Page 18 of Her Spanish Scandal

“Gui is an excellent lover, isn’t he?”

Kara felt the blush that climbed up her neck and face. She traveled on the very outer edges of this sophisticated crowd, but she wasn’t jaded. She never had been.

“Leave her alone, Elvira.”

“Querido, have your tastes changed so drastically?”

“Not at all,” he said.

“Then how can you be with…”

“She’s the woman I’ve been waiting for, Elvira. A woman worth marrying.”

Gui led her away from the other woman and out the front door where Vincent had a Rolls-Royce waiting for them. They climbed in the backseat without saying a word, but Kara’s mind was busy with the thought that there were worse pains than embarrassment, and if she didn’t watch herself around Gui, she might end up with a broken heart.

The apartment that Gui kept in Manhattan was on Park Avenue and overlooked Central Park. He’d had it for years and had always thought that he had the best there was in the city, but Kara’s place was lovely. There was something very fresh and American about her decor and the feeling he got when he stepped over the threshold.

She put her handbag on a table in the foyer before leading the way into a well-appointed den. There were floor-to-ceiling bookcases along three walls, and three overstuffed chairs and a large leather couch grouped together in front of a large walnut desk. The executive chair behind it was leather, to match the sofa. The desk had a laptop on it and two picture frames. He wondered whose photos she kept on her desk.

“Have a seat, Gui.”

She walked around behind the desk and sat down. He bit the inside of his lip at her play for power.

Instead of sitting, he leaned one hip on the edge of her desk. Her den was one of the most relaxing rooms he’d ever been in. And he realized that there was something about Kara that brought a sense of peace to him.

Peace was something he rarely experienced. “Where should we start this discussion of ours?”

“I think at the beginning. Why did you say I was your fiancée?”

Gui pushed to his feet and paced around the room. He really had no explanation. He knew only that he had needed to change the dynamic between himself and Elvira. He hadn’t thought of the impact on Kara.

He stopped in front of a floor-to-ceiling window that looked out to the east. The lights of the city spread out before him. It was a view he was used to—remote. He often felt a bit removed from life, except when he was working with the kids through his foundation. He even kept a distance from his lovers.

“Gui? Is it true that she was the one woman you loved?” She’d given up her seat behind the desk to stand near him at the window.

“Where did you hear that?”

“From Katie. She works for the Celebrity Channel.”

He shook his head. “Don’t listen to gossip, Kara.”

“I don’t. That’s why I’m asking you. What’s between you and Elvira?”

“Ancient history.”

“Is it true you and she are lovers?”

“Kara, I said leave it be.”

“I can’t leave it be, Gui. She’s the reason you said we were engaged, and now my family and friends want to know if I’m going to marry you. And I have no idea what to say to them.”

“What do you want to say?”

She nibbled on her lower lip, reaching out to touch the glass. “A part of me wants to say yes, I am going to marry you. Which is silly, because I don’t know you. But I’m at the age where people—Okay, I’m starting to wonder if I’m ever going to be married.”

He turned to her then, knowing there was no backing down. Though he’d have done it if Kara had seemed to have more doubts.

“I never planned to marry,” he said, feeling the need to be totally honest. “I’m not sure that I’m husband material, but my life is at a point…”