Bedded for the Spaniard's Pleasure. Carole Mortimer

Daisy, reassured after her earlier chat on the telephone with her mother, was back to her normal, talkative self, and her chatter had filled in the silence that had existed between Rafe and Cairo. The two of them had barely addressed a word directly to one another— ‘could you please pass the salt?’ really didn’t count as conversation!

      Rafe excused himself to make a telephone call while Cairo put Daisy to bed, delaying as long as she possibly could in her niece’s bedroom before rejoining Rafe on the terrace. She finally came outside to find him watching the last rays of sunset gleaming redly in the rapidly darkening sky, dozens of lights on in the houses dotted in the valley below.

      Cairo stood hesitantly in the doorway, not altogether comfortable with the air of intimacy that surrounded him.

      ‘Sit down, Cairo,’ he ordered without turning.

      She gasped. ‘How did you—?’

      ‘Your perfume,’ he elaborated as he turned to look at her. ‘Stop hovering over there in the doorway, Cairo, and come and sit down.’

      Her eyes widened indignantly at his autocratic tone. ‘You always were arrogant, Rafe. I’m sure that as a director you wield a lot of authority, but I can assure you—’

      ‘For God’s sake, sit down, Cairo!’ He turned to look at her, blue eyes glittering brightly in the semi-darkness. ‘I want to talk to you about Margo,’ he added impatiently as she remained unmoving in the doorway.

      ‘Oh. Fine.’ She moved to sit in the chair furthest away from his own. ‘That’s who you were talking to on the telephone just now?’

      ‘It’s good to know that all those years of marriage to Lionel Bond didn’t completely dull your intelligence!’

      ‘Rafe—’

      ‘Will you just shut up and listen for once, Cairo?’ He stood up to move restlessly to the edge of the terrace. ‘I spoke to Jeff, as it happens. Apparently Margo, for obvious reasons, was deliberately keeping the situation light when she spoke to you and Daisy earlier.’ His expression was grim. ‘They’re concerned about the baby now, as well as Margo, and the doctor’s intention is to admit her tomorrow and perform a Caesarian section.’

      Cairo stood up abruptly. ‘I’ll make arrangements for myself and Daisy to return home immediately—’

      ‘That’s the last thing Jeff wants you to do!’ Rafe turned to her swiftly. ‘Cairo, he has no idea how the operation is going to turn out, for either Margo or the baby, and the last thing he wants is for Daisy to go back to England and get caught up in the middle of that uncertainty. Even if the operation is a success, Margo and the baby will have to stay in hospital for several days, so there’ll be plenty of time then for you to arrange to get back for her homecoming.’

      ‘Even if the operation is a success’ was the only thing in Rafe’s last statement that registered with Cairo….

      She swallowed hard. ‘Is there— What do they think the chances are of them both being okay?’

      Rafe wasn’t enjoying this conversation at all. He knew that the two sisters, having lost both parents in a car accident ten years ago, had remained emotionally close, even though they had lived on different continents for years. It was because of the sisters’ closeness that Rafe had got to know Margo and Jeff in the first place….

      ‘Cairo—’

      ‘Just answer me, will you, please, Rafe?’ she said tautly, her eyes gleaming brightly with unshed tears, her hands clenched at her sides as she faced him tensely.

      Under other circumstances—with any other woman— Rafe knew he would have taken her in his arms and comforted her. But after what had happened between the two of them earlier, Rafe didn’t dare touch Cairo again!

      Instead he remained where he was, several feet away, his expression remote. ‘Jeff believes there’s a good chance that both Margo and the baby will be fine—’

      ‘Thank God!’ Cairo breathed her relief, some of the tension relaxing in her shoulders. ‘But…?’ she added shrewdly, as if she sensed that Rafe hadn’t told her everything Jeff had said.

      Rafe grimaced at her perception. ‘He also asked if the two of us would remain here with Daisy until he knows exactly what’s happening.’ And if Cairo thought he was any happier about that request than she was, then she was completely mistaken! ‘The idea being that, between the two of us, we keep Daisy so busy, at least over the next couple of days, that she doesn’t have too much time to telephone or think too much about what’s going on at home.’

      Cairo blinked. ‘Jeff wants the two of us to stay on here together?’ she repeated incredulously.

      Rafe’s mouth tightened at her tone. ‘I can be civilized about this if you can, Cairo.’

      As far as Cairo was concerned it wasn’t a question of either of them being ‘civilized’. She had been hoping, once Daisy was in bed, that she and Rafe could finally have a sensible conversation about one of them leaving. Preferably Rafe. And preferably this evening!

      But Jeff’s request had quashed that idea and instead her brother-in-law was asking her to stay on here with Rafe. Well, obviously not just with Rafe—if Daisy weren’t here, then Jeff wouldn’t have needed to make the request in the first place.

      Cairo knew perfectly well it would be Rafe who would be the dominant presence over the next couple of days; it was obvious the two of them couldn’t even be in the same country without arguing.

      As indicated by this conversation alone!

      But at the same time she recognized that Jeff did have a point; after only a few hours Cairo could see the rapport between Rafe and Daisy, and that being with him had already lightened the little girl’s introspective mood. That those same few hours had been absolute purgatory for Cairo really shouldn’t come into the equation when it was Daisy’s peace of mind they were all concerned about.

      Nevertheless…

      She frowned. ‘Do you actually have to stay here at the villa for us to do that?’

      ‘I own it, Cairo!’ Rafe reminded her irritably.

      She shrugged. ‘Then maybe I should be the one to move to a hotel—’

      ‘Will you stop being so childish!’ Rafe interrupted forcefully. ‘Or is it just that you don’t trust yourself to be alone here with me even for a couple of days?’ he jeered.

      Her eyes glittered with anger as she instantly responded with all the sarcasm of which she was capable. ‘Don’t flatter yourself, Rafe!’

      ‘Oh, yeah, I forgot.’ His mouth twisted with distaste. ‘You’ve had so many lovers the last few years you were probably looking forward to a break for a few weeks!’

      ‘I didn’t have any lovers during my marriage!’ Cairo protested vehemently.

      He shrugged. ‘That wasn’t what Bond said ten months ago.’

      ‘He was angry at the time, making things up,’ Cairo defended herself a little shakily.

      ‘Sure he was—’

      ‘Don’t use that patronizing tone with me, Rafe!’ she blazed at him. ‘I did not have an affair during my marriage to Lionel!’

      Rafe’s brows rose. ‘Aren’t you protesting a little too much, Cairo?’ he taunted softly.

      She shook her head. ‘I’m merely trying to explain that Lionel was upset when he made those accusations, because I had left him.’ Her chin rose. ‘Besides, your own numerous relationships over the years haven’t exactly been a well- kept secret!’ she challenged.

      As his clandestine relationship eight years ago with his co-star Pamela Raines hadn’t remained the secret he had hoped, either…

      ‘The difference being that I’m