Determined to Protect, Forbidden to Love. Beverly Barton

in the hallways.”

      She looked him square in the eye and said softly, “Then let’s go somewhere more private. We should set up the ground rules for this charade immediately. That way, we’ll both know where we stand and what to expect from the other person.”

      “Agreed. Come with me.”

      He did not touch her again; instead he allowed her to fall into step beside him as he led her away from the dining room. A few minutes later, he opened the massive double doors to the mahogany-paneled library with bookcases on three sides that reached to the top of the fourteen-foot ceiling.

      “Would you care to sit, Ms. Blair?” He indicated one of the two leather chairs flanking the fireplace, in which a warm blaze emitted delicious heat on this unseasonably cool October evening. Here in Mocorito the temperatures seldom dropped below the high sixties.

      “I’ll stand.” She tilted her chin defiantly.

      Wonderful, Miguel thought. He was dealing with a hotheaded little feminist. How was it possible that a woman could look like a beautiful young Elizabeth Taylor and be a ball-bashing women’s libber? He had encountered numerous women such as this during the years he had spent in the United States, but none had been as lovely as Ms. Blair. And none had been assigned to him as his bodyguard; nor had they played the part of his fiancée for several weeks.

      “Suit yourself,” Miguel told her.

      “I usually do.”

      Miguel huffed.

      “First thing you should know is that there will be no sex between us while we’re playing lovers.” She crossed her arms over her ample chest, as if it to make a point.

      Point duly noted. And her large, full breasts were duly noted, also. “Of course,” he replied. “No sex.”

      “In public, I will play the part of a dutiful, obedient fiancée, a woman totally besotted with you. But in private, I will be myself. Understand?”

      “Yes, I understand. And I will do the same. In public, I will be your adoring future husband.”

      “In matters of your security, my word is law,” she told him. “You will make that clear to Emilio Lopez and Roberto Aznar. Neither they nor you will question my authority in that area.”

      “I assumed Mr. Shea would—”

      “Dom is here to do an internal investigation and to act as my backup. I am completely in charge of you.”

      Miguel groaned silently as the image of this lovely creature dominating him in a very intimate way flashed through his mind, sending arousal signals to his lower anatomy. Willing his traitorous body under control, he nodded, then said, “I am not accustomed to taking orders from a woman.”

      “Well, ‘el presidente,’you’d better get used to taking orders from this woman.” She tapped herself in the middle of her chest. “Because until you take the oath of office and we unearth the people behind the plot to kill you, I’m going to be your worst nightmare.”

      Bristling at her derogatory use of the title, he glowered at her. “Meaning?”

      She smiled. “Meaning you’re going to obey me, not the other way around. When I say jump, you ask, how high?”

      Enough of this nonsense, he told himself. Who did this arrogant, cocksure woman think she was? Miguel Cesar Ramirez had spent his life proving to himself and the world around him that he was a man of integrity and self-assurance, a leader and not a follower. He was on the verge of being elected the president of Mocorito, a country where the majority of women knew their place.

      “You overstep your authority, Ms. Blair. You have not been assigned to this job to issue me orders.You are here to watch over me, to ensure my safety, and even to take a bullet for me, if necessary.”

      She didn’t so much as flinch nor did she blush with embarrassment as most females would do. “I haven’t been here thirty minutes and already we seem to be at odds over the ground rules. And I had so hoped that your being educated in the United States would have prepared you to deal with a woman as an equal. I will play the subservient female in public, but in private, I am in command. Take it or leave it, Señor Ramirez.”

      He surveyed her from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. “Your ego is bigger than you are.”

      “Don’t let my size fool you. You know the old saying, don’t you?” She grinned mockingly.

      He lifted an inquisitive eyebrow.

      “Dynamite comes in small packages,” she said.

      “In your case, I do not doubt it for a moment.” And he did not doubt that under the right circumstances, his little American bodyguard would be as hot as a firecracker in bed. In his bed. He would truly enjoy setting her off and seeing the sparks fly.

      “Then we understand each other? I’m the boss.”

      “If you need to think of yourself in those terms, then by all means, do so,” he told her.

      “Are we at an impasse?”

      “If by that you mean it is apparent that neither of us is willing to back down from our position, then yes, Señorita Blair, we are definitely at an impasse.”

      She heaved a deep sigh, apparently as aggravated with him as he was with her. “We’re in a no-win situation. I suppose you realize that. We’re stuck with each other, whether we like it or not. There is no way another female agent can come in and pose as your fiancée now.”

      “Ah, yes, my fiancée. Who gave you permission to announce yourself as my fiancée?”

      “I was told that you were willing to pass me off as your fiancée, if the circumstances warranted it.” She shrugged. “I felt it was necessary. There’s no way I’m going to pretend to be your mistress for weeks on end. Not here in this male-dominated country where mistresses are second-class citizens.”

      He could not deny the truth of her statement. Mistresses were treated as second-class citizens, a fact he knew only too well. His sweet, caring mother had been treated like dirt beneath the feet of the ladies and gentlemen of Mocorito because she had borne her lover’s child out of wedlock.

      “I had assumed that being anAmerican woman, you would not mind being thought of as my mistress, but apparently I was wrong.”

      “You were dead wrong.”

      He studied her closely, forcing himself to break away from those hypnotic violet eyes. She wore a simple dress of some non-wrinkling fabric in a shade of cream, a complimentary shade to her pale olive complexion. The garment was not too tight, but it draped her body like a well-fitting glove. Until this moment he had not truly taken in her appearance, other than to note that she was beautiful, in a sexy, earthy way. Her short black hair curled about her face in soft waves, enticing a man to run his fingers through the silky locks. Her lips were full and painted hot pink, bringing to mind a set of other moist feminine lips. His body reacted in a natural way, warning him that arousal was imminent.

      He glanced away, took a deep breath and then turned his back on her. He could not allow himself to continue reacting to her in such a carnal way. “Unless my life is in danger, in public you will be the demure, adoring fiancée. Any disagreements we will keep private, between the two of us. Agreed?”

      “I suppose I can live with those terms,” she told him, her lips twitching in a barely restrained smile.

      “Agreed?” he demanded harshly.

      “Agreed, agreed.”

      He glowered at her. “I will tell my guests that you were tired and wished to have dinner in your room tonight. They will understand.”

      She laughed.

      Damn the woman.

      “I take it that I’m being dismissed and sent off to the attic for being a bad girl?”

      “Your