The Ring The Spaniard Gave Her - Lynne Graham Page 0,32

choose any clothes and I leave them behind when I’m done,’ Suzy specified tightly, mentally washing away what had just happened between them, ignoring it as best she could.

Ruy clenched his teeth hard, rejection not being a reaction he had much experience with. It galled him that she had backed away first and that it had been the rational thing to do. Sex would muddy the waters of what was essentially a business arrangement, although it wasn’t business when he wasn’t paying her a fee, was it? And business didn’t make him as hard as a rock with frustration either, he reasoned grimly.

‘And we try to keep our connection friendly and...er...distant,’ Suzy suggested shakily.

‘Choose your battles with care, querida,’ Ruy murmured sibilantly. ‘I suspect we’re both bad losers.’

CHAPTER SIX

‘SERIOUSLY?’ SUZY WHISPERED helplessly in Ruy’s ear when he picked the wedding gown with the feathers. ‘I’ll roast alive wearing that in Spain.’

He spoke to the stylist about alterations with all the panache of one who knew what he was talking about, but his belief that the internal structure of the dress could essentially be ripped out to make it lighter simply exposed his ignorance. Suzy suppressed a chuckle, marvelling at his obstinacy and amazed by the dress he had picked while he continued to discuss options, expense clearly no drawback as it was agreed that the dress would literally be remade for the occasion. She had been expecting him to choose something severe and elegant, not extravagant and frothy and trailing white feathers like the ghost of Christmas past.

‘Mr Rivera knows what he likes,’ the stylist remarked when Ruy had left them alone and Suzy was able to get down to describing her requirements, which consisted of a single smart gown and accessories that would hopefully pass muster at his brother’s wedding. But her taste in fashion was more quirky than conventional and it took time to identify a suitable dress for the wedding and the perfect shoes to wear with it.

The next morning she had to attend a court hearing in town for the non-molestation order Ellis had lodged on her behalf. Percy wasn’t in attendance and the magistrate granted it. Ruy had accompanied her and she felt enormously grateful for his support and relieved when it was over. Afterwards, Ruy asked her to pose for him in the studio, wearing her jeans and sweater. She would have preferred to put some make-up on first, but he insisted that he didn’t want her ‘all painted up’, as he called it. Sadly, that was only the start of their differences that afternoon. Ruy sketched while telling her how to pose in innumerable different positions. Every time she moved an inch or so out of a pose to ease a tight muscle, he growled in complaint and she shot comments back at him, telling him he needed to be more adaptable, more tolerant if he expected her to relax. Ruy liked his models quiet and biddable but as Suzy performed a handstand and then segued down into the splits with the easy flexibility of a dancer, he was too entertained by her joie de vivre to be exasperated.

Over dinner, she asked when they would be going to Spain.

‘The day after tomorrow,’ Ruy imparted.

‘But the clothes won’t have arrived by then.’

‘They will. I made it clear that a longer wait wasn’t an option,’ Ruy extended calmly.

Suzy studied him in dismay. ‘Ruy...someone could be up all night stitching that feather dress to meet a deadline like that!’

‘I would expect that they will be handsomely remunerated if they are. I pay over the odds for good service,’ he parried.

‘Employees don’t get those kinds of choices and I would assume that the boss usually keeps the profits.’

‘That’s the world we live in. Not my personal responsibility,’ Ruy returned, impervious to the hint that he should be ashamed of his willingness to use money to ensure that he received exactly what he wanted when he wanted it, no matter how inconvenient and unreasonable his requests were. ‘A jeweller will be calling here this evening for you to choose a ring for our supposed engagement, and at some stage you will have to go home to pick up whatever else you require for Spain.’

‘You organise everything right down to the last tiny detail.’ Suzy sighed. ‘It doesn’t leave much room for manoeuvre or going with the flow.’

‘I wasn’t raised to go with the flow,’ Ruy murmured drily. ‘I was brought up to respect rules and meet every demand