“I decided a very long time ago that I don’t want to do the whole couple thing. I’m not a ‘family’ kind of man. I don’t want to date, I don’t want to marry, I don’t want to have children.” He shuddered, to underscore his point. “I’m a loner, and I always will be. Even you won’t change that about me,” his tone was, again, lightly teasing.
“Why? What makes you like that?”
Raf though, didn’t answer. “I’m not looking to replace him,” he said instead, the words quiet. “And I’m probably even less likely to want a relationship than you, so you can be perfectly assured this won’t go any further than fun.”
“Fun,” she repeated, lost for the ability to form any more erudite response.
“Lots of fun,” he winked.
“The thing is,” she said, “I honestly don’t know if I remember how to have fun.”
“Sounds to me like you need a teacher then.” And before she could respond he wrapped his hands around her waist, lifting her over his shoulder and carrying her towards the helicopter. It was only when he placed her on the passenger seat that she realised she was laughing.
Chapter Six
HE’D MADE THE TRIP so many times it was one he was able to complete with muscle memory alone. Just as well given the distraction that was Lauren Monroe in the seat beside him. Not just Lauren but the baggage that came with her, the past she’d just shared with him, the key that unlocked a door to total comprehension. She’d been pushing him away because she was still in love with some other guy. Her late husband.
And even though they’d done nothing wrong, he felt it too – a sense of guilt at having made love to a woman who was clearly still hung up on another guy. He would never ordinarily ‘have an affair’. But this wasn’t that. She was a widow. Her husband had died, and long enough ago that there were several lines in the sand separating what they’d done to what Lauren and her husband had.
There was no need for guilt – from either of them. What he needed was to convince her of that. And night by sensual night he intended to.
She needed to see that she could enjoy a healthy sex life without seeing it as a betrayal to her husband. Lauren was too sensual, too tactile, to deny herself the comfort and pleasure of sex. What she needed was to get over her hang-ups and realise that she could pursue a sexual relationship without feeling as though it were some dramatic betrayal.
Yeah, this is pure altruism, he thought wryly, aware that his body was already getting hard at the prospect of getting her alone at his place. He brought the helicopter lower over Pisa, his home only a few minutes from the ancient township.
“This is all so beautiful,” she said, and the Lauren who’d been forcibly shutting him out was nowhere to be seen, in that moment. She stared out of the cockpit glass with an expression of wonderment, marvelling at the patches of green beneath, each a different shade, that gave way to a dotted maze of terracotta buildings, yellow and rust.
His home came into view, large and sprawling, just a few hundred metres from the ocean. He brought the helicopter down onto the helipad, only half of his concentration on landing, the rest of him focussed on Lauren and her reactions. He was attuned to every shift of her body, every movement of her expression.
“This is your place?” She gestured to his villa, her eyes saucer-like. He regarded the property from her perspective and yes, he could see that it was quite impressive, in ways he’d never really contemplated. Two tennis courts, a small golf course, a swimming pool shaped like a lagoon. The house itself was modern, built after an earthquake destroyed the original villa decades earlier.
“When I’m in Italy.”
“So you don’t even live here full time?” She shook her head, a smile on her lips.
He flicked the blades off then reached across to remove her headset. “I’m here probably half the year.”
“Where are you the rest of the time?”
He couldn’t help but feel the floodgates had been opened. Gone was the reserved ice-queen he’d been driven crazy by at Villa Fortune. Perhaps having clear parameters of their situation had been what she needed – a ticket to relax because he’d promised her this would tick all her boxes. Easy, fun, casual and definitely no strings.
“All over,” he grinned, pushing open his door. “Wait there.” He came around to her side of the helicopter and opened the door, reaching up and undoing her seatbelt, his hands lingering against the flatness of her stomach, his eyes laced with promise as they held hers. He put his hand out and she took it, her fingers lacing with his as she stepped out of the chopper.
“What does ‘all over’ mean?”
“I like
to travel,” he said, guiding her towards the house. Her eyes weren’t remotely still. She studied everything as they passed.
“Why?”
He frowned at that question. It was strange – did it even require an explanation? “I like to travel to do challenges,” he elaborated.
“Like hiking.”
“Right. Free climbing. Base jumping. Surfing. Skiing.”
She stopped walking, her eyes roaming his face. “You’re a dare devil.”