‘Are you kidding? Dining in a Michelin-starred restaurant beats getting up at two a.m. to go rescue a client’s dog from the airport because our paparazzi-fleeing client had left it behind.’
He frowned. ‘You’re serious.’
‘As frostbite.’
‘Isn’t that more of a minder’s job?’
She shrugged. ‘It is. I found out later.’
‘How?’ he asked.
Her mood dimmed further at the recollection. ‘My parents were trying to teach me a lesson.’
‘A lesson? Or punishment?’ He cut through the excuse.
‘Does it matter?’
‘Sí. It does. And I’m guessing this wasn’t a one-off event?’
She shook her head.
‘Why did they do that?’
‘They found out that I had graduated with two degrees, not one.’
‘Surely that’s a cause for celebration?’
Her heart lurched. ‘You’d think so, wouldn’t you?’ she muttered. Realising they’d arrived at another subject she didn’t relish probing too deeply, she cleared her throat, intending to steer him away from the testy issue of her parents, but Alejandro beat her to the punch.
‘You only list one degree on your résumé.’
‘Because it’s the only one that’s relevant to my present job.’
‘Or it’s the one that invites the least scrutiny?’
Her gaze rose from where she’d feigned interest in the place setting and met shrewd green eyes. ‘You’re digging, Alejandro. I may be tempted to dig back.’
‘Will you be divulging anything that isn’t already public knowledge?’
‘No...but that’s not what I meant.’
One shoulder lifted. ‘You can tell me or I can unearth the truth myself.’
‘Okay, it was an art degree.’ Elise wasn’t sure why admitting that stirred a deeply buried hurt. Probably because a once-precious dream had been desiccated while she’d been scrambling to be done with her current reality.
‘Impressive. And do you use it—’
‘There you are. Apologies for being late, bello! Please say you’ll forgive me? The car service was atrocious. I’m never using that firm again. Oh...I didn’t realise this would be a foursome.’
Alejandro rose, albeit with minimal enthusiasm, as Mindy Stoneley paused dramatically at the table, her wide grey eyes assessing Elise.
Behind her, her husband, a giant of a man with thinning hair and a face that leant towards excess, cracked out a forced laugh.
‘Careful, Mindy. You might give the impression we live a risqué lifestyle.’
Mindy ignored him and held out both hands to Alejandro. When he bent towards her, she pressed her lips to his.
The sharp dart of disquiet that went through Elise held her in place for several paralysing heartbeats, only easing when Alejandro stepped back from Mindy’s embrace.