The Boss: A Cozy Romance のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 21 - チャプター 30

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

‘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

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

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

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