Page 32 of Emergency Engagement

To Victoria, he had simply said, ‘Any more toasts to the happy couple, and I’ll make sure that Clement knows just how unwelcome we both find the attention. You wouldn’t want him to disappoint him, would you?’

He hadn’t bothered to explain why he didn’t want the attention. He didn’t bother to paper over the fact that she might have been a little perplexed at this from a guy who had never cared about anyone having an opinion on the love interests he had never sought to hide from public view. He knew that his peculiar change of stance would denote the seriousness of his relationship with Sammy.

He knew how Victoria’s mind worked. The very fact that he wanted privacy would signify the importance of the relationship. Add to that the fact that he’d gone for a woman so completely different from any other woman he’d ever been involved with.

Deep in his thoughts, it took him a couple of seconds to register Sammy’s arrival. Or maybe he’d just not been expecting the woman standing framed in the sliding panels of glass that led out to the back gardens. The lights from behind silhouetted her slender frame, the slim arms, the next-to-nothing waist, the delicate column of her neck and the short, short hair that emphasised the elfin prettiness of her face.

She was in some kind of wraparound sarong. It was gossamer-flimsy and fell to mid-thigh in a riot of orange, russetand blue. The vest top she was wearing revealed the small roundness of her breasts and the toned slenderness of her arms. The practical sandals, which had been a staple of her wardrobe for the past few days, had been replaced by some silver sandals with thin straps that criss-crossed her ankles in a vaguely gladiatrix style.

One hand was on her hip, the other holding a little bag that matched the sandals. Very, very slowly Rafael began walking towards her. She didn’t move a muscle as he approached.

‘You...’ He raked his fingers through his hair when he was finally standing in front of her. ‘You...you’ve dressed for the occasion.’

‘I thought I would.’

‘Good. Good.’

He was struggling to recapture his self-control. He reminded himself, as he had reminded her only a couple of days ago, that their relationship was nothing more than a business arrangement. He’d got caught up in a lapse of concentration at the time and had told her about his father, about the problems he had faced as a teenager when she’d known him all those years ago.

Of course, he’d immediately regretted confiding in her and had made sure to swiftly remind her that any momentary sharing of personal information wasn’t a gateway to...toanything...just in case she’d got it into her head that it might be. As it turned out, he shouldn’t have bothered, because she hadn’t mentioned a word about it since. In fact, she had reverted to type, only showing up on a need-to-show-up basis.

Such as now, dressed in something soft, small and revealing. His eyes dipped and he sucked in his breath at the realisation that she wasn’t wearing a bra.

‘Are you okay?’

‘What’s that?’ Rafael belatedly pulled himself together, but he could feel the thrust of an erection bulging against his grey linen trousers and he had to look away fast. ‘’Course I’m okay,’ he ground out. ‘I was just... I suppose...wondering whether you were going to show up.’

‘I told you that I would. Isn’t this the part where we should be falling into one another’s arms so that we can convince everyone that this is the real thing?’ She shot him a disarming, coy smile.

He was floored. Where was the blushing girl he had grown accustomed to over the past few days?

She reached up and ran her hand gently along his neck, curving the strong jaw, which he clenched in response.

‘What are you doing?’ he demanded huskily.

‘I’m playing to the audience. Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do?’ She made a show of peering around him slightly. ‘I can actually see the malevolent ex glaring in our direction.’

‘Sammy...’

‘Yes?’

‘What you’re doing isn’t so much playing to the audience as playing with fire.’

Sammy could feel her heart picking up speed. She could see from the look on Rafael’s face that she had shocked him with her outfit.

How on earth could something as superficial as anoutfitshock a guy like him? And yet, as he had walked towards her, she had seen the darkening in his eyes. He was taking her in, every inch of her, and she had been thrilled at his reaction.

Which, of course, was also superficial.

‘What do you mean,playing with fire?’ she asked demurely.

‘You know exactly what I mean.’

A sense of heady power surged through her. Whatever ups and downs she had survived in her life, she had always lived within a comfort zone of her own making. She had formed an image in her head of the sort of guy she would eventually meet and had carved out a future based on that image: a nice guy, supportive, safe...the opposite of her appalling stepfather. She had known what she’d wanted to do with her life and had applied all her determination to succeed in her field to the exclusion of anything that might remotely have resembled taking a big risk.So yes, for the first time in her life, she was playing with fire.

Giddy with excitement, Sammy gazed up at Rafael and parted her lips. Her nostrils flared, breathing in whatever woody scent he was wearing, something earthy that went straight to her head.

‘You want me to kiss you?’ Rafael ground out. ‘Because, if I do, it won’t be because I’m playing to an audience.’

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