Emergency Engagement

CHAPTER SEVEN

D ID SHE KNOW exactly where they stood? She should do. She and Rafael were business associates who had temporarily joined forces to conclude a deal that would be beneficial to both of them. That was what she thought every time he wasn’t around. It was a very reassuring approach to the situation.

For the past three days, ever since he had reinstalled those boundary lines between them, Sammy had done her best to take refuge in the kitchen. So long as she was there, hiding away with her two assistants behind pots, pans, hobs and ovens, she could just about manage to get her brain to do its thing and sternly repeat the mantra about them just being business associates.

Unfortunately, the minute she was in his presence, the last thing she felt like was a business associate. He was just sticking to the brief, playing the perfect partner, sending her hot sidelong glances when eyes were on them, and holding her lightly but intimately in a way that conformed to the image of the possessive guy who just couldn’t keep his hands off his woman.

And, however cool and composed she tried to be, her body went up in flames at the slightest touch. The key thing was to make sure he didn’t see the effect he had on her, but it was hard, because she had to respond in kind, which only turned whatever fire she was trying to control into a full-blown combustion.

The evening before, he had dipped a kiss on the side of her neck, a perfunctory piece of terrific acting, and she’d wanted to pass out. So for the past two nights she’d lurked in the kitchen until everyone had headed up, taking her time prepping for meals the following day and doing all sorts of unnecessarily complicated recipes that required far more attention than the end result probably warranted. And it had worked because, by the time she’d headed up to their suite, he’d been at the desk working and she’d been way too tired to do anything but yawn and then vanish into the safety of her bedroom. And she was up with the larks in the morning to finish the dishes she had spent the night before prepping.

They only really went into their acting roles at dinner but, even so, Sammy knew that she was going to be a wreck by the time the end of the week arrived.

On the bright side, however, whatever chat Rafael had had with Clement had succeeded because Victoria had backed off. If Sammy could have kept a level head, things would have been easier. Actually, if she could have stuck to the routine she had established—fragile though the routine was, because he could still manage to get to her with a sidelong look or a hint of a smile—she could just about have managed.

But tonight...no cooking. She had a night off.

Sammy stared at her reflection in the full-length mirror in the bedroom. It was a little after six-thirty. She had the windows open and she could hear the orchestra of music from all the insects, frogs and toads in the tropical foliage outside. She could also hear the sound of voices and laughter, because everyone was by the pool, gathering for a night on the town.

‘I should really hang back,’ she had said to Rafael the day before when the plan had been announced. ‘Food to prep...’

‘There’s no dinner to prepare.’

‘Lunch.’

‘The other halves will be out again, exploring one of the more remote beaches. They’ll be very happy with some local fare. I’ve made sure that my driver has sorted that out.’

‘Yes but...’

‘You’re fishing for excuses not to come,’ he had said irritably, his dark eyes cool. ‘And it’s not going to work. You clearly don’t like this situation any more than I do, but we both signed up to it, so you’re just going to have to factor in a night of relaxation.’

That sudden coolness in his voice had been a stark reminder of just how detached he was from the effects of the game they were playing. While she was a bag of nerves, he was as cool as a cucumber. He could kiss her and look at her with such heat that she could feel herself burning up, but none of it was real, and it was a real headache trying to deal with that.

‘And this is a club,’ he’d added for good measure. ‘There’ll be dancing and drinking so feel free to wear...whatever sexy little number you’ve brought with you.’

He’d grinned then, all coldness gone, and she’d wondered whether he was teasing her. Did he think that she was as wholesome as apple pie so couldn’t possibly dress like...all those other women he was accustomed to dating?

Still, staring at her reflection now, Sammy thought about the outfits Victoria had showed up in for the past few nights: small and tight and leaving very little to the imagination. She was eye candy on a major scale. All the other women, who were much older, dressed expensively and sensibly: cotton and silk in neutral shades; elegant and timeless. Sammy had pictured the much younger versions of them dressed in exactly the same way—pearls and diamonds, nothing too short and nothing too tight; nothing tasteless.

Just the sort that Rafael would never be drawn to in a million years. She wondered whether Victoria secretly sneered at her. Of course, that didn’t matter, but still... Summer sundresses and flat shoes worked well enough; and of course loose, workmanlike clothes worked for the kitchen because comfort was everything. But in a revelatory flash she’d seen herself from the outside and hadn’t been overjoyed with the image.

So tonight...something different. Having brought nothing sexy with her to wear—not that she actually owned anything that could be called sexy — Sammy had sneaked in a couple of hours shopping on her own while everyone had been occupied, the partners hiding under hats on whatever beach they’d gone to, their other halves poring over documents ready for signing off.

She’d had fun. Shopping wasn’t usually her thing, but this was different because she was shopping for a reason: to shock. Nothing too dramatic, because she wasn’t dramatic by nature, but she wanted to assert herself as someone other than the hard-working, talented chef Rafael had been drawn to in some unlikely turn of events.

Now she slipped on her shoes, took a deep breath and headed downstairs to the join the party. Several cars were laid on for all of them and, if she hadn’t got her skates on, Rafael would have been up in a minute, knocking on the bedroom door and asking whether she’d decided to find some other half-baked excuse for getting out of the evening.

Rafael glanced at his watch.

He always seemed to be glancing at his watch when it came to ‘the love of his life’. It had occurred to him only the evening before that no woman had ever kept him waiting as much as this particular one did.

And, sure enough, he was waiting now. She should have been here fifteen minutes ago. He could see Victoria surreptitiously looking at him out of the corner of her eye.

Thank God he’d had a word with with Clement and her—a gentle reminder to Clement that Victoria might want to take a more subdued approach to his very private relationship with Sammy.

‘We’re both very private people,’ he had confided, whilst wondering how he had got to the point where this felt so much more dangerous than the harmless game of make-believe they had initiated a million years ago. ‘The last thing either of us want or need is for our...er...situation to be discussed on an hourly basis.’

To Victoria, he had simply said, ‘Any more toasts to the happy couple, and I’ll make sure that Clement knows just how unwelcome we both find the attention. You wouldn’t want him to disappoint him, would you?’

He hadn’t bothered to explain why he didn’t want the attention. He didn’t bother to paper over the fact that she might have been a little perplexed at this from a guy who had never cared about anyone having an opinion on the love interests he had never sought to hide from public view. He knew that his peculiar change of stance would denote the seriousness of his relationship with Sammy.

He knew how Victoria’s mind worked. The very fact that he wanted privacy would signify the importance of the relationship. Add to that the fact that he’d gone for a woman so completely different from any other woman he’d ever been involved with.

Deep in his thoughts, it took him a couple of seconds to register Sammy’s arrival. Or maybe he’d just not been expecting the woman standing framed in the sliding panels of glass that led out to the back gardens. The lights from behind silhouetted her slender frame, the slim arms, the next-to-nothing waist, the delicate column of her neck and the short, short hair that emphasised the elfin prettiness of her face.

She was in some kind of wraparound sarong. It was gossamer-flimsy and fell to mid-thigh in a riot of orange, russet and blue. The vest top she was wearing revealed the small roundness of her breasts and the toned slenderness of her arms. The practical sandals, which had been a staple of her wardrobe for the past few days, had been replaced by some silver sandals with thin straps that criss-crossed her ankles in a vaguely gladiatrix style.

One hand was on her hip, the other holding a little bag that matched the sandals. Very, very slowly Rafael began walking towards her. She didn’t move a muscle as he approached.

‘You...’ He raked his fingers through his hair when he was finally standing in front of her. ‘You...you’ve dressed for the occasion.’

‘I thought I would.’

‘Good. Good.’

He was struggling to recapture his self-control. He reminded himself, as he had reminded her only a couple of days ago, that their relationship was nothing more than a business arrangement. He’d got caught up in a lapse of concentration at the time and had told her about his father, about the problems he had faced as a teenager when she’d known him all those years ago.

Of course, he’d immediately regretted confiding in her and had made sure to swiftly remind her that any momentary sharing of personal information wasn’t a gateway to...to anything... just in case she’d got it into her head that it might be. As it turned out, he shouldn’t have bothered, because she hadn’t mentioned a word about it since. In fact, she had reverted to type, only showing up on a need-to-show-up basis.

Such as now, dressed in something soft, small and revealing. His eyes dipped and he sucked in his breath at the realisation that she wasn’t wearing a bra.

‘Are you okay?’

‘What’s that?’ Rafael belatedly pulled himself together, but he could feel the thrust of an erection bulging against his grey linen trousers and he had to look away fast. ‘’Course I’m okay,’ he ground out. ‘I was just... I suppose...wondering whether you were going to show up.’

‘I told you that I would. Isn’t this the part where we should be falling into one another’s arms so that we can convince everyone that this is the real thing?’ She shot him a disarming, coy smile.

He was floored. Where was the blushing girl he had grown accustomed to over the past few days?

She reached up and ran her hand gently along his neck, curving the strong jaw, which he clenched in response.

‘What are you doing?’ he demanded huskily.

‘I’m playing to the audience. Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do?’ She made a show of peering around him slightly. ‘I can actually see the malevolent ex glaring in our direction.’

‘Sammy...’

‘Yes?’

‘What you’re doing isn’t so much playing to the audience as playing with fire.’

Sammy could feel her heart picking up speed. She could see from the look on Rafael’s face that she had shocked him with her outfit.

How on earth could something as superficial as an outfit shock a guy like him? And yet, as he had walked towards her, she had seen the darkening in his eyes. He was taking her in, every inch of her, and she had been thrilled at his reaction.

Which, of course, was also superficial.

‘What do you mean, playing with fire ?’ she asked demurely.

‘You know exactly what I mean.’

A sense of heady power surged through her. Whatever ups and downs she had survived in her life, she had always lived within a comfort zone of her own making. She had formed an image in her head of the sort of guy she would eventually meet and had carved out a future based on that image: a nice guy, supportive, safe...the opposite of her appalling stepfather. She had known what she’d wanted to do with her life and had applied all her determination to succeed in her field to the exclusion of anything that might remotely have resembled taking a big risk . So yes, for the first time in her life, she was playing with fire.

Giddy with excitement, Sammy gazed up at Rafael and parted her lips. Her nostrils flared, breathing in whatever woody scent he was wearing, something earthy that went straight to her head.

‘You want me to kiss you?’ Rafael ground out. ‘Because, if I do, it won’t be because I’m playing to an audience.’

He kissed her. The world disappeared. She felt her whole body slacken as she melted into the kiss, into his arms, her hands weaving into his hair, completely lost in the moment. She was dazed when he pulled back and, when their eyes met, she knew that he wasn’t in control either.

But people were watching, and she adjusted her skirt sheepishly as they both turned to face all the eyes that were glued to their moment of passion.

‘Now, that’s a couple who mean business,’ Robert Kendrick said with a smile as he raised his glass.

Rafael had his arm around her shoulders but this time it was different. She could feel the tension of his hold and she knew he didn’t want to let her go.

‘Not like me,’ Rafael said gruffly.

‘That’s what love can do to a guy,’ Kendrick said, still grinning broadly.

‘Almost makes a guy forget,’ Rafael returned, ‘that there’s a certain booking at a club for us! We’d better get going.’

The kiss stayed with Sammy. It was like a bee sting on her lips as the evening progressed. All the common sense she had invoked to prevent this rush of desire had been thrown through the window.

This evening, she was all about Rafael. The music was sensual and loud, and she let herself go to it, swaying and seducing on the dance floor and loving the way he couldn’t take his eyes off her.

She forgot all about Victoria, barely glancing in her direction, but, with female instinct, she still knew that the other woman would not like what she saw. For the first time, someone else was competing for attention. She wasn’t the only young, strutting beauty in between the staid, impeccably dressed older women. Sammy discovered that she relished the sensation.

‘Let’s get you home,’ Rafael whispered into her ear as the evening drew to a close. The music had slowed and he was pressed against her, his hard body moving rhythmically to the music, his thigh pushing between hers and his hand on her waist, guiding her to his beat.

‘I can’t wait.’

‘Are you saying what I think you’re saying?’

‘Depends what you think I’m saying.’

‘Sammy...’

‘I know. You don’t have to spell it out, Rafael. This isn’t about two people who plan on having a relationship. This is about the here and now, and I don’t understand it any better than you probably do.’

She moaned softly as his hand dipped lower, nestling just above her buttocks. Through the flimsy fabric of her shirt, she could feel its heat burning into her.

‘You’re not wearing a bra,’ he murmured. ‘I like that.’

‘Do you, now?’

‘My imagination has been freewheeling ever since we got here.’

‘So has mine.’ Sammy couldn’t believe she’d actually said that. She felt a rush of daring recklessness.

‘I want to get you into bed.’

The music stopped, and they reluctantly pulled apart, but remained close enough for him to say shakily to her, ‘But I’ll ask that question again when the bed is within sight, because when the music is blaring and drinks have been had words can sometimes be rashly spoken.’

‘Maybe I’ll be saying the same thing to you,’ Sammy murmured, casting a lingering look at his darkly handsome face.

Piled into a car with another of the couples on the way back, Sammy sat in a state of simmering excitement. In her head, she replayed the evening, from standing in front of that mirror and looking at herself in clothes she usually would never have dreamt of wearing in a million years. Tonight had been the culmination of what she had felt the second she had walked into Rafael’s office, all guns blazing, to confront him about the hotel.

She had felt the breath catch in her throat then when she’d seen him and, even though she’d tried her best to stifle that wild, crazy physical response to him, she hadn’t been able to. It had grown under tropical skies and this game they were playing had nurtured it into a full-blown, irresistible craving.

He was forbidden, for all sorts of reasons, and she knew that. He was a guy whose goals in life were so different from hers, a complex guy who didn’t want to settle down and who scorned the straightforward path she had always envisaged for herself. Yet this was the first time she had discovered how alluring the forbidden fruit could be.

She rested her head against his shoulder in the back of the car and gazed out at the scenery flashing past. The windows were rolled down and the breeze blowing through the car was warm. The foliage at the side of the road was dense with huge, flowering bushes and tall, thin coconut trees. Rising up the side of the hills were bright squares of light where wooden houses nestled into the forest.

Looking up, Sammy could make out the pinpricks of stars against the velvety black sky. There was no light pollution at all here.

She sighed and vaguely thought about what waited for her back in England. Her career would begin to take off. Looking for somewhere to buy would be hectic yet enjoyable, because there would be no concerns about money. She should have been thinking about that, and making plans, but it all felt very far away. The only thing in her head right now was the man against whom she was resting.

The cars all arrived at the villa at the same time and there were sleepy goodnights from everyone. Victoria was there, sulky and lurking slightly behind Clement. Sammy ignored her, and she noticed Rafael did as well, confining his brief conversation to Clement while his ex glared and fulminated. Somewhere during the course of the evening, Victoria had seemed to stop trying to dazzle. Now she looked a little sad in her drooping silver sequinned dress that barely skirted her thighs and the high heels that made her tower over everyone in the party.

Sammy and Rafael headed up to their suite and Sammy felt the thud of anticipation like a drumbeat inside her. He was holding her hand and, as he pushed open the door, he turned to her.

‘Okay—question time.’

‘I’ll go first.’ She leaned against the wall and gazed up at him with a sexy half-smile. ‘Sure you’re going to be all right with this?’

‘Let me think about that,’ Rafael murmured, flattening his hands on either side of her so that she was deliciously caged in.

‘I mean,’ Sammy elaborated huskily, ‘I wouldn’t want you to get all upset because you think I’ve taken advantage of you after all that dancing and drinking...’ She walked her fingers over his chest and then stroked the side of his face. Her heart skipped a beat as his eyes darkened with desire.

He held her hand and grazed his mouth against her knuckles.

‘I’ll do my best to keep regrets to the minimum...’

‘Good, and so will I. Because we’re here, Rafael, and I don’t think I’ve ever wanted anyone in my life as much as I want you right now. I don’t understand it, and believe me I know it’s not going anywhere—which is a very good thing—but I can’t seem to help myself.’

‘Ditto.’

And then he kissed her, one hand still propped against the wall, the other teasing the underside of her breast through the stretchy material of the vest.

Sammy groaned. The wetness between her legs was driving her crazy. She wanted to guide his hand there, wanted to pull aside her panties so that he could touch her and drive her even more crazy. He lifted her as though she weighed nothing and she wrapped her legs around him as they managed to make it to the bedroom.

‘I think your place rather than mine,’ he teased, nuzzling her ear. ‘Somehow, a bed is a lot more appealing than a sofa.’

‘I don’t care where we go.’ Sammy groaned truthfully. ‘Just as long as we get there quickly.’

‘You won’t be getting anywhere quickly,’ he murmured huskily in return. ‘At least, not if I have my wicked way.’

He was true to his word. He took his time, leaving the lights off so that the only light came from the moon casting shadows and angles though the shutters into the bedroom. The fan overhead was a pleasing background whirr, picking up from where the night sounds outside left off.

He deposited her gently on the bed and she immediately wriggled up against the pillows so that she could look at him in open appreciation as he got undressed. He was magnificent. Her mouth fell open as he stripped off his tee-shirt, revealing a tightly muscled torso and powerful arms, his chest darkened with hair. Her breathing was uneven as he continued the striptease without an ounce of embarrassment. His boxers were black and she could see the very visible outline of his erection. She held her breath as the boxers came down and he casually touched himself, stroking himself as he lazily strolled towards her.

‘Enjoying the view?’ he ground out, settling on the mattress but, rather than lying next to her, he knelt over her.

‘V-very much so,’ Sammy managed to stutter, eyes glued to the mesmerising sight of him stroking himself. ‘If only I had a camera.’

‘What a wicked thought...’

Rafael smiled. This level of intensity and excitement felt like something he’d been waiting for all his life, freed from all the restrictions he was so accustomed to laying down in his relationships. She was the one laying down the rules, and the rules were his rules. How much more perfect could a situation get?

Gazing at him with green, slumberous eyes, she was the epitome of everything desirable and, with a groan of abandon, he pushed up the flimsy wraparound skirt. She had satin-soft thighs and a flat stomach. He gently eased off her underwear, but he didn’t have the patience to take off the rest of her clothes. Instead, he bent to bury his head between her thighs, and the first taste of her was as sweet as nectar. He flicked his tongue along her wet slit and found the bud of her clitoris. He teased it until she was panting and writhing against his mouth.

Taking it slowly, something he excelled at, was beyond his reach. He’d never wanted anyone as badly as he wanted her and the fact that she felt the same way about him was even more of a turn-on. He couldn’t get her clothes off fast enough and neither could she. Together they flung her stuff over the side of the bed, and he had one moment of excruciating pleasure as he reared up to look at her naked body.

She was so slight, so smooth. Her breasts were small and perfectly shaped, barely a handful, and he could practically span her waist with his hands; yet there was a well-toned strength to her ballerina-like body that spoke of the physically testing career she had made her own, always on her feet and seldom slowing down.

Everything about her struck him as perfect. He tasted her everywhere. He licked her breasts and suckled on her ripe, pink nipples until she was begging him to take her. He stroked her belly and kissed her so that she was senseless with desire. Every second of touching was agony because all he wanted to do was be inside her.

When he could stand it no longer, he reached for protection. His fingers were so shaky that he could barely rip open the foil packet. Sinking into her was bliss. He’d died and gone to heaven. She was tight around him, and her body moved in sync with his so that, as he arched back to orgasm, she too tightened and stiffened, moving in unison with him.

Rafael came on a shudder that forced out a groan of satisfaction and then, sated, he rolled off her and lay beside her.

‘No regrets?’ he murmured, stroking her hair from her damp forehead, and she drowsily smiled back at him.

‘None at all. I never thought I could do this...never thought I could sleep with a guy I don’t plan on having any kind of relationship with. But... I just did...and I’ve never felt so liberated. So, regrets? None...’