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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
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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
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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
The Boss: A Cozy Romance 30
TRYING not to be overawed by the luXury that surrounded her, Grace settled into her seat on Rafael’s private jet for the long flight from Rio de Janeiro.Once the staff had settled her onto the comfortable leather sofa, they presented her with a glass of champagne and a small package, elaborately wrapped, together with a note.Her hands shaking, she opened the note first. ‘You won’t take gifts or money from me, but I hope you’ll accept this. R.’“This” turned out to be a tiny tape recorder, small enough to fit into her pocket and with an earpiece. Intrigued and more than a little baffled by his choice of present, she switched it on and heard Rafael’s voice summarising every nuance of the accounts. He covered everything they’d discussed, everything she needed to know and she felt the hot sting of tears behind her eyes as she realised just how long it must have taken him to record it and what such a gesture meant.Maybe he didn’t love her, but he certainly cared. He had to care, oth
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She heard Rafael’s sharp intake of breath but she pulled away from him and stepped towards her father. ‘We haven’t forgotten, Dad. Hardly. And as for giving you respect—’ her voice shook as she looked at him,seeing for the first time the mean lines that pulled at his mouth, the coldness of his eyes ‘—respect is something that has to be earned. And you’ve never done that. You’ve never done a single thing in your life to warrant my respect.’Her father gave a grunt of anger and his shoulders hunched. ‘You watch your mouth, girl! No one talks back to me, especially not my own daughter. You’re not too old for me to put my hand across your backside!’Rafael stepped forward with a low growl of warning. ‘Lay one finger on her and I’ll send you somewhere you’ll never need money again,’ he promised in thickened tones and Grace put a hand on his arm in an instinctive gesture of restraint.‘You’re not going to stop me from saying what needs to be said, Dad. I won’t let you threaten me. I’ve
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He hesitated and then took her hands. ‘I suppose at a very young, impressionable age I was given the message that a woman will do just about anything if the price is right. Even give away her child. Amber’s behaviour was simply more of the same; she used pregnancy as a lever to get me to marry her. I never had any reason to change my view of women.’ His eyes found hers. ‘Until I met you. I owe you an apology.’Her eyes widened. ‘For what?’‘For not believing that you were innocent.’ His fingers tightened on her hands. ‘The thing is, Grace, I’d never actually come across truth and innocence before, so when I finally did I didn’t recognise it.’‘You have nothing to apologise for.’‘I hurt you by not believing in you. And I hurt you by not using romantic words when I took you to bed.’ He cursed softly and hauled her against him. ‘I’m useless with emotions, Grace. It’s like another language. I just don’t know any of the right words. You’re going to have to teach me.’Her heart thudded
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