The Spaniard's Love-Child (11 page)

‘In the library.'

Chastising herself for letting her imagination run away with her, and feeling uncomfortably like a pupil summoned to the headmaster's office, Nell followed him. Raul, courteous but cold, stood to one side to allow a maid carrying a great pile of glossy magazines and the latest financial periodicals to enter ahead of them.

Nell could see that the boss's presence was making the poor girl, who she knew had only been working here for a few weeks, nervous. Small wonder she was, Nell thought, angling a meaningful frown towards Raul, who stood there, impatience radiating from every elegant line of his imposing figure. Couldn't he see she was scared stiff of him? Well, if he did he was making no attempt to put her at her ease.

It didn't seem to register with Raul when the girl knocked a fragile—probably priceless—figurine off the bureau with her elbow. She looked as though she was going to burst into tears. Nell took pity on her.

‘Gloria, give those to me,' she demanded, hefting the girl's burden into her own arms. ‘And don't worry, I'll get rid of the old ones for you. How did the party go? Did John turn up?'

Gloria gave a conspiratorial grin. ‘Yes, and
she
was livid because he didn't even look at her…'

Her employer clearing his throat noisily prevented Nell hearing the rest of this girlish confidence. The girl shot an apologetic look in Raul's direction. Her smile for Nell held sympathy as she ducked out of the room.

‘What do you think you're doing?' Raul demanded icily as Nell began to arrange the magazines on the table in neat piles.

‘What does it look like?' She didn't glance in his direction, but as she continued to fuss she could feel the invisible rays of his disapproval and impatience boring into her back.

‘Will you stop that, woman?'

Nell had finished, but his terse tone perversely made her rearrange things once more, slowly and precisely.

‘Did you hear what I said?'

‘Yes.'

She heard the harsh sound of his angry inhalation, but did not regret her provocative behaviour. Life was bad enough as it was, but if he got the idea that all he had to do was click his fingers and she would jump life really would be unbearable. She had so little control of other aspects of her life, namely being so forcefully attracted to a man who regarded her as an irritant, that it felt important to show she did have a choice about other things.

Nell let out a startled cry of protest when, without warning, Raul stepped forward and bodily lifted her away as if she weighed nothing. Having casually planted her several feet away, he positioned himself directly in front of her. Then without breaking eye contact he lifted his arm and knocked the magazines she had taken so much care with flying across the room.

She looked at the mess on the floor and gave a derisive little sniff. ‘Do you feel better now?'

The words snagged in her throat as she looked up at him. He really was stunning, she reflected with an inward sigh as she drank in the details: golden skin drawn taut over slashing cheekbones, that wide, sensual mouth and his incredible extravagantly dark eyes that were shimmering with anger.

With an effort she focused her thoughts. ‘If you've had a rough night, don't take it out on me. I have to tell you a grown man having a full-blown temper tantrum is not a pretty sight.'

She stooped down to pick up a magazine that had landed at her feet.

‘It is not your job to pick things up,' he growled. ‘I employ people to do that.'

Nell rose gracefully to her feet. ‘I have hands.' She held them out palm up to demonstrate the fact. ‘I am not incapable,' she told him scornfully. ‘When I drop things I pick them up myself. I don't ring for someone else to do it for me.'

‘That is not what I meant.'

‘Then what did you mean?'

He glowered at her with every appearance of intense dislike. ‘Must you gossip with the servants? It is not appropriate,' he told her severely. ‘You make them uncomfortable.'

‘I wasn't gossiping, I was talking, trying to put the poor girl at her ease. You were the one terrifying her.'

‘I do not scare people,' he said through gritted teeth, looking as though he would dearly like to throttle her.

‘What about poor Gloria? She was shaking, poor girl.'

‘Who is Gloria?'

‘You are terrible.'

After a few moments of mutual glaring Nell sighed; honesty made her unable to ignore the facts. It was impossible for her to live in the house for as long as she had without recognising that he was a good and reasonable employer who was always meticulously polite to his staff and treated them with a respect that was returned.

‘I know you don't do it deliberately,' she admitted. ‘It's just your manner. It can be a little bit daunting.'

His narrowed eyes swept her face with an expression of frustration. ‘Pity it doesn't work on you,' he retorted testily.

This uncharacteristically childish retort made her stare. She watched as he took a deep breath and smoothed back the rumpled hair from his brow. The details of something as simple as the shape of his hands and the fine, tapering length of his long, sensitive fingers were endlessly fascinating to her.

‘However, that is not why I wish to speak to you.'

Nell dragged her attention back to his face. He just stared at her; there was a dangerous, explosive quality to his dark, brooding regard.

She was relieved when he broke the nerve-shredding silence.

‘I did not realise, until my mother told me, how much you have taken on.'

‘Taken on?'
she echoed with a puzzled frown.

‘You are not expected to spend your entire day running around after Antonio and Katerina, and there is no need for you to sit and read aloud to my mother for hours or sort out domestic crises.'

‘I
enjoy
reading aloud to your mother,' Nell protested.

He dismissed her protest with a movement of his hand. ‘That is not what I intended when I asked you to move in.'

‘What, me enjoy myself?'

He slid her a look that made her flush.

‘It is not appropriate that you are on call around the clock.'

‘Hardly that! I've loads of time to myself. Antonio and Kate are at school most of the time.'

‘You take them there and pick them up, and in between are being used as an unpaid helper at school,' he declared disapprovingly.

‘It's a good idea for parents to be involved,' she protested.

‘You are not a parent.'

Nell flinched. ‘Oh, I see.'

She did, and she was totally mortified that it had taken her this long to catch on. Raul had been trying to tell her that she was overstepping the mark, that she had been encroaching in areas where she was not wanted. She wasn't the children's mother; she wasn't even paid help!

He was right, of course; it was wrong of her to allow the children to become reliant on her. She wasn't going to be here for ever.

A flicker of concern entered Raul's eyes as he studied her face. ‘You understand what I am saying?'

Nell swallowed and lifted her chin. ‘Absolutely,' she replied with a resolute little smile.

‘You need some leisure time.'

W
HICH
sounded very generous, but as far as Nell was concerned was nothing but a polite way of saying, Remember your place and keep your distance—which was why at that moment Nell was swimming laps in the private indoor pool.

The next time Raul asked her she would be able to supply evidence that she had been following his instructions.

Nell had just about finished doing her laps when she became aware that she was not alone. She swam to the side of the pool and, hands braced on the tiled pool-edge, levered herself out—or at least tried to. Her arms felt weak after the unaccustomed exertion and it took her two attempts to heave herself out of the water.

‘Hi there.'

Nell, lying face down in an ungainly heap, feeling very like the human version of a beached whale on the tiled surface, stared at the long, slim legs of the woman standing beside her.

‘Miss…' Nell scrambled into an upright position, taking the towel the blonde handed her with a small smile of thanks.

The actress didn't comment on the greeting; obviously her fame was such she took such recognition very much for granted.

‘You must be the nanny.' Her curiosity as she examined the younger woman's face and figure was quite unself-conscious.

Nell, who never had quite defined what her role in the Carreras household was, didn't correct her.

‘So using the pool is a perk of the job.'

Nell, who would have been quick to pick up such things, could not detect any condescension in her friendly manner.

‘This is quite a set-up, isn't it?' Roxie continued, gazing around the lavish pool area, which came complete with columns, waterfall and spa pool. Her Grecian-inspired gown, one-shouldered and virtually backless, was rather appropriate for the décor. ‘And you swim really well,' she added generously.

‘Thank you.' Not only stunningly beautiful, nice too—a real sickener.

‘It made me tired just watching you.'

‘I like the water.' And swimming yourself into exhaustion made it easier to sleep. At least in theory.

So this was the sort of woman Raul found attractive. The actress was actually much more attractive in the flesh than on the screen. She was also much thinner and had the longest legs that Nell had ever seen, made even longer by the incredibly high heels she was wearing at the moment. Barely topping five two in her bare feet, dripping wet and wearing a black swimming costume that was utilitarian rather than fashionable, Nell felt at a distinct disadvantage.

Nell usually found exercise left her feeling pretty upbeat but on this occasion there was no post-work-out high, just an oppressive cloud of gloom over her head.

‘I love swimming too; it's great for your boobs,' Roxie explained, making a breast-stroke motion in the air.

It didn't seem to Nell as her eyes automatically slid over the perky contours of the actress's generous breasts that she needed any help in that area. Hers, on the other hand, she thought, glancing miserably at her own moderate-sized breasts flattened by the Lycra of her swimsuit, could do with a bit of help.

‘The problem with swimming is the chemicals in the water,' the actress continued earnestly.

Nell tried to look interested as Roxie went on to explain in an authoritative manner about the additives that were put in pool water; she included a good deal of technical information about PH factors.

‘I didn't know that,' Nell admitted. Beautiful and not dumb…though maybe slightly boring? She immediately felt mean for the catty thought.

‘It plays havoc with coloured hair, don't you find?' Roxie asked, her eyes fixed on the wet-darkened red strands that Nell was towelling dry. ‘I love that shade you have, by the way.'

‘It's actually red when it's dry,' Nell admitted.

‘I know. I saw you the other day taking the kids out. We waved, but you didn't see us.'

‘Oh, really.' Actually there had been no ‘we'. Raul hadn't waved, just his blonde companion, and Nell had studiously pretended not to see them. She felt as if her guilt was written all over her face.

‘You know, you shouldn't wear baggy sweaters with a waist like that.' Pale blue eyes focused on Nell's narrow waist and flat, trim tummy.

‘I'll try and remember.'

‘And use a protective serum on your hair. I had an awful experience when I went swimming at Cannes. My hair went orange…honestly, totally orange!' She shuddered at the memory. ‘Leo flew straight out, of course, and he was livid with me.'

‘Mine's natural,' Nell cut in apologetically.

The other girl's eyes widened. ‘You're kidding!' she exclaimed. ‘No highlights?' Nell shook her head. ‘Low lights?' Roxie shook her head in amazement. ‘Incredible! If you ever do fancy having a change…' Head on one side,
she weighed up an increasingly uncomfortable Nell with an expert eye. ‘You'd really look good blonde, you know.'

‘I don't think—' Nell began.

‘No, trust me on this, you'd look great, and if you mention my name to Leo—he's my colourist and the only one I'd let touch mine—' she lifted a complacent hand to her honey-blonde head ‘—he'd fit you in as a favour to me.' She stopped, a slow smile spreading over her breathtakingly lovely features as her gaze drifted to a point somewhere over Nell's shoulder.

‘Raul, darling,' the actress cried as she ran towards the approaching figure.

Nell, who had no desire whatever to witness the delight she'd seen on the other woman's face expressed in a more physical form, kept her back turned to them and hastily pulled her towel protectively around herself.

‘I interrupted her swim,' she heard Roxie say as they reached the spot where she was standing, every muscle in her body poised for flight.

‘I didn't know you were swimming.'

Being directly addressed meant she could no longer avoid looking at him. Her breath caught in her throat. Raul might have more confidence than she considered acceptable in a man, but she had to admit he did have some justification! He looked totally sensational! Elegant to his fingertips in a way that didn't detract one jot from his raw masculinity, dressed in an immaculately tailored suit, Raul presented a picture guaranteed to instantly arouse lust in the female breast.

Well, hers at least.

Roxie was his male equivalent. Him dark, and her divinely fair. A combination of their genes would make incredibly beautiful children. Was it something they'd discussed?

Why do this to yourself, Nell?

Chin up, she took a deep breath and angrily drew a veil across this line of speculation.

‘I did ask your mother whether it was all right,' Nell responded defensively, aware in the periphery of her vision of Roxie laying her head against Raul's shoulder.

A spasm of annoyance twisted Raul's mouth. ‘There is no need for you to
ask
anyone. Have I not made myself clear on that score?' he demanded. ‘Is something wrong with the air-conditioning in here?' he added abruptly.

‘Not that I know,' Nell replied with a sneaking suspicion of where he was heading.

‘It feels pretty warm to me, darling,' Roxie added.

‘That's because it is meant to be kept at a constant humidified eighty-four,' he added, his significant stare coming to rest on Nell, who was cocooned from head to toe in towelling. ‘I take it there is some reason for this display of modesty?'

Roxie's splutter of laughter drew Raul's attention from a hot-cheeked Nell. ‘Sorry, darling, but if you'd seen her swim suit…' She shot Nell an apologetic glance. ‘I've walked through town showing more than she is.'

The lines around Raul's eyes deepened with affectionate warmth as he looked down at the woman beside him. ‘But then it's not what you wear, but how you wear it.'

Nell's response was pretty much what any female's would be if someone implied she didn't have class or style. He hadn't come right out and said it, of course, but the implication was obvious.
Well, I might be able to wear clothes if I had a personal stylist and designers just begging me to wear their latest creations!

‘It's very bad to let your muscles get cold after exercise,' Nell explained coldly.

‘Well, you look much more likely to succumb to heat-stroke,' Raul observed sardonically.

Roxie, with an exasperated cry, curled her fingers around Raul's strong, masculine jaw and turned his head firmly back towards her. With her free hand she stroked his sleeve. ‘Will you stop teasing the poor girl, Raul?' There was a sexy huskiness that hadn't been in her voice when she'd spoken to Nell. ‘
I'm
the one you've kept hanging around half the evening waiting for you,' she reminded him.

‘Tell me why I'm going to this party again?'

‘No more calls?'

‘Not at the moment.' Raul put a hand on the smaller one that was stroking his arm and brought it deliberately to his lips. As his head lifted he looked directly at Nell. The taunting smile almost instantly left his lips and concern filled his eyes.

Her deathly pallor extended even to her lips; the intense blue of her wide-spaced eyes supplied the only scrap of colour that was in her face. It seemed to him that she was on the verge of passing out. He tensed, fully expecting to be required to catch her when she fell.

Nell deliberately let her towel drop to the floor. Bending forward to pick it up sent the blood rushing back to her oxygen-starved brain. The action had been instinctive. A dormant protective instinct awakening in a moment of extreme need. She had been totally unprepared for the violence of the revulsion she had felt when Raul had touched the other woman.

Though outwardly composed as she straightened up, inside she felt the knife-thrust of jealousy cutting into vital areas of her anatomy. She had not known that such extremes of emotion existed, let alone suspected that she was capable of experiencing them. Like the final piece in a jigsaw, everything slotted into place—you could only keep up
the pretence that something wasn't happening for just so long. She had fallen for him. She had fallen for Raul Carreras!

‘I got bored waiting for you so I thought I'd explore,' Roxie was explaining to Raul.

‘So I see.'

Raul did not seem to be an overly demonstrative lover, which, considering she'd almost passed out when he had touched the other woman's hand, was possibly a blessing! Perhaps, she mused, he kept his demonstrations for the privacy of the bedroom? Nell closed her eyes willing the erotic images of intimately entwined sweat-drenched bodies to go away.

‘Actually I was just saying to…? Sorry, I don't know your name.'

When Nell didn't respond it was Raul who supplied the information.

‘Nell.'

Nell jolted free of the imagined scene of seduction that was playing in her head, opened her eyes and collided with Raul's implacable stare. Suddenly, totally convinced that her hopeless longing was written as clear as neon on her face—what other reason could there be for the inexplicable strain stamped on his own dark features?—she was gripped by a frantic desire to escape.

‘Have a nice evening,' she muttered indistinctly. Her rigid facial muscles ached with the effort of smiling.

‘You don't need to go on our account. We're on our way to a party, and I make it a point to be late. Though not,' Roxie added, tapping Raul playfully on the arm, ‘as late as this, usually.'

Despite this pointed reminder Raul did not respond. His eyes continued to follow Nell's movements.

‘No, I'm all swum out,' Nell promised hoarsely.

‘Raul, I was just telling…Nell—' she gifted Nell one of her truly dazzling smiles ‘—to go see my colourist. With her colouring she'd just look incredible blonde.' She smiled at the younger girl warmly. ‘Blondes have the most fun, I promise you.' She cast Raul a sultry look from under her long, curling lashes. ‘Come on, honey, back me up here.'

Raul was looking at Nell. ‘No!' he said flatly.

The word stopped Nell in her tracks. She stood there poised for flight like a rabbit caught in the headlights.

The actress frowned at Raul. ‘Why shouldn't she go blonde if she wants?'

‘I don't want…' Nell began, longing to be anywhere but here. The air-conditioning couldn't regulate the atmosphere of growing tension in the room.

‘She is not going blonde.'

‘Not platinum or anything, much more subtle a—'

‘She is
not
touching her hair.'

This autocratic decree made the actress look indignant on Nell's behalf. ‘Just because the girl works for you…'

‘She doesn't,' Raul slotted in without taking his eyes off Nell's face.

The actress looked from one to the other with a thoughtful expression. ‘Then what does she do?' She gave a slightly puzzled smile. ‘Other than swim.'

Nell's body sagged as Raul's eyes finally left her face. His devouring gaze had left her weak as a kitten.

‘She is a guest here.'

The actress's skilfully enhanced pale eyes widened. ‘Oh, I
see
.' There was a wealth of understanding in the sentence.

A wave of scalding heat passed over Nell's skin. It was obvious to see what the older woman was thinking. Even worse was her apparent casual acceptance of the situation. Nell couldn't imagine herself having the sort of relationship
where the strongest emotion you experienced on learning of your lover's infidelities was curiosity!

If it had happened to me? A grim expression settled on her soft features as she contemplated her response to such a betrayal. Then, belatedly conscious that her prolonged silence might be interpreted as an admission, she summoned an amused smile.

‘No, it's not like that at all!'

She turned her attention to Raul, her expression inviting him to intercede and explain the circumstances that had brought her here. He just stood there, looking if anything faintly bored.