His eyes held hers with steely focus. ‘Strictly speaking, you’re not my guest. You’re Sophia’s.’
Holly hitched up her chin, flashing him an I-know-what-you’re-up-to glare. ‘I want to let you know straight from the outset I’m not here to be your sex toy.’
His dark brows rose in twin arcs over his impossibly dark blue eyes. With his black hair and olive-skinned complexion, she had been expecting them to be brown. But they were an astonishing sapphire-blue fringed with thick black lashes. He seemed to measure her for a moment; his gaze taking in the tiny diamond nose piercing and the pink streaks in her hair with a tilt of his mouth that was unmistakably mocking.
A knot of bitterness inside Holly tightened. If there was one thing she loathed, it was being made fun of. Belittled. Mocked.
‘How do you do, Miss, er...?’ He glanced at his housekeeper, who had come in behind Holly, for a prompt.
‘Miss Perez,’ Sophia said. ‘Hollyanne.’
‘Holly,’ Holly said with a black look.
Julius offered his hand. ‘How do you do, Holly?’
She glared at his hand as if he’d just offered her a viper. ‘Keep your hands to yourself.’
Natalia entered his office sounding a little flustered. ‘I’m terribly sorry, Dr Ravensdale, but I had to take an urgent call about another client—’
Holly swung around and frowned at Natalia. ‘Doctor? You didn’t tell me he was a doctor. You said he was a computer geek.’
The caseworker gave Julius a pained smile before addressing Holly. ‘Dr Ravensdale has a PhD in astrophysics. It’s polite to call him by his correct title, if that’s what he prefers.’
Holly swung back to look at Julius. ‘What do you want me to call you? Sir? Master? Oh Mighty Learned One? Your Royal Tightness?’
His lips twitched as if he was fighting back a reluctant smile. ‘Julius will be fine.’
‘As in Caesar?’
‘As it turns out, yes.’
‘You’re into Shakespeare?’ Holly said it as if it was a noxious disease from which she had so far managed to escape contamination. No point letting him think she was anything but what he had already judged her as: uneducated and unsophisticated. Trailer trash.
‘No, but my parents are.’
‘Why’d you agree to have me here?’ she said, eye-balling him.
‘I didn’t want you here,’ he said. ‘But my current domestic circumstances made it impossible for me to refuse.’
Holly folded her arms across her chest. ‘I can’t cook,’ she said with an obdurate ‘so what are you going to do about that?’ look.
‘I’m sure you can learn.’
‘And I hate housework,’ she said. ‘It’s sexist expecting women to clean up after you. Just because I’ve got boobs and ovaries doesn’t mean I—’
‘Point taken,’ he said quickly. So quickly Holly wondered if he was worried she was going to list all of her feminine assets. ‘However, you need to do your stint of community service,’ he continued. ‘I need some help around the house until Sophia gets better. It’s win-win.’
Holly made a harrumphing noise and unwound her locked arms, turning her gaze to the caseworker. ‘Have you done a police check on him to make sure he’s the real deal?’
‘I can assure you, Holly, Dr Ravensdale is a totally trustworthy guardian,’ the caseworker said.
Holly pushed her bottom lip out like a drawer as she swung back to size Julius up. ‘Do you drink?’
‘Socially.’
‘Smoke?’
‘No.’
‘Drugs?’
‘No.’
Holly upped her brazenness another notch. ‘Sex?’
‘Holly...’ the caseworker began.
‘What?’ Holly asked with a petulant scowl.
‘You’re embarrassing Dr Ravensdale.’
‘I’m not embarrassed,’ Julius said. ‘But I’m also not going to answer such an impertinent question.’
Holly coughed out a laugh. ‘Which means you’re not getting any, right?’
He stared her down with a look that made her insides feel wobbly. He didn’t look the type of man to go too long between drinks. He looked the type of man who could take his pick of women. She could feel his sensual allure like a force field. Her mind ran wild with images of him getting down to business. He wouldn’t be one for a quick, sleazy grope. He would take his time. He would know his way around a woman’s body. He would know how to send female senses spinning into the stratosphere. She could see it in the darkly confident glint of his gaze. ‘While we’re on the topic,’ he said, ‘I would appreciate it if you would abstain from bringing men here for the purpose of having intimate relations with them.’