‘A family occasion,’ he muttered in a way that suggested he wasn’t entirely comfortable with the idea, which was no concern of hers.
‘Yes.’
‘It’s a beautiful day for it.’
‘Indeed it is.’
‘It’s a beautiful day for many things.’
‘Such as?’
‘Making new acquaintances.’
‘Your brother and his family?’
‘I actually meant you, tesoro.’
In response to the slight deepening of his voice and the hint of silky seduction that accompanied his words, Carla’s stomach tightened while heat flooded her veins.
Was he flirting with her?
Feeling strangely trembly inside, she glanced over at him to find him looking back at her, the intensity of the heat she saw in his glittering gaze nearly knocking her off her heels.
‘I have plenty of acquaintances,’ she said, a lot more breathlessly than she’d have preferred.
‘Any like me?’
Attractive enough to turn her into a puddle of insensibility and lay siege to her control? In possession of a smile that commanded her attention against her will and rendered her all hot and quivery? Thankfully, no. ‘One or two.’
The expression on his face now suggested he didn’t believe her and that knowing arrogance—even if he was spot-on with that assumption—was enough to blast the sense back into her.
Enough was enough, she told herself sternly as she led him towards an arch in the hedge. The reaction going on inside her was ridiculous. She didn’t do flustered. Ever. She was cool in a crisis. She was the eye of the storm. She was not a pulsating mass of desire, completely at the mercy of her hormones, no matter how great the provocation.
‘What are you doing when the party’s over?’ he asked, standing aside to let her pass through the arch ahead of him.
‘Going home and crashing out,’ she replied, taking great care not to let any part of her body touch any part of his on her way.
Rico ducked his head and followed her through onto the stretch of gravel that led to the house. ‘That doesn’t sound like much fun.’
‘Perhaps not.’
‘I can think of far more entertaining things to be getting up to.’
As if on cue, before she could even think to prevent it, her head filled with images of Rico grabbing her arm right now, drawing her into the shadows, pulling her into a tight embrace and lowering his head to give her a mind-blowing kiss while she pressed eagerly against him.
‘I don’t doubt it,’ she said tightly, grinding her teeth in frustration as the gravel crunched beneath her feet and her body temperature rocketed. ‘Nevertheless, it’s what I’m doing.’
‘How about dinner?’
‘Toast,’ she said bluntly. ‘I may go wild and smash an avocado to have with it.’
‘I meant you having it with me.’
‘I know you did.’
‘Well?’
She shook her head decisively and set her sights on the door in the side wall of the house. ‘I think not.’