Page 49 of Forbidden Deception

“Tell me, Rafael, with your experience in your current position, acquiring new lands, building proposals, and working with such a high number of team members, you’ve surely had many assistants, right?”

He frowns but nods.

“Have you ever fucked an assistant before, Mr Gustav?”

A ghost of a smile touches Rafael’s lips. He pushes his tongue against a cheek and looks to the side, his sharp jaw ticks and perfectly done hair takes hold of my attention.

Rafael doesn’t look fazed, though. He reaches for me and grabs a strand of hair. He tugs at it hard, then tucks it behind my ear.

“Would you like to be the first assistant I fuck?”

I narrow my eyes at him, ignoring the jump in my heart.

“You can’t answer a question with a question.”

His hand moves down my neck, his fingers fluttering over my pulse, which is throbbing. My heart is racing at his crude words, and my desire is more prominent than ever.

Yes, I do desire Rafael, but I can’t cross this path. It cannot be.

He doesn’t answer, but his hand retreats, a stupid smile on his face while he takes a bite of the salad.

“Do you make it a habit to flirt with women half your age?”

A laugh spills out of Rafael, and he throws his head back while his lips stretch into a wide smile. He looks so sexy with a smile on his face, and I am having a hard time believing that he is the same man who was once so dismissive, cold, and outright rude to me.

“Only with brats like you.” He winks, and my mouth drops open.

I am supposed to throw him off, to make him tell me to shut up, but he is engaging in this, and is asking me questions that suggest that he is imagining this. Us. Fucking.

A deep blush starts from my chest and creeps up my neck and all the way to my face.

Rafael smirks.

“Brats like me? How many are there?” I grit out, something very much akin to molten lava boiling inside of me. Fury takes over me like never before, imagining him on a trip like this with another assistant who flirted with him.

I said it as a joke, but it doesn’t feel that way now.

“You’re the first one I want to punish for acting like one.”

19

Ican’t waste the last night in Greece sitting at my suite working until the last minute, so I decide to head out without bothering Rafael. He didn’t contact me after we both went into our rooms.

I am walking past his room when he opens the door. He looks up, and his eyes widen.

“Where are you going?” He looks at my white sundress and sandals, my hair down for the first time in beachy curls, and my face void of any makeup. I truly want to relax on this ride and putting makeup on is the last of my concerns.

“A boat ride I booked. I didn’t want to spend my last evening in the room. The work will be done before our next working day, I promise.”

Rafael frowns, shutting the door behind him, looking delicious in his trousers and his shirt with his sleeves rolled up.

“Why didn’t you book me on the ride, too?”

I stop and look over my shoulder. Rafael is following me.

“I didn’t think you would want to go.”

Rafael frowns deeper. “Don’t you know that with so much tourism around Greece, thieves target women a lot?” He grabs my wrist and pulls me behind him, down the hotel hallway.

---