‘You’re so romantic.’
‘It’s a gift.’
She gave a wan smile. ‘Honestly, I’m fine. I’ve not been sick for ages.’
He looked at his watch. ‘It’s been twenty-six minutes.’
She blinked her surprise. ‘Is that all?’
‘See, now you’re delirious.’
‘Now you’re a comedian.’
‘Another gift.’
‘Aren’t you afraid you’ll catch it?’
‘Germs are afraid of me.’ And even if they weren’t, there was no way on earth he was going to leave Beth alone in this state. Isabel had offered to watch over her but, even though he trusted his housekeeper with every aspect of his domestic life, he was damned if he would trust her or anyone else to look after Beth properly. Besides, Beth was too unpredictable to guess what kind of patient she would make. So far, she’d been obedient, but it had only been six hours of illness.
‘I wish they were afraid of me,’ she said forlornly.
He smoothed her hair off her forehead. ‘I wish they were, too. Now, close your eyes and go back to sleep. When you’re feeling stronger, I’ll have some plain food brought to you.’
Her smile this time was soft. ‘Thank—’ The smile dropped. Her head lifted off the pillow, and, covering her mouth, she staggered back to the bathroom.
On Beth’s third morning back in Madrid after their honeymoon, she woke feeling much better. She’d made it the whole night without using the bathroom, and the only ache in her stomach was the ache of hunger. Since falling ill, she’d eaten a couple of bananas and three slices of toast in total, and that was just to shut Xavi up.
She didn’t have to check his heart was beating. He was cuddled into her, his breaths of sleep dancing into her hair, his warm hand on her hip. She had a moment of wondering whether to wriggle her bottom to wake him, but then thought she didn’t want to push her luck. She’d never been that ill in her life. Lord knew how Xavi had dodged catching it. Maybe he was right that germs were afraid of him.
Besides, she must stink. She hadn’t showered in days. Or brushed her teeth.
Creeping out of bed, she dragged her weak legs to the bathroom, scrubbed her teeth to within an inch of their lives, and stripped off her pyjama shorts and T-shirt. She smiled to remember Xavi’s insistence that she wear them. ‘I’m not sleeping without you,mi vida, and I am not going to risk accidentally making love to you while you’re ill and defenceless, so let me put them on you.’
How he couldaccidentallymake love to her was a conundrum to be mulled over when her brain was fully functioning again. For now, the only thing she wanted to think about was how well he’d taken care of her. He’d given up two full days of his precious work to watch over her. Yes, she was aware he’d worked on his laptop while she’d slept and had often heard his low voice holding conversations, but he hadn’t left her. He’d even eaten his meals in the room and insisted they be plain, bland food in case strong scents set her tender stomach off.
Lathering herself, she thought that he did care for her, and though she hardly dared allow herself to think it, that he’d put her over the Rosbel Group must mean she meant more to him than the company did. Or at least put her on a par with it.
‘What are you doing?’ the voice she so adored chided from behind her.
She turned slowly, her smile forming much quicker than her legs were working, and was thrilled to find Xavi in all his naked glory. ‘Destinking myself.’
He stood beneath the pouring water, closed the gap between them and, his hands firm on her hips, bowed his head to kiss her gently. He grinned. ‘Much better.’ The grin quickly faded. ‘But you should be taking it easy. Are you all clean now?’
‘I need to wash my hair.’
‘I will do it for you.’
Reaching for the shampoo, he stood behind her and massaged a good dollop into her hair. The sensations in her still-tender head felt heavenly. After rinsing it out, he reached for the conditioner. His erection stabbed into her back the whole way through, but he didn’t even mention it, let alone attempt to seduce her. Once the conditioner was rinsed out, he turned the shower off and enveloped her in a huge, fluffy Egyptian cotton bath towel.
‘Back to bed,’ he ordered firmly, even though his erection was now trying to stab her stomach.
‘My hair’s still wet.’ It was still dripping.
Guiding her to the bathroom chair, he patiently and gently towel-dried her hair as best he could before nodding. ‘That will do. Now back to bed. I will have food brought up for you.’
‘Can I have scrambled eggs and toast?’ she asked once she was settled and Xavi had propped a load of pillows behind her back and head.
‘Can you manage it?’
