His eyes were locked to hers. Slowly, he shook his head. “I didn’t come here for a drink.”
She tried to swallow but there was a lump in her throat. She couldn’t think of what to say to that, so she just stared at him.
“Did you wake up and wish you’d spent the night with me?”
It was a fork in the road. Her chance to demur, and tell him she hadn’t regretted her decision at all. But Elodie nodded instead. “Yes.”
His eyes flared in obvious appreciation of her honesty. “Care to do something about it?”
Her heart twisted in her chest. She hadn’t expected to see him again, and she had spent the better part of the day metaphorically kicking herself for turning down his invitation. No way was she going to do that again.
“Absolutely,” she murmured. “Just let me get my bag. I can meet you outside…”
He nodded. “My car’s out the front.”
Was this stupid? Probably. She was about to go home with some guy she barely knew, and yet she wasn’t remotely worried about her safety. Then again, she didn’t secretly have a death wish. In the kitchen, she cornered Allegra.
“That guy, from last night.”
Allegra stared at her blankly.
“The VIP?”
“Oh, Rafaello. Yeah, what about him?”
Rafaello.She liked the sound of his full name even more.
“Serial killer? Axe murderer? Rapist?”
Allegra laughed. “Not that I know of.”
She twisted her fingers around in front of her. “Would it be a mistake to…” her cheeks flushed bright pink as she let the sentence trail off into thin air.
Allegra’s eyes widened as comprehension dawned. “God, no. I reckon he’d be amazing in the sack. But a word of warning: he hooks up with more women than you’ve probably worn hats. Don’t go catching feelings for him or anything—he’s not that kind of guy.”
“Duly noted,” Elodie agreed with a sharp throb of excitement. No strings sex was just exactly what she needed. She just hoped Allegra was right and that he’d be good in bed—she had a lot of lost time to make up for.
It had beenapparent from the moment he entered the bar the night before that he was wealthy. His suit, shoes, and watch were all dead giveaways, but more than that, it was his bearing. He held himself like a man who had the world at his feet. When they stepped out into the balmy London evening, the sky only just losing its dusky lustre, it was to see a sleek black Bentley with darkly tinted windows parked on a double yellow line, a man in a suit standing by the rear door. As they approached, the man opened the door with a deferential nod.
A flashy caranda driver. Definitely loaded.
It only added to the butterflies rampaging through her stomach, and the feeling that she was getting in way over her head. Then again, what did money matter? She wasn’t looking to date the guy. This was a one-night thing, nothing more. Money was beside the point.
The interior of the car was just as she might have imagined, all butter-soft leather and soft mood lighting. She slipped across to the far side of the seat, eyes trained on the door as Raf stepped into the car and took the seat beside her. His eyes shifted to hersas the driver closed the door and her pulse kicked up a notch. In the bar, he’d been impressive enough but in the confines of the car, he seemed to take up every bit of space, making it hard to breathe.
In her old life, her old job, Elodie had been the face of a well-regarded estate agency. She’d had to deal with all sorts of clients, and that included making small talk until their appointments. She wasgoodat small talk, generally able to pluck a thread of conversation from the recesses of her brain and use it to spark a conversation. But in the back of this Bentley, with a hint of this man’s subtle cologne teasing her senses, her mind was drawing a complete and utter blank.
“Are you nervous?”
His question was softly voiced, but there was something beneath it. Amusement? Mockery? She ground her teeth against either. She felt as though the whole world had been laughing at her when her engagement had ended. At least, the whole world she cared about. Everyone they knew had had to be uninvited to the wedding owing to a ‘change in circumstances’. Code for:we’re over. She had hated the feeling of people mocking her then, and she hated the feeling now.
“I’m fine,” she said, defiance in the words.
He arched a brow, leaning forward a little. She kept her eyes latched to his, even when her heart was racing so hard and fast in her chest it felt borderline dangerous.
“You don’t do this kind of thing.”
“No.” What was the point in lying about that?
