Wedding Party Collection: Proposing To The Planner: The Argentinian's Solace. Susan Stephens

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СКАЧАТЬ apartment in the best part of town was off-the-scale fabulous. His penthouse occupied the entire top floor of an elegant historic building. When they’d reached it, in a private elevator with an ornate wrought-iron door, they stepped out into an airy lobby with a domed ceiling that wouldn’t have looked out of place in the Vatican. Grand double doors at one end of this spacious hallway had just been swung wide by a smiling middle-aged woman.

       ‘My housekeeper, Adriana,’ Diego explained.

       Adriana ushered Maxie into a light-filled world, packed with sleek modern furniture and the latest high-tech gizmos. Very Diego, Maxie thought as she took in the striking décor of stark white walls punctuated by vivid flourishes of modern art. Floor-to-ceiling windows in the living room took in both the new and the venerably old buildings that comprised the exciting cityscape of Buenos Aires.

       ‘This is stunning,’ Maxie exclaimed, looking around.

       ‘I call it home.’

       ‘Lucky you.’ Diego was so confident and overwhelming, while she was…overwhelmed. She took in the pale leather sofas, smoky glass tables, and the stainless steel conversation pieces at a glance. There was everything here a wealthy man might need. She was relieved to hear that Adriana lived on site, as she had no intention of becoming another of the home comforts Diego so obviously took for granted.

       ‘Adriana will show you to your room,’ Diego explained. ‘Please make yourself at home, Maxie.’

       It might take more than a single visit to feel at home in a place like this, Maxie concluded as the smiling housekeeper led her down a stylish corridor lined with discreetly framed pen and ink drawings of polo ponies.

       The suite of rooms would easily have gobbled up Maxie’s small house in London with room to spare. There was a large bedroom with a walk-in wardrobe, as well as a sitting room and a fantastic cream marble bathroom. She’d take a quick shower and then go shopping, Maxie decided. She had to make a start on filling those wardrobes—not to mention the shoe rack. Well, if she tried really hard she might actually manage to fill one small corner…

       ‘Do you have everything you need?’

       She whirled around to find Diego at the door. ‘Are you kidding?’

       ‘Good. I’ll leave you to settle in and then I’ll take you into town. See you in the hall in half an hour?’

       ‘Thank you.’

       She couldn’t pretend the thought of going out with Diego didn’t make her pulse race. She took a long, hot shower and then changed into casual clothes.

       When Diego turned the corner into the hall and walked towards her she had to accept that seeing him never got any easier. Diego had also taken a shower, and his thick black hair was still damp and curled attractively around his face and neck.

       ‘I hope I’m all right dressed like this,’ she said, indicating her jeans and flat shoes. ‘I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I thought if I’d be walking—’

       ‘You look great,’ he said, barely glancing at her as he walked to the door.

       Diego had a sister so he probably blanked out fashion questions as a matter of course, but Maxie wondered if she had underplayed it. Diego was wearing jeans and a crisp white shirt again, but he always looked outstanding, while she felt like a little grey mouse standing next to a tiger.

       She might have known Diego would drive a bright red Ferrari. She might have known the moment he stepped out of the building he would be mobbed. She took refuge in the car, not wanting to be subjected to another trial of brief and dismissive scrutiny.

       ‘You should stay with me,’ he said when he joined her moments later. ‘Why did you run off like that?’ Closing the door, he gunned the engine. ‘I could have used some support.’

       It took her a moment before she realised he was serious. It had never occurred to her that someone like Diego might need anything in the way of a boost. ‘I’ll be there for you next time,’ she promised wryly.

       ‘Make sure you are,’ he said, slanting a glance at her before lowering his sunglasses. ‘That’s why I love the pampas. It’s such a contrast to the city. I can be anonymous there—unless we have a match, of course.’

       ‘Tell me more,’ she encouraged. This was such a contrast to the dark, brooding man who had met her off the boat, and she was curious about Diego’s life before the accident.

       ‘We never appreciated the space on the pampas when we were young. My sister Lucia, in particular, positively loathed it. She always felt she was missing out on everything that was happening in Buenos Aires. But now?’ He shrugged. ‘I guess Lucia feels as we all do that the estancia is both our sanctuary and a playground where we all relax. We have one of the best polo pitches in the country,’ he confided, as if this might come as a surprise to her.

       ‘I can’t wait to see it,’ Maxie said, thinking how frighteningly close she felt to him suddenly. How was she supposed to remain safely on the outside looking in now?

       She didn’t have to risk her heart, Maxie told herself sensibly. There was such a thing as friendship. They could just be friends.

       CHAPTER NINE

      WHEN Diego dropped her off, he explained to Maxie that she was on the most exclusive shopping street in Buenos Aires. She would be spoiled for choice, Maxie realised, wondering where to begin. How incredible was this? Maxie Parrish, a girl who arranged things for other people, was suddenly at the centre of all things up-scale and fabulous. And better still—thanks to the success of her business—she could afford it.

       But Maxie soon discovered that money wasn’t the problem. Being treated as if girls who wore jeans and sneakers couldn’t afford to breathe the air on this exclusive street was. After trudging round every shop to no avail, she gave up. Spotting a market, she thought, why not? Buenos Aires wasn’t known as the Paris of South America for nothing. The relaxed sprawl of colourful stalls reminded Maxie of the Left Bank markets in Paris. You never know…she thought, crossing the road to explore.

       Fortune favours the brave, Maxie mused as she picked out a flirty dress and some sandals to go with it. She had wanted to buy a pair of simple flip-flops, but the young stallholder had wagged a finger at her and picked out a pair of sexy heels. Maxie felt like a baby stork when she tried them on, but the stallholder insisted she must have them.

       ‘You’ll be dancing on the street tonight,’ she assured Maxie.

       Maxie couldn’t picture Diego dancing on the street—though she would like to, Maxie mused as she added a shawl to her purchases in case it grew chilly that evening. With her shopping expedition over, she rang Diego, who had promised to pick her up as soon as she called.

       ‘Where are you?’ he said, answering at the first ring. ‘Alto Palermo? Avenida Santa Fe?’

       ‘No—close to the market,’ she explained, giving general directions.

       ‘What?’ he exploded.

       ‘Don’t fuss—I can have a coffee until you get here.’

      ‘Don’t fuss?’ Diego СКАЧАТЬ