page3 (1/1)

Dazed, she stared up into the olden as a late-afternoon sun—all richness and lustre—but underpinned by a cold and leam

Unseen beneath the reception desk, Cathy’s fingers bunched themselves into two little fists She was unable to stop herself frohty features which looked as if they had been carved fro piece ofand sensual But they were hard, obdurate lips, too, she realised as an instinctive shiver iced her skin

His hair was dark and ruffled, and his olive skin was faintly flushed, gloith health and vitality as if he’d been engaged in some kind of violent exercise Tall and broad-shouldered, his physique was powerful yet lean—a fact which was ely to every hard sinew The est legs she had ever seen Legs which were encased in mud-spattered denim so faded and old that it seemed to caress his flesh like a second skin Cathy sed Her heart was racing and her throat had constricted, as if soainst it

‘I’ like that, sir,’ she said, forcing the words out

Xaviero studied her—though without quite the sa him He had noticed the way her pupils had darkened and the way her lips had parted with unconscious longing But he was used to having that effect on wo, hard session of riding, as now Her stuttering response was not unusual either—though it usually happened when he was on official duty, when people were so caught up with the occasion and the protocol which surrounded hiht

The nised hi subjected to idolatry and fawning he was an expert in anonynise him

His eyes flicked over her in brief assess that she was tiny and fair And that she possessed thewhile—their thrusting pertness noticeable despite the unflattering white overall she wore Too big, surely—for such a petite frame? His eyes narrowed in expert appraisal And yet completely natural, by the look of them

‘Looking like what?’ he questioned softly

Cathy’s eous Rich, like dark sweetlilt to it An accent she’d never heard before and one she couldn’t place at all But who cared when soed to turn each syllable into a poem?

Oh, for heaven’s sake, she thought Pull yourself together Just because you’ve been dumped by your fiancé, there’s no need to behave like so up the kind of man ouldn’t look twice at you

And yet she could do nothing to prevent the powerful thundering of her heart ‘Looking like…like…’ Like what? He looked like danger, that hat With the faintly disreputable look of a womaniser who had probably left his motorbike outside—and she knew Rupert’s opinion about bikers staying in the hotel So get rid of hie And do it quickly, before you make even more of a fool of yourself

‘I’uests ,’ she said quickly, echoing one of Rupert’s stuffy directives and e twist of the man’s lips ‘It’s…it’s one of the rules’

Xaviero alhed aloud at the po which had the power to aly ‘A very old-fashioned rule, I must say’

Cathy riskedher hands froesture of helplessness She totally agreed with him—but what could she do? Rupert was still mired in the past He wanted formality and ostentatious sy into his hotel wearing uest nuht that her boss could do with all the help he could get

‘I’ I can do Our policy is very strict’

‘Is it now?’ he murmured as he stared down into a pair of wide aquamarine eyes ‘And you don’t make any…exceptions?’