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Sophie had to remember to keep her jaw from hitting her chest as they checked in.

  Having exchanged room numbers, she parted with Reuben in the lobby. He was staying in the King Suite, which didn’t surprise her at all.

  Alone in her own suite at last, she kicked off her shoes, unbuttoned her shirt and raced to the balcony. It was recessed for complete privacy and had a superb view of jungle vegetation; carefully cultivated, Sophie knew, but she was more than willing to go along with the fantasy.

  Rushing back inside, she moved around the room inspecting the beautiful furnishings. Just a couple of days ago she was envying her friends their carefree days on the beach. Now she would have a story or two of her own to tell.

  Sophie stripped off her clothes, had a cool shower and pulled on a pair of linen shorts and a white t-shirt. Then she ordered a glass of passion fruit juice and set her laptop on the small table near the balcony. Enjoying the cool breeze on her bare legs, she set about reconciling her projected figures for game purchases with the actual costs of their day’s activities. She was so into what she was doing that it took her a while to realise someone was knocking at the door. Must be her passion fruit.

  Passion yes, but fruit, no. It was Reuben, looking delicious in a pair of chinos and a loose-fitting linen shirt. His hair was still damp from the shower. Better not think about that.

  ‘Can I come in?’ Reuben asked.

  ‘Oh.’ Sophie realised she’d been staring. Her cheeks flushed. ‘Sorry. I’m… come in.’

  She did the only thing she knew would break the spell—turned her back on him and strode back into the room. But when she turned, Reuben’s eyes were fixed on her long, tanned legs. They started a slow journey along her bare thighs to her small linen shorts, lingered on the sliver of golden midriff that peeked between t-shirt and shorts. He frowned, but didn’t turn away. His gaze moved slowly towards her breasts and it was then she knew that this magnificent man was every bit as affected by her as she was by him.

  There was no mistaking it. Arousal sparked in her stomach, racing along her spine and tingling to the roots of her hair, making the tiny hairs stand to attention on her arms. Her chest rose, nipples erect, suddenly sensitive against her t-shirt. In the back of her mind she knew that if he took one step towards her, just the smallest of steps, she’d do absolutely anything he, really only a stranger to her, wanted her to do.

  ‘Miss Kyle? Excuse me.’

  They both spun towards the door. Room service.

  ‘Yes!’ Sophie headed for the bellboy. ‘Thank you.’

  She waited for him to place her drink on the table, signed the docket and walked him back to the door. She did all these things without thinking. All she was truly aware of was Reuben standing in the middle of the carpet, watching her every move. She was aware of how bare her legs were, a current of air playing across her thighs. She was not wearing a bra. She hadn’t thought he would come to her like this.

  What was happening to her? This just wasn’t like her. She’d so far avoided losing her head the way so many of her friends had. Clever girls that had dropped out of university for men they couldn’t resist; intelligent women who’d given up promising careers to go off and have babies. She had simply never understood it—that uncontrollable urge they’d spoken of, awoken in them by some special man. But now, every time she was alone with Reuben Manning, everything, the most mundane words and gestures, felt like foreplay. And this was her boss. He was the wrong man; it was the worst possible timing.

  She had to diffuse the situation. Get them back onto a professional footing. She went to the table, sipped her passion fruit. ‘I was just updating our costings,’ she said, indicating her laptop, well aware of an almost unbearable tension in the room. Her voice was deep, husky. She cleared her throat.

  ‘You’ll let me have a copy.’

  His voice was low; she did not turn to look at him.

  ‘Yes, of course. As soon as I’ve finished.’

  There was a moment’s silence before Reuben cleared his throat. ‘I came to ask you to join me for dinner this evening. It’ll give us a chance to discuss the farm. I still have many questions.’

  A business dinner. ‘Yes, of course,’ she said, still looking at the screen of her laptop.

  ‘The Crystal Court at eight.’

  ‘Eight o’clock,’ Sophie confirmed to his retreating back.

  Almost as soon as he’d left the room, she realised she had nothing to wear to a dinner at the Crystal Court; one of the Lost City’s dining rooms, no doubt, that sounded splendid and ridiculously expensive.

  It wasn’t Sophie’s habit to travel with an evening gown in her beat-up canvas holdall. There was nothing to be done but call Reuben and tell him she couldn’t make it.

  ‘Why?’ he asked. The question sounded flat on the phone, as if he weren’t really interested.

  Sophie imagined him with a pile of papers in front of him. She hesitated before deciding to be totally honest with him. After all, she didn’t have anything to be ashamed of. ‘I didn’t pack anything that would be, you know… appropriate to wear to dinner at the Crystal Court.’

  ‘The hotel’s full of boutiques, Sophie.’ Again, sounding exasperated.

  ‘A conservationist’s salary doesn’t exactly stretch to haute couture, Reuben.’

  ‘I’ll handle it,’ he said, and put the phone down.

  Sophie shook her head, got up from the desk, paced. Of all the people to buy game farms in the country, she just had to end up working for Reuben Manning. ‘Tell me how that happened?’ Sophie asked the empty room.

  You’re here to do a job, her voice of reason piped back. So do it and in next to no time he’ll be back in the UK, you’ll have made a bit of a dent in those student loans and added another reference to your résumé.

  A knock at the door broke into Sophie’s musings. She opened it to find a porter standing there.

  ‘Ms Kyle, arrangements have been made by Mr Manning for you to buy whatever you need at any of the Palace’s boutiques.’

  ‘Thank you,’ she said, but she did not smile. In fact, she felt no gratitude at all. Only alarm, unease, agitation.

  She closed the door; went back to her laptop and sat down.

  Sophie didn’t need anything. As a conservationist she hardly ever wore skirts. In fact, apart from her interview suit, she owned one skirt and one relatively cheap evening dress she’d been forced to buy for a gala fundraiser she’d attended while working on the African Wild Dog Project.

  The thought of him buying her a dress at this stage of their relationship was what decided her. She had to turn down his offer. It just felt too intimate, as if she were his mistress. Other than her father, she’d never had a man buy clothing for her in her life. It made her feel inadequate, as if she couldn’t take care of herself. But she could; she knew that. She might never have flown first class or stayed in a suite in one of the most expensive hotels in the world, but she’d faced many dangers in the bush and challenges in her life.

  As a matter of fact, why was she feeling so intimidated by all this opulence? She felt nothing for material possessions. And she was well aware that while so much money was spent on buying what was definitely not needed, species went extinct every day of the year and so few people cared.

  ‘You should be ashamed of yourself, Sophie Kyle. Intimidated by a fancy hotel and its dress code.’

  Conservationists were trained to think on their feet. Improvise. It was time to take control of the situation. She called the front desk and asked for a porter to be sent to her room, then went to the desk and scribbled a note. She told the man who arrived at her door, ‘Please give this to Mr Manning,’ and handed him the note. Once done, Sophie closed the door and scanned her surroundings, a look of deep concentration on her face.

  Her gaze fell on a dark wood sideboard against the wall, its top covered by a gold brocade cloth. The fabric was obviously expensive and beautifully woven. The background was dull gold with a bright gold leaf motif. It was
exquisite. It would do nicely.

  Reuben was still smarting from Sophie’s slight when he took his seat at a table in the opulent dining area of the Crystal Court.

  Thanks for your generosity, but no thanks. See you eight o’clock at the Crystal Court, her note had said. Now he had more irritating habits to add to all her other annoying traits: pride and stubbornness.

  But Reuben was straight enough with himself to realise that Sophie was having an effect on him that was completely out of proportion to their business relationship. Today, he hadn’t been able to concentrate the way he usually did. She kept popping into his head—a golden thigh, flashing green eyes, that copper ponytail that swished side to side. He would love to see her hair loose, against his chest, spread across a pillow.

  He was so deep in thought that it took him a moment to register the collective turning of heads, almost all male, in the direction of the entranceway. He turned to see what all the fuss was about and sucked in a deep breath, felt blood rush south of his belt. He was pretty sure he wasn’t the only male she was having this effect on.

  If this was The Palace of the Lost City, then Sophie Kyle was one of its legends come to life.

  Her almost six foot frame was encased in an exquisite gold wrap that just covered her breasts and ended above her knees. The rich gold of the fabric set off her long sculpted golden brown limbs and masses of copper hair that floated about her bare shoulders.

  Reuben’s eyes met Sophie’s across the room. She smiled and started towards him with that swaying, long-limbed gait that was so uniquely her.

  From the corner of his eye, Reuben saw a woman lean across a table and shake the sleeve of the man sitting opposite her. No doubt the poor man had not been able to take his eyes off Sophie since she’d appeared at the door.

  Reuben rose and his legs seemed a little less stable than usual. A waiter helped Sophie into her seat.

  For a moment he couldn’t trust himself to speak. And then a thought occurred to him: what game was she playing? A dress like that had to cost a fortune.

  Once the waiter had left with their drinks order, Reuben said, ‘I thought your salary didn’t extend to haute couture.’

  ‘It doesn’t.’

  ‘Well, what do you call what you’re wearing?’

  ‘A tablecloth.’

  ‘A...?’

  ‘I’m wearing a tablecloth. From the sideboard in my suite.’

  This was said with an upward tilt of her chin and not a little defiance.

  It was a moment before Reuben said, ‘Good grief, woman! You really do have a pair.’

  Sophie laughed delightedly and Reuben couldn’t stop the grin that spread across his face. ‘You’re full of surprises aren’t you, Sophie Kyle?’

  ‘We conservationists may seem like mere flesh on the outside, but it is the heart of a lion that beats in our chest.’

  Sophie made a fierce face and clutched a fist above her heart. That got a low, throaty chuckle from him.

  He watched, fascinated, as she curled long fingers around the stem of a glass of sparkling water and brought it to her full, pale pink mouth. She wore no lipstick, only a little balm, perhaps, and the full bloom of youth.

  Her company over dinner proved to be not only interesting but entertaining. And this woman was not a salad-and-mineral-water type. Reuben was delighted to find that Sophie had a very healthy appetite. It got him wondering if she made love with the same enormous appetite. He watched her chew her way through mouthfuls of food, lick her fingers now and then, soft moans of appreciation slipping from her lips when she found something particularly tasty. Never before had Reuben become sexually aroused simply by watching a woman eat.

  After dinner they took a stroll along one of the Lost City’s paved walkways, flanked on either side by lifelike elephants on plinths; each sculpture lit up against the darkness.

  As if the setting weren’t spectacular enough, it seemed as if the heavens had decided to put on a pyrotechnics display, treating them to the spectacle of a highveld storm in the distance. They stood side by side as forks of lightning split the night and zigzagged through the valley.

  ‘We’d better get back,’ Sophie warned, looking up at the gathering clouds. ‘These storms hit out of nowhere and they’re over in ten minutes, but you get really soaked.’

  It was after eleven and the walkway was deserted. Reuben was rapt as Sophie pulled the tablecloth-cum-dress further up her thighs and climbed onto the wide ledge of one of the stone flowerbeds set out in front of the elephant plinths. His fingers brushed her hip as he put a hand out to steady her. The only incongruous aspect of the outfit, he noticed, was a pair of sandals that didn’t provide good footing. But nobody had been looking at Sophie’s feet.

  At his touch, she tensed and lost her balance. Reuben caught her around the waist. With their gazes locked, he pulled her against him. She slid slowly down along his body. As her feet touched the ground, her lips parted and she kept her arms wound tightly round his neck.

  Reuben did what seemed at that moment like the most natural thing in the world: he bent his head and brushed his lips to hers. Sophie didn’t hesitate. Her lips parted and she took his tongue inside her mouth; its heat and moistness sent arousal flashing through him like the shattering forks of lightning cracking and snaking behind them.

  Sophie’s body arched against his and he kissed her harder, opening and closing his mouth to the rhythm of her breathing, which grew faster and faster.

  The delicious warm throb of arousal took hold of his body; clouding his mind. Sophie moaned as he ran his hand along her hip, found the bottom of her dress, slid it upwards. His hand slipped lightly over the back of her thigh, found one smooth buttock. He raked his nails lightly over the sensitive skin. Sophie shuddered against him, tightened her grip at the back his neck.

  His fingers continued their erotic path around her hip. Sophie breathed hard, sucking his tongue as his fingers found soft pubic hair and slid down to her moist ridges. She opened her thighs as far as the golden cloth would allow. He stroked her opening, sliding a gentle finger in just a centimetre, then two.

  Thunder boomed in the background, drowning out for a moment Reuben’s harsh breathing and Sophie’s whimper.

  Neither knew when the first raindrops started to fall. But as was the nature of highveld storms, suddenly the heavens opened and they were being pelted with large, warm drops of rain. They broke apart, and, holding onto each other’s hand, raced back towards The Palace.

  ‘You’ll come to my room,’ he told her. He hadn’t meant it to sound like an order, but he realised that was how she must have heard it, because she suddenly slowed and pulled her hand from his grasp.

  ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea,’ she said, hair whipping about her face.

  He frowned. ‘Did I misread the signals a moment ago?’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Sophie said, keeping her eyes on her feet as she strode ahead. ‘I don’t know what happened… I… I just don’t think it would be a good thing for us to get… involved.’

  ‘You’re right. Not the sensible thing to do.’ And it wasn’t. He wished she didn’t keep impressing him; it made it so much harder to do the sensible thing. In fact, Reuben was a little disgusted with himself. She worked for him. She was still so young and although he’d never intended to take advantage of her, he felt that he might have in some way. In fact, he could echo her words: ‘I don’t know what happened…’

  ‘We’ll put it down to an electrical storm,’ he told her.

  She smiled at him, obviously relieved.

  It was then Reuben knew beyond a shadow of doubt that he wanted this woman in his bed. He wanted her badly, right this minute.

  But it wasn’t going to happen tonight. He knew that. She was strong, independent, stubborn, and had a moral compass that served her well. But he was good at biding his time. Turning down his offer of unlimited access to the hotel’s boutiques was an intriguing move. She was the first woman who’d turned him down, ev
er. She was undoubtedly a person to be reckoned with. But then he’d never backed down from a challenge. And, in the end, Reuben Manning always got what he wanted.

  Chapter Four

  Sophie woke feeling more vulnerable than she'd felt in her life. She didn't yawn, reach her arms above her head and stretch the way she usually did. All she could think was: how could I?

  Then an image of navy blue eyes floated into her mind and she knew exactly how she could have. She'd seen the looks cast his way wherever they went. Young or old, it made no difference—members of the opposite sex just couldn’t look away. So she could cut herself some slack in that department. But she did need to take herself to task for the way she’d reacted to him on the walkway the night before. That had been over the top. And it left her feeling breathless and bewildered.

  Never in her twenty-four years had she responded with such unbridled passion; let alone to someone she'd known for a couple of days. A couple of days! Was that all it had been? Suddenly life before Reuben seemed like another world entirely. He made her feel different, so unlike herself. Or perhaps this was Sophie, after all. Perhaps all he'd done was unlock a part of herself that she'd only been vaguely aware of; never tapped into. That made sense.

  But still. Could she really justify behaving the way she had last night? Sophie didn't think so. She was a lively personality, but in essence, a disciplined person with her feet firmly on the ground. And had she forgotten the reason for her relationship with Reuben Manning in the first place? He was her boss. Not that that meant there couldn't be anything between them. But he wasn’t just any boss, he was Reuben Manning, the tycoon. Celebrity corporate giant.

  Sophie just wasn't sure if she had what it took to be emotionally involved with him while keeping her focus on the job she so badly needed. She knew herself only too well, and she was an all or nothing girl.

  She’d seen photographs of him on the internet with some of the world’s most beautiful women. He was way out of her league. And the thought of being just one more brief conquest filled Sophie with dismay. Because, in the cold light of day, she was sure that's all she would be.