Page 45 of Bedding his Innocent Mistress

He heard her approach and turned, his eyes linking with hers and doing strange knotty flip flops to her stomach.

“I feel like you’ve flicked a switch and done something to my body,” she said frankly as she moved to face him.

“Yeah?”

“I can’t move without being aware of a need I didn’t even know existed.”

He arched a brow. “How is it possible that your ex was such an asshole?”

She frowned. “He wasn’t … that bad,” she said.

“He was obviously selfish as hell in bed.”

She suppressed a smile, deliberately not responding with any number of the unkind comments she could have made about Steve. A defensiveness towards the man she’d spent a huge amount of her life loving kept her quiet.

“And clearly he didn’t appreciate you,” Rafe pointed out.

“Clearly.” She murmured. “But how many women could say the same about you?”

Rafe’s frown was a deep line. “I’ve never encouraged a woman to believe herself in love with me.”

Ivy rolled her eyes. “You’re saying you’ve never had a relationship?”

“I have many relationships. Relationships with my parents. My friends. Women. But not lingering romantic relationships.”

Curious at his attitude, she asked, “Why not?”

He answered as though it should have been obvious. “I’ve never wanted more from a woman than I could get in a night or two.”

Ivy sat down, perplexed. “So you just sleep with someone and forget all about them?”

“No. I don’t forget about them. But it’s casual. Easy. No big deal.”

She frowned, so he leaned forward and explained. “The woman I’m with want what I want. A casual fling.”

“Like this,” Ivy said with a slow nod.

“Not exactly.” His eyes were watchful. “Did he cheat on you?”

The change of topic caught her off guard. She answered after a beat. “No.”

“So what happened?”

The doorbell pierced the silence wrought by that question. Ivy expelled a grateful breath, leaning back in her chair, staring broodingly at the grey morning beyond his windows.

But Rafe wasn’t a man to be easily put-off. He placed a tray between them and then took the seat opposite.

“Ivy?”

She flicked her eyes to his. What was the point in lying about it? “He didn’t love me.”

Rafe lifted the lid on the tray and began to scoop eggs onto a plate. He handed it to Ivy. “For what reason?”

“A reason?” Ivy murmured, lifting her fork but leaving it dangling in mid-air. “What reason is there? He just woke up one day and decided he didn’t love me.” She shook her head angrily.

“That makes no sense.”

Her eyes narrowed and her heart thumped. The sense that they were moving towards dangerous conversational ground grew inside of her.

---