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Her shoulders slumped under the weight of guilt. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she said in a rush. ‘I got such a shock when she walked in—I’m sure she did, too. And then she introduced herself and I realised she was your mother and... She was so lovely... I was just—I couldn’t lie to her about who I was. It felt wrong—’
She broke off and looked at him, feeling utterly wretched, conscious she was babbling. She felt as discomposed as she had the day he’d summoned her to his study at the villa. Why did he have this effect on her? No one else had ever done this to her. Turned her into a flustered, scatterbrained wreck.
She tipped her head back to look at him, said hesitantly, ‘Aren’t you angry?’
He lifted his hands and curled them over her shoulders, his thumbs brushing the sides of her neck. ‘That you respected my mother by not lying to her?’ He shook his head. ‘No, querida. I’m not angry.’
Another surge of relief, this one even more powerful, made her legs feel weak. Or maybe that was simply the impact of Xavier standing so close. She’d lost count of how many times they’d made love, yet still her body ached for his touch so intensely it frightened her.
‘I still feel awful,’ she confessed, letting her hands slide up between them, flattening her palms on his chest. She couldn’t stand this close and not touch him. ‘Talking with your parents about Camila was something you were entitled to do in your own time, whenever it felt right. Now, because of me, it’s been forced on you...’ She bit her lip. ‘Was she upset?’
The sides of his thumbs idly stroked up and down her neck, sending tiny shivers of sensation across her skin.
‘Only a little. My mother has a very understanding nature.’
‘Do you think she guessed that we’re...?’ She felt her face flame. ‘You know...’
He gave a glimmer of a smile. ‘Having a relationship?’
Her heart missed a beat. Relationship? Was that how he thought of their affair? She nodded, telling herself not to read anything into it.
It’s just a word.
‘She didn’t ask me outright,’ he said. ‘But I suspect she’s guessed.’
Jordan let out a little groan of embarrassment, her gaze darting down to her T-shirt and shorts. Elena de la Vega had been pleasant and friendly, but what must she have been secretly thinking? That her son’s standards had dropped considerably from the sophisticated women he usually saw, no doubt.
Xavier, as though he’d read her mind, tilted her chin up and said, ‘She thought you were very charming. And very beautiful.’
Her eyes widened. ‘She did?’
‘Sí.’ He paused, his gaze moving thoughtfully over her face for a long moment. ‘In fact you’ve made such an impression she’s asked me to invite you to a luncheon at my parents’ house tomorrow.’
She blinked. ‘Really? Gosh, I...’ Her heart beat a little faster. Lunch with his parents? ‘How do you feel about that?’ she asked carefully.
‘I think if I fail to persuade you to accept my mother will be extremely disappointed and I may never hear the end of it.’
An evasive answer, revealing nothing of his true thoughts.
Jordan pressed her lips together, silencing the urge to push, to dig for some declaration of feeling that would probably never exist outside her fantasies.
Anyhow, perhaps it didn’t matter what Xavier thought or felt. The invitation was from Elena de la Vega, not her son. Jordan had liked her immensely—had felt a bond of sorts as soon as they’d started talking about Camila.
Elena’s eyes had clouded with sadness and compassion on learning of Camila’s passing, and then with tears when Jordan had explained that she’d met Xavier because she’d brought a letter to him that her stepmom had written.
She’d hoped Elena might assume that she was simply staying as a house guest at the apartment, but if the older woman had already guessed something more was going on... Well, there wasn’t anything to hide, then, was there?
Her mind made up, she smiled. ‘It’s kind of your mother to invite me, and I wouldn’t want to disappoint her—or offend her. So...yes. I accept.’
‘Good,’ he said, although she couldn’t tell whether he truly meant it.
He dropped a swift, perfunctory kiss on her mouth that was barely satisfying, then took his hands off her shoulders. Immediately her body craved their weight and warmth again. She let her own hands fall from his chest before the desire to grab his shirt and pull him back for a proper kiss overpowered her.
He glanced at his watch. ‘I won’t be later than six. We’ll stay at the villa tonight, sí?’
She nodded, pasting on a bright smile that slid off her mouth as soon as he was gone.
Xavier mightn’t have been angry, but he hadn’t looked particularly happy, either.
