Esmerelda Quinn has been looking for a place to belong since
her parents were killed in a car crash when she was young. The closest thing to
home has always been Aunt Constance's villa in Puerto Vallarta, so after a string
of hotellier jobs, she's coming home to run the villa.Santiago Cruz has called the villa home for as long as he can remember. In between surfing events, Constance has always had a room for him. Color him surprised when Constance leaves him with a joint interest in the villa – along with her niece Esmerelda.
Esme isn't thrilled to share ownership of the villa with the the youngest Cruz brother - especially as the Cruz family has been after the villa for years. But Santiago has grown up while she's been away and soon she finds herself falling for the rich boy down the hall – all over again.
Excerpt:
Esmerelda
whirled on Santiago. "I realize
your type never looks a gift-horse in the mouth, but sharing a villa with you
for the next six months isn't my idea of a good time. It isn't even my idea of what the nice side
of Hades looks like, so stop speaking for me." Esme returned her gaze to the lawyer. "I'd like to see my letter. Now."
She held out her hand, barely keeping it from trembling in anger but
Velazquez only shook his head.
"Dios,
you were never this uptight before you left Mexico for your fancy boarding
schools and university. We will read our
letters as Constance requested, after three months," he told the lawyer,
standing from the sofa as if that was the end of it.
Then he
firmly grasped Esme's elbow, pulled her to her feet and frog-marched her out of
the stuffy office before she could protest.
The air on
the street was blessedly cool, a brisk breeze blowing in from the ocean, but
that did nothing to cool Esme's temper.
"How
dare you? You do not speak for me,
Santiago, you didn't when we were kids, you didn't in Napa and you won't
now." She jerked her arm from his
grasp and turned back to the office but he stopped her by positioning his body
in front of the door.
"You
still do not listen, pequena.
Constance has asked you to give her three months to recuperate, do you
not see that? She has given you three
months to prove yourself." He
stepped forward, crowding her against the adobe wall, his voice softening. "You have not been here as I
have." The words lashed at her
heart but Esme refused to let Santiago see that he had the power to hurt
her.
"No,
I haven't been here, watching her condition deteriorate without doing anything
as you have," she said acidly.
"I only had phone calls, where it is an easy thing to sound healthy
even as illness is beating you down. How
would you react if your father pulled a vanishing act, leaving me to run your
hotels around the world while you sat on your thumbs in the corner?"
Santiago
shrugged. "I expect Tobias would
have more issue with Father's decisions than I.
I would welcome the additional time to enjoy the finer things in
life."
She
scoffed. "Like you did in
Napa?"
"I
did enjoy you, pequena."
Author: Kristina Knight
Book: The Saint's
Devilish Deal
Release Date: October
1, 2012
Publisher: Crimson
Romance
ISBN1440552355 (ISBN13: 9781440552359)
Genre: Contemporary
Heat Level: Sensual,
Sex on the Page
Format: E-Book in
Multiple Formats
Author Blog(s): http://www.kristiknight.blogspot.com
http://www.wordwranglers.blogspot.com
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– http://www.facebook.com/kristinaknightromanceauthor
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