Page 28 of One More Sleepless Night

Rafael had never imagined being pleased to have been rejected, but time and time again over the last fortnight he’d thanked God Nicky hadn’t been interested in him, because if she had, and things had gone beyond one brief kiss, who knew what kind of chaos that might have caused?

But it was fine, he thought, letting out a long slow breath of relief. He’d escaped. Narrowly, but who cared? Narrowly was good enough.

Whatever had been going on in his head that weekend, and frankly it made him shudder to think about it, it was over. It had been a blip. A one-off moment of weakness, and ultimately entirely forgettable.

As was Nicky.

*

Now she was actually here Nicky wasn’t at all sure that she’d done the right thing by coming. Yesterday afternoon, when, filled with delight and relief that she was more or less back to her old self, she’d made a plan that involved jumping on a train bound for Madrid this morning, it had felt like the most sensible, the most right decision she’d ever taken.

But now she was standing at Rafael’s front door, her finger poised at the bell, and all the bubbling self-confidence and heart-pounding adrenalin were draining away leaving nothing but an unfamiliar bundle of nerves twisting her stomach.

Because what if he wasn’t in? What if, despite Gaby’s claim to the contrary, he was away at the coast as everyone else seemed to be? What if her mad dash to Madrid hadn’t been the best decision she’d ever made but stupidly and uncharacteristically reckless and completely in vain?

Oh, this was ridiculous, she thought, frowning at a knot in the wood of the front door and giving herself a mental slap. She’d gone to great lengths to get here, starting with wangling Rafael’s address out of Gaby on the very flimsy pretext of needing to forward some post, then facing the daunting prospect of a crowded station, and she was not going to give up this opportunity to find out whether her disturbingly long period of sexual abstinence co

uld be at an end.

She’d had enough of being a wimp at the mercy of her hangups, and, besides, what was the worst that could happen? That he didn’t answer? Or that he did, and slammed the door in her face?

Telling herself that she’d cross those bridges if and when she came to them Nicky took a deep breath, pressed the bell and waited.

As the seconds ticked by with agonising slowness she ran a hand through her hair and nibbled on her lip. Shifted her weight from one foot to the other and fiddled unnecessarily with the zip of her handbag until the jitteriness bouncing inside her got so bad her knees started trembling.

Honestly, what was the matter with her? She never used to get this nervous, so why now? Briefly closing her eyes and telling herself to calm down, she took a series of deep measured breaths until her pulse slowed and the pressure inside her eased.

Just in time, she thought, hearing the sound of footsteps approaching on the other side of the door and feeling a flood of relief wash over her at the realisation that at least someone was home and her journey hadn’t been entirely in vain.

Nicky opened her eyes as whoever it was—and she fervently hoped it was Rafael—stopped at the door, and, during the pause in which he presumably checked her out through the spyhole, she fixed her sunniest smile to her face and gave him a little wave.

Neither of which he appeared to appreciate, judging by the brief but heartfelt burst of Spanish that hit the door. She winced and dropped her hand to her side, and then jumped at the thud that sounded like either a fist or a head being thumped against the door.

Oh, dear. That didn’t sound too promising, did it? In fact that sounded as if he wasn’t pleased to see her at all. But that was fine. She had a plan, and she wasn’t about to back out of it just because he might not be cooperative. In fact she couldn’t wait to put it into action.

If only he’d open the damned door and let her in.

As the seconds continued to roll by and she found herself still face to face with a great flat lump of solid oak, Nicky was contemplating cupping her hands to the door and demanding he let her in when there came a muffled sigh, the latch clicked, the door swung open and there he was, towering over her, tall and broad, his face and his eyes utterly inscrutable.

But, at that particular moment, whether or not Rafael was pleased to see her didn’t seem to matter, because as she looked up into his face and then straight into his eyes a great thump of desire thwacked her right in the stomach and nearly wiped out her knees.

The memory of him kissing her, his big, hard body wrapped around hers, flew into her head, making her pulse race and her breathing go haywire. As he thrust one hand into the pocket of his shorts she glanced at the other one resting on the door frame and had a sudden vision of his hands running over her sun-warmed skin. Heat wound through her and pooled in the pit of her stomach and she went dizzy.

God, if she’d needed any confirmation that her sex drive was back she had it. It was back with such a vengeance it was kind of mind-blowing to think that at one point she hadn’t been interested in him at all.

Taking a deep breath before she started hyperventilating and melted into a puddle of lust, Nicky blinked to dispel the images and swallowed hard. ‘Hi,’ she said a lot more breathily than she’d have liked.

‘Nicky,’ he said flatly.

‘Rafael,’ she said, choosing to ignore the distinct lack of enthusiasm in his voice and giving him a beaming smile. ‘How are you?’

‘Fine.’

‘Can I come in?’

He frowned. Hesitated for a moment, and she had the sudden disconcerting feeling he was going to slam the door in her face. But then the frown disappeared, that oddly sexy aloofness returned and as he held it back instead her stomach settled. ‘Of course.’

‘Thank you.’

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