Kept by the Spanish Billionaire(21)

Amy pointedly looked away as he slipped into the seat next to her and said that all that was left now was to hit the beach. And there were a lot to choose from, depending on how long they wanted to spend in the car.

‘I don’t mind the drive,’ he murmured in a voice that told her that he was laughing at her. ‘Might just as well make use of the sports car before I have to sell it to support the wife and kids.’

‘Glad you’re coming around to my point of view,’ Amy said loftily, refusing to be needled into a response. But she did feel needled, and not by anything he said but by the way he looked. It was ridiculous, crazy. The man wasn’t her type. The macho types had never held much appeal for her, too much in the muscle department and too little in the sense-of-humour department, and, above all else, Amy liked a guy with a sense of humour.

But some of the things the gardener said…She stole a quick glance at the strong profile with just the ghost of a smile playing on his lips and blinked in confusion.

‘Guess you probably have the same problem as well…’

‘What problem would that be?’

‘Knowing that your luxuries in life will have to go when you get married and give up work…’

Amy burst out laughing. ‘First of all, I don’t intend to “give up work” the minute I get married! Sure, I might use it as an opportunity to break out on my own instead of working for a company, but that would depend on who I marry, wouldn’t it? And secondly, I don’t have any luxuries along the lines that you’re thinking! Not all of us are lucky enough to have a grace and favour residence at our disposal!’ Enraptured by the sight of sand dunes rolling down to the ocean, Amy embarked on a series of excitable questions, but Rafael was having none of that. For the moment, his tour guide hat was going to remain off.

He pulled up to the beach, to which he seemed to have automatic resident’s access, and watched her run ahead of him, kicking the sand between her toes. She had changed into a pair of faded denim cut-offs and a thin white tee shirt, which she proceeded to take off while on the move, revealing a small turquoise bikini top. An extremely small turquoise bikini top. Rafael drew his breath in sharply. From the looks of it, she certainly had come equipped to knock the socks off James. He wondered what else was in her wardrobe and the speed with which his mind filled the gaps brought a dull colour to his cheeks. He frowned, irritated with himself for being sidetracked, but then he had been irritated with himself since his decision to abandon his laptop this morning.

All for a good cause! he reminded himself.

She was racing back towards him now, breathless with apology for not helping carry some of the picnic. Behind his sunglasses, Rafael’s eyes drifted to the pert breasts barely covered by her top, and to the washboard-flat stomach. She had a slender graceful figure with small breasts and he found the flair of her hips from her tiny waist mesmerizing.

Feeling a treacherous sense of arousal, Rafael quickened his pace.

‘Fine, Mr He-Man! It’s absolutely all right by me if you want to prove how big and strong you are!’ Except he was big and strong. Very big. Amy paused and then continued in his wake.

He had thought to bring a rug, something he kept in the boot of his car, as did most people who lived in any place where white-out conditions could occur in winter. He laid this out now, dumped the bags of food on it and waited for her to join him.#p#分页标题#e#

‘Short legs,’ Amy told him. ‘Not good in sand.’ She looked out to the sea, anywhere but into those disconcerting dark shades. ‘Fantastic. I haven’t been to many beaches in my life, but this is one of the best.’ They were both standing and she was beginning to feel a little ridiculous and very conscious of her sparingly cut bikini top. It would never have stood out in a group of people, with the girls sporting similar beachwear, but in front of Rafael she suddenly felt exposed. She promptly spread out her towel and sat on it, relaxing back on her elbows.

To her relief he did likewise, and she had to admit as he stripped off his shirt that gardening had certainly worked for him when it came to endowing him with a pretty impressive physique. There was not an ounce of spare flesh on the man and with every small movement she could see the definition of sinew and muscle. She felt her mouth go dry.

Surely he hadn’t been right when he had implied that she was shallow? That she had shrugged off the small matter of a broken heart in record time because she was some kind of airhead who fell in and out of love for fun?

‘I wonder where they’ve all gone…’ Amy mused aloud, thinking that she might just steer the conversation onto James and try and emerge in a positive light, because it was fast occurring to her that what she had felt for James had been nothing more lasting, she was ashamed to admit, than a summer cold.