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He’d also proved himself to be a consummate gentleman. If he’d touched her at all it had been only fleetingly, to draw her attention to something—like when they’d stood on a bluff overlooking the city and the impressive bay. Perversely, that had seemed to have more of an effect on her than if he’d touched her with more intent.
He’d taken her to lunch to an admittedly dubious-looking restaurant on the seafront earlier. Catching her expression, he had chided softly, ‘Don’t let its exterior fool you—the owner keeps it looking like this to scare the tourists away. This place serves the best fish in Brazil, and it’s for locals only.’
He’d been right. To Lia’s surprise it had been pristine inside, and the fish had indeed been the best she’d ever tasted, served on a beautiful rooftop with trellised vines keeping the harshness of the sun at bay. The smell of the sea had only added to the taste.
She was acutely aware of Ben now, as he walked close behind her as they looked around the cathedral.
Lia stopped at the wooden altar, which was covered in a thin layer of gold. She shook her head. ‘This is totally over the top, but it’s beautiful.’
‘I know.’
She glanced up to see Ben had come to stand beside her and was looking up at the ceiling. He said, ‘They brought the stone for a lot of these buildings all the way from Portugal, on ships. The sheer industry involved is breathtaking.’
Lia hardly heard what he said. She was mesmerised by the strong column of his throat and that proud profile. The sensual curve of his fuller lower lip. She wondered about his early life. Where exactly had he dragged himself from to become such a titan of industry?
Just then someone bumped into her from behind, making her pitch forward into thin air, but within a split-second strong arms were around her and she was pressed close to Ben’s side as he accepted someone’s profuse apology over her head.
Lia’s breasts were crushed against hard muscle, and every curve
she had and even some she hadn’t been aware of melted into Ben’s form as if they’d just been waiting for this opportunity. Her hands were splayed across his chest and she was very aware of the thin material of his T-shirt. She’d noticed how it had moulded to those defined muscles whenever the breeze had caught it during the day. And the way his faded jeans clung lovingly to powerful thighs and tight buttocks.
For someone who up till now hadn’t considered herself very sexual, some switch seemed to have been well and truly turned to on.
The tour group behind them moved on but Ben didn’t release her. She was filled with lassitude and a reluctance to break free. Slowly she looked up—and fell straight into those bluer-than-blue eyes.
The memory of that hot kiss in New York emblazoned itself on her mind...she wanted to reach up and feel his mouth on hers again. Feel the slick slide of his tongue against hers. Something sizzled.
‘I’m okay...’ Lia finally managed to get out, pulling herself back from the brink of humiliating herself again. ‘You can let me go now.’
For a moment Ben didn’t, and Lia’s heart spasmed with anticipation in the flickering glow of a thousand candles, and then he did, saying with a little grimace, ‘As my thoughts are decidedly unholy right now, I think it’s for the best.’
By the time they’d reached the entrance again and walked out, with Lia keeping a careful few steps behind Ben, she’d almost got herself under control. She’d just had a glimpse of how much he’d lulled her into a false sense of security, but instead of making her angry, she felt excited.
The setting sun was burnishing everything with blazing orange and pink, and some musicians nearby were infusing the air with a contagious tropical beat. An old Bahian couple danced together and for a moment Lia felt reckless, giddy. Just as she had on the dais at the auction... Dangerous. Maybe the intense smell of incense had got to her inside the cathedral? Maybe it was all part of this man’s plan to break down her defences until she was just a weak, pliable mess?
Then he turned to look at her and every coherent thought left her head. She already was a weak mess. Pathetic.
Ben frowned then and plucked his phone out of his jeans pocket, looking at the screen. Lia hadn’t heard a sound, so it must be on silent, and she only realised then how much attention he’d devoted to her all day, rarely looking at his phone at all—which, in this day of digital over-connectivity, was pretty amazing. Especially for an important CEO of his own company.
Her ex-fiancé, who’d had a far less important job, had always been glued to his two phones.
Ben looked at her. ‘That was from a friend of mine who lives here in town. He’s heard that I’m here and he’s invited me to a party in his house tonight.’
Lia felt an acute sense of disappointment that their day was at an end and, terrified by that reaction, said quickly, ‘Oh...of course you should go. I’m sure I can take a bus or a taxi back to the villa...’
He shook his head at her and his eyes gleamed. ‘I don’t intend to go alone.’
Lia flushed with a mix of pleasure and trepidation. Her feelings for this man had undergone a seismic change in just one day—helped by the seductive surroundings, yes, but also because he was proving to be far more enticing than she’d expected.
She’d thought it would be easy to dismiss him. To maintain her aloofness. But right now she was hot and sticky on the outside, and inside, in secret places. Although she had the sense to know that she was no real match for a man like Ben Carter, connoisseur of women. Playboy.
‘I couldn’t intrude, but you should go.’
Ben shook his head and asked softly, ‘When was the last time you did something spontaneous and had fun?’
The question was so unexpected that Lia blinked for a moment. A kind of cold horror swept through her as she realised that she’d couldn’t remember the last really spontaneous thing she’d done. If she’d ever done anything. And as for fun...? She’d had fun with her father on their sailing trips, but they hadn’t done one of those for a long time.
As Louis Ford’s daughter, not a lot of her colleagues saw her as someone to have fun with when she was keeping an eye on things for her father—no doubt afraid she’d report back to the boss. And, her relationship with Simon certainly hadn’t been fun.
