Rafael's Love-Child

‘Ten-thirty.’

But as he turned and headed for the door she found she could no longer hold back. All the feelings, all the hunger he had woken in her came flooding back with such force that before she quite realised what was happening she had opened her mouth and spoken impetuously.

‘Rafael!’

The tone of her voice brought him to an abrupt halt, turning on his heel and swinging round to face her.

‘What is it?’

‘You—you said that—that while I still had no memory then there could be nothing at all between us… But what if things changed? If my memory came back—and I knew all about myself? What would happen then?’

Rafael’s breath hissed in between his teeth as he considered his answer, and the momentary pause made her heart clench in something close to panic inside her chest.

‘If that happened,’ he said slowly, golden eyes burning into hers, holding her unmoving. ‘If you remembered, then things would be so very different. In that case, belleza, all bets would very definitely be off.’

CHAPTER FOUR

SERENA stared out of her bedroom window, struggling to take in what she saw. The contrast with the modest size and facilities of her hospital room, comfortable though it had been, could not have been greater.

There was enough room here to house a family of twelve, an army of nannies, and then some more! The gardens stretched out on all sides, making it impossible to believe they were only a few miles from London. And this was only Rafael’s ‘English base’. The place where he stayed when business commitments brought him to Britain. His family home, he had told her was in Almeria. And he also had an apartment in Madrid.

So what was she doing here, in the middle of all this luxury? How had Serena Martin, a girl from the Yorkshire Dales whose one ambition had been to study History at university and then perhaps teach, ended up living with a Spanish millionaire, ostensibly acting as nanny to his baby son?

‘I told you, I want someone who will care for Tonio,’ he had declared impatiently when, in the car on the way here, she had raised the question that had fretted at her all night. ‘All the qualifications in the world count for nothing if there is no real affection. There are too many horror stories in the papers these days. I prefer to go with my own judgement.’

‘And your judgement says precisely what about me? What can I offer your son?’

‘Two arms to hold him safely, a soft voice to soothe him when he cries. Someone to distract him when he is restless…’

‘Any woman could do that!’ Serena protested. ‘Why does it have to be me?’

‘Are you saying you don’t want the job?’ Rafael questioned sharply, his hands tightening on the steering wheel.

‘No, of course I’m not saying that! It’s just that I don’t see why you are so determined to have me…’

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