A Touch of Notoriety - By Carole Mortimer Page 0,30
his arousal today, just thinking about making love with Beth last night!—had proved how much he desired her. But he was also starting to respect as well as like her, to admire her intelligence. Far too much than was wise, given their present circumstances. ‘An answer is unnecessary when there is no boyfriend,’ he rasped.
She put the strap of her bag over her shoulder before continuing outside. ‘Still, I might have found it interesting to know what the answer was going to be,’ she murmured with what sounded like disappointment.
Raphael’s breath caught in his throat, both at Beth’s close proximity, and the insidious and erotic smell of her perfume; an arousing combination of that lightly floral scent and the desirable woman who was wearing that perfume.
He straightened at the same time as he gave a dismissive shake of his head. ‘I believe your lunch hour is over.’
Oh, yes, Beth’s lunch hour was over. And it had been a surprisingly enjoyable hour, interesting conversation in the company of an intelligent and handsome man who also made her heart beat faster just to look at him. An hour when Beth had also learnt much more about Raphael than before: his likes and dislikes, his view on what was happening in the world, the books he liked to read, actors he admired, plays and films he had enjoyed attending. Although he had continued to refuse to be drawn on any remarks regarding family, his own or the Navarros...
It had also been an hour when Beth had noted that several other women in the restaurant had obviously liked looking at Raphael as much as she did. An occurrence Beth found she hadn’t enjoyed at all!
Not that Raphael had seemed in the least aware of any of those surreptitious female glances being sent his way, his attention centered completely on Beth and their conversation.
His professional attention.
Because that was all Beth was, or ever could be, to Raphael: just another person he was employed to protect.
What a depressing thought!
‘You are very quiet.’
Beth sent Raphael a teasing glance as they walked back to her office. ‘Stimulating conversation and delicious food always do that to me.’
He arched dark brows. ‘That is two more things I have learnt about you today.’
Her brows rose. ‘Two?’
He nodded. ‘You are not a morning person, and you go silent when stimulated and satiated.’
Beth felt her cheeks warm as she corrected him, ‘With conversation and food.’
‘Ah, yes, with conversation and food...’
Beth’s gaze sharpened. ‘If I didn’t know better, Raphael, I would think you were flirting with me!’
He gave a hard smile as he shrugged. ‘I am merely practising my role as your presumed boyfriend for when we return to your office building.’
Was he?
And were those feelings of disappointment Beth was experiencing, at the thought that was Raphael’s only reason for being flirtatious with her?
Get a grip, she told herself sternly. Raphael wouldn’t be here in England with her at all if Cesar hadn’t arranged for him to accompany her. If Cesar hadn’t arranged for Raphael to accompany Gabriela Navarro; a young woman with a family and lifestyle that remained totally alien to Beth.
‘Good enough.’ She nodded dismissively as she stepped out more decisively in the direction of her office.
A brisk and no-nonsense attitude, which in no way prepared Beth for Raphael coming to a halt outside the building where she worked a few minutes later, that piercing blue gaze holding hers captive as he took her into his arms and kissed her!
CHAPTER SEVEN
RAPHAEL HAD GIVEN in to the need he had been suffering under for the past hour: to kiss this woman. The initial arousal an hour ago, as he had watched Beth nibbling on bread sticks, had only increased as he had been unable to look away as he watched each morsel of food passing those full and sensual lips.
He gave a groan now and deepened the kiss as Beth parted those lips beneath his, her hands sliding up his chest and over the width of his shoulders, before her fingers became entangled in the short hair at his nape as she curved her body into his.
A response that caused Raphael’s already pulsing arousal to become even harder and more insistent, an insistence that demanded he take this woman...now!
A realisation that shot such a wave of foreboding through him that he abruptly ended the kiss to put Beth firmly away from him before his hands dropped back to his sides, his lids narrowing as he looked down at her warily.
Beth returned that gaze