She shook her head. ‘No, it’s fine, I couldn’t eat again.’
‘It’s nice to see a woman enjoy her food.’
Lili tried to fight the blush of self-consciousness. ‘As you can see I’m not someone who is shy of food.’
‘You’re not overweight, Lili, by any stretch. You have a perfect figure. I think a lot of people, men and women have forgotten what a body looks like.’
‘Your body is…fine too.’ That was the understatement of the year. Lili was glad of the fading light hiding her hot cheeks. She hid behind the coffee cup.
Cassian said, ‘I’m lucky, I’ve always been into fitness, but it was very apparent early on that I didn’t have the right physique for racing…which only made me more determined to prove people wrong.’
‘Maybe you should have been a boxer.’ Lili could see him, bare-chested, in silk shorts, weaving around an opponent, muscles bunching and—
His voice cut off her vivid imagination. ‘That certainly could have been an option, it would have satisfied my need for danger and channelling anger.’
Lili shook her head. ‘I can’t imagine what it must have been like to lose everyone you loved at such a vulnerable time in your life.’
Cassian’s hand stopped en route to his mouth but then it continued, as if nothing had happened. He didn’t look her directly in the eye though. ‘It was what it was. It’s in the past now. We have more pertinent things to discuss than my tragic past.’ He did look at her now. ‘Specifically, our future.’
Lili’s insides clenched. ‘We do need to talk about this.’
Cassian put his cup down. ‘I’ve already told you, I find you very attractive, Lili. It would be no hardship to take you to bed.’
Lili found Cassian’s directness both shocking and a little thrilling. She wasn’t sure if she’d entirely believed him this morning when he’d told her he found her attractive.
But her body seemed to, her insides liquefying with a kind of heat that was totally new and alien. Exciting but also a little terrifying. He was looking at her so steadily. ‘You’re a beautiful woman.’
The platitude sank like a heavy weight inside her. Surely he said that to every woman? But in her case she knew it wasn’t true. She felt acutely self-conscious and a little disappointed that he was going to try and persuade her to consider going to bed with him. Had the whole day been a prelude to this? ‘You don’t have to say these things, they won’t work, I won’t change my mind.’
He shook his head. ‘I’m not trying to change your mind, I’m stating facts. And I’m curious…why do you hide yourself?’
Now Lili wanted to squirm. ‘I don’t like eyes on me.’ When she’d been kidnapped, she’d been blindfolded and so she’d felt the men’s eyes on her and it had made her skin crawl.
Her skin didn’t crawl when Cassian looked at her though. It got hot. Even if he might be trying to seduce her. The nascent suspicion that this man was doing something to heal those awful memories was a little overwhelming.
‘Do you mind me looking at you?’
Could he see right into her head? Was nothing she thought private anymore? She shook her head. ‘No… I don’t mind.’
‘You never really answered me earlier…do you find me attractive?’
CHAPTER SIX
CASSIAN FOUND HEwas holding his breath. He’d never asked a woman before if she thought he was attractive because he usually didn’t need to. But with Lili…he could feel the sexual tension between them but he wasn’t certain that it wasn’t all on his side.
Now she blushed and ducked her face. He could tell she was used to her hair falling around her face but it was still tied back.
‘Lili?’
She looked up and there was something a little defiant in her expression. It made his pulse trip even harder.
She said, ‘I thought you already established this earlier…you’re an experienced man, you can tell.’
He almost felt sorry for her. ‘So, you’re saying, yes, you do.’
She looked like she might pop a blood vessel. He could see her veins under the delicate skin of her temple. Eventually she got out a slightly strangled-sounding, ‘I mean, doesn’t everyone?’
She gestured towards him. ‘You have to know how gorgeous you are.’
