Page 17 of Bedding his Innocent Mistress

It wasn’t a question, and yet Ivy asked it of herself anyway. Was she?

“I…” she shook her head, and her gaze was unknowingly bleak. “It’s complicated.”

Something seemed to glow from within the embers of his eyes. Challenge? Determination? “How is it complicated?”

Ivy shrugged her slender shoulders. “We only just broke up…”

“Six months ago,” Rafe interrupted, showing that he had an excellent recollection of their night together.

“Right. Nearly seven.” She winced at the way that sounded, as though she was counting off every day on a sad little calendar somewhere.

“And you were together how long?”

Ivy was deflated. “Does it matter?”

“Answer me.”

Her gaze flew to his face, surprised by the command in his tone. But this wasn’t Rafe Santoro as he’d been in that exclusive casino, nor the Rafe Santoro who’d made love to her and told her he loved the way she looked when she was falling apart in his arms. This was Rafe Santoro, billionaire tycoon, used to commanding a room of far more intimidating people than her.

“I don’t think it’s any of your business,” she said quietly, moving towards her desk and taking the seat. On the one hand, she knew she should stay standing, to maintain some semblance of strength and power. But her legs were weak and she was tired.

“If you think that, then you are stupid.”

She drew in a pained breath. “How dare you?”

He leaned forward, so his face was only an inch from hers. “I dare, Ivy Hennessey, because you have taken over my mind. Because I have not been able to think of anything but you since that night. I dare because you left with no way of contacting you, no way of finding you, no way of ever seeing you again.”

His words were pouring warmth and confusion through her, making her blood gush and her eyes glow.

“I dare,” he said, leaning closer still, “because I don’t believe it’s an accident that our paths have crossed once more. Call it fate, coincidence, stupid dumb luck, but I am not a man to look a gift horse in the mouth. I want you. Do you understand that, querida? I want you in my bed, for as long as I’m in London, and I believe you want that too. So let’s talk about what’s going to happen.”

Ivy’s jaw dropped and she was incapable of speech for several long seconds. She could only stare at him, her mind taking in his decree, her body responding automatically, passionately, filling with lust and need and desire and a soul-deep, fervent ache to do just what he said. To admit that she’d thought of little else but their night together; that she wanted more. All of him.

But Steve.

He was a wound from which she’d never recover, and she didn’t dare allow Rafe to wield the same power.

“Nothing’s going to happen,” she whispered, running her finger over the edge of the desk, feeling a little bump that her chair arm had made one day.

“You’ll come to my apartment tonight,” he said, as though she hadn’t spoken. “And we’ll pick up where we left off.”

Her breath was shaky. “I don’t think you understand. I wanted a one-night stand. I wanted to sleep with you and then leave.”

His eyes narrowed, as he digested that.

“You wanted someone else to make love to you,” he said, the words somehow stony. “You didn’t want your ex to be the only man to have touched you.”

She didn’t tell him the truth – that Steve had barely touched her. That they’d made love a handful of times over the years, but that it had never been a big part of their relationship.

“Is that it?” He prompted, and while she’d been distracted, Rafe had moved closer, his body now looming over hers.

“Partly,” she said with a quiet honesty. She cleared her throat, knowing that she should finish explaining. “He’s engaged to someone else.”

“So I was revenge?” Rafe prompted, still giving away little with his words.

“No!” She spoke emphatically, and the idea curdled her gut so much that she reached over and put a hand on his. “No.” She shook her head. She wouldn’t have their night together reduced to that.

“At first,” she conceded slowly, “I wanted to sleep with you because of Steve. Because I’ve never done anything like that and I wanted to just… have fun. But once we got to your apartment, it was all about you. And us. What I felt.”

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