The illustrious billionaire

chapter 7

Huge, exotic leaves rose upwards towards the light like spears while

others nestled closer to the forest floor, so large that it was like taking a

stroll through a giant’s garden. Climbers scrambled up tree trunks and

orchids and ferns clustered around the branches.

A flash of movement caught her eye and she paused, watching as a

brightly coloured frog, tiny and delicate, clung to the tree trunk, and

then there was a loud squawk from above her and a bird swooped up

into the trees, its feathers a flash of red.

Parrot? Toucan? Assessing bird life as a suitably neutral topic for the

dinner table, Grace made a mental note to steer the subject round to the

wildlife over dinner. Then she concentrated on the route, noticing that

they’d turned off the main path and were now walking along a narrow

trail. Trees and ferns brushed against her arms and legs and in the

background there was a rushing noise that grew louder as they walked.

Glancing over her shoulder, Grace tried to memorise the way back to

the lodge.

And then the trees seemed to open up and the path widened. And

there, in front of them, was the pool. Grace caught her breath in surprise

and delight.

The frothy white waterfall poured over the rocks above and spilled

into a large pool bordered by huge boulders and tall ferns. Surrounded

by trees, exotic plants and birds and butterflies of every conceivable

colour, the pool water gathered up the evening light and sparkled as

though a million precious jewels lurked beneath the surface.

‘It’s beautiful.’ She glanced around her and Maria nodded.

‘It’s safe, but not at night-time. And be careful walking back to the lodge. It’s very easy to take the wrong path. Turn left and then right.’

Grace was looking at the pool. The walk through the jungle and the

shocking revelations about her business had left her feeling drained and

exhausted. It would be a relief to strip off, cool down and relax. Then,

perhaps, she’d be able to cope with the looming pressure of dinner.

And, after that, she’d work out what she was going to do, what exactly

had gone wrong and how she was going to repay those people.

Rafael strode purposefully up the path that wound through the jungle to

the forest pool.

Maria had interrupted his non-stop round of phone calls to inform him

that Grace was swimming and he’d felt an immediate rush of irritation

that she’d chosen that moment to wander off. His New York office was

spearheading the negotiations for an extremely complicated deal and

they were constantly clamouring for his input.

He could have left her on her own, of course. It was unusual for the

local wildlife to explore that particular pool, but still …

He quickened his pace, noticing with an upward glance that it would

soon be dark.

As if confirming his thought the lights by the side of the path suddenly

gleamed and fireflies darted across his line of vision.

He came to the fork in the path and moments later he heard the

rushing sound of the waterfall and pressed on through ferns, over huge,

shiny boulders until he saw a flash of brilliant red. Like an exotic

creature she slid through the pool, lithe and fit, her body slim and

graceful, her blonde hair trailing loose in the water. Hot molten lust erupted through his body and Rafael tucked his hands

in his trousers and cursed softly, fighting against the impulse to join her

because he knew that to join her would be to invite complications that

he didn’t need.

What he did need was uncomplicated s*x, and he knew that he wasn’t

going to enjoy that with a woman like Grace Thacker. She was the very

worst sort of woman. It wasn’t the greed that bothered him, he was used

to that and he’d never found female greed to be a barrier to enjoyable

sex.

He was even prepared to play their game, up to a point, which was

why he was on good terms with most of the top jewellers in the world.

No, it wasn’t the greed that held him back. It was something else

entirely. Grace was the sort of woman who not only expected you to

hand out diamonds, but also wanted fake words of love and affection.

She was the sort who dug and analysed and thought that there was an

answer for everything if you only searched hard enough for it. no

She wasn’t the sort of woman to simply allow a relationship to be

superficial.

Even now, floating in the pool, she appeared to be thinking. And then

she opened her eyes and saw him. ‘Am I late for dinner?’ She swam

across to him. ‘Is it time to get out?’ The late-evening sunshine bathed

her body in a warm glow and the water clung to her hair like tiny beads

of crystal.

Consumed by an attack of s****l hunger so intense that his body was

ablaze with it, ‘You need to stay alert in the rainforest. There are plenty of hazards.’

‘A bit like working in the commercial world, then,’ she quipped,

rubbing the towel over her limbs. ‘Drop your guard for a moment and

someone is waiting to eat you up in a mouthful and swallow your

dreams whole.’

He found himself watching her every movement, the flow of her arms

as smooth and graceful as a dancer’s. The red swimming costume was

moulded to every curve and the vivid colour seemed almost to be part of

her, as if she were a jungle creature every bit as exotic as those that

surrounded her. He might have thought she was relaxed and carefree if

he hadn’t seen the shadows in her eyes and the tension in her narrow

shoulders.

Not so relaxed.

‘Did you make your calls?’

‘Yes.’ She kept her smile bright as she swung the towel over her

shoulders, concealing her high, firm breasts from his view. ‘It seems that

no one is in when the conversation topic is fraud. At least being in the

jungle should give me a crash course in dealing with predators.

Obviously, I need it.’

There was self-mockery in her tone, which he didn’t understand. So

she’d been found out? What was the problem? Weary of the act and

wishing she’d just admit guilt so that they could get down to the

important things in life, Rafael gritted his teeth.

‘Who were you hoping to talk to?’

‘Just about anyone, really.’ She slid her feet into her shoes. ‘My father. The dealer who sold us the coffee. But everyone has conveniently

vanished. I suppose you could say that the rats are leaving the sinking

ship.’ She stared into the jungle and he thought he caught the sparkle of

tears in her eyes. But then she turned to look at him and her smile was

bright. ‘My fault for being so trusting.’

She just wouldn’t let it drop.

He stared at her with exasperation, wondering whether she really

thought he believed any of her elaborate excuses. Not for one moment

did he think she’d even tried to phone anyone. Why would she, when

she was already in possession of all the answers? ‘They could just be

out.’

She nodded, apparently not picking up on the irony in his voice. ‘I

expect that’s it.’ Her eyes were tired and her tone formal, designed to

keep him at a distance. For some reason that he couldn’t identify, that

distance annoyed him.

Suddenly he didn’t care whether she was innocent or guilty. He just

wanted her in his bed. As far as he was concerned, the rest of it was

irrelevant.

So she was greedy and self-seeking—what woman wasn’t?

‘Shall we just change the subject?’ he suggested helpfully, giving her

permission to drop the act. He felt nothing but relief when she nodded.

‘Yes. We’re not going to discuss this again.’ Her voice was firm and her

chin was held at an angle that he was beginning to recognise signalled

determination. ‘The problem is no longer yours. I think that’s one fact

that we have managed to confirm.’Finally, they were getting somewhere. ‘Forget your business,’ he

purred, deciding that some reinforcement wouldn’t go amiss. ‘Move on

in life. Do something else.’

‘Oh, no—I couldn’t possibly do that. It wouldn’t be right. There are

too many people depending on me and if I just give up, they’re affected

too.’ She tilted her head to one side and shook it slightly, allowing her

hair to fall in a damp mass over her shoulder. Then she twisted it into a

thick rope, squeezing out the water with her hands. ‘So I’m not going to

give up. I’m going to find out who is guilty and try and recover the

money. After that I’m going to apply for another loan, pay back Carlos

and Filomena and carry on with my business.’

Frustrated that she was still trying to shift the blame onto someone

else and totally bored by all talk of cafés and coffee when what he really

wanted to do was drag her against him and taste her mouth again,

Rafael decided that there was only one way to move the conversation

forward to his satisfaction. ‘I’ll extend the loan,’ he said smoothly. ‘That

way you can carry on playing cafés as long as you like.’

She paused but then shook her head. ‘No, but thank you. It’s a very

generous offer.’

Not generous, Rafael thought, gritting his teeth. Selfish. He wanted her

mind off her wretched business and onto something more worthy. Him.

His eyes lingered on her mouth and he struggled to concentrate. ‘It’s my

money. Giving it away is my choice.’

‘And refusing is mine.’ Her voice was soft. ‘I don’t want your money.

In the circumstances it wouldn’t feel right.’

As far as he was concerned there was only one thing that would feel right at that particular moment and it involved both of them naked on

silk sheets. The reason for her presence here, the fraud, the deception,

all of it had ceased to matter to him.

‘In that case, let’s agree to just drop the whole subject,’ he agreed,

glancing upwards with a frown. ‘It will be dark in about ten minutes. We

need to get back. You’ll need time to change for dinner.’

‘Oh, no—’ With a cry of anxiety she bent down and picked up the

dress that she’d laid on the rock. ‘It’s muddy. I must have splashed it

when I was swimming.’

Rafael stared at her with a distinct lack of comprehension.

‘And?’

‘And it’s all I have to wear!’ She gave the dress a little shake and

sighed. ‘My combat trousers are wet and muddy, this is wet and muddy

—’

‘So it’s naked, then,’ Rafael suggested in a slow drawl, watching as the

colour bloomed in her cheeks. ‘I’ll have to wear my suit …’

Struggling against the temptation to point out that clothes were

largely irrelevant because he didn’t intend her to stay dressed for long,

Rafael took her arm and urged her down the path. ‘Maria will find you a

dress. Now move, or you might find that you’re someone else’s dinner.’

Grace sat on the edge of her bed, trying to stop worrying long enough to

dress for dinner.

Had she been wrong to turn down his offer of financial help?

It was all very well having high standards, but what if no one else

would loan her the money she needed? Those standards of hers would cost people their jobs.

Trying to rouse herself from her state of anxiety, Grace stared at the

dress that Maria had delivered moments earlier.

It shimmered and shone, changing colour with the light, one moment

pale turquoise and the next silver. It was, quite simply, the most exotic,

beautiful dress she’d ever seen.

Not even wanting to think about the person it had originally belonged

to, she slid it over her head, grimacing slightly as it clung to her hips.

Whoever had chosen this dress had been skinnier than she was, she

thought ruefully, sliding the fabric over her hips and wondering whether

it was actually going to be too tight. Assuring herself that it was a style

that was supposed to cling, she turned sideways to look at herself in the

mirror.

It was a dress designed to turn an ordinary woman into a film star, a

dress designed for sin and seduction, and just wearing it put a smile on

her lips.

Just for tonight she’d forget, she told herself, slipping her feet into her

high-heel shoes and picking up her bag.

This one night in the jungle she was going to be the sort of woman

who wore this sort of dress. She was going to forget about all her

problems because despite empty assurances from Rafael Cordeiro she

knew that there was no way she could solve them tonight. Tomorrow,

along with reality, would come soon enough.

Tomorrow she’d be back in London. She’d track down the people who

were so carefully avoiding her and she’d find out exactly what had gone wrong with her business. And her life.

Which meant that she had one more night in paradise.RAFAEL WAS ALREADY seated at the table when she arrived on the terrace.

He had a drink in his hand and his blue shirt was open at the neck and

revealed just enough bronzed male flesh to draw her eyes for longer than

she would have liked. Even dressed casually he looked cool,

sophisticated and way out of her league.

She scanned his handsome features and her heart bumped crazily

against her chest. What was it about him that had such a powerful

impact on her?

She didn’t know and she didn’t understand it. But she knew that

whatever had scarred him in the past, however bad his experiences had

been, she didn’t want him to think her guilty of fraud.

She hadn’t intended to bring the subject up again but how could she

not? No matter how hard she tried to push the whole thing away until

tomorrow, the guilt kept intruding. ‘You must think I’m awful,’ she said

impulsively as she slid into her chair, ‘taking money from those people. I

know that I’m sort of guilty because it’s my company but I want you to

know that I didn’t know anything about it. I need you to believe that.’

He was still, his eyes on her face. He reminded her of a jungle animal,

watching. Waiting for exactly the right moment to pounce. ‘I believe

you.’ His low, smooth male voice flowed over her tattered nerves like

healing honey. ‘You do?’ It wasn’t the answer she’d been expecting and she couldn’t

hide her surprise or relief. ‘You really mean that? I still don’t know

exactly who is responsible but I’ll find out and change things. And I’ll

keep a firmer control on the figures. I should have noticed, I know, but

—’ She badly wanted to tell him the truth but she didn’t want to sound

as though she was making excuses.

‘But when you’re involved in the day-to-day running of the business,

it’s very easy to lose grip on the numbers.’ He finished her sentence, his

dark eyes velvety warm and surprisingly sympathetic.

‘Yes.’ That wasn’t exactly what had happened, but it was close enough.

And he seemed to understand. Which was a massive relief to her because

for one horrible moment in the fazenda she’d thought that she was never

going to be able to convince him that she hadn’t deliberately taken

money from anyone.

She still didn’t know what it was that had made him so cynical and

sceptical about people’s motives but she was thoroughly relieved that at

least he seemed to have absolved her of blame.

He’d obviously had time to think about everything she’d told him.

He was watching her now with a lazy, slumberous gaze and she felt

herself relax.

‘I should have been more careful,’ she admitted, ‘but I’m relieved you

no longer think I was guilty of fraud.’

‘I think we should now put the entire episode behind us.’ His voice

was molten sexuality, the gentle curve of his perfectly shaped mouth

drawing her gaze. And it was impossible to look at his lips and not

remember the kiss. The hot, fevered burn of his mouth on hers, the erotic stroke of his tongue and the firm, deliberate touch of his hands on

her body.

As her body flared to life, she blinked with embarrassment and tried to

shake off the memory.

Why was she suddenly thinking of nothing but that kiss? She should

be worrying about her business and thinking about the future and

instead her head was filled with memories of uncontrolled passion in the

hot, humid rainforest.

Her life was now a mess of tangled problems and her brain should

have been filled with numbers and solutions to those problems. Instead

it was full of the wonder of that kiss and the sounds of love echoed in

her head; gasps, soft moans of encouragement, his voice, thrillingly deep and

unfamiliar, urging her on …

She shook her head to clear the vision. There was no point in

remembering the kiss. No point at all. And no point in indulging in silly,

girlish fantasies, she told herself firmly. He wasn’t the right man for her

and a little hot passion in the steamy jungle didn’t change that fact.

Her world and his world didn’t coincide.

‘I haven’t even thanked you for the dress. It’s beautiful and it even fits

—just.’ She kept her tone light and smiled her thanks as Maria placed a

drink in front of her. ‘The owner was obviously a size smaller than me.’

‘It looks better on you.’ He lifted his glass in her direction and

delivered a slow, appreciative smile that was unmistakably masculine.

‘Much better.’

His careless dismissal of the owner of the dress was completely in character and yet questions throbbed in her head and she bit her lip to

hold them back.

Whose was it?

Did you love her?

Did you hurt her?

Did you look at her the way you’re looking at me now?

Conscious of his gaze, Grace slid a hand over the shimmering fabric. ‘I

can’t imagine why anyone would leave it behind.’ It was the sort of dress

that made a girl feel beautiful.

‘The owner was in rather a hurry to leave. I seem to recall that jungle

life didn’t suit her.’ His voice was a soft accented drawl and revealed

nothing about his feelings or emotions but she knew—sensed without a

shadow of doubt—that it wasn’t jungle life that hadn’t suited the owner

of the dress but life with Rafael Cordeiro.

So he had hurt her. Clearly the girl had walked away without even

pausing to pick up her belongings.

And knowing that, why was she still sitting here, allowing the

atmosphere to pull her in? Why was she allowing him to draw her into

the intimacy of his gaze? Knowing what she knew, just how much was

she prepared to risk?

Her self-esteem?

A lifetime of pain for a moment’s pleasure? Her heart?

She pushed the question away. ‘You’re a very complicated man,

Rafael.’ Her voice was husky and she gave him a shy smile as she lifted

her glass to her lips and sipped the wine. ‘Cold and hot at the same time. You claim to not like people and yet there’s kindness in you, I know

there is.’

‘Don’t turn me into something soft and cuddly, Grace.’ There was a

warning in his voice and she smiled at the image that his words created

because they were so far removed from reality.

‘No, never that.’ His steady gaze unsettled her. ‘But you treated Carlos

and Filomena with kindness and respect. And you clearly care about

them or you wouldn’t have been so angry with me.’

His eyes mocked. ‘I’m a saint. I’m sure you’ve heard that about me.’

‘I don’t listen to gossip. I prefer to make my own judgements.’ ‘A

woman who doesn’t gossip?’ He raised his glass in a silent toast. ‘Are you

a betrayer of your s*x, Grace?’

‘No. But I know that appearances can be deceptive. People make

judgements based on their own experiences. Isn’t that what you did with

me? When I arrived you made that comment about lying and cheating

being part of a woman’s genes. But you weren’t born thinking that. Who

made you think that, Rafael?’

He studied her for a long moment, his eyes lingering on hers as he

considered her question. ‘Perhaps you have escaped the lying and

cheating gene but you seem to have more than your fair share of the

psychology one. Why do you want to know about me, Grace?’

‘Because I want to help.’

He gave a sardonic smile. ‘Do I look as though I need help?’ He leaned

back in his chair and glanced around his surroundings and she

understood the message in his gaze. Yes, they were in the jungle but that didn’t for one moment detract from the luxury of his home or the

abundant evidence of his extreme wealth. The clues were everywhere.

‘I wasn’t talking about money. Obviously you don’t need money.’

‘Then what do I need, Grace?’ His soft tone bordered on the dangerous

and his eyes warned her to drop the subject.

‘Love.’ She stumbled over the word. ‘You need love. I don’t believe

your reputation or the image you portray. I’ve seen kindness and when

it’s anything to do with Brazil, your own country, you’re passionate.’

He leaned forward, his eyes on her mouth. ‘I’m not arguing that I’m

passionate. I’m even prepared to demonstrate how passionate. And I’m

more than happy to allow women to love me in any way they choose.’

She looked at the arrogantly arched brows, the roughness darkening

his aggressive jaw and knew that he wasn’t ever going to be an easy man

to love.

Physically, yes, that would be no problem. Even if she hadn’t heard

the rumours she would have known that he was a hot-blooded, physical

man. But nothing more than that. Nothing deeper. The barriers were up

and he wasn’t allowing her even a peep into his soul.

No one was allowed too close.

Flustered by how much she wanted to get close, she chose to change

the subject. ‘Do you often bring people here?’

‘That depends on who they are and their purpose for visiting. The

activities on offer here—’ he smiled slightly as his eyes dropped to her

mouth ‘—are limited.’

Her whole body heated under his lazy scrutiny and she shifted in her