Read Online Undressed by the Boss (Mills & Boon By Request) by Susan Marsh, Nicola Cleary, Anna Stephens - Free Book Online Page B

glinting in the discreet lighting. ‘Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?’
    ‘I’m sure you’d find us terribly boring.’
    ‘And I’m equally sure I won’t …’ As he spoke Raffa straightened up and put his hands flat on the table, where the delicious entrées they had ordered lay largely untouched.
    They had a lot to say to each other, Casey reflected, except when it came to their private lives; then both of them clammed up. But she didn’t have the option of holding out on him if she wanted this job. ‘You’ve read my file—’
    ‘So I know a lot about you on paper,’ he countered. ‘But I want you to
tell
me. My intention in bringing you here to A’Qaban is to go way beyond the printed page, Casey. I need to know you.’
    ‘I understand …’
    ‘And I understand that your parents’ job is a little unusual,’ he said in a reassuring voice. ‘So don’t feel embarrassed.’
    ‘I’m not …’ His hard mouth had softened fractionally, she noticed, and there was genuine warmth in his eyes.
    ‘Why don’t you tell me about them?’
    ‘I’m okay with their work,’ she admitted, hearing in her voice that she had made it sound like a lie.
    ‘Expand a little,’ Raffa encouraged, pouring a glass of water for her.
    How much did he want to know? She had never discussed her parents’ work with anyone outside the family before. How could she, when she could never take a man home to ‘meet the family’, knowing that any boyfriend would only end up as a lab rat to be quizzed and evaluated by her sex therapist parents before being added to their latest batch of trial statistics.
    ‘Do you know my parents’ work?’
    ‘I know their work well,’ he said, as casually as if her parents ran a market garden. ‘They’re world-renowned academics; it would be hard not to.’
    He wasn’t mocking her, as so many others had. He was genuinely interested, she realised.
    ‘I never forget we are all products of our background, to some extent, and so it’s only natural for me to be curious about your formative influences.’
    ‘And about whether I can talk of them without embarrassment?’ she said bluntly. ‘I’m proud of my parents’ achievements.’ She was. They had helped so many people. Except for her, of course. But it went without saying that
that
had never been on the cards.
    ‘So you’ve grown up in a loving family?’
    ‘Absolutely. My parents may seem unconventional to some people, but they always put me first and were very good role models.’
    Raffa eased back, appearing to consider this. She was overheating. It was the first time she had talked so openly abouta side of her life that, for all the sex talk round the dinner table, was repressed. In spite of the casual way her parents discussed intimacy, she had never found it possible to open up. Her parents had heard it all before, she had reasoned when she was younger, and she knew it would only embarrass them to realise what a failure their daughter was in an area in which they specialised.
    ‘You’re very lucky,’ Raffa said. ‘Tragically, I never knew my parents.’
    His manner prevented further discussion, and she respected his silence. What she had so reluctantly revealed was insignificant by comparison to what Raffa had just told her. It was so totally unexpected she sat stunned for a moment. They had both opened up—perhaps more than they had intended to. How often did that happen? Casey wondered.
    ‘That’s why this country means so much to me.’ Raffa’s eyes were burning with passion. ‘I am investing everything I have, everything I am, in the future of A’Qaban. I have trained my whole life for this moment.’
    Raffa’s words moved her deeply and her own concerns paled into insignificance. But he didn’t need her to be ‘moved’, he needed action—and she was confident she could give him exactly what he wanted if he would give her the chance.
    ‘I’ll support you in any way I can,’ she assured him.