‘We’re here,’ he said, raking his fingers back through his hair. ‘And they’ve seen us.’
Cathy glanced at the sudden cool mask which had replaced the dark passion on his face. ‘You don’t sound very…keen.’
He should have been irritated by her intrusive observation—but the appeal in her wide blue eyes meant that he was momentarily disarmed. Couldn’t he relax his guard for once, just a little? This little chambermaid would never make the error of attaching any significance to any confidences he might share with her—and if she tried, he would merely point out her error so that she would not repeat it. ‘I’d much rather be making love to you,’ he admitted softly.
And that one murmured comment, along with the sizzling golden look which accompanied it, was enough to make Cathy feel as if she were walking on air as the car door was opened for them.
‘And so would I,’ she whispered shyly, but her momentary pleasure was eclipsed by nerves as she saw the glamorous women who were assembling to meet them. They were decked in glittering jewels, their skin faintly tanned, pampered and massaged—she felt anxiety flood through her. How could she possibly compete in her cheap little chain-store dress when they all looked like expensive birds of paradise?
Uncomfortably, Cathy followed Xaviero into the banqueting hall, where every table setting seemed to contain a whole canteen of cutlery—but at least she’d helped out at enough formal banquets at the hotel to know which was the correct knife and fork to use.
Picking at her meal, Cathy noticed that everyone waited until Xaviero had begun to eat before they, too, followed suit. How wearing that must get, she thought. She found herself seated in between two very wealthy landowners who wouldn’t have given her a second glance if she’d been changing their duvet cover.
But Xaviero had, hadn’t he?
Cathy swallowed. He might be arrogant, and proud. He might have taken her to bed and she might have foolishly let him—but nothing could detract from the fact that he had wanted her, just the way she was. And she had wanted him. In fact, if only he really were that man in denim and not a prince, then they wouldn’t have to be sitting here, having to endure these stilted conversations. They could have been snuggled up under their own duvet—making love and maybe making some kind of future together.
‘I’m sure I’ve seen you somewhere before, Cathy,’ one of the landowners was saying to her.
Cathy felt her heart begin to pound with trepidation. ‘I…I don’t think so—’
‘Good heavens—you’re not…’ The man pushed his scarlet face closer and frowned. ‘You don’t by any chance work at Rupert Sanderson’s hotel, do you?’
Cathy froze and looked across the table in alarm—to find a pair of curious golden eyes fixed on her. Obviously Xaviero had heard every word and was watching her, waiting to hear what she would say.
For one tempting moment she thought about the reaction she’d get if she told the truth. That she was the chambermaid at the hotel he was currently buying and that she’d tugged Egyptian cotton sheets over the Prince’s king-sized bed before letting him make love to her on it?
She realised that the landowner was still waiting for her answer and she looked into Xaviero’s eyes as if seeking an answer there and, to her astonishment, he gave her a slow smile.
‘Yes, Cathy works locally at the hotel—and has kindly agreed to be my guide while I’m here. Aren’t I lucky?’ he murmured, noticing that the redhead who had been flirting with him all evening was now flicking the little chambermaid a superior glance. Thoughtfully, his eyes narrowed, as he realised that he had not done Cathy justice. ‘It helps that she’s very beautiful, of course,’ he added softly.
Cathy felt the rush of colour to her cheeks at the faint ripple of surprise this remark produced—before the chatter resumed around the table. And although she was pleased that Xaviero had come to her rescue, she wished he hadn’t felt the need to tell a blatant lie like that.
Under his mocking stare she noticed the fractional dilation of his eyes. Saw the way the tip of his tongue had touched one corner of his lips as if deliberately reminding her of the sweet delight those same lips had brought to her earlier. And suddenly she didn’t care if he’d lied about her being beautiful. When he looked at her like that, she actually felt beautiful. Just as she’d felt when he’d gazed down at her naked body as if he couldn’t quite believe his eyes.
Was she alone in feeling the tension which fizzed across the table between them? Was he aware that every time his lips curved into a slow and speculative smile she experienced the warm pooling of desire at the pit of her stomach? The impatience to be alone with him and away with these people who fawned over every word he said. The women on either side of him might have been flirting outrageously—but she was the woman he had chosen to be his lover!