He looked away.
“I never wanted to hurt you, Ellie,” he said in a low voice. “Never.”
Abruptly, he turned off the hot water.
Without another word, he pulled her from the shower. He dried her off with a thick cotton towel, then did the same to his own muscular body.
And even as she trembled beneath his touch, she still couldn't look away from his perfect masculine form, the dark hair on his chest and belly forming a perfect arrow down to his…
She squeezed her eyes shut.
She told herself she didn't want him. And even if she did, she couldn't have him. The pleasure he offered was like a drug. One more taste, she would never escape the addiction.
Diogo was a selfish womanizer. He took what he desired. He grabbed a woman and didn't let go until he'd had his fill; then he tossed her aside for the next one. He cared only for his own pleasure.
She heard him leave the room and waited to hear the front door slam. Now that she'd denied him his instant gratification, he would move on to some other, more compliant woman.
She closed her eyes. He would easily find another woman to satiate his desires. A woman a thousand times prettier and smarter than Ellie would ever be.
“Ellie,” he said.
Shocked he'd returned, she opened her eyes. He was dressed in a black shirt and dark jeans. He held out something for her.
Taking the pile of clothes in her arms, she saw a lovely dress, panties, a bra in her size—all stretchy enough for her expanding shape, but soft and very, very pretty. The kind of maternity clothes that cost a small fortune.
“Where—how did you—”
“I had my staff arrange a wardrobe for your stay.”
“My—stay?”
He gave her a slow-rising smile that she felt down to her toes. “Come with me.”
CHAPTER SIX
ALL THROUGH BREAKFAST, Ellie couldn't stop giving Diogo little furtive glances over the table.
Sitting on the sunny warmth of the penthouse balcony, with a wide vista of the Atlantic Ocean and the sharp, cragged peak of Sugar Loaf Mountain rising to the east, she watched Diogo drink black coffee. Watched him smile and chat easily in Portuguese with the housekeeper. Watched him eat his buttery croissant slathered in jam with obvious pleasure.
So different from Timothy, who ate his meals with surgical disinterest. Diogo enjoyed his life. Even the little moments.
Sitting with him in the Brazilian sunshine, breathing sea air that was fresh from last night's rain, Ellie realized that she was enjoying herself, as well. She wiggled her toes in her comfortable new sandals, then sat forward in her chair and accepted the housekeeper's offer of a second ham-and-cheese omelet.
For some reason, for the first time in forever, Ellie felt…hungry.
Happy.
She sipped sparkling water from a crystal stem. Finishing her ham-and-cheese omelet, she gobbled down two chocolate croissants, all the while gulping down papaya, mangoes and açai berries, washing it down with sweet-tart pitanga juice. Every bite was ecstasy. Every taste better than the last. She felt good down to her bones.
And every time she looked up from her plate…
She saw him.
Their eyes met, and a shiver went through her. He hadn't left her when she refused to make love to him. He hadn't run out to look for some other woman. He hadn't even been angry. He'd just brought her outside to share a meal with him in the sunshine.
Almost as if he cared.
She bit her lip, trying not to even think such things. She couldn't start to imagine he cared. She couldn't count on someone who would inevitably fail and abandon both her and the baby. It was better that her child have no father at all!
Growing up with a distant father and bitter mother, Ellie had promised herself that her life would be different. She would fall in love with a man who loved her desperately in return. They would marry and have a family. Children. Grandchildren. Through all their lives, they'd have a love affair that never ended.
But real life wasn't like that, was it?
At least—she thought with sudden sadness—it wasn't like that for her. But she'd be a fool not to enjoy this moment while she could. Breakfast with Diogo in Rio. A beautiful, sunny morning. Delicious pastry and comfortable shoes…
Reaching forward, she helped herself to another chocolate croissant. She sighed as she took a bite, enjoying the exquisite flavor. She'd try to follow Diogo's example. If she couldn't have her impossible dreams, she would try to savor the pleasures of the moment while she could!
The housekeeper refilled Diogo's coffee, and he nodded her dismissal. When he was alone with Ellie on the balcony, he leaned across the table.
“Pregnancy suits you.”
Mouth full, she looked up to discover Diogo looking at her with frank desire. An electric current traveled between them.