Reluctantly moving her hand away, Xavier settled her back, drawing up the silken coverlets. ‘Sleep for an hour,’ he murmured, dipping his head to kiss her brow, ‘and then take a relaxing bath. I will have beauticians visit you…and a masseuse who will massage all your aches and pains away.’
‘I think you just did that,’ Sophie pointed out, purring like a kitten.
‘Then you will feel even more relaxed.’
‘If I relax any more I may not wake up until I leave Peru.’
‘Oh, you will,’ Xavier promised in a low, husky voice that made her slide her limbs languorously over the sheets. ‘I’ll make sure of it.’
Sophie spent a full half hour of luxury in a bath the size of a small swimming pool, soaking in scented bubbles. She only climbed out with the greatest reluctance when the telephone handily placed on a marble ledge rang to inform her that beauticians would shortly be on their way.
Viewing the grand salon with its comfortable sofas, dainty antique side tables, rotating globe on a stand and vast rose-wood desk, complete with silver gilt inkstand, Sophie concluded it was hardly her idea of a sitting room—hardly her idea of an appropriate setting for beauty treatments either. But that hadn’t provoked a flicker of concern when she had suggested it as a possible venue to the person at the other end of the phone. The bedroom contained far too many erotic images for her to consider having a massage there. Even though she had smoothed the sheets and pillow-cases until she hoped not even the maid would guess what had taken place, the whole room seemed to vibrate with sensuality.
Answering a knock at the door, she found two young girls wearing crisp white uniforms. A parade of men followed them carrying cases containing all the paraphernalia they would require, and yet more wheeled in a full-sized massage couch. If this was how the other half lived, Sophie mused, standing back while they got everything organised, she could get used to it very quickly.
Soon she was daydreaming sleepily about enjoying the same sybaritic exercise on a daily basis. There was little chance of that, she reflected wryly as the girls continued to massage her back. But she needed it, Sophie realised, frowning a little. She had had no idea she had so many knotted muscles.
She moved slightly beneath the increased pressure. ‘Xavier?’ The click of the door closing softly behind the two girls he had silently dismissed gave him away. Turning her head lazily, Sophie groaned with pleasure and sank back again on to the pillow as he continued to knead her shoulders. ‘I should have known—’
‘You have an hour to get ready,’ he murmured very close to her ear, ‘and then you’re on camera.’
‘What?’ Sophie shot up, instinctively grabbing the towel to cover herself. ‘What do you mean, I’m on camera?’
‘As my spokesperson. And you don’t need that,’ Xavier said persuasively, removing the towel and tossing it aside.
‘There’s no time!’ Sophie exclaimed, gasping as his firm hands cupped her breasts. But as she wheeled around to get off the couch somehow her legs caught around his waist…‘Is there?’ she demanded huskily, gazing into Xavier’s rapidly darkening eyes.
‘What do you think?’ he murmured.
‘You wouldn’t,’ she said, breathless with excitement. There was something irredeemably decadent about indulging their carnal passions on a massage couch in the middle of a vast and sumptuously decorated room, while she was completely naked and Xavier impeccably dressed in his tailored suit.
‘Don’t you know better than to challenge me?’ Xavier demanded, tossing his jacket aside and reaching for the buckle on his belt.
Sophie’s first television interview went better than she dared hope—even if she was aware that the beautiful South American woman who was supposed to be questioning her preferred looking at Xavier, standing just out of camera shot.
Sloe eyes, doe eyes, dangerous eyes, Sophie mused, feeling vaguely threatened by the woman’s obvious fascination. Xavier was devastatingly attractive, and Sophie was the first to admit she lacked the drop-dead lusciousness of the woman sitting across from her. But she was becoming increasingly confident that there was a lot more going on between Xavier and herself than just physical attraction. They were linked at the core in a way she couldn’t yet fathom, but she knew it went deeper than even the sensational sex they enjoyed…and that would never have happened without Xavier, she reflected, as she sat waiting for the credits to roll and the floor manager’s signal that she could leave her seat. She could never have trusted, never have given herself so completely to anyone but Xavier.
Thankfully, he appeared immune to the woman’s allure, Sophie thought as he embraced her when the lights dimmed.
‘You were fabulous,’ he said, dropping a kiss on the top of her head. ‘Thank you so much for that, Sophie. You don’t know what that means to the project. The world has to see feisty young women out here—’
‘Feisty young women?’ Sophie teased softly. ‘Is that how you see me?’
‘Maybe,’ he agreed with a crooked smile.
‘So you’re using me as a free advertising tool,’ Sophie murmured, enjoying the teasing banter as their eyes locked briefly, intimately.
‘I’ll do anything I have to do to make the project a success,’ Xavier said honestly.
Sophie turned to glance as the glamorous interviewer stalked off, high heels rapping an angry tattoo across the floor. Sophie frowned. She had wanted to thank her. The interview had been a useful tool for the project. And now the woman had stalked off before Sophie could say a word to her about a follow-up. The rigid set of the television presenter’s back suggested she couldn’t believe Xavier had chosen to be with Sophie in preference to herself. Perhaps she had thought she was in line for a private tête-à-tête with Xavier after the show, Sophie worried, feeling she’d handled things badly. A glance at Xavier told her he wasn’t aware of the undercurrents.
Xavier told Sophie later over coffee that their stay in Lima would be an intense round of interviews and meetings, and that she would be required to attend some and not others. He said he couldn’t give her an answer as to how long it would all take and only stressed the need to be flexible. After he had ordered a light meal for them both, Sophie tried again to find out about the future.
‘I’ll be here for a couple of weeks or so,’ he said casually, ‘and then I’m returning to Spain. What about you? Have you made a decision about what you’re doing yet?’
Bewilderment and hurt flashed through her, dragging her down, sapping her energy. ‘I’m not sure.’
‘That’s not like you,’ Xavier said, frowning as he caught hold of her wrist and made her sit with him.
It wasn’t like her to feel as if her insides were being systematically shredded either, Sophie reflected grimly.
‘So, go on,’ Xavier prompted, staring at her intently.
‘I’ll finish my contract in Peru, and then I suppose I’ll return to St Agnetha’s.’
‘I see.’ Xavier frowned. ‘I could use you in Europe,’ he mused aloud.
‘As what?’
My mistress? Xavier got to his feet and began to pace about the room. Would she agree to that long-term? He was sure he knew the answer—but still, he couldn’t bear to be parted from her—not for a minute, not now or in the future.
He had a great choice to make, Xavier realised bitterly. He could ruin his mother’s life by being with Sophie, or Sophie’s and his own by refusing the commitment they both longed for. As he turned to look at Sophie he felt sure the agony would tear him apart. If only she would accept the medical position in Spain, at least they might work together if nothing else. ‘Apart from the same sort of thing you’ll be doing here with me in Lima, I’ve got one or two future projects in mind,’ he said with a shrug.
Sophie swallowed convulsively. Her throat felt tight and painful as she looked away. She could focus on nothing. She had been building castles in the clouds. Happy families, a future together—inwardly she made a sound of contempt at her own stupidity. ‘I’m not sur
e I can go on with this,’ she whispered hoarsely as her thoughts escaped.
‘Go on with what?’ Xavier demanded, taking hold of her arms to drag her to her feet.
‘Us,’ Sophie said, shaking her head.
‘Us?’ Xavier dipped his head to stare her in the eyes. ‘What on earth are you talking about, Sophie?’ His voice was low, but intense, and filled with a frightening level of passion.
‘You, me…bed.’ Sophie was forced to turn away from the intensity of his stare. ‘It’s just not for me, Xavier. I—’
‘What?’ he demanded in the same low voice. ‘I thought it was very much for you.’
‘It?’ Sophie shook her head in astonishment.
‘Stop this, Sophie!’ Xavier warned imperatively. ‘I couldn’t make love to a woman as I made love to you if it meant nothing to me.’
‘But how many women are there who mean something to you?’
Xavier pulled back. She could see he was shocked. She had touched something raw, something deep, something so much a part of him. She wasn’t surprised when he prowled a few paces away before turning to face her again. His voice was cold now.
‘I’m disappointed in you, Sophie. I can’t believe you would even ask me a question like that. Would you prefer to go back to one of the clinics when I leave here?’ He gestured around the room impatiently.
‘Can you arrange it?’ She longed for him to say no with every fibre of her being.
Pride blazed a trail across his face. ‘Of course I can arrange it.’
Disposing of her was that easy, Sophie reflected angrily. She’d been used and cast off, it was that simple. Xavier had succeeded in his mission—to teach her what sex should be. And she had been an excellent pupil, nothing more. ‘So what am I to you?’ she exclaimed. ‘Some sort of medical experiment?’
‘What the hell do you mean?’
‘I think you know what I mean, Xavier. The sex—’ She stopped. The gesture she made was of bewilderment, defiance.
The pain in her voice brought him back to her in a couple of strides. She tried to fight him off when he took hold of her shoulders, and pummelled her fists against his chest when he dragged her close. Then she swore at him, whipping her face away when he tried to control her with a kiss, but he was so much stronger than she was, and only held her hard against his chest until she had no fight left in her and rested tense and angry in his arms.
‘Let me go, Xavier,’ Sophie said, her voice muffled and indistinct against the front of his shirt. ‘Let me go, please. Let me get on with the rest of my life. There’s no point in this.’
The minute he released her she headed for the door. She had no idea where she was going. She could hardly see through her tears.
When she reached the door she spoke again. ‘I’d like to return to the clinic as soon as you can get me on a flight,’ she said steadily, keeping her back to him.
“‘No point in this!’”
Xavier was there, trapping her against the wall, with his arms outstretched like two steel ramrods either side of her head. And this time she didn’t flinch. She knew him too well for that, Sophie realised. She knew with absolute certainty that he would never hurt her. She forced her gaze up to meet his. It was the agony in his eyes that surprised her the most—it threw her completely. It was the very last thing she had been expecting. Pride, yes. Scorn, yes. Anger, certainly. But real pain, real concern, the fierce distress of a man about to lose everything he cared about was the very last thing she had been expecting.
‘Don’t do this to me, Sophie,’ he said in a voice shot through with passion. ‘Don’t do this to us.’
‘I can’t—’
‘Can’t what?’ he demanded fiercely.
The air between them was charged with passion as their heated words echoed around them like fiery ghosts, forcing Sophie to close her eyes against the rejection she was sure would come. ‘I can’t stand the uncertainty between us, Xavier…because I love you.’ The words came so easily to her…perhaps too easily.
Xavier drew her to him very slowly, carefully, as if she was made of the most fragile porcelain and might break into pieces at any moment. ‘I never thought I’d hear those words from you.’
‘Don’t send me away,’ Sophie murmured against his mouth.
‘Send you away?’ he queried ruefully, his lips tugging up in the crooked smile that only made her love him all the more. ‘That’s the very last thing I want to do.’ But, as Xavier held her to him, his eyes were full of pain. ‘And would I dare?’ he whispered hoarsely in a desperate attempt to revive the humour that always drew them closer.
‘Oh, I think you might,’ Sophie whispered, but then his lips claimed hers completely and she was beyond speech. And this time his kiss was long and full of tenderness and hope. They had climbed a new mountain, she thought, as Xavier deepened the kiss, and the view from the summit was extraordinary.
Two weeks slipped into three, and then four, as the demand for information about Xavier’s project grew. Alongside all the meetings and interviews, a steady stream of volunteers arrived in Lima, taking up every spare moment of their time. Living with Xavier was a crazy roller coaster ride of passion and laughter and unrelenting hard work, but Sophie had no complaints.
One night in bed, when she was curled in the security of his arms, she noticed some inner thought prompting the lips that had so recently kissed every inch of her to such devastating effect to curve in a grin.
‘What are you thinking about now?’ she queried softly, easing position on the satin pillows to scan his face.
‘How much I love you.’
‘Well, that’s all right then,’ Sophie murmured, sighing with contentment as she relaxed again.
‘And…I was wondering whether this might be a good time to broach my suggestion about you working in Europe when we leave here?’
‘Bribery?’
‘Job satisfaction,’ he countered with a wicked grin, moving the hair off the nape of her neck so that he could kiss her there.
Sophie arched towards him when his hand found her breast. ‘Would I get the chance to do much hands-on work?’
‘Lots,’ he promised huskily.
‘That’s not what I meant,’ she chastised in the same teasing vein. ‘So, are you offering me a job?’ she said more seriously, holding his hand still while she sought the truth in his eyes.
‘Yes.’
‘Are you serious?’
‘Why shouldn’t I be? I can use all the good doctors I can get.’
‘And is that all I am to you?’ Sophie demanded softly, evading capture when he reached for her.
‘It’s a very important part of who you are,’ Xavier pointed out levelly.
Sophie’s heart stopped. She had only been teasing him…
‘Would you work with me, Sophie?’ Xavier continued, unaware of the turmoil his words had provoked. ‘Work for the project in Spain: recruiting, managing, flying out here when necessary—combining business and managerial elements with all your practical skills? There would be proper training available—’
Disillusionment prevented Sophie hearing any more. Xavier had just offered her the chance of a lifetime as far as her career was concerned—but, on the personal front, he offered nothing. His professional endorsement should have pleased her, but all she could register was the fact that his plans for their future were confined to work. There was no long-term future for them—somehow she had to get that through her head. But there was still a choice to be made: she could allow pride to stand in her way and tell him to stick his job, or she could grab the opportunity to advance her career and enjoy the personal side while it lasted.
As if reading her mind, Xavier said, ‘There would be no need for anything to change between us, Sophie. Our relationship should survive working together. I think we’ve already proved that, don’t you?’
His smile was dark and dangerous, the type of smile that only minutes before would have made her heart thunder with anticipation. But now, for
some reason, she was filled with apprehension.
‘And I’ll find you somewhere nice to live.’
Sophie refocused incredulously. What was he saying? It was all she could do to stop herself screaming—at herself for still wanting him on those terms, as much as at Xavier for imposing them. But, however much she wanted him, she had to make a stand. Travel, variety, challenge, hard work—everything that went with the job she would accept, but she would not accept Xavier’s offer to find her a home. It made her feel bought, as if he expected to pay for her services.
‘So, what do you think?’ Xavier pressed.
‘The job’s great, and I’m sure you pay well. I should have no trouble finding myself somewhere to live.’
‘As you wish,’ he said with a shrug. ‘But you do accept my offer of a job?’
‘I do,’ Sophie said, pushing aside the regret that there was nothing more to the offer than that.
While Xavier attended his last solo meeting of that day Sophie began to study all the papers he had left for her to read about his various other projects and business interests. The opportunities for her within his group of companies were boundless. The chance to add a second language as well as a professional management degree to her existing qualifications held real appeal. It was customary, Xavier had explained, for all his employees to be given training opportunities. ‘All his employees—’ that phrase had stuck in her head, Sophie realised as she glanced at her wrist-watch. The chance to work for Xavier—in Spain, in Peru, who knew where next?—was a fantastic opportunity; why not leave it at that?
She had already discovered a state of the art television with satellite channels in the bedroom concealed inside an ornate white cabinet at the foot of the bed and, deciding to catch up on the news to pass the time until Xavier’s return, she turned it on.
The first few items washed over her, but suddenly the stricken, mud-coated face of the person being interviewed drew her closer to the set. Turning up the sound, she listened intently. As the full import of what she was hearing struck home, Sophie tensed, her hand automatically reaching for the telephone on the nearby side-table while she kept her gaze fixed firmly on the screen.
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