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‘Yeah. For a while I was exactly that. A bastard,’ he drawled. ‘My father didn’t marry my mother until three days after I was born. As it turned out, they should never have bothered.’
His phone started to vibrate in his pocket and he slid it out to take the call, listening in silence as Sophie continued to pack the rucksack.
‘Where are you planning to go?’ he questioned, once the connection had been cut.
She didn’t look up, terrified now that her vulnerability would be impossible to hide. ‘I haven’t really thought about it.’
‘Well, start thinking!’ He felt a flicker of temper. ‘You’re not protected by your royal status now, Sophie. You’re out i
n the middle of Queensland with a limited choice of transport available, no matter how much money you’re suddenly able to produce. That was my assistant on the phone. He says your presence in my Outback home is generating a lot of interest on a quiet news day—not least because I’m just about to mount a bid for one of Malaysia’s biggest cell-phone networks and there’s been a lot of opposition to the deal.’ His mouth twisted. ‘So thanks very much for that.’
‘I’m sorry this has impacted on you because it was never intended to,’ she said. ‘But I’ll be out of your life soon, Rafe. You can put all this down to experience and forget it ever happened. Which is precisely what you wanted in the first place, isn’t it?’
She zipped up the rucksack and swept her tumbled hair away from flushed cheeks and Rafe was reminded of the way she’d moved over him the night before. He remembered the brush of her pubic hair as he’d tangled his fingers in it. The beat of her heart and how tight she’d felt. The way he’d kissed away her cries of pleasure. And damn it if he couldn’t feel the sudden debilitating jerk of sexual desire as he visualised pushing her down on that bed and ripping open the ugly cotton trousers and doing it to her all over again.
‘If only it was that easy,’ he growled. ‘What do you think it’s going to do for my reputation if I leave you here to fend for yourself among the rabble of newshounds who are due to arrive?’
‘Heaven forbid I might damage your reputation!’
‘You might not care about my reputation, sweetheart, but I do. And I’m not letting you go anywhere on your own.’
She tilted her chin in defiance. ‘That sounds awfully like an order to me.’
‘At least that’s something you’ve got right. Because if that’s what it takes to make you see sense, then it’s an order.’ His eyes bored into her. ‘What’s the matter, Little Princess? Not used to somebody else telling you what to do?’
She stared at the door behind him, as if planning to make a rush for it. ‘If you must know, I’ve spent my whole life being told what I can and can’t do and this is the first time I’ve ever been able to decide things on my terms. So please don’t trouble yourself with concerns about my personal safety, Rafe. I can have some Isolaverdian bodyguards sent out here to look after me.’
‘And how long is that going to take?’ he demanded. ‘Even if your rarefied palace protection people knew how to cope with life in the bush, which I doubt. The situation could dissolve into complete farce with people suffering from heatstroke or getting spooked by some animal they’ve never seen before, or worse. Is that what you want?’
Sophie bit her lip. She didn’t know what she wanted. Well, in a stupid way she did. She wanted to rewind time so that she was back in his arms. She wanted to feel like a normal woman again. And that was never going to happen.
‘I don’t know,’ she admitted, hating the sudden break in her voice.
Rafe stiffened as he steeled himself against that unexpected trace of vulnerability. Because it was all an act, he reminded himself grimly. Everything about her was false. And until her playboy fiancé had jumped ship, she’d presumably been given everything she wanted, no matter how much she might protest otherwise. Well, she was about to learn that around here he was the one who called the shots.
‘You’re going to have to come with me,’ he said, an idea slowly forming in his head. ‘And perhaps we can each do one another a favour at the same time.’
‘Come where?’ She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. ‘And what kind of a favour?’
Rafe stared down at the bulging rucksack as it occurred to him that this—like all bad situations—could be turned into an advantage. Couldn’t the unbearable prospect of having to face Sharla again be diluted by taking Sophie to his nephew’s christening? Because the presence of a beautiful princess would easily trump the fact that one of the world’s most famous supermodels was going to be there.
Haunting him with what she’d done. Or, rather, what she had failed to do.
‘To England,’ he said. ‘I have a family christening I can’t get out of. This is the first time the Carters have been together in a long time and I’m not looking forward to it.’
‘Why not?’
‘Why is none of your business,’ he snapped. ‘Let’s just say that family reunions have never been my thing. But since there’s safety in numbers, you can be my plus one. You get safe passage out of here, and I get someone who can deflect some of the attention away from me.’
‘But I don’t want to go to England for a family christening—and I certainly don’t want to be your “plus one”.’
‘No? Then what else are you going to do?’
Sophie fished around for a suitable answer but with a sinking heart realised her options were limited. They always were. She didn’t want to go home—not right now, when the people of her country would still look at her with sympathy in their eyes. Yet anywhere else would only emphasise her lone status—especially around Christmas time. Wouldn’t travelling with Rafe stop the press from getting too close, while she decided what she was going to do next? Hadn’t she proved that she could cope with hard work and be resourceful? She was young and fit and there was a great big world out there. Why shouldn’t she use this opportunity to decide how best to embrace her new life?
She met the steely gleam of his eyes, thinking about the harsh things he’d said to her. She didn’t like him very much but something told her she’d be safe with him. Not because they shared a special connection because of what had happened last night, but because he was strong and powerful. A man like this could protect you, she thought wistfully. And he could make you want him, even if you knew that wanting him was the last thing you needed.
She could do nothing to stop the ripple of sexual awareness which had started spreading over her body but she did her best not to think about it. His offer made perfect sense but she could only accept it if she took it at face value. She would go along for the ride, but no further. She mustn’t start yearning for things Rafe Carter was never going to give her. Because even though he’d taken her to heaven and back last night, this morning his eyes were cold and unwelcoming.
