‘Why?’
‘Why what? Why did we start it? Because…well…and that’s another thing! You started something because you wanted to find out more about me and my intentions and I started it because I ended up being attracted to you.
‘But what we should have done was pay attention to the fact that really, together, we made no sense. I mean…’ She rooted around for the most effective way she could think of to express what she was trying to say…‘You’re talking absolute rubbish.’ He stood up and pulled his chair over to her so that he was up close and personal and they were no longer divided by the width of the room. Now, he could actually see her in the dim, mellow lighting, could actually touch her if he wanted to. Much better.
Amy opened her mouth to object and he covered it with his hand. ‘You’ve had your turn, now it’s mine. Agreed?’
She nodded and he removed his hand.
‘For me,’ Rafael said quietly, ‘the only thing that doesn’t make sense is my life when you’re not in it.’ He was walking the sharp edge of a precipice and he didn’t care. It was liberating to talk. He didn’t understand how he could have doubted his ability to reveal himself to this woman because now he was finding it the easiest thing in the world to do. He reached out, searching for her hand, his eyes still firm on her face, and grasped it in his own.
‘We’ve been over all that business of when we first met, the stupidity of not telling you who I was. But that seems irrelevant to me now. The relevant thing, the life-changing thing for me, was how you made me feel. I met you and I began to see the world, my life, me, in a different way. Do you understand what I’m saying?’
‘No, could you explain further?’ Amy was scared of blinking just in case this magical moment vanished in a puff of smoke.
Rafael smiled, amused. ‘Only if you’re sure I’m not boring you…’
‘Oh, no—’ Amy cleared her throat and tried to maintain her equilibrium ‘—it’s good for men to show their feelings. Real men cry.’
‘Hmm. Not sure about that…what I am sure about is that I misread the obvious when we met. Instead of asking myself how it was that you made me act out of character, I kidded myself that it didn’t matter. When I flew over here to see you, I didn’t stop to think how a simple case of lust could affect me so badly. If I had, I might have arrived at my conclusion earlier…’
‘Conclusion?’ Amy asked hopefully.
Rafael looked down at his fingers entwined with hers. ‘I thought I wanted you, I thought we had unfinished business, but only in the physical sense. That was why I went back to Elizabeth. I was determined to give it another try because I was adamant that what I felt for her had to be more significant than what I felt for you. After all, on paper, she was my perfect match. Which brings me back to what you said about us making no sense together. On paper, we might not, but then love doesn’t obey any written rules, does it?’
‘Love?’ Amy squeaked.
‘Isn’t love what this is all about?’ Rafael looked at her and then touched the side of her face with his hand. ‘I fell in love with you, Amy. You took my ordered, controlled, predictable life and turned it upside down. I finished with Elizabeth when I realised that I couldn’t go on lying to myself and then I came over here to tell you that I can’t live without you. I…I’m taking a gamble that you…feel the same way about me.’
‘And that must be very hard,’ she murmured, ‘because you’re not a gambler by nature.’
Suddenly, it was as if she had spent her life standing in the middle of a storm that was now over. Her thoughts were very clear. ‘But you’re not taking a gamble,’ she said in a low voice. ‘Of course I love you, my darling. I mean…’ she couldn’t resist a reluctant grin ‘…I know I do things on the spur of the moment, but there’s no way I would ever have come to your office just because I was interested in your body. Not,’ she added, ‘that it’s not a very nice body.’
‘Then perhaps you’d like to be a bit closer to this very nice body on that very nice sofa over there, which would be a damn sight more comfortable than me perching over you…’
‘But no touching,’ Amy told him, when they were lying, entwined, on her sofa, which had not been fashioned to accommodate two people in a horizontal position, hence the fact that she was half on top of him and his feet were sticking over the side, ‘at least not until we talk about…what happens next. I know you have a problem with commitment but—’
‘But that was then and this is now.’ Rafael let his lips linger on hers, tasting her sweetness and knowing, with deep pleasure, that he would soon be tasting more than just her mouth. It felt like coming home. ‘And as for what happens next…it’s time for James and I to do a swap, by which I mean that my brother could charm New York with his dazzling advertising skills and I could take London by the horns and really get going on those ideas I’ve been putting together.’
‘You mean you would move over here…for me?’
‘For us…after all, husbands and wives do tend to share the same country.’
‘Now I’m going to cry,’ Amy whispered, her eyes filling up. ‘You know what I’m like…’
Emotional, feisty, soft and very, very feminine. He smiled, his heart filled with a deep, unconditional love.
‘So I take it that that’s a yes…?’
‘Yes, yes, yes, yes and yes! Oh, God. This is so wonderful!’ She inundated him with kisses. ‘I can’t wait for you to make an honest woman of me! And in the meantime…’
‘Let’s see how a dishonest woman shows her love for her man…’
ISBN: 978-1-4268-0199-0
KEPT BY THE SPANISH BILLIONAIRE
First North American Publication 2007.
Copyright © 2007 by Cathy Williams.
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Kept by the Spanish Billionaire Page 17