Her Latin Lover (Contemporary Romance) Read Online Free PDF Page B

seemed to be smoking a cigar.
    “Did you stay to get Nick’s money?” she asked.
    “I stayed to stop El Leon from getting you.”
    “What?” She seemed genuinely surprised.
    “El Leon was playing to win you from Señor Kingsley. I could tell that from the questions he was asking.” He did not repeat the questions, but they generally involved asking about Mary’s sexual preferences and abilities in the bedroom, which her boyfriend had been drunk enough and stupid enough to answer. “I knew that Señor Kingsley would lose, so I had to stay and make sure that I won you and not El Leon. You are lucky that I succeeded.” He thought about how hard he had played using all his wits and ability to beat El Leon who was a master card player and not beyond cheating. Trying to overcome these thoughts, he tried to smile warmly at Mary. The smile was not returned.
    “You won me in a poker game and you expect me to thank you for it?”
    “Let me tell you this,” he looked straight into her angry brown eyes, “if El Leon had won you instead of me, you certainly would not be sitting here now having this nice cosy chat and you would certainly not be left to enjoy the rest of the night alone.” And having said it, he decided that this time it was his turn to stand up and walk out.
     
     
     

 
     
     
     
    Chapter 4
     
    The next day Mary went down for breakfast in the hotel, despite knowing that their coffee was bitter and their bread was stale. When she had finished, she asked the waitress for the bill. The woman, who was the same person who had served at the bar the night before, looked surprised.
    “The cheque, the bill,” Mary repeated and made a gesture with her hands to imitate signing a cheque.
    “Don Paulo de Castile, he pay it. He pay all,” the woman said with a flourish of her hand and flounced off.
    Mary was not sure whether she was angry or relieved. He had paid for their dinner and drinks the night before, though quite how he had managed to do so before he stormed out of the bar, she did not know; however, she had secretly been rather happy. She still only had $16 and when he had walked out, he had left her wondering if her $16 was enough to cover the cost of their meals and all their drinks. And now he had paid for her breakfast as well as the cost of her room. Surely this would not go on until she flew back to England in two weeks time and even if it did, why was he doing this and what exactly did he expect in return?
    Also, Mary wasn’t sure about Don Paulo’s story about winning her in a game of poker. Firstly, she did not belong to Nick, so Nick had no right to give her away. They had been seeing each other for several years, since they left college, but they weren’t married and didn’t even live together. Nick had suggested it many times, but Mary always refused. She liked her own privacy and personal space. Also, she knew that Nick, with his erratic hours and unpredictable behaviour, would not be an ideal flatmate. He was the type of man who wouldn’t just leave his dirty underwear all over the floor and unwashed plates in the sink; he would also be someone who came home at six o’clock in the morning and invited strange people back to the flat to carry on drinking after the bars had shut. On the positive side, Nick bought wildly expensive bottles of champagne, presented her with beautiful gold jewellery and regularly took her off to celebrity-filled parties using his press pass; she had even met Prince William and Kate Middleton at a couple of these events. These were some of the better aspects of their relationship and she could have them without having Nick move in with her.
    However, there were times when even the parties, gifts and excitement were just not worth it, like the time he turned up to a restaurant two hours late on her birthday and the time he got drunk at a party and threw up all over a well-known Hollywood movie star. Yet these embarrassments were nothing compared to running