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As he continued his conversation, his eyes slid to hers and held. Electricity jolted her and Holly’s heart bumped hard against her ribs.
Wondering how he could have this effect on her when she’d just spent most of the night in bed with him, she plopped down onto the nearest chair.
She felt light-headed and dizzy and wasn’t sure whether to blame pregnancy, lack of food or the shattering impact of the extremely sexy man who was currently watching her with disturbing intensity, apparently paying no attention whatsoever to the person on the other end of the phone.
Cheeks pink, trying to distract herself, Holly cautiously examined the food that had been laid out on the table.
Terminating the call, Casper dropped his phone into his pocket and strolled across to her. ‘I’ve talked to the doctor.’
‘You have?’
‘He suggests that you eat dry toast now. And tomorrow you’re to eat a dry biscuit before you move from the bed.’
‘That sounds exciting. And guaranteed to put on extra pounds just when I don’t need them.’
Casper gave a predatory smile. ‘Since we’ve already established the positive impact of biscuits on a certain part of your anatomy, I think we can safely assume that I’m not going to find you sexually repulsive any time soon.’
‘I didn’t say you were.’
‘But you were thinking it.’ He sat down opposite her and helped himself to fresh fruit. ‘Eventually I’m hoping you’ll realise that you have a fabulous body. Then we can make love with the lights on. Or even during daylight.’
She blushed, as self-conscious about his suggestion that they make love in daylight as she was flattered by his comments about her body. ‘You’re not a
round during the day.’
‘The promise of you naked would be sufficient incentive to persuade me to ditch my responsibilities.’
‘All you think about is sex. I don’t know whether to be flattered or exasperated.’
‘You should be flattered. I’m a man. I’m programmed to think about nothing but sex.’ Apparently seeing nothing wrong in that admission, he reached across and lifted the coffee pot. ‘More?’
Holly pulled a face and shook her head. ‘I’ve gone off it. Don’t ask me why. Something to do with being pregnant, I think.’
Without arguing, he poured her a fresh orange-juice instead. ‘And now I want to know why you assumed I was spending part of the night with another woman.’
Her insides tumbled. ‘Well—it just seemed like the obvious answer.’
‘To what question?’
‘To where you go at three in the morning. Up until today, you’ve never woken up next to me. We have sex. You leave. That’s the routine.’
‘That doesn’t explain why you’d believe I was seeing another woman.’
‘You’re a man.’ She mimicked his tone, hoping that her attempt at humour would conceal the fact that she was absolutely terrified of his answer. ‘And that’s what men are programmed to do.’
‘I get up at three in the morning because I’m aware that you need some sleep,’ he said softly. ‘And if I’m in bed with you I don’t seem to have any self-control.’
Stunned by that unexpected confession, Holly felt her insides flip. ‘But by the time you leave the bed we’ve already—’ Her cheeks heated. ‘I mean surely even you couldn’t?’
‘I definitely could,’ he assured her silkily. ‘It seems where you’re concerned, I have a limitless appetite. So you see, tesoro, you don’t have to worry about the effects of daylight, biscuits, or anything else for that matter. I’m so addicted to your body I even find you sexy in a cartoon tee-shirt—not that I’d ever allow you to wear one of those again,’ he went on, clearly concerned she might decide to put that claim to the test.
Basking in the novel experience of being considered irresistible, Holly sipped her orange juice. He didn’t reveal anything about his own emotions and they didn’t talk about their problems, but they seemed to have reached some sort of truce. ‘So where do you go when you leave our bed?’
‘I work. Usually in the study.’
Holly gave a disbelieving laugh because that altogether more simple explanation hadn’t occurred to her. ‘I just assumed—The thing is, I’ve been so worried.’ Weak with relief, she confessed, ‘I mean, I know you had loads of relationships before me.’
‘I sense this is turning into one of those female questions where every answer is always going to be the wrong one,’ he drawled and she bit her lip.
