Page 58 of Raul
“Stay here.” She gave his bare thigh a squeeze, which sent a zing of arousal to his cock. “I promise to come back.”
And she was out the door, leaving an emptiness behind her. He hopped over to his dresser to pull on a pair of sweatpants before he picked up his crutches and headed for the living room to meet her.
“Ay,I was afraid of that,” he said when she came out of the office fully clothed. “I was hoping you would leave the jeans off a little longer.”
Her lips curved into that Mona Lisa smile of hers that made him feel like she could see into his brain. “You were just hoping to tempt me back into bed.” She feathered her fingertips over his tattoo, leaving a trail of heat.
“Your jeans are not an obstacle to that, you know.” He leaned down to flick his tongue at the base of her throat.
She gave a little hiss of pleasure, and he pulled her hips against his hardening cock.
“No.” She stepped back to break his grip, but her eyes were lit with desire. “Got. To. Go. I’m not going to kiss you because… Well, you know why.”
“Wait! Will you spend tomorrow with me after meeting with Bertucci?” He gave her his most persuasive smile. “It’s my last day of vacation.”
Instead of smiling back, her eyes held shadows. “I… What would we do?”
“Get away from the palace,” he said because he needed a change of scenery, and she might relax more in a less formal environment. “I have a house of my own at the beach. We’ll go there.”
“The beach?” She looked away for a moment before turning back to him with a strained smile. “All right.”
“Mi corazón,we can go somewhere else.” Did the beach remind her of her father’s death and her fear of the ocean? “Gabriel has a beautiful estate…”
“No, I’d like to see your house.” Her smile brightened as she swept her hand around his apartment. “I need to find out which style of décor is the real you.”
“All of it.” He wanted her to know this. “The ancient and the modern. I embrace them equally.”
He heard her suck in a sharp breath before she nodded. “Because you are the prince.” She gave him a quick peck on the cheek and bolted for the door.
Right. She didn’t like being reminded that he was the prince. But he couldn’t change who he was. Tomorrow, though, he would keep everything as low-key as possible. As little security as possible. As few staff as possible at the house. A simple menu. Just a day at the beach.
He slumped on his crutches, letting them dig into his armpits as emptiness echoed around him now that she was really, truly gone.
It worried him that she could affect him that way. He had known her for less than a week, and yet, he craved the sense of ease her presence gave him.
He pivoted and dropped into the nearest chair, calculating how many hours it would be before he saw her again. His familywould distract him for part of that time, but the night would stretch long and desolate without her in his bed.
Chapter 14
The next morning, Erica pulled on a rose-colored T-shirt and inspected her reflection. Mikel had explained thatwearing a wirewas a figure of speech because technology had evolved beyond taping wires to your chest. He had advised her to dress as she normally would on a day off.
However, she was also going to see Raul, and that required more than her average casual attire. So, she had on a new pair of designer jeans, sneakers, and a V-necked T-shirt in her favorite shade. The dusty rose brought out the color of her lips and cheeks, as well as contrasting nicely with her dark hair.
It was going to be windy on the high cliff of Acantilado Alto, so she tamed her hair into a French braid tied off with an elastic band sporting a silk hibiscus flower. She shrugged into a hooded gray sweatshirt and slung a small leather crossbody bag over her shoulder.
Taking a deep breath, she picked up the backpack she had packed for later, stuffed with a bikini, a cover-up, sandals, and other sun gear, along with some cosmetics. This would be her last day with Raul before they went back to their respective jobs and positions in society. She needed to shake off the melancholy that already weighed down her mood, or she wouldn’t be able to fully savor their final precious hours together.
When he had asked her to spend the day with him, she had tried to sayno. She was already too emotionally entangled with him. Another day would just sink the hooks deeper into her heart. The pain would be greater when he ripped them out.
Why did he have to be so fascinating behind that gorgeous façade of his? His good looks she could resist, but the glimpses of his guilt and vulnerability drew her to him like a magnet. It was that damned sense of connection that he kept claiming he felt,giving her the false idea that he cared about her as more than a vacation distraction. In truth, she felt it, too, as though they flew wingtip-to-wingtip in perfect synchronization.
All that meant she didn’t have the strength to turn him down when he asked for her company.
Her phone pinged with a text. He was here. There was no way to stop the surge of exhilaration that flooded through her, making her skin heat and her breath go shallow. She jogged down the stairs from her second-floor apartment and stepped out into the early morning sunlight.
A dark green SUV idled by the curb. As she reached the sidewalk, the back door swung open, and she caught a glimpse of Raul before he slid away into the car’s dim interior. As soon as she climbed in and closed the door, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against his side for a long kiss. The feel of his lips and his lean body turned her insides soft with yearning.
He lifted his head, his face echoing her own feelings. “My apologies for not getting out of the car, but I didn’t want to draw any attention. You never know where the paparazzi are hiding these days.” He waved a hand at the crutches propped against the seat beside him. “And these are a pain.”
