of what had just happened between them as she wanted him to believe. He just had no idea why she was behaving like this. With any other woman he would have said she was running scared from the depth of their response to each other, but he knew it couldn’t be that because it had always been this way between them. From their very first night together their passion had been just this out of control.
‘No, I don’t think it was a mistake, and it’s not what you really believe, either, Cairo,’ he bit out.
She looked momentarily taken aback and then she gave an incredulous laugh. ‘Strangely, Rafe, I find I don’t actually give a damn what you think!’
‘No?’
‘No,’ she insisted as she calmly slipped her nightgown back over her nakedness. ‘It’s only your own arrogance that makes you say differently.’
‘You—’ Rafe swallowed an angry expletive. ‘You’re playing with fire, Cairo,’ he warned harshly.
‘But that’s my point, Rafe; I have played, and I don’t want to play any more.’ She shrugged. ‘Maybe Lionel was right, after all, and my tastes have become more—sophisticated, over the years. I certainly hope I’ve learnt never to make the same mistake twice,’ she added.
Rafe drew in an angry breath. ‘Let’s hope you’ve learnt the same sense where Bond is concerned, then,’ he snarled.
‘What’s this got to do with Lionel?’
Rafe’s mouth twisted humourlessly. ‘Unless it escaped your notice earlier, the man obviously wants you back.’
‘It isn’t me Lionel wants, Rafe,’ she contradicted.
‘What do you mean?’ he prompted sharply.
‘Never mind.’ Cairo gave a weary sigh. ‘It really is very late, Rafe, and despite her late night I’m sure Daisy will still be awake bright and early in the morning.’
Rafe looked at her searchingly for several long seconds, a gaze that Cairo returned unblinkingly. Unemotionally. The passionate woman he had held in his arms such a short time ago had completely disappeared behind that façade of cool indifference.
But to Rafe it was obvious now that it was just a façade and he was more determined than ever to penetrate it. For now, though, he knew Cairo had had enough. Of Lionel Bond. And of him. If he tried to push her any more tonight, she would just retreat even further behind that barrier she had erected around her emotions.
He forced the tension from his shoulders and smiled slightly. ‘Okay, Cairo.’ He nodded. ‘Sleep well, hmm?’ he added ruefully—knowing he wasn’t going to be as lucky!
She looked a little less certain as she eyed him guardedly. ‘I— Yes. And you.’
He grimaced. ‘I think I’ll go for another swim and cool off.’
‘Goodnight, then.’
‘’Night, Cairo,’ he echoed huskily.
Rafe stood and watched her as she glided up the steps before disappearing inside the villa.
He stood there for several more minutes and mulled over this last conversation with Cairo, wondering exactly what she had meant by that last remark about Lionel Bond….
CHAPTER NINE
‘NICE of you to join us,’ Rafe drawled dryly as Cairo stepped onto the terrace where he and Daisy were eating breakfast.
‘Good morning, Daisy.’ Cairo completely ignored Rafe’s jibe as she sat down next to her niece and poured herself a cup of coffee. ‘I knew you were up,’ she told him as she sat back in her chair cradling her mug of black coffee. ‘I heard you and Daisy talking hours ago.’
‘Was that before or after we went out and got breakfast?’ Rafe taunted as he helped himself to another of the freshly baked croissants.
‘Does it matter?’ Cairo asked airily.
She had been woken by Daisy’s overloud whispers at least two hours ago, Rafe’s equally audible replies telling Cairo that her niece wasn’t alone, and so she had simply pulled the duvet back over her head and gone back to sleep!
She gave a contented sigh as she gazed out at the tranquillity of the valley. ‘It’s another lovely day.’
‘We’re going home today, Aunty Cairo!’ Daisy could obviously contain her excitement no longer.
Cairo raised questioning brows at Rafe before giving her niece a quizzical smile. ‘We are …?’
Daisy nodded, her eyes glowing and her cheeks flushed. ‘I wanted to come and wake you hours ago so I could tell you, but Uncle Rafe wouldn’t let me disturb you.’
‘What I actually said, Daisy, was that women of your aunt’s advanced age need all the beauty sleep they can get!’ Rafe corrected mockingly.
Cairo had wondered just how she and Rafe were going to face each other again after the incident down by the pool last night—now she knew! Sarcasm was obviously the order of the day….
She gave him a saccharin-sweet smile. ‘And I thought we had agreed last night that, at the advanced age of thirty-seven, it’s you who needs your beauty sleep?’ That Rafe looked very lean and dangerously attractive in a white T-shirt and faded jeans gave lie to that statement!
Daisy turned to look at Rafe, her eyes wide. ‘Are you really thirty-seven, Uncle Rafe?’
Rafe gave a rueful nod of his head in Cairo’s direction as he heard the note of awe in Daisy’s voice. ‘Daisy, honey, when you’re older, you’ll realize that men are like a fine wine—they just get better as they mature.’
‘Or they become as sour as vinegar,’ Cairo put in lightly.
And not exactly honestly, where Rafe was concerned, she acknowledged inwardly. He did have at least one thing in common with a fine wine, as last night testified only too well—the last eight years had just made him more headily potent!
He looked across at her with teasing blue eyes. ‘I think your Aunty Cairo is—confusing her wines,’ he drawled.
That was quite enough of that conversation, Cairo decided firmly. ‘So, we’re leaving later today …?’ she prompted in a pointed attempt to change the subject.
Rafe continued to hold her gaze challengingly for several more seconds before nodding. ‘Jeff telephoned earlier; Margo and baby Simon are going to be discharged tomorrow morning.’
Cairo’s face lit up and she put her coffee mug down on the table so that she could give Daisy a hug. ‘That’s wonderful news!’
Rafe took advantage of Cairo’s momentary distraction to take in her appearance. She looked sleek and tanned this morning in a knee-length cream sundress, her legs bare and silky. She had cream flip-flops on her feet, and her face was bare of make-up, too, apart from a peachy gloss she had applied to her lips.
The lips that still looked slightly bruised from the force of their lovemaking
