He didn’t want to remember the number of times he had kissed those lips, all unknowing of the lies that had come to them so easily. He didn’t want to be tempted by the fact that all he had to do was lean forward, take that sexy body into his arms, press his mouth to hers, and in the fiery explosion of sensuality that was sure to follow they would both forget about the reasons why she was here, the past and all that had come between them.
If only he hadn’t taken her to bed this afternoon so that the memory of the passion that could flare between them at a touch was now so fresh in his mind. He only had to look at her and his body ached with need; he was hot and hard just thinking of her. His hands yearned to touch, his lips to kiss, every one of his senses clamoured for appeasement of its hunger. He had tried telling himself that she was not as gorgeous as he remembered, but taking her again after so long had only made him realise how wrong he had been. Once had not been enough—it could never be enough. All it had done was to serve to make him realise how much he wanted her again and again, more than ever before.
The satisfaction he had known in her bed this afternoon had totally evaporated already. It had only been enough to show him that he could never, ever sate himself on this woman, if he was to spend a lifetime trying.
‘Tell the truth, damn you!’ The hungry demands of his body made his words harsher and rougher than before.
Flinging himself to his feet, he made himself move across the room, putting as much distance between himself and Becca as possible, pushing his hands deep into the pockets of his trousers to conceal the way they had clenched into tight, angry fists.
‘Don’t lie to me, Rebecca! Never lie to me—not if you want to have any hope of getting what you want.’
‘I’m not lying.’
‘You are if you tell me that Stanton has nothing to do with this.’
That got through to her. Her face went white, all colour deserting her cheeks, and her mouth fell open in shock. So he’d been right in his suspicions. It didn’t make him feel any better to know it. Instead, he felt sick with contempt.
‘I’ll ask you again—does Stanton have anything to do with the reason why you want this money?’
How did she answer that? Becca thought miserably. Because she knew that just mentioning the name Roy Stanton was like setting a match to paper-dry tinder where Andreas was concerned, and she’d tried to dodge the truth once—not actually lying but avoiding answering with strict veracity as far as she could. Now that he’d changed the question, there was no hope she could do that again.
‘Don’t bother to say anything, Rebecca.’
She’d hesitated too long and Andreas had jumped to the inevitable conclusion.
‘I can see your answer in your face.’
She would have sworn that it was impossible for Andreas’ face to close up any tighter, his eyes to get any colder, or his expression any more distant, but somehow he had managed it.
‘I think you’ve had a wasted journey, Rebecca. You should have stayed at home and spared yourself the effort of coming all this way for nothing. You might have thought that deceiving me into believing that you had come to look after me so that you could worm your way into my bed would enslave me sexually again so that I could deny you nothing—’
‘It wasn’t like that!’ Becca protested sharply, but Andreas continued without pausing, speaking over her as if she had never tried to say a thing.
‘Unfortunately for you, I got my memory back before you could really work on me, but I think you should know that you were foolish even to try. I don’t put my head into that sort of noose twice.’
‘I didn’t…’ Becca tried, but Andreas shook his head, his refusal to listen stamped into every line on his face.
‘If you’re wise, you’ll leave it there, Rebecca. You will only make things so much worse if you continue.’
Pulling his hands out of his pockets, where they had been pushed deep all this time, he raked both of them through the black silk of his hair, ruffling it wildly, and Becca bit down hard on her lower lip as a sudden yearning desire to go and smooth it down for him caught her painfully on the raw.
Then he was speaking again, heading for the open patio doors as he did so.
‘I threw you out of my life once because of him, and I’m quite prepared to do it all over again. In fact, I would prefer it if you left now. I’m going for a walk on the beach—and I don’t want to find you here when I get back.’
‘Andreas…’ Becca tried but she was talking to his back. He was moving so fast, with such ruthless determination, that he was already outside, already heading away from her physically when he had been so distant from her mentally all the time.