‘Yes,’ he acknowledged. ‘I retreat here when I wish to be alone. Solitude renews the spirit.’
‘I shouldn’t have thought yours was ever low enough to need renewal,’ she said, and saw his brow lift.
‘You read me so well?’
‘No.’ She gave a wry little shrug. ‘Just that you seem so totally in control of your life.’
‘None of us can be totally in control,’ he returned. ‘Life holds many surprises.’
He hadn’t taken a seat himself. Lauren wished that he would. Standing there, hands thrust into trouser pockets, he seemed to tower over her. She could still feel the pressure of his chest against her breasts—recall the way her nipples had tingled and peaked to the contact. They were doing so again at the very memory.
‘Not always pleasant ones,’ she agreed, hoping that nothing of what she was thinking showed in her face. It was shameful to be having these feelings at all for a man she scarcely knew. Francisco’s own brother, for heaven’s sake! ‘It must be getting close to lunchtime,’ she added a little desperately. ‘I’ll need to tidy myself up.’
‘We normally eat our meal at two o’clock,’ Rafael advised, ‘but if you’re hungry now I’ll arrange for food to be brought.’
It was, Lauren realised, glancing at her watch, only just gone twelve. Hunger was the last thing on her mind—for food, at any rate.
‘My body clock is way out,’ she said with an attempt at humour. ‘I can wait, thanks. All the same, I’d like to tidy myself up.’ She came to her feet as she spoke, unsurprised to feel the unsteadiness still in her legs. Fear of a different kind this time, and one Rafael must not be allowed to guess. ‘It was good of you to spend so long with me, when I know how busy you must be.’
‘The day,’ he said, ‘is not yet over. We’re to visit Ronda this afternoon.’
‘Are you sure you have the time?’
‘Time,’ he said, ‘is the servant, not the master. We must use it to our advantage. Take care descending the steps.’
It wasn’t the steps she had to worry about, Lauren thought wryly, making her escape, so much as her own wayward emotions. From now on she must steer well clear of any physical contact at all with her brother-in-law.
CHAPTER THREE
THE twins were full of their morning. Already they had picked up one or two Spanish words, Lauren noted, listening to their breathless account. She hoped Elena wasn’t counting on a break this afternoon; it had been a long time since either of them had taken an afternoon nap.
They had stayed remarkably clean for once. Apart from a quick wash of face and hands, and the use of a hairbrush, they needed no further sprucing up for lunch. With the outing to Ronda in mind, Lauren exchanged her flowered cotton skirt and blouse for a pale blue dress, livening it up with some amber beads and holding back her hair from her face with a narrow bandeau the same colour. Francisco had considered her taste in clothes far too conservative. He had probably been right too, only miniskirts just weren’t her thing. She doubted if they were to Rafael’s taste either.
Lunch was a leisurely meal. Too leisurely for the twins, who found sitting still for even ten minutes a strain. Rafael had Elena come and take the pair of them out in the end, with instructions that they were to spend an hour resting.
‘I doubt if they’re going to sleep at all,’ said Lauren when they were gone from the room.
‘I said rest,’ Rafael pointed out. ‘At their age, they have need of a quiet recuperative period. Elena will see that they stay in their room.’
She wouldn’t, Lauren thought, like to take a bet on it! His peremptory assumption of authority rankled more than a little, even though she could see the sense in what he was saying. Given half a chance, he would have them all jumping through hoops to his command!
‘If you have something to say to me, then say it,’ he invited, watching her expression. ‘You consider it not my place to organise their day?’
‘It’s your house,’ she prevaricated. ‘Castle, I mean. I can’t blame you for not wanting them running all over the place.’
‘They need order in their lives,’ he declared. ‘I have a feeling that you tend to take the easier option.’
It was too close to the truth for comfort. Lauren could feel herself flushing. ‘It’s so easy for the uninitiated to criticise!’ she snapped back.
‘Meaning that, as a childless bachelor, I’m in no position to judge?’ There was more than a hint of mockery in the dark eyes. ‘Perhaps not. But can you honestly say that I’m wrong?’
She bit her lip, aware of being backed into a corner. ‘It isn’t all that easy dealing with two at the same time.’
‘Especially where the father takes little part. Did Francisco have no feeling at all for his sons?’
‘He didn’t pay them all that much attention,’ Lauren admitted, and immediately felt disloyal. ‘But I’m sure he loved them in his own way.’
Rafael shook his head. ‘You’ve no cause to defend my brother. His behaviour was inexcusable.’
‘He’s dead,’ she said with deliberation. ‘I’d prefer to let him rest in peace.’
The dark head inclined. ‘You’re more forgiving than I would be in your place, but I respect the sentiment.’ His tone altered. ‘Tell me, have you had the boys assessed?’
‘If you mean with regard to intelligence level, then yes,’ she acknowledged.
‘And the results?’
‘They both have extra-high IQs.’ Lauren strove to keep her voice matter-of-fact. ‘The important thing, I’m told, is not to treat them as anything special—to let them progress at their own pace.’
‘Very wise advice,’ Rafael agreed. ‘They need to experience all the delights of childhood.’
Something in his tone made her regard him with sudden insight. ‘You had the same problem yourself?’
‘You see advanced intelligence as a problem?’
‘In some respects. I worry about how they’ll cope in school if they have to keep pace with their actual age-group.’
‘Badly,’ he said. ‘Which is yet another reason why you have to accept help in the matter. There are schools equipped to deal with such children.’
‘The kind you attended yourself?’
The firm mouth slanted briefly. ‘My advancement was not as great. I’ll begin enquiries at once.’
‘We have until September,’ Lauren pointed out, laying delicate stress on the ‘we’. ‘There’s no immediate rush. I can gather some information myself once I’m back home.’
Something flickered in his eyes, then he shrugged. ‘Of course. And in the meantime we must see that you enjoy your stay. You are ready to leave for Ronda?’
As ready, Lauren reflected, as she would ever be. Going anywhere at all on her own with this man was likely to prove a mistake, but, short of admitting that he disturbed her too much for comfort, there was no way out of it.
They took the white coupé for the drive into the town. Dressed now in close-fitting green shirt and equally close-fitting white trousers, Rafael looked darker-skinned than ever. The loosely rolled sleeves revealed muscular forearms lightly covered in hair bleached by the sun to several shades lighter than that on his head. His wrists were sinewy, the hands holding the wheel