The Playboy Takes a Wife. Crystal Green

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      His thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of that third woman. She was out of breath, her head bare, black hair curled in disarray down to her shoulders. Her light brown skin was flushed, her dark gold eyes wide.

      She dressed like a nun but…no wimple. Maybe she was one of those novices or whatever they called them.

      As they locked gazes, she held a hand to her chest, as if surprised by something.

      Lucas’s blood zinged and swerved through his veins. Instinctively, he took things up a notch and offered what the papers called “the smile to end all smiles,” the ultimate way to charm any woman who caught his fancy.

      Even a wannabe nun? he wondered. Say it ain’t so.

      Her stark clothing couldn’t conceal the lush curves of her body. Around her wrist a charm-laden bracelet gleamed. Maybe this order wasn’t traditional, choosing to forgo dressing in regular habits and accessories.

      At any rate, Lucas thought, she’s off-limits. David, Dad and the board of directors would go ballistic if you outdid yourself and big-bad-wolfed a future nun, of all people.

      In welcome, she broke into her own smile, blushing while she allowed her hand to fall to her side as she gathered her composure. The color of her cheeks brought even more animation to her delicate, innocent features: a gently tipped nose, full pink lips and dark angel-wing lashes.

      “I see you’ve met Gabe,” she said breathlessly. Her English was very good, with barely the trace of an accent.

      The cranky nun interjected. “Lord, help the man now.”

      “Sister Maria-Rosa…” said the chubby-cheeked one. Then she turned to the newcomer. “We were all playing ‘Splash the Authority Figure,’ and Gabriel was the winner.”

      The woman nodded. “It seems you put up a good contest, Sister Elisabeth.”

      “I always do.” The nun looked like some kind of cherub as she rolled her eyes in resignation.

      The new woman walked toward Gabriel. The boy was fairly hopping with excitement at her presence.

      “You having fun with your friend?” she asked, frowning slightly at the boy’s drenched clothing.

      Gabriel reached out for a hug. The woman freely gave it to him, not seeming to mind that she would be dampened, too. When she pulled away, Lucas tried to keep his eyes off a wet blouse that was now hinting at the lines of a simple slip underneath.

      Future nun, nun, nun, he told himself.

      After she helped Gabriel down from the bench, it took her only a few seconds to realize that she was less than fully covered and she awkwardly crossed her arms over her chest. Good thing, too, because Lucas had been dreading having to embarrass her by pointing it out. It’d been tough enough to keep his gaze averted.

      “Gabriel,” the nun named Sister Maria-Rosa said, “we need to change your clothing now.” She sighed. “What are we going to do with you?”

      The novice stepped forward, arms still protecting her front. “I can—”

      “No, Alicia—” Sister Elisabeth said, gently taking Gabriel by the hand and leading him away “—You already have many responsibilities. Don’t worry about Gabriel.”

      They hadn’t addressed her as “Sister,” but maybe that was typical for a wannabe.

      The nuns nodded at this woman named Alicia—a four-syllable name as opposed to three, Lucas noted—as they left. The little boy turned around and waved back at them.

      “Adiós, Miss Alicia. Bye-bye, man.”

      Lucas waved, too, along with four-syllable Alicia.

      “He’s really a good boy.” She looked at him, blushing an even deeper red, then glanced away. “Most of the time.”

      Lucas didn’t know what to say, because if Gabriel was anything like him, as he suspected, she was dead wrong.

      “But you were handling him very well,” she said, raising a brow and grinning.

      Damn.

      He laughed, just to set himself back to balance again, to send away the thrust of a taboo attraction. “But I don’t have to control him twenty-four hours a day.”

      Her face fell, and he realized that maybe she’d been sizing him up for a possible adoption.

      Right. Him. That was a funny one.

      He shrugged off his coat and offered it to her. With a grateful nod, Alicia took it.

      “You don’t mind?” she asked. “I don’t have an extra change of clothes here and—”

      “I don’t mind a bit.” Well, yeah, actually, the hound in him did mind, but Lucas wasn’t about to admit to any carnal thoughts around someone bound for the church.

      “Thank you.” She put it on, bringing an end to the best thing that had happened to Lucas all day.

      She tilted her head, gauging him again. Then, as if he’d passed some kind of test, she stuck her hand out.

      “I’m Alicia Sanchez and I’ll be your group’s guide and hostess. We’re so pleased to have you at Refugio Salvo, sir.”

      As he took her hand in his for a greeting, his skin tingled, sizzled.

      Attracted to an angel, he thought. It was definitely something new, even for him.

      * * *

      As the stranger’s hand enclosed hers, Alicia’s heart kicked at her chest. It’d been doing that since the first instant she’d seen him, and she still hadn’t recovered.

      Unable to get enough of looking at him, she noted every detail: Fancy tie, shirt, shoes. Well groomed. His jacket smelled good, too, like spicy soap, clean and heady.

      He was a lot taller, so much that she was forced to lift her chin to meet his gaze. The color of his eyes startled her—a deep violet, just like the flowers that had grown in the small garden of her abuelita’s house back in San Diego. His light brown hair was a little long and ruffled, carefree in the breeze. His body…

      Alicia tried not to look, but she couldn’t help noticing that he was strong, wide-shouldered and muscled like an athlete.

      His grip tightened, and she realized that she’d been staring, her skin goose-bumped and flushed from the inside out.

      Quickly, she let go of him, gaze trained on the ground. She shoved the hand that had been holding his, into a jacket pocket, wishing it would stop blazing with heat.

      Then, donning a civil expression, she distanced herself from the visitor. Right away she saw the glimmer in his eyes fade a little, as if he were second-guessing something. Then he also took a step backward.

      “You’re with the billionaire?” СКАЧАТЬ