The Platinum Collection: A Diamond Deal. Susan Stephens

is a contract. It might be unspoken and unwritten, but it’s a contract all the same.’

      ‘So sex is just another form of business for you—a cold-blooded operation. Have I got that right?’

      He shook his head. ‘You know I don’t think that.’

      ‘So it’s an enjoyable pastime that you indulge in with women who know the score?’

      His lips pressed down as he considered this. ‘Women who are looking for the same thing from me I am from them,’ he agreed.

      ‘Meaningless sex, you mean?’

      ‘Mutual pleasure,’ he argued mildly. ‘Don’t go on fooling yourself, Eva. Don’t live a lie—’

      ‘Is that your homily for the day over and done with?’ she interrupted.

      ‘Don’t be sarcastic, either. It doesn’t suit you. And you know I’m right.’

      ‘Do I?’ she said, grimacing.

      ‘You can’t live your life based on a lie.’ As he should know. ‘At some point you have to come clean and admit who you really are to yourself. So you’re not experienced? Do you imagine I think any less of you for that? Regular sex isn’t some sort of pre-qualification in the game of life. Some people remain virgins for ever, and are quite happy to do so. You can’t force these things, Eva. If it happens it happens. If it doesn’t—’

      ‘You’d know all about that, I suppose?’ She’d grown tense.

      ‘Look—why don’t you just lock your door tonight if that makes you feel better?’ he said, moving away.

      ‘And what about your mixed signals?’ There were tears in her eyes now. She couldn’t understand what had happened. Neither could he. He had wanted this as much as Eva—more, probably.

      ‘You kissed me,’ she said in a small voice that tore at his heart.

      ‘I did,’ he agreed.

      ‘Was it so terrible?’

      He couldn’t stand this any more and dragged her into his arms. ‘It wasn’t terrible at all.’

      ‘I’ve never met anyone like you,’ she said angrily, pulling away. ‘First you tell me I’m coming on too strong, and then you do exactly that. How do you expect me to take that in my stride?’

      ‘I don’t expect you to,’ he said frankly, raking his hair with frustration. ‘The trouble, Eva, is that you’re not just a good actress—brilliant sometimes—you’re as hot as hell.’

      She shook her head as if trying to understand what he was saying. ‘You think you know me, but we’ve only known each other five minutes.’

      ‘How long should it take?’ he said quietly.

      ‘Oh, I forgot. You’re more perceptive than any other man.’

      ‘Maybe.’ He shrugged. ‘Where you’re concerned.’

      ‘And what’s that supposed to mean?’

      She sniffed loudly, wiping her nose on the back of her hand in a way that touched him more than any seductive look she might have given him could hope to do. ‘It means I’m going to bed, Eva. And so are you. But in your bedroom, not mine.’

       CHAPTER ELEVEN

      ‘WHERE ARE YOU GOING?’ she exclaimed as Roman walked towards the door.

      Eva wasn’t a nuisance, or even a girl he wanted to take to bed. She was a lost soul searching for meaning in a complex world, and unfortunately she had chosen the wrong person to help her to do that. ‘I’m going to take a shower. I suggest you do the same. There’s another bathroom across the hall. There’s a robe hanging on the back of the door you can use. Get to bed, Eva. We have an early start in the morning.’

      ‘Going where?’

      ‘Going somewhere I hope will help you to understand what I do, and why you don’t need to be worried about the mine. You can find your bedroom from here?’

      ‘Of course.’

      ‘Then goodnight, Eva...’

      She wasn’t reassured, and flung the pillows aside as she sprang off the bed.

      Eva’s spirited departure was somewhat marred by getting tangled up in the sheets, forcing him to return to free her.

      ‘Don’t touch me,’ she warned. ‘And as for us having an early start in the morning? I wouldn’t count on that if I were you.’

      ‘Oh?’ he queried mildly. ‘I thought you were eager to discuss Skavanga with me? Or doesn’t that matter so much now?’

      Her eyes widened at this, and then her lips firmed. He guessed she was longing to say something with a sting in its tail, but managed to stop herself in time. ‘I am eager to discuss Skavanga,’ she confirmed. ‘What time shall we meet?’

      He hid his pleasure that she was as big a person as he thought she was, and his voice gave nothing away. ‘Six a.m. in the hall. Don’t be late. I have a flight plan filed. Wear jeans.’

      ‘You don’t need to see me out,’ she told him as he followed her to the door.

      ‘Forgive my good manners. I’m on my way to open the door for you—and to close it behind you. I don’t want to risk you slamming it in my face.’ He opened the door and held it wide. ‘I’ll see you in the morning, Eva.’

      ‘Not if I see you first,’ she muttered.

      * * *

      She was incredibly stung that Roman could be so businesslike after what had happened between them. She wanted to be pleased that their passionate encounter had ended without cause for regret, but all the old insecurities had kicked in, and now she was back in her own room she couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d been sampled and discarded. This was not the fantasy she had scripted, featuring the dark count, who, after listening to her impassioned pleading, would turn out to have a marshmallow heart. This was just a mess.

      They had been briefly close and now she felt they were further away than ever. So why had she pulled back? Why couldn’t she go through with something she had always dreamed about? What was wrong with her? Why was it easy being strong in Skavanga, but here everything fell apart? What about those goals she had set herself before she came here? And what about building something instead of destroying everything she touched? And why...weirdly why, she was asking herself, would it have been different if Roman hadn’t been such a gentleman? In her fantasies it was all about being pinned down and pleasured to death, while in reality it was more complex, especially when the hero turned out to be just that: a hero.

      She was falling in love with him, Eva realised, hugging herself as she leaned her head against the bathroom door. There would be no one after Roman Quisvada. How could there be? But love was out of the question; he’d always made that clear. Roman had never once allowed her to think that there was anything in his heart for anyone. He approached sex like food and ate when he was hungry. She knew the deal.

      Closing her eyes, she allowed herself a few self-indulgent seconds of self-pity before reminding herself that she had come here for a purpose, and that her goal was still in sight. Hadn’t Roman said they were going somewhere tomorrow that would fill in the gaps for her, and that it had everything to do with the mine? She should thank him for bringing this farce to an end. He had forced her to refocus on the only thing that mattered, and that was Skavanga.

      So why did she feel so empty?

      Because now she knew that Roman was so much more than she had imagined. She had fallen in love with a fantasy hero, but Roman Quisvada was all too real.

      She ran a bath and still he was in her head—and it had nothing to do with his incredible