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Her frenzied movements ceased, her body going still and then stiff as her doorbell rang. It would probably be her neighbour, wanting to talk through the problems with her current relationship Maggie decided as she unlocked and opened the door.
Only it wasn’t her neighbour—it was Finn…
Grimly she wondered how on earth he had got past Bill, the supposedly impenetrable barrier against unwanted and uninvited visitors in whom her grandmother placed such faith.
Finn, guessing what she might be thinking, reflected ruefully on the very imaginative ‘sweetener’ he had been forced to offer the doorman, along with an equally imaginative sob story, in order to gain access to the building.
‘It’s more than my life’s worth to let you in without checking that you’re expected, guv,’ had been his initial reaction to Finn’s arrival in the hallway.
Finn just hoped that if she ever got to know the truth Maggie’s grandmother would forgive him for taking not just her name in vain, as it were, but also for the totally fictitious friendship with her which he had claimed which, even more than the money he had handed over, had swayed the Cerberus guarding the doorway in his favour.
Weakly Maggie gave in to her own need and looked hungrily at him. The city suit and crisp shirt he was wearing emphasised the country hardness of his body with its lean muscular strength.
Shakily she stepped back from the door. There was a small betraying smear of lipstick on his cheek. Unable to stop herself, she focused on it, all too easily imagining the seductive manner in which the brunette would have coaxed him to stay with her.
‘I’ve got some photographs for you—of the Dower House,’ Finn was saying as he pushed her front door shut. ‘I was a bit concerned that they might get lost in the post, so I decided to deliver them myself. I had to come to London anyway, to see someone…’
‘Yes, I saw you with her in the restaurant,’ Maggie told him fiercely whilst her brain fought to regain control of her tongue from her wildly out of control emotions—and lost—with a vengeance. ‘Obviously some city women do meet with your approval,’ she heard herself saying challengingly. Then, as her brain cut in, before she could betray herself even further, ‘I’d like you to leave please,’ she added quickly.
‘Leave?’ Finn questioned. ‘But…’
‘Yes, leave,’ Maggie confirmed. ‘And right now.’
Somehow she managed to angle her way past him in the small hallway, and as she reached for the front door handle the pain driving her forced her to say acidly, ‘Fortunately in the City we aren’t subject to impassable fords or impenetrable blizzards, so on this occasion there won’t be any need—Oh!’ She gave a shocked gasp as without warning the flat was plunged into complete darkness.
Her fiercely guarded and secret fear of the dark was a hangover from her childhood which mortified her, but as the darkness blacked out every single particle of light she could feel the panic caused by the inky blackness of the windowless hallway roaring through her.
Frantically she tried to cling to her self-control. ‘It must be a fuse,’ she heard herself saying weakly to Finn as she stood rooted to the spot, terrified of moving.
‘More like a power blackout,’ she could hear him responding grimly. She could tell from his voice and the emptiness of the air close to her that he had moved away from her and into her living room. From there he called out to her. ‘Everything’s in darkness. I can’t see a light anywhere.’
Everything. No lights. Not anywhere. Maggie could feel herself starting to tremble violently, but from somewhere she managed to find the strength of will to claim denyingly, ‘This is the City; we don’t have power blackouts.’
‘Mmm…like fords don’t flood and heavy snow doesn’t fall in November,’ Finn agreed sardonically. ‘Well, whether you like it or not, there’s no way I’m leaving you here on your own until the power returns.’
Shamingly, the first reaction Maggie had to his announcement was one of intense relief. To punish herself for it, she said grittily, ‘I’m sure your dinner companion would be a much more suitable candidate for your company than me.’
‘Tina?’ Finn questioned. ‘She’s my solicitor. She and her husband Paul are old friends from my City days.’
His solicitor. Now Maggie was actually grateful for the darkness, to protect not just her hot flush of embarrassment but, more importantly, the almost intoxicatingly intense quiver of happi
ness that shot through her.
Even so, she still insisted, ‘There really isn’t any need for you to stay.’
‘If you think for one minute that I’m going to leave you here on your own in a situation like this—’
Maggie’s heart started to thud even more anxiously as she listened to him. If Finn were to leave now, Maggie knew that she would remain curled up right here in her small hallway until the power returned or it grew light. That was how afraid of the dark she was.
‘Do you have any candles?’ Finn was demanding.
‘Yes…Yes, I do. They’re…they’re in the kitchen.’ She swallowed nervously at the thought of having to make her way through the thick darkness of her flat to her kitchen. She would rather stay where she was.
She waited, dry-mouthed, for Finn to insist that she got the candles, and her legs weakened dangerously when instead he told her, ‘Let’s go and get them, then. You lead the way.’
And then, as he finished speaking, he reached for her hand, holding it in the warm grip of his own.
Oh, the blessed relief of that lovely warm human contact. Maggie closed her eyes and took a deep steadying breath. She could actually feel Finn’s presence surrounding her, protecting her, giving her the courage and the strength to urge her shaky legs to move her towards the kitchen.
