Page 73 of Virgin's Stolen Nights with the Boss

No regrets, she reminded herself.It was just Mamá’s ways. People don’t change overnight.

‘How do I get a ballgown in time?’ she asked Dom. ‘And shoes?’

She thought of her wardrobe full of outfits at home, but there wasn’t time. And anyway, she wanted something new, somethingred...

She did not trust her brothers to get this right, nor their wives.

She dialled another number.

‘Capitán?’ Carmen said to the captain of her brother’s beloved yacht.‘Por favor...’

She might not have wanted a leaving party on the yacht, but Carmen had a favour to ask, and Dante was the only person she knew who could pull it off.

‘Is there time?’ she asked.

‘Leave it with me, Carmen.’

She let out a breath of relief.

Capitán Dante knew exactly how things should be done.

Exactly.

Carmen had never looked forward to a date the way she did this one.

She ordered flowers, chocolate and wine, with strict instructions for their delivery. Then she spent a long time in the shower, where she shaved her legs carefully, used a whole tube of hand cream on her skin, and then put her head upside down and blasted dry her hair.

From her backpack she took a black slip dress that folded up to little more than the size of a handkerchief, and some flat ballet pumps she’d bought for her waitressing jobs. She had no bra to go with the dress, so she went without, and pulled on the prettiest knickers she had.

‘Wow!’ Laura said as she came down the very creaky chairs.

‘Hey!’ said John. ‘Where are you going?’

‘To meet some guy I’ve been talking to online,’ Carmen smiled. ‘Tell me, do American men expect you to split the bill?’

‘I wouldn’t ifyoushowed up!’ John said. ‘Though I might if it was Laura...’

Laura laughed and threw a shoe at him, and Carmen knew very well they’d be at it the moment she’d gone—she had the room above Laura, after all.

‘Here’s my ride,’ she said, picking up her bag. ‘Don’t wait up...’

The poor driver was a bit bemused that Carmen had wanted flowers, chocolate and wine inside the car, and that she wanted to be driven out of the grounds and then back in, this time using the long drive.

She asked him to stop about two-thirds of the way up.

‘I have nosey housemates,’ she explained, handing him a tip. ‘Thank you so much.’

Elias watched her get out of the car. He had no idea how she did it, but she might have been walking into any restaurant in Beverly Hills, ready to be taken straight through to the best table.

Yet still she stopped and gave all the Misfits a treat, and with slavish devotion they accompanied her—on their side of the fence—up the last part of the drive.

ForgetThe Princess and the Pea...he now had on his hands a very sexy Snow White.

Carmen took her time giving the Misfits their treats. She had never needed courage from her friends more.

‘I don’t want to spoil things,’ she said, more to herself than to the oddball trio. ‘I have to play it cool and I don’t want to get hurt.’

She climbed the wooden steps onto the porch and looked down at stunning mosaic tiling. An intricately carved wooden door had been left ajar, and it was so vast she felt it might belong to a castle.

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