Page 23 of His Unexpected Heir

Right?

Her hand flew protectively to her stomach.

“What’s wrong?” a deep, masculine voice demanded.

Astra swung around. She found Antonio coming towards her and took a step backwards.

“When did you get back?” she asked, trying not to show how excited she was to see him. He looked…magnificent! His broad shoulders were more relaxed, but still strong and covered with muscles. She remembered holding onto those muscles during their night together and was jealous of Maria, who most likely knew those shoulders, and Antonio’s whole body, much more intimately.

Damn that woman! She’d been an obnoxious pain in the butt all week, poking her nose into every little detail, criticizing anything and everything.

“Just now,” he replied, moving closer. “What’s wrong?”

Astra pressed her lips together, then peered around him. “Where’s your fiancée?”

When she looked up at him, she noticed his startled expression. “I am not engaged.”

That pissed her off! “Okay,” she snapped, crossing her arms over her chest, then quickly dropped her arms, afraid that the movement would press her sweater against her belly and reveal her secret. The very secret that she needed to share with this man, but at the moment, she was just too angry with him. “Your girlfriend then.”

He sighed heavily. “El cielo ayudame!” He muttered, looking up to the sky. When he lowered his gaze back to her, he said, “I do not have a girlfriend. I am not even dating anyone right now.” He started to say something else, but stopped, pressing his lips together just as she was doing. “Why would you think I am?”

“Because Maria whats-her-name thinks that you two are getting married. She has told everyone in the village that I will soon be taking orders from her and that she plans to fire me for insubordination.”

His scowl morphed into outright anger. “This is not the case. I have never been on a date with Maria, although she has come to the castle for dinner, with her family,” he emphasized, “on several occasions. If she has created a relationship with me in her head, then I am not to blame.”

His assertion knocked the wind out of her anger. “So…why is she going around acting like the lady of the manor?”

Antonio shrugged and her eyes were drawn to his delicious shoulders before returning to his eyes. No objectifying the man, she admonished herself. Antonio del Campo was more than just a gorgeous pair of shoulders. He was a living breathing man with…amazing shoulders!

Mentally sighing, she turned away, almost rubbed her belly, then caught herself, grabbing her notes instead. “Perhaps you should clarify your relationship with Maria before you find yourself in a church, sliding a ring on her finger. She seems like a determined woman and she desperately wants to be lady of the castle.” Astra let her eyes move over his body, stopping herself from licking her lips.

“Si!” he snapped, then took her elbow. “We will do this now. Together.”

Astra started to pull back. “I’m not going anywhere!” she asserted, digging her heels in. “This is your problem, not mine.”

He stopped and turned, amusement lurking at the upturned corners of his mouth. Goodness, the things that mouth could do, she thought wildly!

“Are you going to tell me you’ve made no progress in setting up the events over the past few days?”

She blinked at him. “Of course I have! In fact, we’ve even had one event.”

His dark eyebrows lifted. “Excellent!” He turned, facing her fully now. In a formal tone, he said, “Astra, I would very much appreciate a tour of the village, so you can show me what you’ve accomplished so far, and we can go over the next round of details.”

Astra hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “That sounds perfect.”

“Good. And after you’ve shown me your progress, I will treat you to lunch at the pub.”

Manuel watched as the couple moved off, the clippers at his side. He glanced at the dead flowers by the edge of the patio, gritting his teeth in frustration. Turning away, he started deadheading the roses that had lost their initial bloom. For a moment, he considered snipping off even the fresh buds, but his heart wouldn’t allow him to be that cruel. They weren’t the evil ones lurking in this garden. There were others that deserved his wrath more.

“She’s got to go, don’t you think?”

Manuel turned to the other man, hatred oozing from every pore. “You are an idiot,” he snarled. “He is clearly in love with her!”

“All the more reason that she must die!” Jeb snarled, wringing his hands nervously. “You know that the Marquesso is coming back. And if his son is married to the Americana, then he will be furious!”

Manuel thought about that for a moment, then shrugged as if he didn’t care. “If you think that killing her will make him happy, then you do it.” And then he turned back to the roses, rubbing a gentle hand over one of the buds.

Maria stood at the window, waiting impatiently. She’d watched Antonio’s car drive down the street over thirty minutes ago. Surely he would drive down to the village to see her, right? He’d pretend to stop by and speak with her father, but everyone in the village knew that he really stopped by the house to see her. The man always gave her that secret smile. And he never hesitated to come with her when she asked to speak with him alone.

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