Santa Fe Fortune & How to Marry a Matador

matter to him that they’d never technically been engaged.
    “Jess…” Evie queried. “The silence is scaring me.”
    “He’s not really a matador,” Jess said, blinking hard. “I mean, not anymore. It’s more like the family business.”
    “So what’s this guy do?”
    “He’s in telecommunications.”
    “Hold the phone. Wait just one New York second. This couldn’t possibly be…? Is it Fernando we’re talking about?”
    Jess felt her face flash hot.
    “But you hate the guy!”
    “That’s just what I was saying!”
    “No. You said you’d married him.”
    “That too.”
    “Hoo boy.”
    “Yep.”
    “So, what did you do? Fly to the Spanish version of Vegas?”
    “More like stepped into a time warp.”
    “I don’t understand.”
    “La Esperanza del Corazón, some little Spanish town near Seville.”
    Jess could imagine Evie massaging her forehead. While Evie often got into trouble, she very rarely got stressed. Stressing was Jess’s department. “When did this happen?”
    “Just last night.”
    “Oh, good, then it’s a fresh mistake. Go out and get it undone.”
    “I plan to,” Jess said with more resolve than she felt. “Just as soon as everything here opens back up.”
    “What’s wrong with today?”
    “It’s Sunday, Evie. And tomorrow is some sort of saint day. It will be Tuesday before we can get things straightened out.”
    “Did you sleep with him?”
    Jess hesitated a moment too long.
    “Maybe a little.”
    “A little?”
    “Okay, it was a lot. Quite a lot. Four times, to be exact.”
    “That’s some Latin lover.”
    Jess sighed, reliving the heat of Fernando’s caress trailing down the length of her spine.
    “That good, eh?”
    “I didn’t say that.”
    “You didn’t have to!”
    Jess heard footsteps on the stairs. “Look Evie, I’ve got to run. Fernando’s taking me riding.”
    “Not on a bull, I hope!”
    “Horses, Evie,” she said in hushed tones. “He’s promised to explain the whole thing.”
    “Which thing?”
    “Why he wants to keep this sham of a marriage going.”
    “This sounds dangerous, Jess.”
    “He’s not dangerous, I swear. In fact, he’s a very devoted son.”
    “ You met his mother? ”
    “And she thinks I’m pregnant.”
    “Jess!”
    She heard him approach the door and rap soundly.
    “Is my new bride ready to ride?”
    “Oh my God, is that him? Love the accent.”
    “I’ll call you later,” Jess whispered. “As soon as I know more!”
    “Wait! Don’t—”
    But Jess had already pressed End Call and opened the door.
    Fernando smiled at her sweetly, a bulging satchel slung over his shoulder. “I’m glad to see my sister’s riding clothes fit you so well.”
    Her face flushed as he gave her an appreciative perusal. The fact was, they were a bit snug, but Jess had managed to struggle into them.
    “What will you tell your mother about taking a woman in my condition riding?”
    “I already told her what I’ll now promise you.” He leveled her a look with his deep green eyes, and Jess once again had that tumbling sensation. “That I would never, ever put you in danger.”
    Jess caught her breath, wondering for a panicked second if he’d overheard her phone conversation.
    Fernando brought a hand to her face and gently stroked her cheek. “You do believe that, querida ?”
    Jess felt her heart thunder in response.
    In spite of herself, she did. She was actually starting to fear she’d too easily believe just about anything Fernando told her. She was glad they were going outdoors and far from this room and its host of heated memories.
    “After you,” he said, gallantly stepping aside and letting her pass.

    Eve pulled the ballpoint pen from her hair and anxiously thumped its cap against her desktop. Married to a matador! How could the normally sensible Jessica have let herself get talked into that? What was more concerning still was that she actually seemed to be considering staying in that hasty marriage. Eve turned toward her laptop and quickly pulled up a search engine, typing in Fernando Garcia de la Vega, bullfighter . Links for the name “Garcia de la Vega” popped up. More than two thousand results. Wow. She selected “search images,” and photos of the devastatingly handsome Fernando flooded the screen. Fernando as a boy beside his equally attractive father, both dressed in full matador regalia… Fernando in the ring at twenty-two… A more mature Fernando with a gorgeous woman on his arm at an