AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘We still haven’t discussed exactly what you want to do,’ Alex told her as he reached her. ‘I thought we would have lunch together so that we can do so. There’s a very good traditional restaurant not far from here that I know you’d enjoy...’
What she would not give for just one tenth of his impressive self-confidence, Beth thought enviously as she started to tell him curtly, ‘No, I’ve already...’
‘And these are the factories you want to visit,’ Alex was saying as he picked up her list.
‘Yes,’ she agreed tersely.
‘Mmm... Well, they certainly produce reasonable-quality crystal, but if what you’re looking for is more along the lines of the pieces you were looking at in the gift shop then I would recommend...’
Alarm bells began to ring in Beth’s brain. She had been warned at home to be wary of the touts paid by some of the more dubious manufacturers whose aim was to sell inferior-quality goods to the unwary at inflated prices.
‘None of the reputable manufacturers would want to tarnish their reputations by becoming involved in that sort of thing,’ she’d been told by a friend. ‘The Czechs are a very artistic and a very proud people, but unfortunately, like any other nation, they have their less honest citizens. But that shouldn’t af-fect you.’
‘I don’t want or need your recommendations, thank you,’ she interrupted Alex abruptly. ‘I am paying you to act as an interpreter and a driver. Whilst you were gone I’ve been looking at my maps. Since we’re already halfway through the day, I think that today we should visit the closest of the factories, which will be this one here...’
As she spoke Beth held out the map to show him where she meant.
Immediately he began to frown.
‘I wouldn’t advise that you visit that particular factory,’ he told her quietly. ‘And as for it being the closest... As the crow flies, it may indeed seem so, but it can only be reached by a very circuitous route, and some recent storms in the area have resulted in heavy floods which have left some of the roads virtually impassable. And besides, I rather think if we did go there you’d be disappointed in what they produce.’
Beth could scarcely believe her ears. She had anticipated that she might have problems with him, and quite definitely had serious doubts about the wisdom of employing him, but she had scarcely expected him to start arguing with her right from the word go. His previous manner towards her had suggested quite the opposite, and it came as rather a shock to her to see him in such a decisive and, yes, dominant role. Where were the compliments he had given her earlier? Where was the easy charm and teasing warmth?
‘I hadn’t realised you were such an expert on crystal,’ she told him tightly.
He gave a brief shrug and told her lightly, ‘I should be; it’s in the blood.’
Beth was slightly confused. What did he mean? That because he was half-Czech he must automatically know about crystal? For sheer effrontery he had to be without equal, she decided angrily.
‘Well, it may not be in my blood, but so far as I’m concerned I am still the best judge of what will and won’t sell in my shop,’ she told him assertively. ‘And the only way I can decide whether or not any manufacturer produces the quality of crystal I want to sell is by seeing it for myself...’
‘It’s certainly one way of doing it,’ Alex agreed. ‘But you have to remember that the Czech Republic manufactures a very wide range of glass to suit all pockets and all tastes, and therefore, to my mind at least, it makes sense to eliminate those factories and manufacturers which are not going...which do not produce the type of goods you want.’
‘Yes, it does,’ Beth concurred, gritting her teeth as she told him, ‘Which is why I was very specific about my requirements when I discussed them with our local Board of Trade representative before I left.’
‘Perhaps you weren’t specific enough,’ Alex told her challengingly. ‘Certainly, from my knowledge of them, at least half the factories on your list make either novelty or everyday glassware of a type I doubt you would be interested in.’
‘Oh? I see. And you would know about that, of course. Tell me, Alex, don’t you think it’s rather stretching the arm of coincidence a little too far that miraculously, just as I should need an interpreter and guide, one turns up who purports to be an expert not just in the manufacture of crystal but also in knowing exactly what type of goods I want?’
There was a brief pause before Alex responded with unexpected dryness, ‘Not really. After all, crystal is one of the country’s most famous exports. Naturally I suspect that any guide you would have employed would have known something about its manufacture...’
‘But not so much as you?’ Beth suggested cynically.
‘No, not so much as me,’ he agreed gravely. ‘But I can see that you’re determined not to take my advice and so...’ he glanced at his watch ‘...the sooner we leave the better, if you really want to visit this specific factory this afternoon.’
* * *
Later, as they drove in an uncomfortable silence over roads which Beth was forced to acknowledge were not the best she had ever ridden on, she admitted inwardly to herself that had it been another guide, an accredited guide, who had suggested to her that she might find it more difficult to reach her destination than she had envisaged she would probably have listened and accepted such advice, but because it had been Alex...
But then, hadn’t she every reason to suspect him? she asked herself defensively. Look at the way he had introduced himself to her and flirted with her. Not that he was flirting with her now... Far from it. She glanced briefly at him as he sat beside her, concentrating on his driving.
Even dressed in a pair of faded jeans and a polo shirt he still possessed a very powerful presence, a very potent maleness, she acknowledged reluctantly.
It was plain, too, that she had offended him earlier by rejecting his advice—his unwanted advice, she reminded herself—because there was quite definitely a very stern and remote set to his mouth. And, whilst he had been polite, and careful to describe to her the historical nature of the countryside they had been driving through, he had done so in a way that had very definitely kept a distance between them. Which, of course, was exactly what she had wanted—wasn’t it? Of course it was. She was simply not the sort of person, the sort of woman, who got any sort of pleasure or...or...anything else out of challenging people and creating an atmosphere of tension and sexual aggression between herself and a man. No, she didn’t find that sort of thing exciting or...or stimulating in any possible kind of way.
It turned out that the factory which was their destination could only be reached by a cobbled road with a teeth-jarringly uneven camber, so much so that when they finally drew up in front of it Beth had to stop herself from exhaling a pent-up breath of relief.
It would never do to allow Alex Andrews to think that she regretted not listening to his advice, but cravenly, as they started to walk towards the factory, Beth prayed that the glassware she had come to see would vindicate her decision and make their trip worthwhile.
