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‘Promise me that you will at least think about what I’ve said, Beth?’ His voice was deep and compelling, drawing her to a halt when all she wanted was to run before common sense fled in the face of temptation. Had he known exactly what to say to make her pause, used the very words—the only ones—that would stop her from dismissing his offer right away once she’d calmed down? Probably. Yet even admitting it couldn’t prevent her from turning back.
‘Promise me, Beth?’ He held her gaze across the room, his eyes deep and shadowed, and Beth knew then that she was lost. She closed her eyes, desperately trying to think of all the sane and sensible reasons why she should tell him to go to hell, but all that came into her mind was how he looked sitting in that chair, watching her and waiting.
‘Yes. I promise.’ It was little more than a whisper, yet the words echoed in the silence and lingered long after she’d fled from the room.
CHAPTER FOUR
HUNGER drove Beth from her room in the early hours of the morning. She’d spent the time since she’d left David trying to think what to do, but there was no easy answer. Now the hollow feeling in her stomach had her creeping along the hall and into the kitchen.
She made herself a sandwich then sat down at the table to eat it, but after only a few bites found that her appetite had disappeared. Setting the bread back on to the plate, she sat staring into space, going back over everything that had been said as she’d done a hundred times already. There was no way she could accept such an offer as David had made, yet in her heart she knew that she was tempted to and that scared her. She didn’t want to let herself become too fond of David. That was a route to even more heartache.
‘Are you all right?’ His voice was soft, but Beth still jumped when he spoke. She swung round, feeling the colour flare in her face when she found him standing in the doorway watching her.
‘I…I’m fine. I was hungry so I came to make something to eat.’ She picked up the sandwich and took a bite, then had to force herself to chew it.
‘No wonder. You should be more careful, Beth. You can’t afford to skip meals at present.’ He came further into the room and opened the fridge to pour himself a glass of milk, leaning a hip against the worktop as he drank it slowly, his grey eyes intent as he watched her over the rim of the glass.
Beth looked away, putting the sandwich down to tear at the crust with nervous fingers. If only she knew what he was really thinking then maybe she would know how to handle this situation, but it was impossible to read anything in the coolly level gaze.
‘Have you thought about my offer, Beth?’
She nodded, her hair swirling against the navy silk of her housecoat, the red-gold curls glowing in the bright electric light. ‘Yes. I’ve done little else but think about it.’
‘And what have you decided?’ There was no inflexion in his deep voice. To an outsider he might have been asking anything, not asking if she’d decided to marry him, and it stung.
‘That it’s totally ridiculous. Maybe if you told me the whole truth then I could find the idea more acceptable, but…’ She straightened, her eyes over-bright with a combination of annoyance and tiredness. ‘How will marrying me solve your problems, David?’
‘Just accept that it will, Beth. Is that too much to ask in the circumstances?’
‘What circumstances?’
He set the glass down, hunching his shoulders as he slipped his hands into his pockets. He was still wearing his suit trousers although he had shed the jacket, and Beth could see the faint ripple of muscles under the fine fabric of his pale blue shirt. She looked away, strangely disturbed by the sight, feeling a tightness in her chest.
‘In view of the fact that I offered you a job and somewhere to live quite unconditionally. I didn’t go delving into your past, Beth. Is it too much to expect the same courtesy from you?’
Beth flushed, hating him for reminding her so pointedly of all she owed him. ‘This is different!’
‘In which way? It’s just another solution to your problems and it will go a long way towards easing my life.’
He was inching her back into a corner, using that cool, clear logic to confuse the real issue at stake, playing on the fact that she felt beholden to him for all he’d done. ‘But this isn’t just a business proposition! You’re talking about marriage and all that implies! Maybe this isn’t to be a normal arrangement…’ She broke off, her face going pale. ‘I take it that you don’t intend this marriage to be a normal one? I…I may have misunderstood before.’
