you want to?’ He looked genuinely perplexed. ‘Individuality is to be celebrated.’
Spoken like a billionaire who didn’t follow any of life’s rules, she thought weakly, wishing she possessed just a fraction of his self belief. ‘You need masses of confidence to be different. I stood out. I felt as though everyone was staring.’
‘They were staring. Because of your dress.’
‘Yes, the dress was a huge mistake.’
‘The dress was amazing. Where did you find it?’
She concentrated on one of the buttons of his shirt. ‘They were refurbishing one of the hotel rooms and I found some red lining material that they’d thrown away. I thought it would look perfect.’
A stunned silence followed her frank confession. ‘Are you telling me that your red dress started life on the inside of a curtain?’
‘A very expensive curtain.’ She shrugged. ‘Why are you looking so shocked? You just said that individuality is to be celebrated.’
His handsome face was a mask of incredulous disbelief and he released her. ‘That night—’ His voice not quite steady, he rubbed his fingers over the bridge of his nose. ‘You really didn’t have a clue who I was, did you?’
She tried not to feel disappointed that he’d let her go. ‘Of course I didn’t know who you were. Why would I?’
It took him a moment to answer. ‘Women usually do.’
‘The women you mix with do. But I’m not one of those. And I wouldn’t want to be,’ she said firmly. She knew far too much about that type of woman. ‘I only spoke to you because you spoke to me first. I’d been standing there, wishing I’d never decided to go to the ball, and then there you were.’ She swallowed as she remembered the sharp intensity of that moment. ‘And you were—there was—something—’
Their eyes met for a moment and he frowned. ‘If all that is true, and you genuinely came to the villa because of concern for my father’s health, then why are you leaving now?’
Because she had to.
Her fingers tightened on the case and she looked away from him so that she wouldn’t be tempted. ‘Because everything has changed. You know I’m not Isabelle, and our relationship has become—’ She broke off and searched for the right word. ‘Become personal. It goes against my principles.’
‘Our relationship is now exactly the way my father always wanted it to be so to leave now makes no sense. We’ve merely dropped the pretence. It actually makes the situation simpler, not more complicated.’
‘Not to me. We had—’ She broke off again and cleared her throat, trying not to mind that he was quite prepared to pretend that the sex had never happened. ‘What we did changes things.’
‘I don’t see how.’
‘You think I’m just leeching from you.’
He glanced briefly towards the roll of notes he’d so carelessly discarded. ‘Is that why you gave me the money?’
‘I’m giving you the money because I don’t want you to pay for me. I’ve never taken money from a man in my life.’
‘I haven’t offered you money.’
‘You’re paying for me to be here. That amounts to the same thing. You think I’m a gold-digger.’
Amusement flickered in his dark eyes. ‘Gold-diggers generally aren’t innocent virgins, agape mou. You’re obviously not quite as familiar with the job description as you think you are.’
She couldn’t think of a suitable reply, so she stayed silent.
He sighed. ‘You’re not leaving.’
She wished she could put the whole episode behind her as easily as he clearly had. ‘I have to.’ For so many reasons. Preserving her sanity was one, but so was maintaining her self respect.
‘Chantal.’ There was a decisive tone to his voice, like a judge who was summing up. ‘You claim that you came here because of my father—’
‘I did.’
‘Then why would you leave? My father’s needs are as great as they ever were. Greater, in fact. Since you arrived he has talked of nothing else. He is looking forward to joining us at dinner tonight. Nothing has changed.’
Chantal chewed her lip.
For him, nothing had changed. She wished she felt similarly indifferent. ‘Everything has changed.’ Her eyes moved to his and then skidded away. ‘We—’
‘Yes,’ he said softly, ‘we did. And given that you were a virgin I’m assuming that you aren’t protected by any form of contraception?’
Her heart stumbled.
Pregnant? It hadn’t even occurred to her that she might become pregnant. For a moment she forgot he was standing there as she considered that possibility. After her own childhood she’d never thought that she’d—
‘I’ll take your silence as a no,’ he drawled softly, and she was silent for a moment as she did some rapid calculations in her head.
‘It will be fine,’ she muttered finally, her cheeks blossoming with colour because this was one topic she wasn’t used to discussing with a man. ‘So you don’t need to think what you’re thinking.’
‘What am I thinking?’
‘That I’ve set the ultimate honey trap.’ She looked him in the eye, her expression fierce. ‘Even if I were pregnant, I wouldn’t take money from you.’
‘Let’s not argue about an issue which might never arise. The more pressing concern is what we do in the short term.’
‘You’re going to let me leave the island.’
His exasperated glance suggested that he wasn’t used to people defying him. ‘Whatever you may think of me, I’m not in the habit of indulging in careless sex regardless of the consequences.’
‘So why did you with me?’
His dark eyes fastened on hers. ‘I have been asking myself that same question for the past few hours. I’m sure the answer will come to me in time.’
She shrank as she imagined how much he must now be regretting his uncharacteristic lack of control. It was all too easy to imagine him calculating what that one awkward lapse was going to cost him in terms of money and adverse publicity. ‘Well, anyway, it doesn’t change the facts. I need to leave.’
‘My father was kind to you.’
‘Yes.’
‘Then you must stay. You owe him this favour.’
She stared at him helplessly. ‘That’s not fair—’
‘I don’t play fair, Chantal,’ he said softly. ‘I play to win.’
She closed her eyes and tried to find the steely streak she needed to refuse. ‘I can’t—’
‘His health is fragile. You have the ability to make him happy. Can you deprive him of that?’
She opened her eyes. ‘You’re totally ruthless, aren’t you?’
‘Focused.’
She turned her head away, feeling as though she were a leaf caught in a hurricane. The force of his personality was too powerful to resist.
‘I don’t see how my presence will really help him…’ But she was wavering and he sensed it, moving in for the kill like a lion spotting a wonded antelope.
‘Your presence could make all the difference to his recovery.’
She wanted to say no, but she couldn’t forget the kindness his