Page 26 of Bedding his Innocent Mistress

Her heart turned over in her chest and when she spoke, it was with words that were roughened by desire. “Believe me, I enjoyed every moment of what we did last night.”

His eyes probed hers, his expression serious, until finally he nodded. “I get the feeling you don’t have a lot of experience,” he said the words gently, but embarrassment curdled her gut. And yet, what was the shame in that? It was true.

“Is that your way of saying I’m bad in bed?” She asked, the question a croak.

“God, no. Surely you can tell you drive me crazy?”

“Me, or my inexperience?”

“You. And your innocence,” he admitted softly, gently.

“I’m not innocent.” For some reason, the word infuriated her, and yet she knew he was right. She and Steve had slept together, but it had been the most perfunctory and unexciting love-making. There was so much she didn’t know; so much she had to learn. In many ways, she was as innocent as a virgin, and as inexperienced.

She crunched onto the spring roll now, her mind ticking. “You’re not wrong,” she conceded finally, reluctantly. “Steve’s the only other guy I’ve been with.” He hadn’t directly asked, but for some reason she found herself wanting to confide in him. “We got together in high school and we’ve been together ever since. Well. Until seven months ago.”

If Rafe was surprised by this, he took great pains to conceal it. “You still have a picture of him at your desk.”

“I like the picture,” she shrugged, looking away, hoping she could conceal the depths of her emotions if she took great care. “We were together a long time. If I got rid of every photo of us then I’d be wiping out a huge chunk of my life. I’m not ready to do that.”

Silence swirled around them.

“And I liked the tying up,” she returned to his original question. “Though I had no idea underwear could be used in such a way.”

His smile was hard to analyse.

“So what are you going to do to GBRTV?”

“Privilege rule?” He prompted, spearing a piece of eggplant and eating it thoughtfully.

“Yeah, of course. Consider this a cone of silence.”

“Well, I’ve been very impressed with the online developments the company’s taken in recent years. Especially during the past year. And that’s under your leadership?”

Her cheeks glowed pink with the effect of his praise. “We’re a big company,” she reminded him. “I’m responsible for only one team.”

“Yes, but Margerite took great pains to point out your singular obsession with diversifying online.”

“I can just imagine,” Ivy rolled her eyes.

“She doesn’t seem to realise that your input has helped keep the company profitable.”

“If you’re trying to flatter me into bed, you should know, you’re already there.”

He laughed. “You are the sexiest woman I’ve ever met, but believe me, when it comes to matters of business, meaningless flattery isn’t something I engage in.”

Ivy narrowed her eyes. Yes, she could see that there was a hardness about Rafe. Hadn’t she known that from the beginning of their relationship? Hadn’t she felt his implacable, alpha-masculinity? Yes. And she’d loved it. “I do believe you.”

“Things will change at GBRTV. Redundancies. Re-training. Is that going to be awkward for you?”

“Yes.” Her eyes were wide. “These people are my friends. But if you’re asking if it’s going to be more awkward for me because we’ve slept together, then I think I can compartmentalise the two facts.”

“Good.” He reached across the table, curling his hand over hers.

“How long are you in England for?” The question blurted out without her consent and she regretted it instantly. She had been going for low-key, casual lovers, and instead she’d asked possibly the neediest thing, just slightly better than, ‘what are your thoughts on marriage?’.

“I was supposed to fly back Monday, after the takeover meeting.”

She blinked at him. “But you’re still here.”

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