Seeing the laughter in his eyes, she scowled. “Why are we even having this discussion? You don’t want a relationship. For heaven’s sake, you can’t even tolerate apet.”
“For you, I’d make an exception.” His eyes were still smiling. “More to the point, you and I understand one another, do we not? We’re adults, capable of enjoying the pleasure of the moment while it lasts. We need not subscribe to the tedious conventions of relationships.”
“We sleep together until one of us bores of the other,” she said dryly. “Have I got that right?”
“Don’t forget about the exclusivity.”
“If it’s just about tupping, why do you even care?” she said in exasperation.
A faint line etched between his brows. “I didn’t say it was just about tupping.”
“Yes, you did. Although you used a euphemism.” She raised her fingers in the air, mimicking quotation marks. “‘Pleasure of the moment’?”
“It’s true that going to bed with you is the very definition of pleasure. But your company offers other rewards as well.”
She didn’t bother to hide her skepticism. “Such as?”
“I enjoy bantering with you. I admire your intelligence and determination, the fact that you don’t kowtow to anyone. I like that you’re generally sensible and practical. And then there’s that prim exterior of yours.” His voice roughened. “It excites me, knowing the sweet, generous passion that lies beneath.”
Her pulse throbbed in her throat as she stared at him. No one had ever said such things to her. No one had evennoticedthose things, she was sure of it.
“Have I made you speechless, my sweet?” He cupped her jaw, his thumb skating over her bottom lip. “May I take your silence to mean that we’re having an affair?”
Tell him no. Tell him it was just one night and a mistake.
Yet her senses still hummed from their lovemaking. She felt replete, both invigorated and relaxed. An affair with Rhys would assuage the fleshly needs she could no longer deny. Moreover, when they were together, she didn’t feel as if her impulses were wrong or wanton or coarse.
With him, she felt…beautiful.
And therein lay the danger.
“I…I’ll think about it.” Before she could regret her decision, she marched on ahead.
“Fair enough. We’ll take things one day at a time. Get to know one another better.” He caught up with her in an easy stride. “Speaking of which, I’m curious about your aversion to intimate words. Did your husband never use them during lovemaking?”
The question caught her off-guard. The idea of Paul expressing intimacy—verbal or physical—was unthinkable. He simply hadn’t been that sort of man.
She would die before admitting that to Rhys.
“My marriage is none of your business,” she stated.
“Discretion is one of your many estimable traits,” he said easily. “As it happens, I’m in need of a fossil hunter whom I can trust. One who will keep my project confidential.”
Damn the man. His manner was smoother than a drink of chocolate. And as difficult to resist.
Sighing, she said, “What is the job, precisely?”
“Are you signing up for it?”
She mentally weighed her options, even though in her gut she already knew which she would choose. After all, shedidowe him. And taking the job would solve her most pressing problem.
“You’ll pay me five hundred pounds as promised?” She searched his face for any sign that he might renege. “If I say yes to your job, I’ll have to delay my work for Mr. Pickering-Parks. Knowing him, he’ll walk away, so I’ll be losing his commission if I take on yours.”
What a relief it’ll be not to have to grovel to that cheeseparing buffoon.
“Five hundred pounds upfront,” Rhys said. “If you come back to the house with me, the money is yours to collect today.”
At long last, financial security for her family was within reach.
