Tempted By A Caffarelli. Melanie Milburne

such whimsical thoughts. He was a player, not a stayer. Even if he did agree to a fling with her it wouldn’t last more than a week or two. He had made it abundantly clear she wasn’t his type. If he did happen to sleep with her, it would be for the sheer novelty of it. He’d probably joke about it with his brothers or friends in the future. How he’d found a home-spun village girl who’d never had sex before.

      But then, why wasn’t she his type?

      It rankled that he had dismissed her so easily. She was female, wasn’t she? Sure, a top modelling agency wouldn’t be calling her any time soon for a photo shoot, but as far as she was aware she hadn’t broken any mirrors just lately. What was his problem?

      ‘What about rent or payment for board and expenses? How much do you—?’

      ‘I don’t want your money, Poppy.’

      What do you want? The question was left unspoken in the silence.

      Rafe undid a spare key from his keyring and handed it to her. ‘I have a meeting in London this afternoon. I might not make it back until tomorrow or the next day. Make yourself at home.’

      Poppy took the key and closed her fingers around it as he moved past her. ‘Hey, guys,’ she called out to the dogs who were slavishly following Rafe. ‘Remember me? The owner who loves and feeds you?’

      Their toenails clicked on the polished floor as they came back to her with sheepish looks and wagging tails.

      ‘Traitors,’ she muttered as she bent down to tickle their ears.

      * * *

      ‘I’d love to have you and the dogs stay, but Mum’s allergic to dogs,’ Chloe said at work an hour later. ‘Anyway, why are you so against staying at the manor? You lived there with your gran for years and years.’

      ‘I know, but it’s different now.’

      ‘Yes, because you’ve got the world’s hottest, most eligible bachelor sharing it with you,’ Chloe said with a mischievous sparkle in her eyes.

      Poppy frowned as she put on her apron. ‘It’s not what you think. Anyway, he’s not going to be there much longer. He’s off to London this afternoon. He has other fish to fry.’

      ‘Are you sure about that?’ Chloe asked. ‘Anyone can see you two have a little thing going on.’

      ‘We do not have a little thing going on,’ Poppy said. ‘I don’t even like the man. He’s too arrogant for my liking.’

      ‘That’s confidence, not arrogance,’ Chloe said. ‘He knows what he wants and goes out and gets it. And I reckon it’s not just the dower house on his acquisition list. You’re right up there at the top of his must-have items.’

      Poppy shrugged off Chloe’s comment. ‘I don’t think so. I told you before, I’m not sophisticated enough for the likes of him.’

      ‘Ah yes, so you keep saying, but I was watching him when he came to see me this morning,’ Chloe said. ‘He was so concerned about what happened to you last night. I could see it in his eyes. I think he’s more than halfway to falling in love with you. He just doesn’t realise it yet. Maybe that’s why he’s heading back to town. He’s trying to get his head around it.’

      Poppy choked out a scornful laugh. ‘Men like Rafe Caffarelli don’t fall in love. They fall in lust and they just as quickly fall out of it, too.’

      ‘Call me a hopeless romantic, but I think you’re exactly the sort of girl a hardened playboy like him would fall for,’ Chloe said. ‘He hasn’t been seen with anyone else since he met you. That’s a bit of a record, since he usually has a new lover every week or so.’

      ‘I bet the papers tell a different story tomorrow,’ Poppy said. ‘He’ll probably have a couple of wild nights of sex with some glamorous starlet or model. He won’t give me a second thought.’

      * * *

      Rafe called an end to the board meeting at six p.m. but his middle brother Raoul hung back to speak to him after the others had left. ‘A no-show from Remy as usual.’

      Rafe grunted. ‘One day I’m going to throttle him, I swear to God. He could have sent a text or an email. Where the hell is he?’

      ‘I think he’s in Vegas.’

      Rafe rolled his eyes. ‘Let’s hope it’s a showgirl he’s with this time, not sitting at a gaming table with a billionaire oil baron ready to toss for the lot.’

      Raoul grimaced in agreement. ‘Wouldn’t be the first time. Don’t know how that boy wins more than he loses.’

      ‘He’ll lose one day,’ Rafe said.

      Raoul arched a brow in mock surprise. ‘Lose? That word doesn’t exist in our vocabulary, remember? You’ve been drumming that into us since we were kids: goal. Focus. Win. The Caffarelli credo.’

      Rafe frowned as he recapped his fountain pen. ‘I worry about Remy. He’s like a loose cannon.’

      ‘You worry too much about both of us, Rafe,’ Raoul said as he perched on the edge of the boardroom table. ‘You’re our brother, not our father. You don’t need to take so much on your shoulders. Loosen up a bit. You seem overly tense today. What’s happening with that dower house in Oxfordshire you were after? Have you convinced the owner to sell it yet?’

      Rafe gathered his papers together with brisk efficiency. He didn’t want to get drawn into any discussions about his private life, even with his brother. He’d only been in the city a couple of hours and all he could think of was getting back to the manor. He refused to acknowledge it was because Poppy was staying there.

      He liked the place. It had a homely feel about it. He enjoyed the space and the peace of it. He wanted to keep working on the plans in situ.

      ‘I’m still working on it.’

      ‘I saw your photo with her in the paper a few days back,’ Raoul said. ‘She’s not your usual type, is she?’

      Rafe snapped the catch closed on his briefcase. ‘Definitely not.’

      ‘You looked pretty cosy in that restaurant,’ Raoul said. ‘You slept with her yet?’

      Rafe’s brow jammed together. ‘What sort of question is that?’

      Raoul leaned back as he held up his hands. ‘Hey, don’t bite my head off.’

      Rafe clenched his fist around the handle of his briefcase as he lifted it off the table. Normally he would have no trouble with a bit of ribald humour between his brothers over his latest lover, but talking about Poppy like that felt totally wrong. ‘I’m not sleeping with her.’

      Raoul raised his brows. ‘You losing your touch or what?’

      Rafe gave him a look. ‘So who are you sleeping with?’ he asked. ‘Is it still that tall blonde with the endless legs?’

      Raoul grinned. Slipping off the desk, he punched Rafe on the upper arm. ‘You got time for a beer?’

      Rafe pretended to glance at his watch. ‘Not today,’ he said. ‘I have some more paperwork to see to when I get home.’

      ‘Home being where the heart is?’ Raoul said with a teasing smile.

      ‘You’re a jerk,’ Rafe said, scowling. ‘You know that, don’t you?’

      Raoul dodged his older brother’s playful punch. ‘Always said you’d be the first to go down.’

      ‘The first to go down where?’

      ‘Down the aisle.’

      Rafe felt his spine tighten. ‘I’m not going down the aisle.’

      ‘You’re the eldest,’ Raoul said. ‘Makes sense that you’d be the one to set up a family first.’

      ‘Why