Pride blazed a trail across his face. ‘Of course I can arrange it.’
Disposing of her was that easy, Sophie reflected angrily. She’d been used and cast off, it was that simple. Xavier had succeeded in his mission—to teach her what sex should be. And she had been an excellent pupil, nothing more. ‘So what am I to you?’ she exclaimed. ‘Some sort of medical experiment?’
‘What the hell do you mean?’
‘I think you know what I mean, Xavier. The sex—’ She stopped. The gesture she made was of bewilderment, defiance.
The pain in her voice brought him back to her in a couple of strides. She tried to fight him off when he took hold of her shoulders, and pummelled her fists against his chest when he dragged her close. Then she swore at him, whipping her face away when he tried to control her with a kiss, but he was so much stronger than she was, and only held her hard against his chest until she had no fight left in her and rested tense and angry in his arms.
‘Let me go, Xavier,’ Sophie said, her voice muffled and indistinct against the front of his shirt. ‘Let me go, please. Let me get on with the rest of my life. There’s no point in this.’
The minute he released her she headed for the door. She had no idea where she was going. She could hardly see through her tears.
When she reached the door she spoke again. ‘I’d like to return to the clinic as soon as you can get me on a flight,’ she said steadily, keeping her back to him.
“‘No point in this!’”
Xavier was there, trapping her against the wall, with his arms outstretched like two steel ramrods either side of her head. And this time she didn’t flinch. She knew him too well for that, Sophie realised. She knew with absolute certainty that he would never hurt her. She forced her gaze up to meet his. It was the agony in his eyes that surprised her the most—it threw her completely. It was the very last thing she had been expecting. Pride, yes. Scorn, yes. Anger, certainly. But real pain, real concern, the fierce distress of a man about to lose everything he cared about was the very last thing she had been expecting.
‘Don’t do this to me, Sophie,’ he said in a voice shot through with passion. ‘Don’t do this to us.’
‘I can’t—’
‘Can’t what?’ he demanded fiercely.
The air between them was charged with passion as their heated words echoed around them like fiery ghosts, forcing Sophie to close her eyes against the rejection she was sure would come. ‘I can’t stand the uncertainty between us, Xavier…because I love you.’ The words came so easily to her…perhaps too easily.
Xavier drew her to him very slowly, carefully, as if she was made of the most fragile porcelain and might break into pieces at any moment. ‘I never thought I’d hear those words from you.’
‘Don’t send me away,’ Sophie murmured against his mouth.
‘Send you away?’ he queried ruefully, his lips tugging up in the crooked smile that only made her love him all the more. ‘That’s the very last thing I want to do.’ But, as Xavier held her to him, his eyes were full of pain. ‘And would I dare?’ he whispered hoarsely in a desperate attempt to revive the humour that always drew them closer.
‘Oh, I think you might,’ Sophie whispered, but then his lips claimed hers completely and she was beyond speech. And this time his kiss was long and full of tenderness and hope. They had climbed a new mountain, she thought, as Xavier deepened the kiss, and the view from the summit was extraordinary.
Two weeks slipped into three, and then four, as the demand for information about Xavier’s project grew. Alongside all the meetings and interviews, a steady stream of volunteers arrived in Lima, taking up every spare moment of their time. Living with Xavier was a crazy roller coaster ride of passion and laughter and unrelenting hard work, but Sophie had no complaints.
One night in bed, when she was curled in the security of his arms, she noticed some inner thought prompting the lips that had so recently kissed every inch of her to such devastating effect to curve in a grin.
‘What are you thinking about now?’ she queried softly, easing position on the satin pillows to scan his face.
‘How much I love you.’
‘Well, that’s all right then,’ Sophie murmured, sighing with contentment as she relaxed again.
‘And…I was wondering whether this might be a good time to broach my suggestion about you working in Europe when we leave here?’
‘Bribery?’
‘Job satisfaction,’ he countered with a wicked grin, moving the hair off the nape of her neck so that he could kiss her there.
Sophie arched towards him when his hand found her breast. ‘Would I get the chance to do much hands-on work?’
‘Lots,’ he promised huskily.
‘That’s not what I meant,’ she chastised in the same teasing vein. ‘So, are you offering me a job?’ she said more seriously, holding his hand still while she sought the truth in his eyes.
‘Yes.’
‘Are you serious?’
‘Why shouldn’t I be? I can use all the good doctors I can get.’
‘And is that all I am to you?’ Sophie demanded softly, evading capture when he reached for her.
‘It’s a very important part of who you are,’ Xavier pointed out levelly.
Sophie’s heart stopped. She had only been teasing him…
‘Would you work with me, Sophie?’ Xavier continued, unaware of the turmoil his words had provoked. ‘Work for the project in Spain: recruiting, managing, flying out here when necessary—combining business and managerial elements with all your practical skills? There would be proper training available—’
Disillusionment prevented Sophie hearing any more. Xavier had just offered her the chance of a lifetime as far as her career was concerned—but, on the personal front, he offered nothing. His professional endorsement should have pleased her, but all she could register was the fact that his plans for their future were confined to work. There was no long-term future for them—somehow she had to get that through her head. But there was still a choice to be made: she could allow pride to stand in her way and tell him to stick his job, or she could grab the opportunity to advance her career and enjoy the personal side while it lasted.
As if reading her mind, Xavier said, ‘There would be no need for anything to change between us, Sophie. Our relationship should survive working together. I think we’ve already proved that, don’t you?’
His smile was dark and dangerous, the type of smile that only minutes before would have made her heart thunder with anticipation. But now, for
some reason, she was filled with apprehension.
‘And I’ll find you somewhere nice to live.’
Sophie refocused incredulously. What was he saying? It was all she could do to stop herself screaming—at herself for still wanting him on those terms, as much as at Xavier for imposing them. But, however much she wanted him, she had to make a stand. Travel, variety, challenge, hard work—everything that went with the job she would accept, but she would not accept Xavier’s offer to find her a home. It made her feel bought, as if he expected to pay for her services.
‘So, what do you think?’ Xavier pressed.
‘The job’s great, and I’m sure you pay well. I should have no trouble finding myself somewhere to live.’
‘As you wish,’ he said with a shrug. ‘But you do accept my offer of a job?’
‘I do,’ Sophie said, pushing aside the regret that there was nothing more to the offer than that.
While Xavier attended his last solo meeting of that day Sophie began to study all the papers he had left for her to read about his various other projects and business interests. The opportunities for her within his group of companies were boundless. The chance to add a second language as well as a professional management degree to her existing qualifications held real appeal. It was customary, Xavier had explained, for all his employees to be given training opportunities. ‘All his employees—’ that phrase had stuck in her head, Sophie realised as she glanced at her wrist-watch. The chance to work for Xavier—in Spain, in Peru, who knew where next?—was a fantastic opportunity; why not leave it at that?
She had already discovered a state of the art television with satellite channels in the bedroom concealed inside an ornate white cabinet at the foot of the bed and, deciding to catch up on the news to pass the time until Xavier’s return, she turned it on.
The first few items washed over her, but suddenly the stricken, mud-coated face of the person being interviewed drew her closer to the set. Turning up the sound, she listened intently. As the full import of what she was hearing struck home, Sophie tensed, her hand automatically reaching for the telephone on the nearby side-table while she kept her gaze fixed firmly on the screen.