attracted guys with an agenda: get next to the daughter of America’s Most Beloved Action Hero. And yet, here she was. Next to
him
. With
this
on her left ring finger.
She hadn’t shared her news with Cammie or Anna yet—or with anyone, for that matter. Normally Sam was as much a part of the Tinseltown gossip mill as everyone else. But about this? It felt delicious to keep the secret for herself. For just a little while. The conference call could wait.
Eduardo stirred, stretched like a panther, and opened his eyes.
She smiled at him. “I was watching you sleep.”
On the nightstand next to his bed, his cell phone rang. He ignored it, slinked an arm around her, and curled her into him, kissing her forehead. “Very boring, I imagine.”
“Better than most of what’s on TV, actually,” Sam quipped, even as she wondered if she had morning mouth. If she did, he certainly didn’t seem to mind as he kissed her, raising himself on one flat palm to peer at her in the bright morning sunlight.
For a moment she felt her usual panic—that her face wasn’t pretty enough, that her body wasn’t good enough, that her calves were the size of a thousand-year-old redwood’s trunk. But Eduardo’s eyes only got that lusty look she loved.
“Such a beauty.” He nibbled at her neck, her collarbone, and then between the tops of her breasts. Then his cell sounded again. This time he checked caller ID.
“Sorry, I have to take this.
Hola
.” He answered the phone as he swung his legs out of bed, cradling it between his ear and his shoulder as he pulled on his red silk boxers and walked through the archway into the living room to continue the conversation. Sam strained to hear. Whatever he was talking about was entirely in Spanish. She could only make out a few words.
Nuevo York
—New York—was one of them. Then he was in a part of the apartment where she couldn’t hear at all.
A few minutes later, he returned to the bedroom. She had been dearly hoping they’d pick up where they had left off, but now Eduardo sat on the edge of the bed, looking very serious. “I have to go to New York.”
Damn.
“When?”
“This afternoon. The president of Peru is coming to speak at a special conference at the United Nations in a few days. The guy who was supposed to do the prep work at our mission to the UN had to go home to Lima because of some medical crisis in his family—I don’t know all the details and frankly I don’t want to know. So they’ve got me on a flight out of LAX in three hours.”
“Need a ride to the airport?” Sam offered, trying to be understanding. Eduardo didn’t have an ordinary job. He was an official representative of his country’s government here in America. If the president of Peru needed him, he needed to be there, recent engagement or not.
He shook his head. “They’re picking me up from the consulate here. They want to do some kind of briefing. Please put some coffee on, okay?”
“Okay.” Geez, he was all business. But she put on one of his dress shirts, dropped two English muffins into his toaster, and brewed a pot of strong coffee while he showered, shaved, dressed, and packed in under thirty minutes. The coffee was in a mug on the table when he came into the kitchen with a garment bag. He was wearing a white shirt similar to the one he’d had on yesterday, a yellow silk tie in a double Windsor, and a charcoal gray business suit with black Bruno Maglis.
“When will you be back?”
“As soon as I can. I’ve got a bride-to-be waiting for me. That means I’m highly motivated.”
She grinned happily, loving to hear him say it. “Don’t forget your passport.”
He tapped his back pocket. “Got it. But thanks for reminding me. I’ve forgotten it before.”
“I miss you already.”
“Me, too,” he said, but he seemed distracted, as if this trip had already started for him. Well, that was fine. It was business, which was a far cry from lolling in bed together. But Sam was a big
him
. With
this
on her left ring finger.
She hadn’t shared her news with Cammie or Anna yet—or with anyone, for that matter. Normally Sam was as much a part of the Tinseltown gossip mill as everyone else. But about this? It felt delicious to keep the secret for herself. For just a little while. The conference call could wait.
Eduardo stirred, stretched like a panther, and opened his eyes.
She smiled at him. “I was watching you sleep.”
On the nightstand next to his bed, his cell phone rang. He ignored it, slinked an arm around her, and curled her into him, kissing her forehead. “Very boring, I imagine.”
“Better than most of what’s on TV, actually,” Sam quipped, even as she wondered if she had morning mouth. If she did, he certainly didn’t seem to mind as he kissed her, raising himself on one flat palm to peer at her in the bright morning sunlight.
For a moment she felt her usual panic—that her face wasn’t pretty enough, that her body wasn’t good enough, that her calves were the size of a thousand-year-old redwood’s trunk. But Eduardo’s eyes only got that lusty look she loved.
“Such a beauty.” He nibbled at her neck, her collarbone, and then between the tops of her breasts. Then his cell sounded again. This time he checked caller ID.
“Sorry, I have to take this.
Hola
.” He answered the phone as he swung his legs out of bed, cradling it between his ear and his shoulder as he pulled on his red silk boxers and walked through the archway into the living room to continue the conversation. Sam strained to hear. Whatever he was talking about was entirely in Spanish. She could only make out a few words.
Nuevo York
—New York—was one of them. Then he was in a part of the apartment where she couldn’t hear at all.
A few minutes later, he returned to the bedroom. She had been dearly hoping they’d pick up where they had left off, but now Eduardo sat on the edge of the bed, looking very serious. “I have to go to New York.”
Damn.
“When?”
“This afternoon. The president of Peru is coming to speak at a special conference at the United Nations in a few days. The guy who was supposed to do the prep work at our mission to the UN had to go home to Lima because of some medical crisis in his family—I don’t know all the details and frankly I don’t want to know. So they’ve got me on a flight out of LAX in three hours.”
“Need a ride to the airport?” Sam offered, trying to be understanding. Eduardo didn’t have an ordinary job. He was an official representative of his country’s government here in America. If the president of Peru needed him, he needed to be there, recent engagement or not.
He shook his head. “They’re picking me up from the consulate here. They want to do some kind of briefing. Please put some coffee on, okay?”
“Okay.” Geez, he was all business. But she put on one of his dress shirts, dropped two English muffins into his toaster, and brewed a pot of strong coffee while he showered, shaved, dressed, and packed in under thirty minutes. The coffee was in a mug on the table when he came into the kitchen with a garment bag. He was wearing a white shirt similar to the one he’d had on yesterday, a yellow silk tie in a double Windsor, and a charcoal gray business suit with black Bruno Maglis.
“When will you be back?”
“As soon as I can. I’ve got a bride-to-be waiting for me. That means I’m highly motivated.”
She grinned happily, loving to hear him say it. “Don’t forget your passport.”
He tapped his back pocket. “Got it. But thanks for reminding me. I’ve forgotten it before.”
“I miss you already.”
“Me, too,” he said, but he seemed distracted, as if this trip had already started for him. Well, that was fine. It was business, which was a far cry from lolling in bed together. But Sam was a big
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