He brought the subject back to her catering, which seemed a natural topic of conversation as he began to unpack the individual packets of food.
‘You don’t do this often, do you?’ Amy eventually said, interrupting her own monologue, which, to her ears, was beginning to sound like a very boring CV for a job interview. She couldn’t think he could possibly be interested.
‘Do what?’ Rafael looked across at her. She was on all fours and leaning towards him as she inspected the contents of a disposable tub. There he went again, being distracted by her breasts, the shadow of her cleavage, their neat plumpness. He frowned, annoyed with himself, and looked away.
‘Have picnics.’ She looked up at him. ‘I mean,’ she clarified, ‘you bought loads of spreads but nothing to spread them with, and bread but nothing to cut it with, and what are we supposed to put all this stuff on?’
Rafael was nonplussed.
‘Very boring, you know. I mean, you don’t look boring,’ she hastened to add, feeling a little odd quiver as she stared into those infuriatingly dark sunglasses, ‘but I guess you’re just not accustomed to eating outdoors. Weird, considering your line of work!’
‘Maybe I think it might be a bit of a busman’s holiday to spend yet more time outdoors when most of my time is spent there anyway. Mowing lawns. Weeding. Felling the occasional tree.’
Amy frowned. Was he laughing at her? She thought she had been making a perfectly sensible observation.
‘In fact, this isn’t my idea of fun at all,’ he told her bluntly. ‘Too much sun, too little shade, sand in the sandwiches.’ He stood up and Amy scrambled to her feet. ‘I suggest we hop in the car and see where the wind takes us. We can eat something on the way. Somewhere.’ Rafael couldn’t quite believe his own ears.
Amy gave him a brilliant smile. ‘Okay. But what about the food? I mean, it must have cost quite a bit and you didn’t let me pay…perhaps I could treat you to lunch? I know you have better things to do than ferry me around because I was stupid enough to land up on your doorstep last night.’
‘Perhaps.’
Four hours later, Rafael had to admit that he was enjoying himself. As novel experiences went, spending time in the company of a woman who had no particular interest in the news, no knowledge of the opera, little experience of the theatre and an unhealthy interest in reality television was an eye opener. There was no intellectual conversation about the state of the country, the world economy, and, certainly in the case of Elizabeth, the frustrations of the American legal system.
Instead he had fielded off a thousand intrusive questions about himself, heard all about her chaotic, massive family and discovered, by the time they had made it back to his house, that he had not actually learnt anything at all about her intentions towards his brother. Which had been the whole point of the exercise. And now she was demanding to leave.
‘Why?’
‘Because people will be wondering where I am.’ Amy ticked off all the reasons on her fingers. ‘Because there are all sorts of games laid on for this evening and it should be fun. Because I can’t stay wearing the same clothes indefinitely.’
Rafael was forced to concede defeat but, having accomplished precisely nothing during the course of the day, he decided, there and then, that he would simply have to put his work on hold for a couple more hours and entertain the woman the following day. It would all be for a good cause.
‘Games…’ Rafael could think of nothing worse.
‘Yup. Casino night. Of course, not with real money, but should be a laugh.’#p#分页标题#e#
Rafael grunted. ‘Okay. Hop back in the car. I’ll take you to the house.’
Amy, strangely disappointed, sat in silence for the short duration of the drive.
‘I’ll drop you off by the gates, if you don’t mind.’ He pressed a button on his key ring and the gates slowly inched their way open.
‘Guess it’ll be a bit uncomfortable for you…’ he insinuated casually, killing the engine and leaning back against the door to look at her. The sun had brought her out in a light sprinkling of freckles and, combined with the lack of makeup, made her look very young, very defenceless. James had not paid her a bit of attention, it would seem, since she had started working for the company, but he would be seeing her in a new light here and very young and defenceless could prove a winning combination for him, even if he did have a girl lurking in the background. Knowing James, whoever it was would be a temporary fling, easily discarded.
Amy, as he had discovered throughout the course of the day, might not have the striking model looks his brother favoured, but she had an open, infectiously gregarious personality that could be just as lethally attractive.