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The Boss: A Cozy Romance 22
She’d thought that there was hope for him—that there was a chink of kindness. She’d even been arrogant enough to believe that she’d made a connection with him that no other woman had ever made. Which made her nothing short of stupid and because of that she probably deserved all the pain she was feeling now. There was a frown in his eyes, as if he didn’t understand her. And he didn’t, she thought, biting back hysterical laughter. Despite what she’d thought last night, he didn’t even come close. His eyes glittered dark with growing irritation. ‘I’m merely making the point that you won’t find yourself short of money.’ ‘So you’re going to pay me for sleeping with you, is that what you’re saying?’ Sensing danger, he narrowed his eyes and finally rolled away from her. ‘No, that isn’t what I’m saying.’ ‘Isn’t it?’ Dizzy from the speed with which the atmosphere had changed from loving to recriminatory, she sat up, trying to ignore the rising sickness in her stomach. ‘But aren’t you of
The Boss: A Cozy Romance 23
DESPERATELY upset by their confrontation, Grace walked quickly into the forest, following the path to the waterfall and pool that had proved so tranquil the evening before.What right did she have to be upset?What right?Had he made her promises? No, he hadn’t.So why did she feel so let down, so completely disappointed?Because she’d thought she’d seen something in him.She’d never felt so confused in her life. Her newly awakened body was humming and part of her wanted to rush back to the lodge, crawl into bed beside Rafael and forget the complications of her life. He was able to see their relationship in simple, straightforward terms—so why couldn’t she?The answer to that lay in the fact that there was one fundamental difference between them.Despite everything that had happened in her life, she’d never lost hope, whereas Rafael.She felt something sad inside her as she finally acknowledged the truth about him. Rafael appeared entirely disillusioned with women and life in
The Boss: A Cozy Romance 24
‘Don’t ever call me stupid.’ Her voice was hoarse. Raw with hurt and pain. ‘I accept that I took the wrong path and I realise that getting lost in the rainforest could have had disastrous consequences, but I’m not stupid. Don’t call me that, ever again.’He spread his hands, baffled as to why a single word should trigger a greater emotional response than an enormous snake. ‘Then why did you allow yourself to get lost?’She hesitated for a moment before answering, her chest rising and falling as she sucked the air into her lungs. ‘Because I always confuse left and right.’‘Why would you confuse left and right?’ He looked at her, uncomprehending, and she swallowed hard.‘Because I’m dyslexic.’He stared at her. ‘You’re dyslexic?’‘That’s right.’Dyslexic? Rafael spent a moment or two sifting through the archives of his brain. ‘You mean that you have problems reading?’‘Actually no, I’m not too bad at reading, but I’m hopeless at directions, I always miX up my left and right and
The Boss: A Cozy Romance 25
‘But he went into business with you.’‘Yes. At school I spent my whole time dreaming. I was full of ideas and I just knew I could do something good and useful with my life, even if I didn’t take a conventional route. My father said he’d help me.’ She turned away from him and walked to the window, staring into the rainforest without seeing anything. ‘I suppose he saw a way of finally turning me from a disappointment to an advantage. I was never going to be able to check, was I?’‘So now what do you want to do?’Scream? Cry? Thump someone? Slink into a deep hole and never emerge? ‘I don’t know. Let them know that I know.’ She straightened her shoulders. ‘I’ve basically been very stupid.’‘No.’ His voice was fierce. ‘You haven’t been stupid. I see now that you have amazing vision and a huge capacity for hard work. The salary that you pay yourself is nothing.’She frowned, not understanding the relevance of that statement. ‘I wasn’t ever interested in money, I’ve told you that.’He i
The Boss: A Cozy Romance 26
Her heart was hammering against her chest. ‘Yes.’ What other answer could she give? She wasn’t going to admit it was about love, was she? Even she didn’t understand these feelings that had rushed up and engulfed her. How could she expect him to—this man who didn’t even think that such things as love existed? This man who was so damaged that he expected the worst from every woman he met.He stepped closer to her and this time his arms gripped hers as if he wanted to be completely sure that she was paying attention. ‘I thought you were guilty, Grace. I thought you were guilty as hell, but I didn’t even care because all I was interested in was your body under mine and your unquestioning surrender.’And that was what she’d given him, of course. Her unquestioning surrender. She’d given him everything he’d demanded from her.She didn’t flinch under his gaze. ‘Are you trying to shock me?’‘No.’ His fingers bit into the soft flesh of her arms. ‘I’m trying to remind you who I am so that the
The Boss: A Cozy Romance 27
SHATTERED and stunned, Rafael steadied his breathing and gradually became aware of his surroundings. His face was still buried in her neck and the sweet, tempting scent of her hair and skin teased his senses and created a dull haze over his usually acute brain.Forced to acknowledge that he couldn’t concentrate on anything at all when she was this close, he reluctantly moved his hands from her hips.Without his hands supporting her she flopped forward, her head against his chest, her blonde hair soft and tangled. Her breathing was unsteady and she rubbed her fingers over his chest and gently pressed her lips to his skin.The affectionate gesture took him by surprise and for endless seconds Rafael stood still, his hands suspended in the air while he decided what to do with them. What he wanted to do was to drag her back into his arms and just hug her, and the impulse shocked and spooked him because he’d never before felt a desire to express affection following sex.Reminding himsel
The Boss: A Cozy Romance 28
She couldn’t resist teasing him. ‘Would I have made you rich?’He glanced up, a strange expression on his handsome face. ‘If I had more people like you working for me then my life would be a great deal simpler, meu amorzinho. How do you manage to keep the cafés so busy?’She shrugged. ‘I’m good at ideas. I’m hopeless at financial detail and probably always will be, but I see the bigger picture. I know what people want and what is likely to work. I was good at pulling in the customers.’‘Don’t put it in the past tense.’ He dropped the accounts onto the table and looked at her thoughtfully. ‘How would you feel about extending Café Brazil?’Her eyes widened. ‘You mean across the country?’‘Actually I meant across the world,’ he said drily, the faint smile that touched his mouth telling her how amused he was by her provincial ambitions. ‘I think it’s an idea that could become a global phenomenon.’‘There are already lots of very successful chains of coffee shops.’‘True, but none o
The Boss: A Cozy Romance 29
‘There was never a baby to lose.’ His tone was harsher than he intended and his knuckles whitened on his wine glass. Forcing himself to slacken his grip, he studied her shocked face with a faint smile. ‘So you see, Grace Thacker, even the most cynical of us can be duped.’‘She lied to you in order to persuade you to marry her?’ Her eyes were bright with sympathy and something much, much softer that flowed over his ragged nerve-endings and soothed like a balm. ‘She loved you that much?’Rapidly coming to the conclusion that Grace Thacker’s mind worked in a completely different way from the rest of the population’s, Rafael felt his muscles clench. ‘She didn’t love me at all.’‘But if she—’‘Being married to a billionaire comes with certain compensations,’ Rafael drawled lightly, resigning himself to the reality of pointing out what, to him, was totally obvious, ‘not least of all a guaranteed income for life.’‘You think she married you for your money?’‘I know that she married me f
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