Modern Romance October 2016 Books 5-8. Kate Walker
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seemed ethereal and delicate beside him. Even though he knew he shouldn’t be thinking of her as delicate at all. When she’d arrived in the kitchen earlier she’d had a determined look on her face and had kept up a general patter of inane conversation. No doubt signalling to Ben that the little confidences of the previous evening wouldn’t be happening again.
And that the sooner this weekend was over the better.
In fact—and his jaw clenched when he thought of it now—she seemed to be determined to treat him as if he was just a hired tour guide. Bestowing bright smiles upon him and sticking to annoyingly trite and inconsequential conversation.
Determined to crack through that cheerfully icy veneer, Ben asked, ‘So, did you sleep well?’
The dark glasses she wore hid her eyes, and when Ben glanced at her she was smiling brightly. ‘I slept like a log, thank you. All this fresh sea air makes such a change from muggy city pollution.’
His jaw clenched again. Time to ruffle her feathers a little. ‘Aren’t you going to ask how I slept?’
She looked at him, and he could sense the glare behind those protective shades. ‘I hadn’t planned on it, no.’
‘Well, if you must know,’ he said, ‘I didn’t sleep well at all. Lots of tossing and turning.’ He grimaced. ‘And I had to take a shower during the night.’
Because every time he’d closed his eyes all he’d been able to envisage was an image of her, standing in her long red evening dress, looking crumpled but sexily dishevelled, and he’d wondered what it would have been like to go and pick her up and bring her into his bedroom—
‘Well,’ she said stiffly now, her faux brightness gone, ‘we didn’t have to do this today. You know, if you’re too tired, you can always drop me off at the airport and I can get a flight home. That way you can get as much rest as you need.’
His mouth quirked. ‘Not a chance. And I didn’t say I was tired. I don’t sleep much, as a general rule.’
She was practically bristling beside him now.
He continued, ‘So, tell me about these ambitions of yours...the ones you mentioned last night when you were assuring me that a woman’s life doesn’t have to revolve around a man.’
She crossed her arms and stared straight ahead. ‘I don’t think that’s any business of yours.’
‘Maybe not,’ he agreed, glancing across at her, his eye instantly caught by the lush curve of her mouth. ‘But humour me?’
* * *
Damn the man, Lia thought churlishly. She’d bet money he was just trying to rile her. And her sense of complacency had gone out of the window as soon as he’d revealed that he’d taken a shower during the night.
It had been hard enough to maintain a cool front as soon as she’d walked into the kitchen and seen him sprawled in a chair, wearing faded worn jeans and a dark polo shirt, with bare feet.
His hair had still been wet and he’d looked at her over his coffee cup and said, ‘You should have joined me for a swim in the sea this morning. It was magnificent.’
Instantly Lia had been bombarded with an image of their wet bodies entwined as waves crashed around them.
She’d forced a sunny smile and sat down, helping herself to coffee and ignoring his comment. ‘It’s almost hard to believe we were in New York this time yesterday, isn’t it?’
Until now she’d kept up her valiant façade.
‘Tell me about these ambitions of yours...’
Lia thought about his question for a long moment. This was exactly what she’d reassured herself she’d do last night—keep him at a distance. Get on a plane and go home. And yet...there was something inside her that felt as if it wanted to break free.
It might be the sun-drenched exotic surroundings and the sense of being out of her comfort zone, thanks to having been literally transported to another country. Or it might be the effort it was taking to resist this man’s natural charm. Or, more dangerously, it might be the desire to reveal herself. Somehow along the way his opinion had come to matter to her—just a tiny bit.
She sighed volubly and Ben said cajolingly from beside her, ‘It’s another thirty minutes to Salvador...’
Treacherously, she felt resistance give way inside her. Angry with herself for giving in she said almost accusingly, ‘If you must know, I studied Architectural Engineering at university.’
It was almost worth saying that to see the way his head snapped around.
Lia smiled sweetly. ‘Didn’t expect that, did you?’
Ben had the grace to look slightly sheepish and he said, ‘When I met with your father at your house a few years ago he said you were on a skiing trip...’
Lia rolled her eyes. ‘I’ve never skied in my life. I was in college. My father never liked to admit to anyone—or himself—that his daughter had ambitions and wanted a career. He preferred people to think I was a harmless socialite.’
Ben’s jaw clenched and Lia saw his hands tighten on the steering wheel.
‘I have to confess that I did assume you were part of a certain social set...’
Something tightened in Lia’s chest. ‘I guess that’s understandable. Most people aren’t interested in my qualifications.’
He glanced at her before looking back at the road. Lia was glad his eyes were covered. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to see what was in them.
‘So, what do you plan to do with your degree?’
She hesitated for a moment, and then said, ‘I have a specific interest in crisis zones—in being the first on the ground to help with the rebuild.’
‘Hence your interest in the charity whose benefit we were attending? They’re renowned for the work they do in desperate situations.’
She nodded. ‘I volunteered with them after an earthquake in South East Asia, and that’s when I became really committed. I persuaded my father to support the charity too.’
Ben cast her another quick look, a wry tilt to his mouth. ‘You weren’t planning on shopping this weekend, were you?’
Lia shook her head, her heart tripping at the thought that she was telling him this. ‘No, I had planned to go to a series of lectures at NYU.’
He said with a devilish grin, ‘I’d be lying if I said I was sorry for upsetting your plans.’
Lia felt breathless again as something hot moved through her. Then Ben made a small whistling sound.
‘Intelligent, noble and beautiful? If you’re trying to turn me off, it’s not working.’
Lia felt a rush of pride and berated herself for being so weak as to seek his regard. But still... The fact that he seemed to be so accepting of this more secret side to her meant something.
In a bid to deflect attention from her, she said, ‘The CEO of that charity appeared to know you?’
He nodded. ‘Believe it or not, I’m also interested in what it takes to make disaster areas stable again. I’ve taken equipment and some of my men into crisis zones to help them stabilise buildings, the infrastructure. The truth is I’m one of the patrons of that charity.’
His words sank in and Lia turned in her seat to face him, shocked. Instant humiliation washed over her, because she’d believed he’d pursued her there for no other reason than to get her to agree to date him. Because he’d wanted her so badly. Now she felt like an abject fool—because he would have been there anyway.
Had he simply seen her there and made the most of the opportunity? More humiliation flooded her when she thought of how she’d