her buttocks, anchoring her against him.
Teddy melted into the hard contours of his braced body. The soft fabric of her dress scarcely provided a barrier between his arousal and the quavering juncture of her thighs. Her heart pounded and her tender nipples pebbled against his chest as a whimpering moan escaped her lips. Breathless with wanting him, she drank in his fierce kisses as he backed her against the sofa.
A loud knock on the door jarred them and they jumped apart, startled.
“Joder.” Leo swore in Spanish and drew in a ragged breath. His sensual lips formed a taut line as his jaw clamped down.
“Ignore it. Please,” Teddy whispered. The raw sexuality in his blazing eyes made her insides melt as an empty, restless ache tormented her.
The knocks grew louder and Leo gave an irritable shake of his head. “I have to get it,” he murmured low.
Teddy dashed to the bedroom and stood beside the door just inside his room. With baited breath, she watched Leo stride to the door, his movements abrupt and impatient. Curious over who would come to his private quarters at this late hour, she peeked through the crack where the door met the frame.
Leo opened the door and Teddy’s eyebrows shot up when she saw his visitor. A slow burn of outrage crept under her skin as she struggled to hear them speak.