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‘Are you okay with this, Mimi?’ he said abruptly. ‘About coming back with me to the house? I mean, I threw it at you at the last minute.’ He grimaced. ‘And it’s not as if I’ve been considerate of your wishes so far.’
Her stomach somersaulted. ‘Are you not okay?’ she asked. Was he trying to be fair? To atone for his behaviour? Or had he changed his mind?
‘Yes. I mean, no.’ He frowned. ‘Or do I mean yes? Whatever.’
She felt his fingers tighten around hers and, lifting her hand to his mouth, he kissed it gently.
‘I really do want you to come and stay with me, but I want to make sure that’s what you want too.’
‘It is.’ She bit into her smile. ‘It really, really is.’
Whatever was in her heart would wait. It would have to wait. Right now what mattered was the heat in his eyes...a heat that felt like a caress against her skin.
Heart hammering, she leaned forward and kissed him. It was a long, slow, deepening kiss, and hunger was zig-zagging through her body as he slid his hand around her waist. She arched against him restlessly, her fingers sliding through his hair.
‘Mimi...’ He groaned her name and then pulled his mouth from hers, breathing out unsteadily. ‘We need to stop now.’
‘Why?’ she whispered against his mouth. ‘Or is that your way of saying you won’t be held responsible for what happens next?’
His glittering gaze locked with hers. ‘Right now I’d say I’m definitely suffering from diminished responsibility.’
‘Really?’ She pressed her hand against his trousers. ‘It doesn’t feel very diminished to me.’
His eyes were trained on hers. ‘We’ll be home in five minutes.’
From somewhere inside his jacket his phone began to buzz, and after kissing him lightly on the mouth she slipped free of his arms. ‘Don’t worry,’ she said softly. ‘I can wait.’
Gritting his teeth, he yanked the phone from his pocket. ‘This had better be important, Rebecca.’
The car slowed, then stopped, and with her head still spinning from Basa’s kiss Mimi opened the door.
As she stepped out onto the pavement a group of maybe thirty paparazzi surged forward, seemingly from nowhere, pinning her against the car. She blinked, blinded briefly by the camera flashes, her hand fumbling for something to grab on to as they called her name.
‘Mimi, over here!’
One of the men pushed his microphone into her face, his nostrils flaring with excitement.
‘Mimi, what’s happening with you and Basa? Are you two an item?’
She turned away, trying to cover her face with her hand. But, sensing her paralysis, they were hemming her in, all of them pushing closer, so close she could smell their collective aftershave.
‘How long’s it been going on? Are you living together, Mimi?’
‘What do you think those pensioners will say when they find out about your affair?’
Her head was reeling, her skin crawling with panic, and she was finding it hard to breathe, much less move.
‘What the—?’
She heard Basa swear violently under his breath, and then he was beside her, shielding her with his body, his size and the unforgiving expression on his face creating a space around them. He pulled her against him as he and his driver shoved their way through the clamouring pack an
d up the stairs into his house.
Her legs felt as though they were made of feathers. ‘It’s okay... I’m okay,’ she mumbled.
‘Of course you’re not okay.’ Basa’s voice was taut, like a sail snapping in high wind. ‘Here, sit down.’
They were in a living room, and gratefully Mimi sat down on a dark green velvet sofa as their driver followed them into the room.
