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.She didn’t even know why he was here and she wasn’t going to ask so she remained silent, looking at him, her whole mind taken up with the nightmare of that last conversation they had had.‘I… Problem with the clothes…’ He gestured to the robe.‘My clothes are soaking in the bath upstairs…’ Did she want to find out why? It would appear not, because she just kept her eyes focused icily on him.For someone who was naturally such a sunny personality, whose face was truly a mirror into her thoughts, that lack of expression was as powerfully offputting as any shouting ever could have been.‘I…I couldn’t get in,’ Rafael expanded into the devouring silence.‘The gates were locked so I had to find a spot in the wall to climb over.Only problem was that I had to do a bit of battle with overhanging trees and dense hedge.Hence the outfit.’ He paused, waiting for her to show some interest in what he was saying and knowing that she wouldn’t.‘Fortunately the front door to the cottage was open so I could get cleaned up inside.Aren’t you going to ask me what I’m doing here?’‘Tell me why I should care, Rafael?’‘This isn’t easy for me.’‘What isn’t? Look, I don’t want any more arguments with you, and I don’t want you reappearing in my life whenever you feel like it.’‘I understand that.’‘No, you don’t, Rafael!’ She could feel her whole body shaking at the thought of him standing here in front of her, wrecking her nervous system, just when she’d been beginning to feel a little stronger.Was he going to keep on doing that—checking up on her whenever he was at loose ends? Whenever his conscience decided to rebel? Maybe he felt that he just could because he figured that he was her weakness, her Achilles’ heel, and therefore he could dip in and out of her life as the fancy took him.‘The last time we spoke…’‘Please, hear me out at least.’ Why the hell should she? He had hurt her deeply.Was it any surprise that she could barely look at him? The urgency of needing her to listen struck him with the force of a tidal wave, made his legs feel a little shaky.On the drive up, he had planned how this conversation would go.Generally speaking, he would emerge cool, controlled, a big guy willing to admit mistakes and generous enough to express his feelings in a manner that was not namby pamby or loser-like.Three minutes in and he had lost it.She was looking at him as if he were something that had crawled out from under a rock and was now threatening to infect her.Dulled colour highlighted his sharp cheekbones.He found that he might be better off sitting down.‘Look, there’s something you should know.Goodman.I did it.Phoned him up.Knew that he had made plans to see you.Also made sure that those plans came to nothing.’ He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.‘You did what?’‘I was jealous!’ He glared at her, his expression telling her that there was nothing else he could have done given the circumstances, but it fell on stony ground.‘Not content in messing up my life, you actually decided that you would eliminate the first guy who might just be interested in me?’‘Okay, so maybe I was out of order.’‘Maybe?’‘But I’ve never been a jealous man, never had any cause to be.’Cristina knew why he was jealous.She had been his possession, the chosen one, and his ego hadn’t been able to bear the indignity of her messing up his carefully laid plans and, worse, possibly sparking up a relationship with one of his buddies.‘It’s all about you, isn’t it, Rafael? You decide that it’s time to find yourself a suitable wife, you pick the person and lay down all the ground rules, you react like a kid who hasn’t got his Christmas present when your arrangements don’t go according to plan!’‘Yes.’Cristina blinked.Had he just agreed with her or had she imagined that? ‘What did you just say?’‘You’re right.It was all about me.’ He looked at her, watched as she warily sat on the chair facing him, wondered whether this was a good sign or not, and then decided that he wouldn’t even go there; he had made enough mistakes already, been way too arrogant, and had paid the price
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