The Unforgettable Spanish Tycoon Read online

  “I know we were more than just friends.”

  Once Elena Jones had shared an intense entanglement with striking Spaniard Caleb Araya, ending with both their hearts in tatters. Now she’s a successful entrepreneur, and when he rejects a new business proposition, it’s clear Caleb hasn’t forgotten...

  When an accident causes the tycoon to lose his memory, Caleb seems to think they are still a couple! Elena wants to help him recover...but will staying in Barcelona with him just put her heart in jeopardy again?

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  The Sheikh’s Convenient Princess

  by Liz Fielding

  The Unforgettable Spanish Tycoon

  by Christy McKellen

  The Billionaire of Coral Bay

  by Nikki Logan

  Her First-Date Honeymoon

  by Katrina Cudmore

  Dear Reader,

  I’ve wanted to write an amnesia story for a while now and was ruminating on how to start it when a rather intriguing question popped into my head.

  What might happen to someone who’s harbored feelings of anger and hurt toward someone for years—that have tainted every relationship they’ve ever had—if they suddenly lost their memory and found themselves in their enemy’s care?

  And I was away.

  At the heart of it, this story is about how determinedly clinging on to past hurts can stop you from moving forward with your life. In our hero, Caleb’s, case it takes a potentially disastrous event to force him to reevaluate his life and help him see that holding on to anger and resentment is only going to cause him more pain and heartache and ultimately keep him apart from the love of his life. And for our heroine, Elena, it’s the perfect way to finally atone for the wrongs she did Caleb by moving past her risk-averse tendencies to find the courage she needs in order to forgive herself—if she can only keep her heart intact in the process!

  It’s quite a journey for the two of them, full of uncertainty and trepidation as they push past deeply rooted behaviors, but also one filled with hope and excitement for the future. I hope you enjoy tagging along for the ride.

  With best wishes,

  Christy x

  The Unforgettable Spanish Tycoon

  Christy McKellen

  www.millsandboon.co.uk

  Formerly a video and radio producer, CHRISTY McKELLEN now spends her time writing fun, impassioned and emotive romance with an undercurrent of sensual tension. When she’s not writing she can be found enjoying life with her husband and three children, walking for pleasure and researching other people’s deepest secrets and desires. Christy loves to hear from readers. You can get hold of her at christymckellen.com.

  This story is dedicated to my supersmart friend Erica, who talked me through the different types of amnesia and their symptoms, then patiently listened to my rambling and slightly bonkers story idea and still pronounced it something she’d love to read. I really appreciate the time you took to help me shape it into something workable. And thanks for always being such a good friend.

  Contents

  Cover

  Back Cover Text

  Introduction

  Dear Reader

  Title Page

  About the Author

  Dedication

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  EPILOGUE

  Extract

  Copyright

  CHAPTER ONE

  IT WAS UNSEASONABLY hot in Barcelona for February and, what with the adrenaline-spiked blood rushing through her veins and the brilliant sunshine that beat in waves at her back as she alighted from the cab outside Araya Industries’ ultra-modern offices, Elena Jones was just about ready to combust in her made-for-English-weather woollen suit.

  After giving her name in the wonderfully cool air-conditioned reception area, she was shown into a meeting room by a rather anxious-looking PA, acutely aware of the sound of her heels clicking loudly on the highly patterned ceramic tile flooring.

  Swallowing down a twinge of nerves, Elena accepted the offer of a drink of water from the young woman, who for some reason didn’t seem to be able to look her in the eye, then chose a chair at the head of the imposing twenty-seater frosted glass-topped table, carefully hanging her suit jacket over the back of the sharply stylish but rather uncomfortable-looking chair so it didn’t get crumpled. She wanted to look her absolute best today in the hope it would provide her with the boost of confidence she needed to get a positive result from this meeting.

  What was making her most nervous was not knowing how Caleb Araya was going to react to seeing her again after all this time. She was actually annoyed by just how anxious she felt about being out of her comfort zone. After running her own company for the last five years she’d become far better at taking risks and getting a grip on her fear of the unknown, and it took something rather exceptional to faze her now.

  Apparently the thought of coming face-to-face with Caleb again was to be one of those things.

  Would he have forgiven her by now?

  Her heart gave an extra hard thump in her chest.

  He had to have done, surely? What happened between them had been fifteen years ago; he couldn’t still be holding a grudge. He was a businessman after all, a hugely successful one by all accounts, who wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to get in on a profitable deal just because they had a bit of a rocky past.

  Would he?

  Staring out of the floor-to-ceiling windows at the busy street below, she remembered how she’d felt the very first time she’d met him during her second year at the University of Cambridge. At the tender age of twenty she’d thought Caleb Araya was the most arresting, ambitious and charismatic man she’d ever met.

  They’d been good friends once, able to talk for hours about their passion for engineering and their hopes of making a mark on the world after they’d gained their degrees.

  They’d made a strange pair, the two of them, so much so that their classmates had found their friendship a great source of amusement: she a petite, middle class, inner-city-living bookworm and he a hulking bad boy from the wrong side of a small Spanish town.

  But away from other people the formerly laconic, gruff Caleb had been playful, gentle and animated. He’d fascinated her with his passion and drive, not to mention his dangerous sex appeal, and had excited her in ways she’d never experienced before.

  What she’d most loved about him was that despite having a tough start in life Caleb hadn’t let it beat him down. He’d been determined to better his situation through sheer hard work and making intelligent decisions.

  Looking around her now, she could see he’d certainly achieved his goal, and then some. According to the articles she’d read on the Web, his was now the most successful technology and engineering company ever to come out of Spain.

  The door in the remarkably fingerprint-free wall of glass that divided the room from the large, plush reception area swung open, letting in the sound
of Spanish chatter, and she stood up, taking a deep breath and preparing herself to face Caleb with a cool head and a warm smile.

  She was determined not to let her shame about the heartless way she’d treated him in the past get in the way of her objective here today.

  Hopefully, he wouldn’t let any residual antipathy towards her get in the way of a promising business partnership either.

  A wave of nervous tension made her skin prickle as the man himself strode into the room with his PA hot on his heels.

  Caleb was just as captivating as she remembered, probably even more so now that he’d grown into his darkly arresting looks and six foot five, broad-shouldered frame. It seemed he’d only built on the animal magnetism she remembered so keenly too. With his dark, hooded eyes and jet-black hair slicked away from his strong-boned face he looked fierce, indomitable and rather dangerous.

  No wonder his PA seemed so afraid of him.

  The scowl currently marring his craggy features as he approached was so intimidating it made Elena’s heart leap about in her chest.

  ‘Elena Jones,’ he drawled in that same beautiful gravelly Spanish accent she remembered so well, his voice sounding not so much friendly as vaguely amused.

  Her stomach jumped with nerves as he came to a halt in front of where she stood.

  Instead of holding out a hand in greeting, he folded his enormous arms, making his shirt sleeves tighten over his bulging muscles, and looked down at her with one dark eyebrow raised, as if waiting for her to explain how she could possibly have the nerve to show her face here.

  He hadn’t forgiven her then.

  She swallowed hard, wishing she could take a quick sip of water to loosen her suddenly dry throat, but she didn’t want to weaken her position by breaking eye contact with him so she ignored the impulse.

  ‘It’s good to see you again, Caleb. Thank you for agreeing to this meeting.’

  His mouth twitched at the corner as if he were suppressing a smile. ‘My former PA made it without my knowledge,’ he said, glancing quickly towards his current PA, who seemed to shrink into herself a little, as if afraid she was about to take the fall for her predecessor’s mistake. ‘But when I saw your name in my diary I couldn’t help but be curious about what you could possibly want from me after all this time.’

  His presence seemed to grow, crowding out the light in the room as he dropped his arms and drew his shoulders back, pulling himself up to his full height. ‘I’m guessing you’re only here because you need something from me—rather desperately, judging by the power suit and heels.’

  Damn, his dispassionate attitude was going to make her job here so much harder. But there was no way she was giving up that easily. Just because he wasn’t prepared to be friendly it didn’t mean she couldn’t persuade him to agree to give her what she needed. She was going to have to play this meeting carefully though. Apologise—again—if that was what it took.

  Just not yet.

  It was probably best to keep things on a purely business tack for now.

  ‘I’m here to put a proposition to you,’ she said, forcing herself to keep her gaze firmly fixed to his. ‘Although to say I’m “desperate” isn’t at all accurate,’ she lied.

  If she knew Caleb at all, and she thought that she did, showing any kind of weakness at this point would be a huge mistake.

  ‘A proposition?’ he said, a hint of incredulity colouring his voice.

  Elena nodded jerkily, cursing her churning stomach. ‘Yes. I’m sure it’s something you’re going to be very interested in.’

  There was a heavy pause while Caleb ran his piercing gaze over her face—perhaps looking for signs of a set-up, or even a joke—before appearing to decide that she was absolutely serious.

  ‘Then I suppose we’d better sit down,’ he said, gesturing towards the chair she’d vacated and taking another one two places away, which he turned around so it was facing her.

  ‘You won’t need to take any notes,’ he said to his PA, waving his hand dismissively. ‘This won’t be a long meeting.’

  Trying not to show how much his glib assumption riled her, Elena took her own seat and smiled encouragingly at the PA, who gave her a nervous nod in return before scuttling out of the room.

  Poor woman.

  Biting her lip to refrain from saying something to Caleb about his ogre-like behaviour, Elena sat up straighter in her chair and fixed him with a serious stare.

  He looked back at her with one eyebrow raised in apparent curiosity, though the look in his eyes was still hard enough to cut diamonds.

  ‘I don’t know whether you know, but I’m the Managing Director and owner of a company in England called Zipabout,’ she began, leaning forward a little in her chair.

  His expression gave no hint as to whether he’d known that or not so she decided to just forge ahead with the pitch.

  ‘We’ve designed an electric car specifically suited for a single person to make short trips around towns and cities. It’s safer than riding a bike and easy to park in small spaces, but the overarching benefits are that it’ll help cut down on air pollution and unnecessary fuel usage.’ She took a breath. ‘Right now we’re looking to source a large rechargeable battery to run it. The one that your company makes would be a perfect fit for our design.’

  The smile he gave her made her think of a wild animal about to pounce.

  ‘You’re asking me to partner with you?’ he asked with dry amusement in his voice.

  She cleared her throat to try and defuse the tension that was building there.

  ‘That’s exactly what I’m proposing.’

  He nodded slowly, his intense gaze never leaving her face.

  ‘Why did you choose my battery?’

  ‘It’s the best one on the market.’ She held back on revealing that it was the only one that would work with the design now that their previous choice was no longer viable.

  When their former supplier had called a meeting at the eleventh hour to let her know there was an unfixable fault with the battery they’d planned to use in the car, Elena had done some frantic research, only to come to the uncomfortable conclusion that Caleb’s company was the only other manufacturer of a battery compatible with the design. If she didn’t get him to agree to supply her company today it was quite likely the car’s product launch would be perilously held up and they’d lose all the pre-orders they’d worked so hard to accrue.

  ‘And I think a partnership would be highly beneficial for both our companies,’ she went on, hoping to goodness that her nerves weren’t beginning to show. Her whole body was rigid with tension because, most crucially, if he didn’t agree to supply the battery Zipabout could go under and her entire workforce, who had become like family to her over the last five years, would all lose their jobs.

  Tamping down on the dread that sank through her at the thought of it, she widened her smile. ‘I sent some information over to your PA this morning in case you had a chance to look at it before the meeting, but I’m guessing from your reaction that you haven’t. I have a short presentation on my laptop with me though; perhaps you’d like to see it?’

  He regarded her without speaking for what felt like minutes, his dark eyes narrowed in thought. There was something else there in his expression that she didn’t like the look of. Something cold and hard.

  ‘No, I don’t think I would,’ he said finally.

  She stared at him, wondering whether she’d misheard. Surely he couldn’t be dismissing the idea without at least looking at her proposal?

  ‘What—?’ she whispered, giving herself a little shake, then leaning in closer to him. ‘Caleb, at least look at the sales projections—’

  But he cut her off with a wave of his hand. ‘I’m not interested in partnering with you, Elena.’ He stood up. ‘Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a busy day
—’

  ‘Wait!’ She raised her hand with all but her pointing finger clenched into a fist so he wouldn’t see how sweaty her palm was. ‘I haven’t given you all the salient details yet,’ she said desperately.

  ‘I don’t need to hear them; I’ve already made my decision.’

  ‘But—’ She could feel panic rising from her gut. ‘Why, Caleb?’

  He took a step towards her, his face completely devoid of emotion. ‘Because, Elena, I don’t do business with people whose word I don’t trust.’

  She shook her head in disbelief. ‘That was a long time ago, Caleb. I can’t believe you’re still angry with me for that.’ Getting shakily to her feet, she took a step towards him. ‘Please know I still feel bad about the way I handled it all, but we were both so young and naïve—’

  ‘You were naïve,’ he cut in angrily. ‘I wasn’t. I’d experienced far too much ignorance and cruelty in my life for that to be the case.’

  ‘And you’re really still harbouring bad feelings about it? It was fifteen years ago! Surely you’ve experienced enough happiness in your life now to get over it?’ She swallowed down her regret. ‘I read that you got engaged last year.’

  He batted away her questioning look, his gaze finally slipping from hers. ‘It didn’t work out.’

  Something twisted and tightened in her chest, making it harder for her to breathe. ‘I’m sorry to hear that.’

  His expression darkened. ‘Are you? Since when do you care about my love life?’

  ‘I—’ She didn’t know how to answer that. The truth was she’d kept tabs on what he’d been up to over the intervening years because, despite the fact their friendship had ended badly, she still cared about him. Not that she thought telling him that right now would do anything to strengthen her case. He’d probably just see it as more weakness.

  Caleb used her hesitation to push the knife in deeper.

  ‘How is—what was his name?—Johnny, was it? Are the two of you still living your safe, comfortable life together?’