Shouldering the door to the bathroom, he turned on the shower. Only now did Rose remember she’d forgotten to flip the switch to heat up the water. ‘We’re going to freeze,’ she warned as Raffa stripped off his clothes.
‘Not a chance.’ Lifting her into the small cubicle, he secured her arms above her head, nudged his way between her thighs and proved he was right.
If everything could be solved by sex, they’d have the answers to all the world’s problems, Rose reflected the next morning. If she had the answer to the doubts etched on her heart by the past, she’d make nothing of the fact that Raffa had already left, leaving his side of the bed cold. Picking up the note he’d left on the pillow, she hardly dared read it. Man up! He was hardly the type to sneak off in the night.
As she had?
Rose growled with impatience, hoping that wouldn’t be something else to plague her for the rest of her life. She’d had her reasons. Raffa must have his.
She read the scrawled note.
Not tit for tat. Time to get back to business. R
What had she expected? A declaration of love?
Her body was still throbbing from the attentions of an extraordinary lover, but fabulous sex did not a relationship make. A future between billionaire polo player Raffa Acosta and Rose Kelly, penniless groom? How likely did that seem? Fairy tales didn’t happen in real life. And it was a bit too late to worry about getting in too deep where Raffa was concerned. She was already in over her head, with her heart and soul fully engaged. If there was some way to stop that, it remained a mystery to Rose.
Showered and dressed, she made her way down to the kitchen. Expecting the room to be cold, and the fire to be out, she was surprised to find logs blazing in the hearth, and a fresh pot of coffee on the table. And another note.
This is to help you break that tea habit. I can’t stand the stuff. R
Smiling and crying at the same time, she brought the note to her chest. She already missed his sense of humour and Raffa’s caring ways most of all, but she didn’t have a clue where he was, what he was up to or how long he’d be away.
Closing her fist around the note as a torrent of longing and uncertainty overwhelmed her, Rose knew, whatever Raffa was planning, her father had to take priority over her feelings.
Crossing to her mother’s desk, she selected a piece of writing paper and began to write. Then stopped. It took time to deliver a letter. Raffa could be halfway across the world. She’d send a text instead. Even that took an age. Could they ever resolve the gulf between them? Rose doubted it. She refused charity, while Raffa liked to handle the reins, not share them. She could only be sure of one thing as she placed a call to Sofia. Telling her heart to forget Raffa Acosta was a waste of time, when her heart remained set on having him.
CHAPTER TEN
THESKYWASdark when he left the farm. Being with Rose last night had only spurred on his plan. The past controlled Rose, as it had controlled him, and he was determined they would both move forward. Fate had always seemed his enemy before, but fate had brought him Rose. As Head Groom, she could travel with him, be with him, sleep with him too.
That might make a sad sort of sense, but he couldn’t see Rose in the role of convenient mistress. He’d seen her with the children on the ranch—playing with them, teaching them, spending time with them out of choice. Rose wanted more than to be any man’s plaything. And she deserved more too. Saving her father while shoehorning in a career was an impossible ask. Plus, she’d be a lousy mistress, he concluded with amusement as he jumped into the SUV. Weren’t mistresses supposed to be compliant? Good luck with that! Rose would have her say whatever the situation. His smile broadened at the thought.
Rain lashed the windscreen, throwing up plumes of mud behind the vehicle. The rotten weather matched his mood. Nothing was the same without Rose. She entertained him, touched him, moved him, as no one had. He had to find a way to make this work without promising more than he could offer. It would be far easier to walk away and keep his emotions safe under lock and key, as he always had, but Rose had already made that impossible.
A chord from his phone distracted him as he pulled up in front of the pub. Switching off the engine, he scanned the text.
Rose was offering her resignation? Not on his watch.
He texted back.
I don’t accept this. I offered you two weeks’ holiday leave to sort things out. Use them. R
Every detail of how Rose had tasted when he’d kissed her, and how eagerly she had pressed her body against his, crashed into his mind. Thundering his fist down on the wheel, he gave way to the force of his frustration in a roar. So much for keeping his emotions under lock and key! One thing was certain: Rose stayed in his life. She was too important for anything else. Okay, so the details were sketchy, but details could wait. He’d think about the pros and cons later. Kicking the engine into life, he wheeled the vehicle around to drive back to the farm.
After a successful call to Sofia, Rose hugged her phone close, knowing she should be thrilled at the chance for her father to recover drawing closer. And she would be thrilled, if overshadowing that hadn’t been the knowledge that Rose couldn’t have everything. Implementing her plan for animal therapy programmes, a plan she hoped would help her father find a renewed sense of purpose, would take longer than two weeks of holiday entitlement, which left her with no alternative but to resign from her post on Raffa’s ranch. The thought of breaking from him, disappointing him, was crushing. She’d do anything to avoid hurting him, but she had to be upfront about her decision so he could get on with appointing the next head groom.
When it came to writing a formal letter of resignation, which would have to follow the text, however long it took to arrive, she ended up scrapping three attempts. Tears spoiled the rest. Raffa meant everything to her. He’d been an exceptional boss. She’d learned so much from him. The chance to work with his top-class horses was a gift she would never be able to repay, but the faster she could get the animal therapy courses up and running at Sofia’s new retreat, the sooner she’d have something concrete to offer her father.
And Raffa?
Dreams should be confined to childhood where they could do no harm, Rose concluded as she bit down on her kiss-swollen lips.
‘Raffa!’ She jolted upright as the door flew open. Glorious and powerful, he was also absolutely steaming mad. Gathering her scattered wits, she stood to confront him. ‘Did you forget something?’
Ignoring the question, he held out his phone. ‘What is the meaning of this?’
‘So you’ve read my text.’
