A Touch of Notoriety(29)

‘And is one of those editors the “boyfriend” you suggested might take exception to the two of us being seen together?’

She grinned up at him. ‘Now, that would be interesting, don’t you think?’

‘I believe it would be typical of you rather than interesting.’

She gave a mock pout. ‘You know, Raphael, my feelings could be hurt by remarks like that one.’

He snorted dismissively. ‘Somehow I doubt that very much!’

‘Because you don’t believe I have feelings that could be hurt?’

He gave a derisive shake of his head. ‘Because I believe you would enjoy seeing two men fighting over you.’

Beth’s breath caught in her throat. ‘You would fight another man over me?’

‘Only if he represented a threat to your well being.’

‘Oh.’

Raphael raised mocking brows. ‘Did you expect me to say something else?’

‘Obviously not,’ she muttered.

‘You perhaps thought, after I made the mistake of kissing you last night, that I now have a personal interest in you?’ There was no missing the sharp edge to his tone.

Beth’s cheeks felt hot, both at the reminder of those kisses—and the fact that Raphael obviously thought of them as a mistake. ‘Now you’re being deliberately nasty.’

‘Which, contrarily, somehow seems to give you satisfaction?’

In a strange way it did. But only because Beth was finding she preferred to have some sort of reaction from Raphael rather than none; Mr Iceman of the drive into town early this morning wasn’t acceptable to her at all.

But she certainly hadn’t wanted to be reminded of their time in the gym together last night. Or to hear that it had meant nothing to Raphael—he had made that more than obvious enough at the time!

She deliberately changed the subject. ‘I hope you like Italian food.’

‘Does it matter one way or the other?’ he derided dryly.

‘Raphael—’

‘I apologise,’ he bit out stiffly. ‘That was rude of me. Yes, I enjoy Italian food.’

‘But maybe you would prefer not to be eating it with me?’

How was Raphael supposed to answer that question? On the one hand, he should not even be contemplating sitting down and eating lunch with the person he was here to protect. On the other, Raphael very much liked the idea of having lunch with Beth; it certainly couldn’t help but be an improvement on the dinner they had shared together the previous evening!

Speaking of which... ‘Kevin Maddox is going to try and organise a temporary cook for us at the estate in the next day or so, but if we both eat a hot meal now then we can perhaps manage with a snack when we return there later this evening.’ Raphael chose not to answer her question at all.

‘Oh, very practical, Raphael,’ Beth came back dryly.

Raphael shrugged. ‘I am a practical man.’

She gave a wistful sigh. ‘Yes, you are.’

He moved forward to open the door of the restaurant for her. ‘You make that sound like a reason for criticism?’

‘A little spontaneity would be nice on occasion,’ she dismissed lightly, having given her name to the waiter before he took them to the reserved table near the window.

Raphael followed slowly behind her, knowing that spontaneity was responsible for his having crossed the line the previous evening, when he had kissed and caressed Beth. A lapse for which he had paid dearly when he went to his bedroom later that evening, only to lie awake in his bed long into the early hours of this morning as he remembered the feel and taste of Beth, and the perfection of her breasts tipped with those rose-coloured and responsive nipples that he had lathed and suckled with his tongue and mouth.

Madre mia, he was hard again just thinking about it!

‘Raphael?’

He brought his thoughts under strict control as he took his own seat opposite Beth’s at the table—if nothing else the red-and-white-checked tablecloth served to hide the fierce throb of his erection!

Raphael had been totally disconcerted earlier when Beth came out of the building and moved up on tiptoe to kiss him on the lips—he probably had that momentary confusion to thank for not kissing her back, and so making the situation worse, before she explained exactly why she had kissed him. He hadn’t been immune to the warmth of her hand resting on his arm as they walked to the restaurant together, either. And he was still aware that he hadn’t received an answer from Beth as to whether or not she currently had a boyfriend. Which, for some reason, continued to irritate him...