The Bride Tamer Read Online Free Page A

airport.”
    â€œAlways errands for your spoiled sister-in-law.”
    â€œShe’s in love,” said Vivian, her voice going dreamy. “That’s a very special time in any woman’s life.”
    â€œI hope she doesn’t think she can manipulate him the way she does you.”
    â€œLook, I’ve gotta go—” Vivian hopped off his boat and raced toward her battered Chevy.
    â€œCall me when you change your mind about sex, baby.”
    She got in and shut her door.
    â€œA sexy woman like you can’t do without it forever—”
    She rolled her window up, hoping she wouldn’t be able to hear him.
    What is it about this testosterone-ridden country? She started her engine and drove off, leaving him in fumes of exhaust and plumes of dust.
    She had to get her life back on track. Aaron White wasn’t the answer. No man was.
    There were some things, like making a life for herself, a real life, that a woman had to do on her own. Too bad it had taken her this long to figure that out.
    Â 
    Tires squealing, Vivian took the final turn on two wheels to her sister-in-law’s sprawling, modern mansion with its shaded terraces and huge, airy rooms. The high walls surrounding the house were painted in bright Gauguin colors and had been a design of Isabela’s world-famous father.
    It was almost too late when Vivian saw the mound of orange fur in the middle of the road and hit her brakes. The dog lifted its head. His huge, brown eyes gave her a trusting stare.
    Oh dear! “Concho! Idioto! Move!” Honking and swerving, she barely missed him.
    The skinny orange dog had turned up in Isabela’s wealthy neighborhood a week ago and instantly won Vivian’s heart. At first Vivian had tried coaxing him out of the street. When that hadn’t worked, she’d sprayed him with the hose every time she caught him, but, dumber than a zero, he still napped in the street every chance he got.
    When Vivian parked her battered Chevy in the carport beside her sister-in-law’s luxurious black, gold-trimmed Suburban, Concho trotted up, whining for a handout.
    His velvet brown eyes got to her every time. Instantly, she began to dig in her purse for a treat. “All I’ve got is a sugar cookie.”
    He jumped, placing dusty paws on her thighs, and barked wildly, wolfing the cookie in a big gooey bite. She got out the sack of dog food she’d bought and filled his bowl in the carport and made sure he had water.
    Usually Miguelito came running when he heard her muffler, but Julio was entertaining him today. It was early afternoon and so hot, Vivian unbuttoned the top two buttons of her white cotton blouse and fanned herself with her hand. When she headed through the wrought-iron gates, Concho whined.
    She turned and petted him. “ Dios. Be good. You know Isabela says no dogs behind the wall.” Concho tilted his head and moaned when she abandoned him. “Gotta go see Isabel—now.”
    Concho’s nails scraped concrete as he pranced back and forth. Then he hurled himself at the gate.
    Out of the corner of her eye, Vivian saw Miguelito swimming in the pool. His dark face, so like his handsome father’s, lit up when he saw her. The housekeeper sat by the pool watching him.
    â€œMommy, come swim!”
    How he loved her, and he was such a little extrovert. He’dgrown up with so many relatives and friends lavishing love on him, he adored everybody.
    Wishing she had time to play with him, she waved back. She could spend whole days just being with him. “I have to see Tía, ” she called.
    Isabela opened the door of her balcony and called down to her. “Did you get the ironing?”
    Vivian was nodding when she heard a wolf whistle. Instantly, she grabbed for the open plackets of her blouse. Looking around, she frowned when she spied Julio on the pool house roof with the roofer. Both men were shirtless and grinning at her like a pair of