A Touch of Notoriety - By Carole Mortimer Page 0,53

and I arranged it with Cesar last night.’

Last night? During Raphael’s telephone conversation with Cesar at the inn, or after the humiliation Beth had suffered at Raphael’s obvious rush to get them out of there once he had discovered she was still a virgin and, as such, untouchable?

Did it really matter when Raphael had arranged for Rodney to take over her security? The fact that he had done so spoke volumes; Raphael was no longer willing to even continue acting as her bodyguard.

She gave Rodney a tight smile. ‘That’s nice. Have you been to Argentina before?’

‘No, but I’m really looking forward to it.’ He grinned.

‘Why don’t we sit down and have a coffee together while we wait for Raphael to—to finish whatever it is he’s doing, and I can tell you the little I know about it?’ Beth suggested with a lightness she was far from feeling.

‘That sounds great!’ Rodney pulled out a chair and sat down at the kitchen table while Beth busied herself pouring them both a coffee before sitting down opposite him and commencing to tell him some of the sights she had seen on her last visit to Argentina.

* * *

Which was precisely where Raphael found the two of them when he entered the kitchen forty minutes later.

He came to a halt in the kitchen doorway as he heard Beth laughing at something Rodney had just said to her. A relaxed and companionable laugh, so unlike the tension that had existed between himself and Beth since the previous evening.

Raphael still felt slightly numbed by how close he had come to taking Beth’s precious virginity. And he was disgusted with himself for the intensity, the raw carnality, of his lovemaking. Not only was Beth an innocent, but Raphael had since realised, as his thoughts had gone over and over the sequence of their lovemaking last night, Beth wasn’t just still a virgin but completely physically inexperienced.

Oh, no doubt she had shared a few passionate kisses with young men of her own age in the past, maybe even a little light petting, but nothing along the scale of Raphael’s depth of lovemaking; in those circumstances, he was lucky she hadn’t run screaming from the inn in total terror of his sexual demands!

He also, despite his denials, felt decidedly uncomfortable about their conversation earlier, in regard to his lack of decisive action regarding the rift between himself and his father. Perhaps it was time, after all, that he did as Beth had suggested and buried his pride before visiting his father?

Although the stricken look that came over Beth’s face as she glanced up and saw him standing in the doorway didn’t encourage Raphael into thinking of sharing that decision with her.

Any more than Raphael would wish for her to be aware of the feelings of jealousy that had ripped through him at the sight of her laughing so naturally with the man he had chosen to take his place as her personal bodyguard.

Cesar had been far from happy with his decision when the two men had spoken on the subject on the telephone the night before, but the uncharacteristic jealousy Raphael was feeling now, because he had only found Beth laughing and talking with another man—a man moreover who was also only a Navarro employee—only confirmed that Raphael had made the right decision in stepping down. He could not protect Beth, in the way she needed to be protected, when he only had to look at her to have his head flooded with memories of their lovemaking, and to burn with an inner desire to make love to her again.

No, his decision to step down had been the right one—even if it gave him an ache in his chest just thinking of handing Beth’s future welfare over to any man other than himself.

Raphael drew himself up determinedly as he strode briskly into the kitchen, his gaze glacial as he glanced at the now-standing Rodney. ‘Edward is ready to take us all to the airport if the two of you have quite finished your...conversation?’

Beth’s eyes widened as she heard the condemnation in Raphael’s tone. What the hell was wrong with him now? Now? There was nothing different about Raphael’s briskly businesslike behaviour towards her this morning than any of the other mornings they had spent together.

She gave a cool nod. ‘I’ll just go upstairs and collect my bags.’

‘They are already in the car,’ Raphael informed her dismissively.

She gave a saccharin-sweet smile. ‘Of course they are.’

Blue eyes narrowed on her piercingly.