How to Marry a Matador (Exclusive Sneak Preview) (12 page)

“That bring back memories, Fernando?” Gustavo
asked as they swung around the Plaza de Toros de la Real Maestranza
de Caballería de Sevilla, the oldest and most famous bullring in
Spain.

“None that I care to remember.”

“Fernando’s just being modest,” Gustavo told
the ladies. “Fernando was a very fine matador in his day. He could
have gone on to be one of Spain’s best.”

“Gustavo’s exaggerating.”

“No, he’s not,” Evie butted in. “I ran a
search on him. Gustavo’s right.”

Gustavo glanced at Evie while Fernando
uncomfortably cleared his throat.

“Where are we going?” Fernando asked.

“I was hoping you’d tell me.” Gustavo
shrugged. “I just work here.”

Fernando shot Jess a questioning look.

“Don’t ask me. I didn’t even know she was
coming.”

“What?” Fernando asked as Gustavo focused on
driving nowhere, minding his own business.

Evie bristled a bit in the front seat. “I
thought you’d be happy to see me,” she told Jess.

“Of course I’m happy,” Jess said, fighting
the confusion racing through her heart and head. “You just
surprised me, that’s all.”

“How about we stop for some fish and chips?”
Gustavo offered brightly.

“Great thought, Gustavo! I know the best
place for fresh fried calamari,” he told the girls.

Gustavo held up an authoritative finger. “And
croquetas
. Don’t forget the
croquetas
.”

“They go great with Spanish beer,” Fernando
said, trying to read the worry on Jess’s face.

“But the
Archivo
?” she asked weakly.
This whole Evie thing really had her undone. It wasn’t that she
didn’t love her best friend. But it would have been polite for Evie
to have at least called ahead.

“Don’t worry,
mi amor
,” Fernando said,
kissing her hand. “We’ll get there another time.”

Jess caught Evie studying them suspiciously
in the rearview mirror.

“How did things go at the magistrate?”

Fernando pursed his lips and stared out the
window, reassuringly patting Jess’s hand.

“Um…” Jess began. “We’ve been meaning to go.
I mean, it’s on the agenda.” Even in the reflective glass she could
see Evie’s expression darkening. “But, in all honestly, there
hasn’t been time.”

“It’s true,” Fernando leapt in. “Things have
been busy.”

“Very busy,” Jess repeated unnecessarily.

“There’s a lot to see in Seville,” Gustavo
added, trying to be helpful.

Evie glared at him, obviously resenting the
intrusion.

“How long have you been in Seville?” she
asked, turning toward Jess.

“Two, no three…?” She tilted her head at
Fernando.

“Three days,” he said with a love-sick smile.
“It all blurs together somehow.”

Gustavo raised his brow and kept on driving,
while Evie felt sick to her stomach. This was far worse than she
imagined. Jess had apparently hypnotized the matador too!

Evie kicked herself for not coming up with a
full-scale plan before she got here. She saw now she was wrong to
think Jess would be thrilled to see her, would rush into her arms,
all tears, and say
best friend on earth, pretty please, take me
home.
She needed to get Jess alone and talk to her; that was
what she needed to do. Just the two of them, no sexy Spaniards
involved. She glanced at Gustavo, and he gave her a crooked smile,
causing her heart to beat faster. The men here were dangerous. It
was easy enough to see that. No way could Jess think clearly when
she was caught up in all of this. Somehow, some way, Eve was going
to get Jess alone tonight and talk some sense into her. Then
tomorrow, they’d go to the magistrate. All of them. Together.
There’d be no more taking chances with this one. Eve just hoped it
wasn’t already too late.

Fernando worried over the sudden appearance
of Jess’s best friend. Though she wore a smile, something in his
gut told him that Eve Parker wasn’t here to congratulate them. She
was here to tell Jessica she’d made a mistake and encourage her to
return to America. He hoisted his beer and took another swig as the
group eagerly dug into fried fish and Gustavo regaled them with
funny stories. Surely the woman he’d fallen in love with wasn’t
that malleable. She’d know her own mind, wouldn’t she, and stand up
for what she felt in her heart? The problem was, she’d not yet
confessed those emotions to Fernando. Though he’d sensed her
getting closer to admitting her feelings to him, she still kept
them somewhat guarded.

Fernando was sure Jessica was the woman for
him and certain he’d eventually be able to convince her. All he
needed was the gift of time. The two of them were well suited,
meant for each other. Jessica needed a man who was strong enough to
stand by his word to honor and protect her, and he needed a woman
he could nurture and who could benefit from his strength. He longed
to help and take care of her, to support her in developing any sort
of career that she wished, while she became the woman he knew she
so longed to be. Someone comfortable with herself and completely
self-assured. Secure in the knowledge that someone truly loved
her…and would never let her go.

Fernando reached beside him to take Jessica’s
hand. She let him hold it briefly, then casually withdrew it,
wrapping her fingers around the chilled glass holding her beer.
“That’s right!” she said to Eve. “I remember!”

They both laughed companionably, sharing
memories of some happy event Fernando had missed in his brooding.
The distancing had already begun. The woman before him had
transformed from his loving new wife into someone he scarcely knew.
But if Jessica could be so easily dissuaded from her growing
feelings for Fernando, perhaps there existed more of a chasm
between them than Fernando had imagined to begin with.

“What are the plans from here?” Gustavo
prompted as a waiter cleared the table.

“I suppose I’ll need to talk to Jessica about
that,” Fernando answered. He noted she averted her gaze even as he
spoke.

“He’s right,” Jessica told the group.
“Fernando and I will need to talk.”

“Where are you staying?” Eve asked.

Jessica glanced at Fernando. “In the Barrio
de Santa Cruz.”

“Perhaps we should stay there too,” Eve
said.

Gustavo was pleasantly intrigued. “I couldn’t
possibly leave you here without a driver.”

“In two rooms, I meant,” she said, shooting
Gustavo a look.

He clutched his hands to his chest, feigning
heartbreak. “You can’t blame a man for hoping.”

In spite of himself, Fernando chuckled.
Having been raised in the same house, Gustavo hadn’t only been a
boyhood friend. He was the closest thing Fernando had to a
brother.

Eve blushed and flagrantly batted her eyes at
Gustavo. “That doesn’t mean I won’t go out for sangria later…”

“You have to watch it with that sangria,”
Jessica said.

Fernando met her gaze and held it. “Very
dangerous, I hear.”

****

“Are you interested in Gustavo?” Jess asked
as Eve hung three items in her closet. Evie never traveled with
more than three items. Mix and match, with assorted colored
T-shirts and accessories. Her weekend wardrobe. She’d read
somewhere in a magazine that this was how one got away with packing
light. For someone who rarely traveled, she’d really taken the
advice to heart.

“A woman would have to be blind not to be
interested in Gustavo,” she said. “But that’s not why I’m letting
him take me out for drinks.”

Jess narrowed her eyes, reading her best
friend. “You want me to talk to Fernando, don’t you? To tell him
tomorrow we’re going to the magistrate and that this marriage is
off.”

“Isn’t that what you want?” Evie asked her
reasonably. “Listen, Jess. I understand Fernando’s beautiful. Maybe
even nice, and very, very rich.”

“Wow, you’re making him sound like a
cad.”

“Don’t get snippy on me, pretty please. Stop
for a minute. I mean it, totally step back and take a good, hard
look at what you’re doing. Leaving your whole country behind, your
family, your job…? For a man you’ve known less than a —”

“First of all,” Jess cut in bitterly, “I
never once said anything about leaving my job.”

“Okay.”

“Secondly, you know as well as I do that the
only family I’ve got left is my mother.”

Evie sucked in a breath, her expression
pained.

“Besides you, Evie. You know what I meant.
Thirdly,” Jess continued. “Fernando and I have known each other
more than six months. Maybe not in a way that you think is
important, but it certainly meant something to me. The truth is,
I’ve known Fernando for a long time, but the side of him I saw was
different. That different side wasn’t unattractive either, Evie.
He’s a seriously capable business man, incredibly intelligent, and
maddeningly quick with the quip. Facts are, if he hadn’t suggested
running away to La Esperanza del Corazón, I might have recommended
running off to Pamplona myself.”

“Come on.”

“I mean it.”

“You’re becoming incredibly defensive for one
reason and one reason only.”

Jess set her hand on her hip. “Oh? Why’s
that?”

“Because you know I’m right.”

Jess inhaled a deep breath, then let it out
slowly.

“Generally, you’re right, Evie. I’ll
definitely give you that. But, this time, you’re dead wrong.”

“Great. Then prove it.”

Jess stared at her and shook her head.

“Jess, you’ve got to believe me. There’s
nothing in the world I want more than your happiness. Your
true
happiness. Because I love you,” she said, her voice
lightly cracking.

Jess felt a pang of uneasiness. She
completely loved Evie too. Always had, forever would. Nobody else
had stuck by her the way Evie had. And, she knew in her soul, would
continue to. “I love you too,” she said, meaning it absolutely and
hugging her tightly. But she also adored Fernando and needed to
stay with him. The fates had placed him in her path for a reason.
The two of them just weren’t well suited—they were destined.
Weren’t they? “But, Evie, you don’t know what it’s like when I’m
with him. When Fernando and I are together, it’s like that’s where
I’m meant to be—where I should stay.”

“Exactly why I’m asking you to step
away.”

Jess withdrew, breaking Evie’s embrace.

“Look,” Evie said with sincere chestnut-brown
eyes. “I’m not one to argue with destiny, but I also know that
making the right decision, a careful one, takes time. What’s so
wrong with going back to America and thinking things over? Go back
to work, check in with your mom, go out for a bagel in
Brooklyn…”

“And then?”

“Jess, if your heart tells you it’s right,
you’ll know. Then you can move forward. No second thoughts. Without
regrets.”

Jess’s heart sank because she knew Evie was
right. As much as she believed herself to have fallen in love with
Fernando, maybe she needed some distance between them so she could
assure herself her feelings were real. She’d be taking a risk, and
she knew it. If she walked away now, she stood the chance that
Fernando might tell her to never come back. But if he loved her as
much as he said, wouldn’t he do her that one small courtesy and
wait?

“How long, Jessica?” Fernando asked. “How
long are you asking me to do this? Two weeks? Three months? A
year?” He stood in the room of their lovely hotel, his face wrought
with pain.

Jess wrung her hands together, her stomach
clenched. “I don’t know,” she answered honestly. If she said two
weeks, what if she needed one week more? It didn’t seem right for
him to place her under a strict deadline.

“So it could be as much as a year?”

He studied her with disappointment, his
disapproval agonizing. “Beautiful, Jessica. Just perfect. You’re
willing to make me wait past my thirty-second birthday.”

“I thought you loved me.”

“And I thought the feeling was mutual,” he
said, a cold burn in his green gaze. “Forgive me for being a
fool.”

Fernando turned away and began shoving
clothes in his backpack.

Fear sliced through her at the thought that
she was pushing him away. “It doesn’t have to be like this.”

“Like what?” he asked, scorching her with his
glare. “Like you’re asking me to risk everything? Lose my
inheritance—the ranch—on the off chance you might come around?”

Jess’s cheeks flamed as she spoke past the
tightness in her throat. “I never said it was an
off
chance.
”

“No?” he asked combatively. “Then give me
some odds, why don’t you? Fifty percent? Seventy-five?”

“Please,” she moaned, tears now streaming
down her cheeks. “Fernando, stop!”

He blew a hard breath, then gathered himself,
nabbing his wallet off the nightstand.

“Where are you going?” she asked, her head
and heart crazed with emotion. She was leaving, and he was about to
tell her to never return.

“To settle our bill,” he said, halfway to the
door.

When he stepped into the hall, she called
after him, her voice trembling. “I thought it wasn’t about the
money.”

He stopped in his tracks and stared her down.
“Honestly,” he said, “I don’t know what it was about.”

He pulled the door shut with a bang that sent
her heart racing and the tears more furiously flowing down her
face.

She’d lost him now.

It was done.

Fernando watched Jessica climb into the cab
where Eve was waiting, the shadows from Casa Garcia de la Vega
looming large ahead. If he wanted an easy way out, he could blame
the best friend. But Fernando knew in his heart that had Jessica
truly wanted to stay, no amount of congenial history could have
convinced her otherwise. Gustavo appeared at his side, Fernando’s
best stallion at the ready.