How to Marry a Matador (Exclusive Sneak Preview) Read online

  That might be quite a while, Jess reasoned. But she didn’t have to say so. He’d already laid her on the bed and was stripping away her panties. Jess knew she might regret this later, but it certainly seemed the right thing to do now. She gasped as he entered her, feeling as though she’d found the place in the world where she’d always belonged.

  “I do love you, Jessica,” he whispered between kisses. “I’m praying that someday soon you’ll believe it.”

  She believed it now, oh yes, she did, and she wanted this feeling to go on forever. Jess wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back, hoping this wasn’t an illusion. Even if it was, she didn’t care to stop it. She’d never experienced anyone like Fernando in her life, and this morning he was all hers.

  “Are you newlyweds going to want dinner?” It was Ana María’s voice outside the door.

  Jess opened her eyes to find herself wrapped in Fernando’s arms, the sheets twisted around them.

  “We’ll be down in a minute, Mamá!” Fernando called, snuggling Jess closer. “You are hungry?” he asked Jess in a whisper.

  “Starved,” she answered truthfully.

  “Good,” he said with a firm kiss on her lips. “That means I did my husbandly duty.”

  He’d more than done his husbandly duty. Given the various kinds of attention he’d administered, Jess feared it would be weeks before she’d ever walk again.

  “I’ll say,” she said, smiling. “I’m honestly not sure how well my knees will hold up after that.”

  He shot her a sexy grin. “I can carry you, if you’d like.”

  “Your carrying me is what landed us in bed.”

  “So it did,” he replied, lightly caressing her cheek as he kissed her again.

  “What time do you think it is?” she asked.

  “It must be around two o’clock.”

  “In the afternoon? We’ve been here half the day?”

  “I wouldn’t say it was a waste, would you?”

  “No, it was…marvelous.”

  “Marvelous?” he asked, with an amused grin. “That makes me feel pretty special.”

  “You are special,” she said, meaning it absolutely. In an utterly confounding way, he was the most marvelous man she’d ever met.

  Fernando’s heart lit up at the sound. Was that hope springing from his new bride’s lips? Was she actually starting to fall for him?

  “You’re not sorry, then?” he asked, holding her gaze.

  Her beautiful blue eyes softened. “I’m not sorry that I met you, no. Not sorry that things became intimate between us…”

  “And the wedding?”

  She stiffened beneath the blankets. “Don’t push it, Fernando.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

  Jess sat up, covering herself with the duvet. “Don’t you think we should get dressed? Your mother’s waiting.”

  Fernando pressed his palms together and sighed. From one moment to the next, he couldn’t tell if he stood a chance with this woman. Maybe he’d been a fool to believe one concentrated morning of loving would change her mind. “Fine. We’ll go down and eat. Do you still want to head into town later?”

  “Yes, I think we should. Don’t you?”

  “I actually wouldn’t have minded if you’d suggested another nap.”

  She picked up a pillow and swatted him playfully.

  “Ow! Watch where you aim that!”

  “Protecting something?” she asked with a wicked grin.

  Fernando might not totally understand her, but he knew her well enough to sense when she wanted more. “Yes, let me show it to you.”

  “Oh God, are you serious?”

  He rolled her onto her back, clambering on top of her. “I think there are too many blankets between us.”

  She threw them back with reckless abandon and grabbed his naked rear.

  “As long as we’re still married…” she said, tilting up her chin.

  “If ever I’ve seen a conflicted woman, it’s you,” he said, parting her knees.

  “Maybe I need further convincing.”

  “Hmm,” he said with a smile. “Is that what you Americans call this?”

  Then he lowered his head as Jess gripped the covers and begged him over and over again not to stop.

  ****

  Chapter Seven

  Two hours later, and after a slightly embarrassing dinner during which Ana María sent repeated knowing—yet approving—looks at the newlyweds, Jess and Fernando were traveling up steep roads leading to the center of town. “This is breathtaking,” Jess said, absorbing the beauty of the tiny whitewashed village as they climbed heavenward. Fernando had told her that La Esperanza del Corazón was known as one of Los Pueblos Blancos in this southern region of Spain. Two things in particular made this place special: an old monastery and an ancient castle, both of which perched on the highest points in these hills.

  “I know it seemed different on Friday night. When we came to the church here, it was under the cloak of darkness.”

  “I seem to recall an awfully full moon,” she said, warmth caressing her cheeks.

  “Yes,” he said, taking her hand. She let him hold it, sensing a new comfort between them. While Fernando owned the sort of sports car meant to be driven at great speeds, she was glad he took his time navigating the hairpin turns of this precipitous trek.

  Big billowy clouds hovered above them, dotting a brilliant blue sky, as a small river snaked through the valley below.

  “I see Casa de la Vega!” Jess proclaimed, pointing at the roving vineyards beyond a river bend. “It’s fantastic. I had no idea of its scope until I saw it from up here.”

  “My grandfather bought quite a bit of land,” Fernando answered. “His dream was to start a vineyard. He made that dream a reality.”

  “Your mother runs it now?”

  “All on her own. I’m very proud of her.”

  “Fernando,” she asked suddenly. “What do you plan to do in your retirement?”

  “Well…” he said, drawing out the word. “According to the grand Garcia de la Vega family plan, I was to step down from running the business in Madrid and return to run things here.”

  “That’s why you were selling out to International Global Telecom.”

  “Exactly.”

  “But you also had to find a wife.”

  “Too true.”

  “So, if it hadn’t been me, it would have been someone else,” she said, growing indignant.

  “If it isn’t you, then it sadly will be someone else.” He glanced at her, a wry smile upon his lips. “But trust me when I say you are my absolute first choice.”

  Jessica thought about that all the way to the monastery. She didn’t really care who Fernando married, did she? If it wasn’t going to be her, it naturally would be someone else. Even if it weren’t for the inheritance, a man as attractive as Fernando was bound to get snapped up. Likely sooner than later, if he started flashing around that below-the-belt matador scar.

  When they arrived at the low brown building with a large wrought-iron gate, Fernando sprang from the car to circumvent it and open her door for her. Very few guys did this in New York. Then again, traditions were more antiquated in Spain. Outdated. That’s right, Jess told herself, keep recalling the modern world you come from. A life over here could only feel out of place.

  “When we’re done touring the monastery and its tapestries, I’ll take you to its damasquinado shop.”

  “What’s that?” Jess asked.

  “It’s an incredible style of jewelry inlaid with gold and unique to Spain.”

  “Real gold?” Jess asked, stuck on that first part.

  Fernando nodded. “The brothers were trained by the finest artisans in Toledo. They sell their wares here to help keep this monastery afloat.”

  Jess loved creeping through the monastery as Fernando led her by the hand. Everything here seemed so darkly lit and holy. She almost swore she heard chanting as they made their way throug
h the circuitous halls, studying one Catholic relic after the next, but Fernando said she was imagining it.

  Finally, they came to the shopping part, which excited her a little even though she didn’t plan to buy anything. The tiny gift shop was nestled in a corner on the far side of a brightly lit courtyard, sporting fountains and flocked with birds the good friars kept fed.

  “Don Fernando? Is that you?”

  Fernando turned toward a shopkeeper who greeted him with a cheery smile on his plump, round face. “Brother Emilio! How good to see you!”

  The men embraced fondly; then Fernando made his introductions. “I’m very pleased to have you meet my new bride.”

  Brother Emilio beamed. “Bride, did you say? Why, what wonderful news. I couldn’t be more happy for the two of you.”

  Jess said her polite hellos while Brother Emilio gripped her firmly by the shoulders and gave each cheek a happy kiss.

  “Brother Emilio was one of my earliest tutors,” Fernando told Jess. “He taught me everything I know about numbers.”

  “Lessons that served you well,” Brother Emilio said proudly.

  “When I was bad,” Fernando confessed confidentially, “my mother used to threaten to send me to the monastery to live with Brother Emilio if I didn’t behave.”

  Jess laughed out loud. Fernando in a monastery. Hoo. “That would have been a waste,” she said, the words slipping out before she could stop them. Jess felt her face flash hot, imagining she'd committed the most egregious faux pas. Poor Brother Emilio. Would he think she was insulting his chosen path of celibacy? Luckily, the good man took things in stride.

  “I can certainly imagine that,” Brother Emilio said with a jovial smile. “Now come, you two. Look around and pick out something you like. Anything at all. Consider it a wedding gift on behalf of the brothers here.”

  “Oh my, that’s so nice of you,” Jess said. “But we can’t.”

  “I insist,” Brother Emilio said.

  “He insists,” Fernando echoed with a tilt of his head.

  “Why, thank you,” Jess said, feeling herself blush. It hardly seemed right to tell Brother Emilio they weren’t really married—or might not be for long—when the fact of the matter was they were quite hitched in the eyes of the church. For now, at least.

  “Darling,” Fernando said sweetly. “Why don’t you select a little memento for the two of us while I catch up a bit with my old friend?”

  “Are you sure?” Jess asked, feeling like a kid in a candy shop with a fist full of change.

  “Absolutely. Just get something that reminds you of us.”

  There was a lot of stuff to admire, but most of it was jewelry. Very expensive jewelry, Jess thought, putting back a spectacular set of dangly damasquinado earrings that played beautifully against her hair.

  One of the other brothers came over to assist her. “You like these, miss?” he asked, retrieving them back off the rack. “Very beautiful, yes?”

  “Oh yes, totally marvelous.” Fernando turned his head in her direction as she waved the shopkeeper off. “But not so much my style, thank you. I’m looking for something more simple, really.” And she was too. She and Fernando couldn’t rob the good brothers of such an extravagant piece. Besides, women’s ear-wear didn’t precisely sound like a couple’s gift.

  “I’ll just browse a bit more,” she said, stepping over to the book section to survey the leather bookmarks. There were signs in several languages stating the good brothers had made these by hand too. She picked one up, appreciating its heady leather scent and surveying its beautiful custom design. “Is this an olive branch?” she asked the helpful brother, still loitering close by.

  “In the mouth of a dove,” he answered. “It’s a symbol of God’s eternal love, and peace.”

  “And hopefulness?” Jess inquired, thinking she’d heard that somewhere.

  “In La Esperanza del Corazón, one always finds hope,” the brother said with a warming smile.

  “A bookmark? That’s all?” Brother Emilio asked, slipping the object into a bag.

  “I think it’s very fine, don’t you?” she asked Fernando.

  “I find it…fitting, in many ways,” he agreed.

  “Well, good. Just as long it makes you happy.” Brother Emilio pursed his lips for a pronounced beat. “Are you sure you won’t take two? One bookmark is awfully hard to share.”

  “But a husband and wife should share everything, don’t you agree?” Fernando said, taking Jess’s hand. “Perhaps we’ll place it in the books we read to each other, like poetry.”

  “Or the Bible!” Jess interposed, believing that sounded right. No harm in earning a few extra points. She hadn’t set foot in a church in a decade, but she was sure to have made up for a couple of years at least—just in one afternoon.

  “What a lovely, romantic couple you make,” Brother Emilio said with a jolly grin. “Here, señora,” he said, handing Jess the bag. “Live long and enjoy.”

  “Jessica,” Fernando said as they paused outside. “Would you mind waiting here while I stop in the men’s room?”

  “Oh no, that’s fine,” she said, thinking she’d better go as well. “I’ll stop in the ladies too, then meet you back here.

  Fernando stepped around the corner; then, when he was certain she’d gone, he slipped back into the gift shop to ask Brother Tomás to point out the piece of jewelry Jessica had found so marvelous.

  “Fernando,” Jess said when he parked his car in the main plaza abutting the towering structure. “You can’t just walk up to the door of a castle, knock and say ‘hello, may we come in?’”

  “No?” he asked, playing his best poker face.

  “Well, you said yourself the place is private. Owned by some family.”

  “Yes,” he answered evenly. “Mine.”

  Jessica gulped back her surprise. “You mean…?”

  “My great aunt’s, really. My grandfather took pity on her status as a young widow, so he built her this marvelous place here.”

  Jessica suspiciously narrowed her eyes at his emphasis on the word.

  “She’s expecting us, I think,” he said, leading her up the broad stone steps. Fernando delighted in Jessica’s gaze, filled with wonderment and expectation. She’d probably never been in a real castle before, at least not one that was personally owned.

  He pulled back the enormous bronze knocker boasting an openmouthed lion head and pounded it three times against the twelve-foot door. After a few moments, the large plank creaked open.

  “Don Fernando,” a rail-thin woman said, kissing him on both cheeks and pinching one extra hard.

  “This is Antonia,” he told Jess with a sideways glance. “She always likes to hurt me.”

  “Ha ha!” the old woman said, soundly swatting his arm. Fernando winced. “This caballero is such a joker!”

  “Is she your aunt?” Jessica whispered to him.

  “Oh no,” he whispered back. “Antonia enjoys her jazzercise. Tía Margarita does not.”

  As if on cue, an ancient woman toddled forth on sturdy ankles, followed by a yapping dog.

  “Ah, the happy couple has arrived!” she cried, sweeping Fernando and Jess into her arms and pressing each one to an ample breast. She smelled of sweat and rosemary perfume, a bit heavier on the rosemary side each passing year, Fernando noted.

  “Tía Margarita, Antonia,” Fernando said, deftly extracting himself from his tía’s embrace. “May I introduce you to my new wife, Jessica…” Who was still, he saw, plastered to Tía Margarita’s chest, a hint of desperation in her eyes. Fernando pried her loose, tucking her under a protective arm. “Isn’t she lovely?”

  Tía Margarita lifted the glasses on the chain around her neck to her eyes in order to survey her nephew’s prize. “Oh sí,” she said enthusiastically. “Quite!”

  Jessica withdrew a tissue from her purse to dab her neck and brow as Tía Margarita’s mutt darted furiously at her feet, baring its teeth between barks.

  “Does he b
ite?” she asked, attempting to sound nonchalant.

  “Never more than a little,” Tía Margarita said. “And there’s so little of you to take, Rudolfo couldn’t take much, eh?”

  “Why don’t we all go inside?” Fernando suggested, seeing the townspeople in the plaza were starting to stare.

  “Of course,” Tía Margarita said with a smile, linking her arm through his.

  As Antonia flanked Jessica on the other side, he could have sworn he heard her asking if Jessica was familiar with the Stairmaster.

  Jess couldn’t guess how high the ceilings were. They were vaulted and tall, like the inside of a cathedral, enormous chandeliers dripping throughout the halls. There were oversized, arched windows too, interspersed by large oil paintings and various works of art. It was more like being in a museum than a mansion. Not that she’d ever been in a mansion before. But galleries, she knew. Though those clearly housed less furniture. Everything was larger than life, huge carved pieces with mirrors surprising her around every turn. It certainly smelled musty and was dank as well. She was glad Fernando still had his arm around her, because the dankness seeped into her bones even at the height of summer.

  “Having fun, querida?” he whispered into her ear, and she shivered, not from the cold but from the heat of his breath.

  The truth was, she was having more than fun. Jess felt like she’d slipped down the rabbit hole into some imaginary realm and was enjoying the time of her life. Wait until she told Evie! Jess felt a rush of guilt, thinking of her best friend. She didn’t know why, so she pushed the notion aside, attempting to live in the moment. She’d already committed herself to this day with Fernando, anyway, hadn’t she?

  “This is so cool,” she said, eyes widening as they stepped into an expansive area opening onto a walled veranda.

  “Maybe we should ask if you can borrow a sweater?” he said, feigning misunderstanding. “Or maybe,” he said in a low rumble meant just for her, “I can warm you up later.”