A Taste of the Untamed. Susan Stephens
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A lot of that shyness had been knocked out of her at the club, where the patrons appreciated her efficiency, but it had all come flooding back that night at the wedding in front of Nacho, transforming what could have been a flirty, fun encounter into a tongue-tied mess.
Shifting her mind from that embarrassing occasion, Grace studied another shot of the man who’d once rocked her world. There was yet another beautiful woman at his side, and Grace had to admit they made a striking couple. And the girl’s expression seemed to warn every other woman off.
‘You can have him,’ Grace muttered, dragging her gaze away. Nacho Acosta might be gorgeous, but that night at the wedding had proved he was well out of her league.
The sound of the nightclub pianist running through his repertoire provided a welcome distraction for Grace, who had always found company in music and books. Her parents had once had high hopes that Grace would become a concert pianist, but those dreams had ended when her father had died and there had been no more money to pay her fees at the conservatoire. Grace hadn’t realised how cossetted she had been until that moment, or what loss really meant. Losing her place at college had been devastating, but losing her father had been far, far worse.
Leaving music college had forced Grace to find a job, and she had been grateful to find a position in a nightclub where one of the top jazz musicians of the day performed. Being close to music at that level had been a small comfort to Grace, who had still been suffering greatly from the death of her father.
Turning back to the computer screen again, Grace studied the picture at the end of the article showing Lucia and her brothers. Lucia was smiling, while each of her brothers either appeared dangerous, brooding or stern. Nacho was at the dangerous end of the spectrum.
It must have been hard for Lucia, Grace reflected. The only girl in a family of four men, how had Lucia ever made herself heard, or seen, or taken account of at all? Lucia had once mentioned that being alone in the Acosta family had never been an option. It was little wonder that she had made a bid for freedom, Grace mused, leaving the family home to work in the club where the two girls had met. Nacho had raised his siblings when their parents had been killed in a flood, and though Lucia was always upbeat by nature she referred to that time as like being under the heel of the tyrant.
Grace shivered involuntarily as she studied Nacho’s face. Everyone knew Nacho Acosta to be a forceful man, who got everything he wanted.
‘Piano-time, Grace?’
She turned at the sound of Clark Mayhew’s voice as he poked his head around the door. Clark was the club pianist she so loved to hear.
‘Come on, Grace,’ Clark prompted. ‘Shut that computer down and get out here. You’ve got a real talent.’
‘Not like you,’ she said, smiling.
Clark shrugged. ‘The only difference between you and me is that I have more confidence.’
‘I wish!’ Grace exclaimed, laughing as she walked across the club, sat down and adjusted the piano stool. ‘I can’t even play without music like you. I only wish I could.’
‘But you can,’ Clark insisted. ‘Close your eyes and let the melody flow through your fingers …’
A bolt of panic hit her as Grace realised she had no option but to close her eyes. The moment she tried to focus her eyes on the music notes and lines began to wheel and collide on the page.
‘Close your eyes, Grace,’ Clark encouraged, oblivious to what was happening. ‘Didn’t I tell you?’ he said when she managed a few bars.
She would definitely have to cut down her screentime, Grace realised when she opened her eyes again. The flashing lights plaguing her vision hadn’t gone away. If anything, they were getting worse.
Two years later
The girl had been eyeing him up since he’d entered the ballroom. It was a magnificent room, currently set out for a formal dinner with small tables laid for eight. An armada of glass and silverware glittered beneath huge Venetian chandeliers, which proved the perfect spotlight for the girl trying to attract his attention. Her figure alone was enough to scramble any man’s head, and the heated invitation in her eyes promised only one conclusion—if he were interested.
He’d pass. He was restless tonight, and bored by the round of engagements his PA had set up for him in London.
Tonight was a so-called power dinner, for movers and shakers in the wine industry. Nacho was better known for playing polo at an international level and running an estancia in Argentina the size of a small country, but his decision to restore the family vineyards was something he had been forced to do in order to protect his siblings’ inheritance. Nothing else would have persuaded him to return to that particular family home in Argentina …
‘Nacho.’
He turned to see the dapper figure of Don Fernando Gonzales, the chairman of the event, approaching. ‘Don Fernando.’ He inclined his head politely, noting the sultry beauty was now standing at the chairman’s side.
‘Nacho Acosta—I would like to present my daughter, Annalisa Gonzales …’
As Don Fernando stepped back an all too familiar sensation came over him as he briefly clasped the woman’s carefully manicured hand. He’d heard Don Fernando was in financial trouble, and the portly chairman wouldn’t be the first father to parade his pretty daughter in front of Nacho. Everyone knew Nacho held the reins to the family fortune, though they seemed unaware that Nacho was wise to schemes born out of desperation, or that he could do more damage to those he cared about than those misguided parents could possibly imagine.
It was almost a relief when he was distracted by the glimpse of a shining blonde head. He stared across the room, trying to work out if he had met the blonde before. His sixth sense said yes, but with only the back of her head to go on it was hard to be sure …
‘Am I keeping you, Señor Acosta?’ Annalisa Gonzales asked him with a knowing look.
Her father had peeled away, Nacho noticed, giving them the chance to get to know each other better. ‘Forgive me,’ he said, forcing himself to concentrate on what was undeniably a beautifully designed face.
‘Are you really as bad as they say you are?’ Annalisa asked, as if she hoped it were true.
‘Worse,’ he assured her.
They were both distracted by the sound of a dog barking, and Annalisa laughed as she turned to look for the culprit. ‘If I had known dogs were permitted at this dinner I would have brought Monkey, my Chihuahua—’
‘Who would have provided a tasty snack for Cormac, my Irish Wolfhound,’ he countered. ‘If you will excuse me, Señorita Gonzales, I believe the MC is about to call us to our tables …’
Grace sat down, relieved to have the woman sitting next to her introduce herself right away. Elias, Grace’s elderly employer and mentor, was sitting on Grace’s other side, but he had been immediately swept into greeting old friends and colleagues, and Grace was keen to prove that she could do this by herself. This annual event in celebration of the wine industry was Grace’s first major outing since becoming blind. It was also the first big outing for her guide dog, Buddy, and Grace was as nervous for Buddy as she was for herself. She hoped they would both get through the evening without making too many blunders.
While Grace was chatting easily to the lady at her side she took the chance to discreetly map the tablecloth and all the various hazards confronting her. A battalion of glasses was waiting to be knocked over—and then there was the cutlery she had to get right. And the napkin she had to unfold without knocking anything over. There were a lot of different-sized plates, along with groups of condiments and sugar bowls. The potential for sugar in her soup and salt in her coffee loomed large.
‘Here’s the pepper, if you want it,’ the lady next to her remarked, flagging up the arrival of the soup. ‘I like pepper on everything,’ she added, ‘though you may want to taste first. It might need salt—’