Wedding Party Collection: Proposing To The Planner. Aimee Carson

done had there not been a yawning gap of a couple of yards between herself and Diego.

       ‘Hey,’ he said, pulling her close when they were briefly separated by a group of people.

       The fantasy was back on track, but it would have been better if Diego’s sexy vibes were heading her way, instead of him just having to grab hold of her to stop her getting lost in the crowd.

       He enjoyed holding Maxie’s hand. But he wanted more than that. He wanted to make love to her. He wanted to find out if those calm grey eyes would fire with passion as they had when she’d kissed him…

       ‘Carnival?’ she said, distracting him. ‘That’s the theme you want for the charity event?’

       ‘Hardly original,’ Diego agreed. ‘But there’s something for everyone and it works every time.’ He should be glad Maxie had pulled him back to business, but after that phone call—after all those mysterious phone calls—he wanted to drill everything out of her. Although if he pushed too hard he knew she would retreat back into her shell.

       They were entering a large square where competing groups of musicians were trying to make as much noise as they could.

       ‘Carnival can be dangerously overheated,’ he yelled in her ear, ‘so stay close to me.’

       Oh, no. She should be concentrating on how to adapt this city-sized carnival to something on a suitable scale for the Acosta event—not thinking about Diego’s minty breath on her ear.

       ‘What do you think so far, Maxie?’ he shouted above the noise.

       ‘Like I’ve only ever worked in monochrome before,’ she admitted, making a grateful return to business mode. ‘If I can capture all this—’ She gestured around.

       ‘You will,’ Diego yelled confidently, locking his strong arm even more tightly around her shoulders as they got jostled. ‘But no more business tonight—tonight is fiesta. Once a year we can forget about everything and just let go.’

       That was what she was afraid of. There was danger behind Diego’s laughing eyes, and she had too many secrets to let herself go, as he suggested. In fact it was time to move away from the danger zone. The crowd was so dense now they were locked together like lovers. Diego glanced down. Their stares met and held and it was the most natural thing on earth when he kissed her.

       There was nothing natural about it. Diego was her employer and she was here on business. Purely business, she told herself, slowly melting.

       ‘Have you seen enough?’ he murmured, nuzzling his mouth against her lips. ‘Is there some more research you feel you should do?’

       ‘No.’

       ‘Do you think we’ll make it back to the apartment?’ he murmured, smiling against her mouth.

       ‘We can only try.’

       Locking his arm around her shoulders, Diego led her swiftly away.