AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She gasped. ‘I didn’t say that.’
He moved further away. ‘You didn’t have to. Santa Maria! We haven’t been to bed yet, and already you’re seeking excuses to ease your guilt. How long are you going to let your father win?’
Her gasp was a hoarse sound that scraped her throat raw. ‘That’s low, Rafael.’
‘No lower than the way you treat yourself. Have a little pride. You’re a beautiful woman, with a powerfully sexual nature you choose to suppress underneath a staid exterior. But, underneath all that togetherness, your true nature is dying to leap out. To be set free.’
‘And you’re the man to do it? How convenient for you.’
His face remained sober. ‘For both of us. I’m willing to rise to the task. I’m very good at it, too. Trust me.’
‘Trust you. The self-proclaimed damaged man who is trouble with a capital T?’
‘Think of all the experience I’d bring to the task. You couldn’t find a better candidate to bed you if you tried.’
She shut her eyes. Despair wove through her because, deep down, she knew he was right. Her body hadn’t reacted to anyone this strongly since...heavens, since never! But that was no excuse to throw well-served caution to the wind. ‘No. It’s not going to happen.’
He was silent for so long her nerves were stretched to the max by the time he spoke. ‘What did your father do to you?’
‘What makes you think this is about my father, not about an ex?’
‘The first cut is the deepest, no?’
She looked around the too posh living room, at the priceless pieces of furniture that most people would give their eye teeth to own.
She didn’t belong here. Her presence in Rafael’s life was temporary, transient. Baring her soul to a man who didn’t possess one was out of the question. Regardless of what she’d told herself she’d seen in his eyes last night, they were nothing more than ships passing in the night.
In a few weeks she would be gone and Rafael would return, healed, to his regular life. ‘Yes, the first cut is the deepest, and yes, my father hurt me. Badly. But my scars don’t dictate who I am. I am free to choose who to be with, who I have sex with. And I don’t want to have it with you.’
CHAPTER SIX
RAFAEL TOOK HER rejection with more grace than she’d given him credit for, especially considering his reaction to her rejection the day of his last X1 race.
Later that day, after shrugging off her terse pronouncement, they strolled into an exclusive rooftop restaurant overlooking Casino Square. Although a whisper of tension flowed between them, Rafael was as charming as ever.
‘So, what are your plans after you’re done fixing me?’ he asked after the first course had been served.
A strange twinge attacked her insides. Pushing it away, she speared her fork through a plump shrimp. ‘I’ll either get the agency that allocated me the X1 contract to find me another driver to work with, or I’ll find one on my own. I could also try the army facility to see if they need a full-time physiotherapist. I have a few possibilities and I figure after you, every other patient would be a breeze to work with.’
Blue eyes gleamed at her across the table. ‘Gracias, bonita.’
She eyed him suspiciously. ‘What are you thanking me for, exactly?’
‘I’ve obviously become a yardstick by which you measure your future clients. I consider it an honour.’
She rolled her eyes and found herself grinning when he laughed. Shaking her head, she took another mouthful of her delicious shrimp pasta. ‘I knew you were trouble from day one.’
His laughter slowly disappeared. ‘Sí,’ he murmured. ‘What did you call me? A useless waste of space who was taking up valuable oxygen more worthy human beings were entitled to?’
Her fork clattered onto her plate. ‘You remember? Every single word?’ she whispered.
His smile was sharp and deadly, the easy camaraderie from moments before completely annihilated as the tension that had lurked solidified into a palpable wall. ‘What can I say, querida, you cut me to the bone.’
‘Was that...was that why...?’ She couldn’t quite frame the words.
‘Why I attempted to turn myself and my car into a Rubik’s Cube the next day? Ask me again when I remember anything from the accident.’
She shut her eyes for a brief second, a shudder of guilt and regret raking over her. ‘Please believe me, I don’t usually lay into anyone quite like that. That day...’ She paused, unwilling to bare her whole life to him. But then she realised she owed him an explanation of some sort. ‘It was a very difficult day.’
