Santa Fe Fortune & How to Marry a Matador

leave you here without a driver.”
    “In two rooms, I meant,” she said, shooting Gustavo a look.
    He clutched his hands to his chest, feigning heartbreak. “You can’t blame a man for hoping.”
    In spite of himself, Fernando chuckled. Having been raised in the same house, Gustavo hadn’t only been a boyhood friend. He was the closest thing Fernando had to a brother.
    Eve blushed and flagrantly batted her eyes at Gustavo. “That doesn’t mean I won’t go out for sangria later…”
    “You have to watch it with that sangria,” Jessica said.
    Fernando met her gaze and held it. “Very dangerous, I hear.”

Chapter Eleven

    “Are you interested in Gustavo?” Jess asked as Eve hung three items in her closet. Evie never traveled with more than three items. Mix and match, with assorted colored T-shirts and accessories. Her weekend wardrobe. She’d read somewhere in a magazine that this was how one got away with packing light. For someone who rarely traveled, she’d really taken the advice to heart.
    “A woman would have to be blind not to be interested in Gustavo,” she said. “But that’s not why I’m letting him take me out for drinks.”
    Jess narrowed her eyes, reading her best friend. “You want me to talk to Fernando, don’t you? To tell him tomorrow we’re going to the magistrate and that this marriage is off.”
    “Isn’t that what you want?” Evie asked her reasonably. “Listen, Jess. I understand Fernando’s beautiful. Maybe even nice, and very, very rich.”
    “Wow, you’re making him sound like a cad.”
    “Don’t get snippy on me, pretty please. Stop for a minute. I mean it, totally step back and take a good, hard look at what you’re doing. Leaving your whole country behind, your family, your job…? For a man you’ve known less than a —”
    “First of all,” Jess cut in bitterly, “I never once said anything about leaving my job.”
    “Okay.”
    “Secondly, you know as well as I do that the only family I’ve got left is my mother.”
    Evie sucked in a breath, her expression pained.
    “Besides you, Evie. You know what I meant. Thirdly,” Jess continued. “Fernando and I have known each other more than six months. Maybe not in a way that you think is important, but it certainly meant something to me. The truth is, I’ve known Fernando for a long time, but the side of him I saw was different. That different side wasn’t unattractive either, Evie. He’s a seriously capable business man, incredibly intelligent, and maddeningly quick with the quip. Facts are, if he hadn’t suggested running away to La Esperanza del Corazón, I might have recommended running off to Pamplona myself.”
    “Come on.”
    “I mean it.”
    “You’re becoming incredibly defensive for one reason and one reason only.”
    Jess set her hand on her hip. “Oh? Why’s that?”
    “Because you know I’m right.”
    Jess inhaled a deep breath, then let it out slowly.
    “Generally, you’re right, Evie. I’ll definitely give you that. But, this time, you’re dead wrong.”
    “Great. Then prove it.”
    Jess stared at her and shook her head.
    “Jess, you’ve got to believe me. There’s nothing in the world I want more than your happiness. Your true happiness. Because I love you,” she said, her voice lightly cracking.
    Jess felt a pang of uneasiness. She completely loved Evie too. Always had, forever would. Nobody else had stuck by her the way Evie had. And, she knew in her soul, would continue to. “I love you too,” she said, meaning it absolutely and hugging her tightly. But she also adored Fernando and needed to stay with him. The fates had placed him in her path for a reason. The two of them just weren’t well suited—they were destined. Weren’t they? “But, Evie, you don’t know what it’s like when I’m with him. When Fernando and I are together, it’s like that’s where I’m meant to be—where I should stay.”
    “Exactly why I’m asking you to step away.”
    Jess withdrew, breaking Evie’s embrace.
    “Look,” Evie said with sincere chestnut-brown eyes. “I’m not one to argue with destiny, but I also know that making the right decision, a careful one, takes time. What’s so wrong with going back to America and thinking things over? Go back to work, check in with your mom, go out for a bagel in Brooklyn…”
    “And then?”
    “Jess, if your heart tells you it’s right, you’ll know. Then you can move forward. No second thoughts. Without