Cinderella's Scandalous Secret. Melanie Milburne
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there is any issue I will deal with it,’ Rafe said and then frowned. ‘Don’t you want to take off your coat? It’s warm in here.’
‘No. Not yet.’ Isla couldn’t meet his gaze and picked up the cocktails menu and pretended an avid interest in the selection.
‘What would you like to drink?’ Rafe signalled the drinks waiter.
‘Something soft—lemonade.’
His ink-black eyebrows rose. ‘What about some champagne? Or a cocktail? You used to love—’
‘You know that saying: when life hands you lemons?’ Isla sent him a wry look and leaned forward to place the cocktail menu back on the table between them. ‘Suffice it to say, I’ve developed quite a taste for lemonade.’
Rafe gave the order for drinks to the waiter, who had just then approached, and once the young man had left Rafe turned back to study Isla’s expression for a long moment. ‘You don’t seem yourself. Does my company distress you that much?’
Isla could feel the heat crawling into her cheeks and right now the last thing she needed was more warmth on her person. Her jacket was making her feel as if she were sitting in a sauna. ‘It was quite a shock running into you like that while I was doing your room. I...I haven’t quite recovered.’ She was pleased with her response. It sounded reasonable and it was more or less the truth. She would probably never recover.
‘Yes, indeed it was.’
The silence contained an undertow of tension that tugged at Isla’s already fraught nerves.
The waiter came over with their drinks, setting them down in front of them and discreetly melting away.
Rafe watched Isla take a generous sip of her lemonade with a slight frown between his eyes as if he couldn’t quite understand why she wasn’t sipping a Bellini instead. The lemonade was cold and sweet but it did nothing to reduce the tide of colour she could feel in her cheeks. Beads of perspiration formed under her hairline and between her shoulder blades but the thought of removing her jacket and letting her body deliver the message for her was suddenly too daunting.
Isla put her glass back on the table and forced herself to meet his gaze. ‘Why are you looking at me like that?’
‘You’re not happy.’ It was a statement, not a question.
Isla pushed a strand of sticky hair back off her face, uncomfortable with his probing scrutiny. Uncomfortable that he could see things she had fought so hard to conceal. ‘I hardly see why that is any business of yours.’
‘I could have made you happy, cara.’ The pitch of his voice lowered to a low growl of bitterness.
She crossed one leg over the other and moved her top foot up and down in jerky movements. ‘How? By dressing me up like some sort of doll? A toy you played with only when the fancy took you. No thanks.’
A brooding frown entered his gaze. ‘I told you how important that deal was to me. Bruno Romano was a nightmare to negotiate a coffee date with, let alone a hotel chain that size. I’m sorry if you read that as neglect.’
Isla picked up her glass of lemonade again, the ice cubes rattling against the glass betraying her nervousness in Rafe’s presence. She had to find a way to tell him about the baby, but how? Meeting him like this was crazy, but hadn’t she always been a little crazy where he was concerned? Her feelings for him were so confusing. There were times when she didn’t even like him and yet her body adored him. Her body craved him like a powerful drug. Damn it, her body even recognised him. She could feel the tingles and fizzes moving through her flesh just by sitting within reach of him, every cell of her body vibrating.
She took another sip of her lemonade. ‘So, why are you interested in this hotel? I didn’t realise Scotland was on your radar.’
‘It wasn’t until I met you. You awakened my interest.’ Rafe lifted his small dram of whisky to his mouth and took a measured sip, savouring the taste for a moment before he swallowed. Isla couldn’t tear her gaze away from the up and down movement of his tanned throat, her eyes drifting to the dark stubble around his mouth and jaw. She tightened her hand around her glass, remembering how it felt to run her fingertips over that sexy regrowth, remembering the way it felt grazing against the soft skin of her breasts. On her inner thighs...
She glanced at him again with her making-polite-conversation expression in place. ‘So, are you going to buy it?’
He cradled the whisky glass in two hands, his long strong fingers overlapping. That was another thing she remembered—how those clever fingers could wreak such havoc on her senses when they got down to business on her body. His gaze tethered hers in a lock that made her inner core contract like the tightening of a small fist. ‘I like what I’ve seen so far.’ Somehow, she didn’t think he was still talking about the hotel.
Isla released a shuddery breath and took another sip of her lemonade, acutely conscious of his probing gaze. She was too warm from still wearing her jacket, or maybe it was being within touching distance of the man who had scorched every inch of her body with his touch.
Rafe leaned forward and put his whisky glass on the small table between their chairs and then sat back, his hands resting on his thighs. ‘Tell me why you quit your Fine Arts degree.’
Isla shrugged one shoulder and rolled one of her ankles to burn off restless energy. You should have told him by now. Her conscience was jabbing at her but she couldn’t work up the courage. ‘I lost interest after I came back to the UK. I’d already missed half of one semester by staying in Italy with you. I only planned on going for a two-week sketching holiday if you remember.’
‘But you could have made it up, surely?’
‘I couldn’t be bothered.’ She looked into the contents of her glass rather than hold his gaze. ‘It was a pipe dream to think I could make a career out of painting portraits. I decided it wasn’t worth the effort of trying.’
His frown deepened. ‘But surely cleaning hotel rooms isn’t going to satisfy you long-term?’
Pride stiffened Isla’s shoulders and sharpened her gaze. ‘Careful, Rafe. Your privileged upbringing is showing. Anyway, my friend Layla has made a career out of it—or is starting to.’
‘But you’re an artist, not a businesswoman.’
Isla affected a laugh. ‘You make it sound like you know me. You don’t.’
‘I know you well enough to know you will not be satisfied unless you express your creativity.’ Rafe leaned forward so his forearms were resting on his thighs, his gaze trained intently on hers. ‘I have a proposition for you. Business, not personal.’
Isla raised her brows. ‘Oh? Let me guess... You want me to paint your portrait?’
He gave a twisted smile. ‘No. My grandmother, actually. My mother’s mother. She’s about to turn ninety. She’s difficult to please. I don’t think she’s liked a single thing I’ve bought for her. But I thought a portrait would make a nice birthday present for her.’
Isla chewed at one side of her mouth. How ironic her first ever commission offer came from Rafe. Of course, she couldn’t accept. But the thought of the money he might be prepared to pay her gave her pause. Why would he want to commission her, though? Did he think he could talk her into another fling with him? But, even so, she couldn’t help feeling intrigued about his family. He had rarely mentioned anything about his background and she’d been deliberately evasive about hers. They had somehow come to a tacit agreement to leave the topic of families alone.
‘Surely there are other artists, much more established artists, you could commission?’ she asked.
‘I want you.’ His eyes glittered with something that seemed to suggest it wasn’t just her artistic ability he was solely interested in.
The thought of resuming their affair was strangely exciting.