Cairo had decided to put him firmly from her mind—along with that earlier, erotic, conversation with Rafe!—once she realized she was actually enjoying herself, having reacquainted herself with several friends that she hadn’t seen since her move to London.

Until she chanced to glance across at the entrance of the marquee and see Lionel making a belated appearance!

‘Maybe he wasn’t invited.’ She sighed, knowing that Lionel was quite capable of inviting himself if he had learnt that Cairo was here, seeing as she had so far evaded all of his previous efforts to see or speak to her.

‘Do you want to leave?’ Rafe asked.

Did she?

Admittedly, seeing Lionel again like this so unexpectedly had been a shock, but if she left now, it would look as if she was running away from an awkward situation. Worse, she would feel as if she was running away!

‘No, I don’t want to leave,’ she answered Rafe firmly. ‘Let’s just continue to circulate, hmm?’ she suggested tautly as she slid her hand into the crook of his arm.

‘Fine with me.’ Rafe nodded as he looked down at her with approval.

Despite her claim that she had nothing suitable to wear, Cairo looked stunningly beautiful this evening, the simple black sheath of a dress she wore giving her a classically elegant appearance when compared to all the glittering gowns being worn by the other women present. Her red hair was loose and silky about her shoulders, her eyes dark and luminous in her lightly tanned face, her lips glossed a challenging red.

Warpaint she might need before this evening was over, Rafe acknowledged heavily as he saw Lionel Bond making his way determinedly towards them.

Her ex-husband came to a halt in front of Cairo, his smile smooth and self-assured. ‘I had no idea you were going to be here this evening, Cairo,’ he greeted lightly. ‘I seem to recall your telling me you hated this sort of thing?’ he added quizzically.

Cairo returned that smile even as her grip tightened on Rafe’s arm and her nails dug into the sleeve of his dinner jacket. ‘I’ve made tonight an exception,’ she replied coolly.

Rafe’s gaze narrowed as he saw the way Bond was looking at Cairo with such warmth. Not entirely surprisingly, he found his own feelings towards her ex were far from friendly.

He could see why she’d been attracted to the man, of course. For not only was Lionel Bond incredibly rich and powerful, he was also six feet tall, still athletically fit in his late forties, with a boyishly handsome face and blond hair tinged a distinguishing grey at the temples.

Yes, Rafe could see the reason Cairo had once been attracted to this man. That she might still be attracted to him, in spite of their recent divorce …?

Cairo was sure that her knees were shaking so much they were actually knocking together! It hadn’t even occurred to her that Lionel might be here this evening. She definitely wouldn’t have come if it had.

And yet …

This first meeting since their divorce, a meeting she had steadfastly avoided in spite of Lionel’s repeated efforts for it to be otherwise, had to have happened at some time, so why not get it over and done with?

The guilt she had carried with her for so long where Lionel was concerned, unable to love him and yet unable to leave him, either, because of that guilt, along with the fear that she might be the reason for his gambling addiction, no longer seemed like quite such a heavy weight as she looked at him now. Lionel looked surprisingly fit and well, and was obviously surviving quite well without her.

Perhaps he really had finally been able to stop the addiction that had for so long threatened to ruin him….

‘I wonder why you’ve made tonight an exception?’ Lionel turned to look at Rafe, his pale grey gaze wide with speculation.

Cairo turned to include Rafe in their conversation. ‘You know Rafe of course …?’

‘Of course.’ Lionel nodded briefly in the younger man’s direction, neither one making any attempt to shake hands.

Cairo couldn’t help but appreciate the differences she could see in the two men as they stood so close together, Rafe so dark and compellingly attractive, Lionel a golden blond and all that was suave and handsomely self-assured.

But the expression of dislike on both men’s faces was identical as hard blue eyes clashed with steely grey!

‘I must say that I would have expected you to be a little more—original, shall we say—in your choice of lover, Cairo,’ Lionel challenged as he looked at Rafe. ‘I had rather hoped I’d taught you to be a little more discerning in your tastes over the years.’

Cairo’s breath caught in her throat at the deliberate insult, and she could feel Rafe’s tension in his arm beneath her hand as he also recognized the directness of Lionel’s attack.

Lionel had never been happy about her previous involvement with Rafe eight years ago, had considered Rafe one of the ‘wild’ set that had dominated Hollywood at the time. But Rafe had matured into a formidable and dangerous opponent in the intervening years, and he looked every bit as suave as Lionel this evening in the tailored black evening suit, snowy white shirt and red bow tie.

She gave her ex-husband a confident smile. ‘There has never been anything wrong with my taste.’

‘Really?’ The intensity of Lionel’s gaze seemed to look for some inclusion of himself in that statement.

‘Yes—really,’ Cairo echoed softly. ‘Now if you’ll excuse us—’

‘You’re looking rather beautiful this evening, Cairo,’ Lionel told her warmly.

‘I— Thank you.’ She gave him a censorious frown.

‘I’m sure Montero agrees with me, don’t you, Montero?’ he added with a mocking glance.

Rafe had never felt so much like hitting another man as he did at that moment. Not that he was going to. For one thing, it would achieve nothing except to relieve his own anger towards this man for even looking at Cairo so warmly. For another, he wouldn’t give Bond the satisfaction of knowing how much it bothered him.

Rafe also doubted that Cairo would appreciate it if he laid her ex-husband out cold at her feet!

He released his arm from Cairo’s hand to curve it about her waist, effectively pulling her to his side. ‘In my experience, Cairo looks beautiful whatever the—occasion,’ he drawled provocatively.

This conversation was spiralling out of control, Cairo decided impatiently. Ridiculously so, seeing as she and Lionel were already divorced, and she didn’t have any relationship at all with Rafe!

‘Enjoyable as this conversation is—’ her tone implied the opposite ‘—I think I would like to go outside for some air, Rafe.’ She looked at him compellingly.

Rafe gave a terse inclination of his head. ‘Of course—’

‘Uncle Lionel?’

Cairo had completely forgotten—not surprisingly!—Daisy’s presence until that moment, her young niece rejoining them now that she had finished speaking to the young actor they had introduced her to after she had asked to meet him so she could tell the other girls about it when she returned to school next week!

‘Daisy?’ Lionel raised surprised brows as he turned to look at his former niece.

Daisy grinned up at him unabashedly, looking absolutely adorable in a lemon sundress and white sandals. ‘Aunty Cairo didn’t say you were going to be here, too!’

‘No, I don’t suppose she did,’ Lionel said with a rueful glance in Cairo’s direction. ‘I had no idea this was a family gathering. Can I expect to see Margo and Jeff this evening, too?’

Cairo gave him a quelling glance, Margo and Jeff never having made any secret of the fact that they didn’t particularly like or approve of Lionel. ‘No, there’s just the three of us,’ she answered pointedly.

‘Hmm,’ he murmured enigmatically. ‘It’s really is good to see you again, Cairo,’ he added huskily. ‘The two of us need to talk—’

‘I don’t think so, Lionel,’ she cut in firmly; she and Lionel had absolutely nothing left to say to each other. They had spent months, years, trying to sort out the problems between them, all to no avail.

He reached out and grasped her arm. ‘Tell me where you’re staying, Cairo, and I’ll—’

‘Take your hand off her, Bond!’ Rafe snarled between clenched teeth.

Lionel shot him a look of pure dislike. ‘Butt out, Montero—’

‘I’ll give you until the count of three—’

‘And then what?’ Lionel challenged. ‘This is absolutely none of your business—’

‘I’m making it my business,’ Rafe said in a lethal tone.

‘Please don’t, Rafe.’ Cairo put her hand on his arm, her look one of pleading before she turned back to her ex-husband. ‘We both know we have nothing left to say to each other, Lionel, and I certainly don’t appreciate the way you’re drawing attention to all of us,’ she added as she became aware of the many curious gazes turned in their direction. ‘I believe it’s time that we left, Rafe.’

‘I’ll call you,’ Lionel called after her.

Rafe turned to give the other man an icy glare, his hands clenching at his sides as he saw the almost desperate look on Bond’s handsome face as he gazed after Cairo.

‘Do we really have to go?’ Daisy frowned her disappointment. ‘I’m not in the least tired,’ she assured them, widening her eyes as if to prove the point, and looking absolutely adorable as she did so.

Rafe chuckled softly as he released his hold on Cairo’s waist to swing Daisy up into his arms. ‘Aunty Cairo needs her beauty sleep,’ he told her teasingly.

Daisy turned to look at her aunt. ‘Aunty Cairo can’t be any more beautiful than she already is,’ she informed him proudly.

No, she couldn’t, Rafe acknowledged heavily. She was absolutely gorgeous. Assured. Desirable.

‘Then maybe it’s me who needs my beauty sleep,’ he said ruefully.

‘You’re much better looking than Uncle Lionel,’ Daisy confided with innocent candour.

Rafe looked at Cairo over Daisy’s head, wondering how she was taking the comparison, but unable to read anything from her composed expression as she coolly met his gaze.

‘I like you better than Uncle Lionel, too,’ Daisy continued with that same innocence. ‘He never played with me like you do.’

Cairo thought this conversation had gone far enough. Even if she did completely agree with everything Daisy had just said!

Rafe’s rugged handsomeness was much more appealing than Lionel’s suave urbanity. And, despite their differences, like Daisy, Cairo liked Rafe much better than she did Lionel, too….

‘All the flattery in the world isn’t going to stop us from leaving, young lady,’ she teased her niece, although it was still several minutes before they got outside as people engaged them in conversation as they made their way towards the exit.

Daisy was fast asleep in the back of the car within minutes of their leaving the bright lights of Cannes. ‘So much for her not being tired,’ Cairo murmured wryly as she turned from making the little girl more comfortable within the confines of her seat belt. ‘Phew.’ She sighed deeply. ‘I can’t say I’m sorry that’s over!’ She leant back wearily against the headrest and closed her eyes.

Rafe gave her a brief glance, a frown creasing his brow when he turned back to the road as he was once again struck by Cairo’s air of fragility. ‘Is that the first time you and Bond have met since the divorce?’ he asked.

‘Yes.’

‘I’m sorry it had to be in such a public way.’ Rafe grimaced.

‘I’m not.’ Cairo turned her head to look at him. ‘Thank you for being so—supportive,’ she told him huskily.

Rafe’s mouth tightened as he once again wondered how she really felt about seeing Bond again….

He shrugged. ‘Bond didn’t really give me any choice in the matter.’

‘No,’ Cairo accepted ruefully. ‘But I thank you, anyway.’

Rafe couldn’t think of a single thing to say in answer to that comment as they made the rest of the drive back to the villa in silence.

A tense, almost expectant silence, as even the air between them seemed to crackle with a taut, nerve-tingling tension that was electric in its intensity.

‘I’ll carry her inside,’ Rafe offered as he parked the car in the driveway of the villa to get out and lift Daisy from the back seat.

‘Thank you,’ Cairo murmured, barely able to look at the broadness of Rafe’s back as she followed him through the villa to Daisy’s bedroom.

What had happened between them in the car just now?

Because something had. Something so tangible Cairo felt she could almost reach out and touch it. Could reach out and touch Rafe.

As she knew he wanted to touch her….

‘I’ll be waiting outside on the terrace when you’ve finished putting Daisy to bed,’ he breathed softly as he straightened after laying Daisy down on the cool sheets.

Cairo looked at him wordlessly, her gaze searching the hard, unreadable arrogance of his face. ‘Rafe—’ She broke off, her eyes wide, as Rafe moved to stand so close to her their bodies almost touched, that crackling tension she had been so aware of in the car intensifying as their gazes met and held.

Cairo could barely breathe. Rafe made no effort now to hide the desire burning in the luminous depths of those deep blue eyes, the same desire that had been there earlier this afternoon when he’d told her of all the things he would like to do to her.

He lifted his hand, his palm cupping her chin as the pad of his thumb moved gently across her bottom lip. Cairo instinctively parted her lips at the softness of that caress even as she felt her nipples harden and swell beneath her dress.

Time seemed to stand still.

Not a sound, not a movement of air disturbed them.

All there was at that moment was Rafe and this wild, singing awareness that heated the blood in Cairo’s veins and made her skin burn with the need for the caress of his hands upon it, stroking, cupping, arousing.

She didn’t move—couldn’t move as Rafe began to lower his head towards hers, her breath catching in her throat as his lips moved softly, enticingly, against hers. He was no longer touching her in any other way but held her captive there with just those arousing lips as he slowly sipped and tasted her.

How long that kiss lasted Cairo had no idea. Nor did she care as she responded with everything that was in her.

Cairo tasted wonderful, Rafe acknowledged achingly. Warm. Silky. Intoxicating.

He felt the hardening of his thighs even as he became drunk on the heady pleasure of kissing her. Nothing else. Just the softness of her lips against his as they drank their fill of each other.

Eventually it wasn’t enough, of course. Rafe wanted more. So much more.

Rafe lifted his head to look down at Cairo, knowing from her flushed cheeks and the glow in the deep, dark brown of her eyes that she was as aroused as he was. ‘I want you so much, Cairo,’ he groaned throatily. ‘Don’t keep me waiting outside too long, hmm?’

Don’t keep him—!

Rafe thought that the two of them—? That they were going to—?

Rafe believed her response to his kiss was an invitation for the two of them to go outside together and make love in the way he had described earlier? Then what? A few more days of the same, before he returned to his world and she returned to hers?

Reality washed over Cairo like the shock of a blast of cold air, and she could only stare up at him as something withered and died deep down inside her. Some hope … Some remembered dream of long ago …

But this was Rafe Montero, she reminded herself. The same man who had claimed her heart eight years ago and then cast it aside when he became bored and moved on to another conquest. As he would become bored with her again once he had made love with her!

Not again, Cairo told herself firmly. Never again would she allow her heart to rule her head.

‘I’ll be outside,’ Rafe whispered, running a slow, caressing finger down the hollow of her cheek before turning and quietly leaving the room.

Cairo stood as still as a statue.

She felt like one, too, at that moment.

A figure of cold marble in which no emotion, no sensation existed.

Not even pain….

CHAPTER EIGHT

‘WHAT the hell do you think you’re doing?’

Cairo was sitting up in bed reading a book—or, at least, appearing to!—when Rafe burst unannounced into her bedroom. A quick glance at the face of the slender gold watch on her wrist showed her that it was now half an hour since he had told her he would be waiting outside for her on the terrace.

She had considered actually lying down in bed with the light off and pretending she was asleep when he came in search of her—as she had known that he would—but had decided that would be too undignified; Rafe wasn’t the type of man to just turn and leave again and was more than capable of switching on the light before dragging her from the bed kicking and screaming!

So instead she had removed her make-up and taken a leisurely shower before donning a pale cream nightgown of the sheerest silk, only a band of matching cream lace across her breasts preventing it from being completely transparent. She’d then stood in front of the mirror brushing her hair until it shone straight and sleek over her shoulders and down her spine.

Her tools of war, she decided angrily as she arranged her pillows before getting into bed to sit and wait, her tension increasing with each tick of her wristwatch.

However, none of that tension showed as she looked over her book at Rafe where he stood in the doorway glowering across the room at her. He was no longer wearing the jacket to his suit or the red bowtie, and the top two buttons of his shirt were open to reveal the silky black hair on his chest.

Cairo suppressed an inward shiver as she acknowledged how dark and dangerous he looked. Instead, she gave him a bright, enquiring smile. ‘I’m reading a book, of course.’

Rafe’s scowl deepened as he advanced into the room, his movements predatory before he came to an abrupt halt beside the bed. ‘I’ve been waiting outside for you for the last half-hour,’ he growled.

Cairo could almost feel his anger, knew by the nerve that pulsed in his clenched jaw just how near to the surface that anger was.

She gave a shrug as she lay the book face down beside her on the bed. ‘I decided I was just too tired for any more conversation tonight, Rafe.’

‘You—!’ Rafe bit off what he was going to say and instead drew in a deep, controlling breath. Like his father before him, Rafe had a volatile Spanish temper. A temper that Rafe rarely, if ever, lost. Only Cairo, it seemed, had the power to stretch his control to its very limits.

He very carefully reached down and plucked the book from beside her and placed it on the bedside table before sitting down on the edge of the bed. ‘We both know conversation was the last thing I had in mind when I asked you to join me outside once Daisy was in bed,’ he said softly.

‘Really?’ She continued to meet his gaze unblinkingly.

‘Yes,’ he acknowledged pleasantly. ‘Good book?’ He nodded towards the bedside table.

‘Very good,’ she confirmed slowly, no longer quite as composed as Rafe saw a slight frown appear between the clear brown of her eyes.

‘What’s it about?’ Rafe reached out and picked the book up so that he could read the back cover. ‘Strange,’ he said as he put it back down. ‘I would never have tagged you as a reader of murder mysteries.’

She smiled. ‘This one’s about a woman who kills her lover after she finds out he’s been cheating on her.’

‘Really,’ Rafe commented, easily holding her gaze with his. ‘But I bet she gets caught in the end. They all do.’

‘Not all of them,’ Cairo said dryly. ‘If you wouldn’t mind, Rafe …? I really am very tired.’ She raised one auburn brow.

Rafe wanted to reach out, grasp her shoulders, and shake her. Anything to put some spark of emotion back into her!

He had become more irritated by the minute as he’d stood outside waiting for her to join him, knowing that earlier Cairo had wanted him as much as he wanted her.

But as he looked at her now he saw none of that softly desirable woman he had kissed such a short time ago. Instead he saw a woman whose barriers were so firmly back in place it was impossible to tell what thoughts were going through her head.

He gave her a narrow-eyed look. ‘Did seeing Bond again tonight reawaken a spark of emotion for him? Is that it?’

She blinked in surprise. ‘You’re being utterly ridiculous, Rafe.’ She gave him a pointed look. ‘Now, if you wouldn’t mind leaving? I really am very tired—’

‘Cairo.’ Rafe spoke her name quietly, but it was enough to silence her.

Cairo’s gaze became less certain on his as she became aware of how dangerous it was for them to be alone together in her bedroom.

Very dangerous.

Not that she thought for one minute that Rafe would use force to get what he wanted. Why should he when he knew he only had to touch her to ignite a passionate response from her?

Perhaps she should have turned the light off and pretended she was asleep, after all!

‘Lionel and I are divorced, Rafe,’ she reminded him.

‘That doesn’t mean you can’t still be in love with him!’

She sighed. ‘You obviously know nothing about me if you believe that. But, then, you never did know anything about me, did you?’

‘I thought I did,’ he muttered.

Her eyes flashed. ‘And you thought wrong, didn’t you?’

Yes, he had been wrong about Cairo eight years ago, Rafe acknowledged grimly. So very wrong.

Then.

And now …

He stood up abruptly. ‘You’re right, Cairo, this was a bad idea. I’ll leave you to get back to your book.’

‘Thank you,’ she snapped.

Rafe paused to look back at her as he stood in the bedroom doorway, his smile self-derisive. ‘I should probably be thanking you for preventing me from making yet another mistake where you’re concerned.’ And yet the ache of his body told him that gratitude was the last thing he really felt….

Cairo’s eyes glittered darkly. ‘I’ll take it as said!’

‘Goodnight, Cairo.’

‘Goodnight, Rafe.’

Rafe gave her one last lingering glance before leaving the bedroom and the villa, stepping outside to take deep breaths of the perfumed night air, his gaze drawn to the swimming pool as the moonlight shimmered invitingly on the water.

He didn’t even hesitate, throwing off his clothes as he reached the lower terrace before diving smoothly into the coolly refreshing water.

She was crying, Cairo realized numbly. Tears that burnt her skin as they tracked down the paleness of her cheeks.

She wiped those tears away impatiently as she got out of bed, too restless to even think about sleep now as she began to pace the confines of her bedroom.

She had to get out of here!

She needed air.

Space in which to breathe.

The villa was in darkness, not a sound to be heard as she trailed through the comfortable sitting-room and out onto the terrace, the silence there broken by a sound she had come to associate with this area of France: hundreds of frogs croaking in the moonlight.

Somehow that familiar sound comforted her, calmed her, a smile curving her lips as she walked down the steps to the lower terrace to where the sound of the frogs became even louder.

Rafe floated in the shallow end of the pool, watching Cairo as she approached. She looked almost ghostly in the moonlight, her feet bare, her cream nightgown transparent against the nakedness of her body, her face a pale oval. The eerie light gave her long hair the appearance of cinnamon touched with silver.

That she was unaware of his presence in the water was in no doubt, a smile curving her lips as she held out her arms and turned her face up to the moonlight, long lashes shadowing her cheeks as she closed her lids.

She was Aphrodite.

Goddess of love.

Rafe’s breath caught in his throat as he looked at her, her breasts full and pert against the sheer material of her nightgown, her waist narrow, hips gently curving, a shadowed triangle visible between her thighs.

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