THE VALQUEZ SEDUCTION(67)

                How had she been so foolish and naïve to expect anything else? Was this why her father felt she had to have someone to watch over her twenty-four seven? She couldn’t be trusted to run her own life. She was too gullible. Not street smart enough to know when she was being used. Luiz Valquez wasn’t the sort of man to suddenly fall in love, certainly not after only four days. How could she compete with the women who took his fancy? She was so ordinary compared to them. He would probably hook up with a replacement while she was on her way to the airport. Las Vegas was full of girls looking for a good time with a bad boy.

                She had stupidly been one of them.

                Belinda and Kate were waiting outside their hotel as the taxi swept in to collect them.

                ‘Where’s lover boy?’ Belinda asked. ‘I thought he’d be seeing you off.’

                ‘He has more important things to do.’

                Belinda gave her a probing look. ‘Uh-oh.’

                Daisy glowered. ‘Don’t start.’

                ‘Have I taught you nothing, Daze?’ Belinda’s tone was exasperated. ‘How many times do I have to drum it into your thick head? You’re not supposed to fall in love on a holiday fling.’

                ‘I’m not in love with him.’ If she said it enough times maybe it would be true. How could she have fallen in love with him? It was the last thing she wanted. The last thing she expected.

                ‘Sure you’re not.’

                ‘I just think he could’ve had the decency to say goodbye at the airport like everyone else does.’ Daisy hugged her handbag against her stomach. ‘I mean, how hard is that?’

                ‘Maybe he doesn’t like saying goodbye,’ Kate said.

                Daisy thought about Luiz’s mother leaving when he was a small child. Had she explained to him where she was going or had she just left? Had he waited for her day after day, not sure if she would ever return? She thought of him being brought up by his older brother, only a child himself, struggling to keep the family together. Their tragically injured father living out the rest of his days in sickness and dependency. Was that why Luiz was so restless and rootless? He hated being tied down. He shied away from commitment. He didn’t bond with people because people always let him down one way or the other.

                Wasn’t that why he always had a call to make or an email to check? He used business to distance himself. It was a barrier he used to keep himself separate from anything emotional. Was he developing feelings for her—fledging feelings he didn’t know how to handle? Like the feelings she wasn’t even game to name? Was that why he’d put the drawbridge up, making her think his conference call was far more important than seeing her off? Was it foolish to hope she would be the one person to dismantle the defences he had built around himself?

                The last four days had been much more than a sex-fest. He had taken her to dinner and shows, spent hours with her, talking about everyday matters. He had told her things he had told no one before—secrets and confidences. He had allowed her in. He seemed to enjoy her company in whatever context. All those times she’d found him looking at her with a contemplative expression on his face were surely not the product of her imagination. It was as if he was imagining the possibility of a future with her.

                Or had that been just wishful thinking on her part?

                As they were checking in a young man dressed in the uniform of Luiz’s hotel came rushing over. ‘Miss Wyndham? This is from Luiz Valquez. He asked me to give it to you.’