was soaked to the skin and shivering. ‘Take these for a second,’ he ordered, dropping the reins intoher hand while he shrugged out of his coat and draped it around her shoulders.
The leather coat still retained the heat from Cesario’s body, and the lingering male scent of him teased Beth’s senses. ‘I’m already wet. It doesn’t make sense for you to get soaked too,’ she mumbled, but received an impatient look.
‘In the space of forty-eight hours you’ve turned my life upside down and landed me with a baby and a flea-bitten mutt. The last thing I need now is for you to catch pneumonia,’ Cesario told her grimly before he hooked his foot in the stirrup and swung himself up onto the horse’s back behind her.
When they reached the castle ten minutes later, Cesario rode round to the stables, dismounted and lifted Beth down, gritting his teeth when her slender body briefly brushed against him. He bitterly resented his overwhelming awareness of her. Clearly he’d gone too long without sex, he thought sardonically. In Rome there were a number of women he could call—casual mistresses who understood he was not in the market for commitment and who would be happy to satisfy his libido knowing that he would be a generous lover in return.
Taking the dog, he strode into an empty horse box and set it down in the straw. The cut on its leg was not too deep, and while he cleaned the wound Beth knelt beside him and stroked the animal’s head to keep it calm.
‘Do you think he’ll be okay? Poor creature. He must have been so frightened in the trap,’ she said softly.
Her innate gentleness touched something deep inside Cesario. He stared at her pale fingers as she fondled the dog’s ears and imagined her touching him , caressing his naked flesh and encircling his manhood with those delicatewhite hands. Her hair smelled of rain and the faint scent of lemons. His eyes were drawn lower, and through her wet blouse he could see the outline of her dusky pink nipples.
He swallowed and said roughly, ‘I’m sure he’ll be fine. I’ll tell the groom to give him plenty of food.’
‘Thank you.’ Her shy smile caused a cramping sensation in Cesario’s gut. But then her expression became anxious. ‘I must get back to Sophie. I’ve been out for ages and she’s bound to be awake by now.’
‘She was crying before I came to look for you. But after I fed her she settled and seemed happy enough when I left her with Filomena,’ Cesario told her.
‘ You fed her?’ Beth chewed on her lip. ‘Was she all right? I mean, she’s only used to me, and.’
‘She didn’t choke when I gave her a bottle of formula, if that’s what you mean,’ Cesario said dryly. ‘I’m quite capable of caring for a baby. I used to regularly feed my son.’
‘You must miss your little boy.’
He stiffened at Beth’s gentle comment. ‘I think of him every day,’ he admitted roughly.
To his relief she did not offer the unhelpful platitude that time was a great healer, as so many people did when they learned that he had lost a child. Instead, she tentatively reached out and placed her hand over his as they knelt on the stable floor next to the stray dog, and her silence soothed his ragged soul far more than meaningless words of sympathy.
‘I miss Mel terribly,’ she said at last. ‘I feel so sad that she’s not here to watch Sophie grow up.’ She sighed. ‘I still miss my mum, too, even though she’s been dead for twelve years.’
‘You said she was ill for a long time?’
Beth nodded. ‘She was diagnosed with MS when I was about five, and as her condition degenerated she wasn’t able to walk and was confined to a wheelchair. She never complained, though, she just tried to get on with life. But it can’t have been easy. My father had to give up work to look after her, so we didn’t have much money. Mum used to get upset that I had to miss out on things like birthday parties and school trips.’
Cesario glanced at her
The leather coat still retained the heat from Cesario’s body, and the lingering male scent of him teased Beth’s senses. ‘I’m already wet. It doesn’t make sense for you to get soaked too,’ she mumbled, but received an impatient look.
‘In the space of forty-eight hours you’ve turned my life upside down and landed me with a baby and a flea-bitten mutt. The last thing I need now is for you to catch pneumonia,’ Cesario told her grimly before he hooked his foot in the stirrup and swung himself up onto the horse’s back behind her.
When they reached the castle ten minutes later, Cesario rode round to the stables, dismounted and lifted Beth down, gritting his teeth when her slender body briefly brushed against him. He bitterly resented his overwhelming awareness of her. Clearly he’d gone too long without sex, he thought sardonically. In Rome there were a number of women he could call—casual mistresses who understood he was not in the market for commitment and who would be happy to satisfy his libido knowing that he would be a generous lover in return.
Taking the dog, he strode into an empty horse box and set it down in the straw. The cut on its leg was not too deep, and while he cleaned the wound Beth knelt beside him and stroked the animal’s head to keep it calm.
‘Do you think he’ll be okay? Poor creature. He must have been so frightened in the trap,’ she said softly.
Her innate gentleness touched something deep inside Cesario. He stared at her pale fingers as she fondled the dog’s ears and imagined her touching him , caressing his naked flesh and encircling his manhood with those delicatewhite hands. Her hair smelled of rain and the faint scent of lemons. His eyes were drawn lower, and through her wet blouse he could see the outline of her dusky pink nipples.
He swallowed and said roughly, ‘I’m sure he’ll be fine. I’ll tell the groom to give him plenty of food.’
‘Thank you.’ Her shy smile caused a cramping sensation in Cesario’s gut. But then her expression became anxious. ‘I must get back to Sophie. I’ve been out for ages and she’s bound to be awake by now.’
‘She was crying before I came to look for you. But after I fed her she settled and seemed happy enough when I left her with Filomena,’ Cesario told her.
‘ You fed her?’ Beth chewed on her lip. ‘Was she all right? I mean, she’s only used to me, and.’
‘She didn’t choke when I gave her a bottle of formula, if that’s what you mean,’ Cesario said dryly. ‘I’m quite capable of caring for a baby. I used to regularly feed my son.’
‘You must miss your little boy.’
He stiffened at Beth’s gentle comment. ‘I think of him every day,’ he admitted roughly.
To his relief she did not offer the unhelpful platitude that time was a great healer, as so many people did when they learned that he had lost a child. Instead, she tentatively reached out and placed her hand over his as they knelt on the stable floor next to the stray dog, and her silence soothed his ragged soul far more than meaningless words of sympathy.
‘I miss Mel terribly,’ she said at last. ‘I feel so sad that she’s not here to watch Sophie grow up.’ She sighed. ‘I still miss my mum, too, even though she’s been dead for twelve years.’
‘You said she was ill for a long time?’
Beth nodded. ‘She was diagnosed with MS when I was about five, and as her condition degenerated she wasn’t able to walk and was confined to a wheelchair. She never complained, though, she just tried to get on with life. But it can’t have been easy. My father had to give up work to look after her, so we didn’t have much money. Mum used to get upset that I had to miss out on things like birthday parties and school trips.’
Cesario glanced at her
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