He didn’t answer immediately and she turned her attention back to the newspaper, turning the pages until she found the photograph. ‘It’s big. I had no idea they’d be that interested.’ And she saw instantly why he’d made that comment about her grandfather liking the photograph. She was in Rio’s arms, smiling up at him, looking completely smitten. No one looking at that picture would have questioned the authenticity of their relationship. A strange feeling twisted in the pit of her stomach. Was that really the way she’d looked at him? Had he noticed? ‘We look good. They were obviously convinced.’
‘Champagne certainly brings out an interesting side to you,’ he drawled softly and she glanced up to find his eyes on her face.
‘I really wasn’t drunk.’
‘But you were a virgin.’
Fire rose in her cheeks and she sat in silence for a moment, trying to find the right response. ‘So what?’
‘Why didn’t you tell me?’
Was that the reason for his tension? Was it simply the fact that she was so much less experienced than him? ‘Well, it isn’t exactly something that comes up in conversation,’ she said lightly, ‘and I don’t see that it matters. You wanted someone wholesome. If the press choose to dig around in my past they won’t find anything. Isn’t that what you wanted?’ She kept noticing small things about him—like the bold curve of his eyebrows and the cluster of dark hairs revealed by the open neck of his shirt. Knowing what she knew now, she could easily picture the rest of his body—his chest shadowed with the same dark hair, concealing well defined muscle and breathtaking power. Knowing what she knew, everything was different. More sharply defined, more acutely felt.
The unspoken sexual component to their relationship had been there from the first moment they’d met but it had been enhanced a thousand times by the intimacies they’d shared in the flickering glow of firelight.
‘You told me you were engaged.’
‘I was.’
‘But you didn’t have a physical relationship?’ His tone was incredulous.
‘If you saw the house where I grew up, you wouldn’t find it so surprising.’ Evie pushed her hair away from her face with a hand that wasn’t quite steady. ‘I was all set to go to university, but after my grandmother died I couldn’t bear to leave my grandfather on his own. I got a job in the village and went to night school to study languages. Jeff and I started dating because we were the only two people under fifty in the village. There was no way I was going to have sex in Grandpa’s house. Even if it had been possible, it wouldn’t have felt right.’
‘Presumably, you didn’t conduct your entire relationship with your grandfather looking on. There must have been some moments when you were alone.’
‘Yes, I suppose there were—’ Evie hesitated. ‘But neither of us…we didn’t really… Honestly, I think we were just friends. We should never have been anything else but I think we were swept along by the expectations of everyone around us.’
‘Friends?’ His dark brows locked in a puzzled frown and she smiled, thinking how much she’d learned about him in such a short time.
‘I bet you’ve never been friends with a woman in your li
fe, have you?’
‘If by “friends” you mean no sex, then the answer is no. So you were engaged, but you never had sex.’
‘I don’t think either of us was in any hurry.’
‘You were in a hurry last night,’ he said silkily. ‘Or was the champagne to blame for your sudden transformation from virgin to vamp?’
She sucked in a breath, mortified at his blatant reminder of her own desperation. ‘No,’ she said softly. ‘It was you.’
‘Let’s test that theory, shall we?’ He drew her to her feet and a thrill of expectation shot through her.
‘Now?’
‘Was it the champagne, Evie?’ He murmured the words against her mouth and her eyes closed, her heart racing crazily as she rose on her toes and slid her arms around his neck. He slid his hands down her back and pressed her into him, his kiss tasting of hunger and passion.
Evie opened her mouth under his, matching his erotic demands with her own. Dimly, she registered that she shouldn’t be feeling this way. They’d made love for most of the night and yet the fierce hunger inside her was as acute as if they hadn’t ever touched. She was greedy for more of what they’d shared.
Rio pushed the robe down her arms with confident hands and the silky fabric slid over her hips and pooled on the floor, leaving her naked.
‘It’s daylight—’ Evie could feel her face burning and he gave a slow smile as he tightened his hands on her shoulders and moved her away from him slightly.
‘I know.’
‘Stop staring at me,’ she muttered. ‘You’ve been with so many seriously beautiful women—’
‘And none have excited me the way you do,’ he said huskily, sweeping her into his arms and carrying her into the bedroom. ‘You have the most incredible body.’