Falling For His Unlikely Cinderella (Escape To Provence 2) - Page 40

“You think I don’t? Trust me. I fell for you the first day we met. Don’t tell me it’s too soon. I know what I feel. Sometimes love happens at first sight and it happened to us. You can’t deny it.”

“There is no us. There can’t be.” She jumped up from the table and moved over to the couch.

He followed and sank down, sliding his arm around her shoulders. “What do you mean there can’t be? There’s something you’re not telling me. You’ve been elusive from that first amazing day. I’ve been waiting for you to tell me how you feel, but you’ve held back. I’ve spilled my guts to you, but maybe that isn’t enough. Is it because I have a son?”

“How can you ask me that?” she cried out. Her cheeks had gone hot with color. “I’ve loved every minute he’s been with us. He’s the most precious thing on earth!”

“Then what am I missing here?”

She lowered her head. “You and I come from different worlds. You’re the son of a duke and a duchess. I’m the daughter of a taxi driver and a cleaning lady.”

“Come on, Cami,” he bit out. “Don’t pull that nonsense on me. The ridiculous business about people being born on the wrong side of the tracks has always been absurd, and I don’t buy it for a second. That’s not honest. I want the truth from you. If you only knew how I felt about you.”

Without conscious thought he put his hands on her upper arms and heard a cry escape her lips. She fought him, but he refused to let her go and pulled her against his chest.

“I’ve been desperate to get close to you. That first week I used work as the only ploy I could think of to keep us together. It couldn’t be any surprise that I’ve fallen deeply in love with you.”

Her body was trembling. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”

“Then why have I been in agony every time you’ve had to leave and go home? You have no idea what I went through when I had to leave town. It was pure torture for me not to be able to see your exquisite face and hold you in my arms.”

“Don’t say anything else.”

“I can’t help it.” He turned her so she would look at him. “You’re all I can think about, and I know you have the same problem. When I caught you in my arms that first day, we both recognized something glorious had happened. After Antoinette, the last thing I ever expected was to fall in love again, but I did.”

“Y-You don’t know what you’re talking about.” The words came out halted.

“Oh, but I do.” He slid his hands to her flaming cheeks. “Before we do anything else, I’m dying to kiss you. Don’t deny me what I’ve longed for.”

He lowered his head, needing her kiss like he needed air to breathe. After moaning in protest, the mouth he’d been craving to taste again finally opened to the pressure of his. Her response electrified him and they clung to each other. He’d been wanting this for so long.

No kiss could satisfy him. It wasn’t long enough or deep enough. Raoul never wanted it to end. Their hunger for each other caused him to lose track of everything but loving this divine woman who’d come into his life. He hadn’t expected to feel love like this again, not after what he’d been through.

“You’re so beautiful, and I love you so much. Marry me, Cami, just as soon as it’s possible,” he whispered, covering her face and throat with kisses. “We belong together and need each other desperately.”

“Raoul—” she cried, but he smothered the sound and pulled her down on top of him.

“Let me love you, mon tresor. I almost died when I had to leave you last night to go to the office. Don’t put me off now.”

For a while longer they tried to appease their longing for each other. But far too soon his ecstasy was cut off when she pulled away from him and raced to the kitchen area.

He hurried after her, but she’d backed up against the counter. “Please don’t touch me again. We can’t do this, Raoul. I can’t. I stopped believing in love a long time ago. Let’s agree that we’ve found ourselves attracted and vulnerable, nothing more, but it mustn’t go on.”

“Cami—” He was frustrated out of his mind.

“I mean it, Raoul. I treasure the time I’ve spent with you and Alain and all the wonderful things you’ve done for me, but it has to be over.”

“Has to be over? Can’t? Mustn’t? You’re not making sense!”

“Please will you take us back,” she begged him. Tears poured from her eyes. He’d never seen her like this before. Something was terrifying her, but he couldn’t get answers from her right now. She’d closed up on him for the time being.

“I’ll take us back, but you have to promise me you’ll come to the villa tomorrow. It’s a special day, Jerome’s birthday in fact. I want to honor his memory at the cemetery and would like to take you and Alain with me. If you’ll come at noon, I’ll fix lunch and we’ll leave.”

She swallowed hard. “If I come, will you promise not to press me about marriage?”

“I didn’t realize how much your divorce still pains you,” his voice grated. Why hadn’t she told him everything? “But yes, I promise.”

In deep pain, he reluctantly let her go and walked forward to the console. After raising the anchor, he drove the boat back to port. When he pulled in the slip, he turned to see her tear-splotched face. “This isn’t the end, Cami. I can promise you that.”

Tags: Rebecca Winters Escape to Provence Romance
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