AllFreeNovel
Share Us
'You think they'll come back?' she asked weakly, her voice muffled against his hard chest.
'No, I don't think they'll come back,' he answered, with the sort of light, teasing approach one favoured with children. The tone hurt, and she pulled away slightly to look up into his face. He thought that she was an inane, pathetic, fatuous type of female, and nothing she had done or said in the last few hours indicated any differently. She sniffed determinedly and forced back the tears with resolute doggedness.
'I'm not going to let them drive me out of my own premises,' she said firmly. 'I'm not.'
'Very commendable, but for today at least you are having a break.' He glanced at his watch. 'It's too late for me to keep my appointment now anyway, so if I can just use your phone and talk to my secretary we'll go and eat. A couple of stiff drinks and you'll forget today ever happened.'
No, she wouldn't, she thought faintly as she watched him make the call, his large bulk seeming to fill the small room. If she lived to be a hundred she would never forget the overwhelming relief she had felt when she had heard his voice. And he had handled those men so well.
She let her eyes wander over the hard profile as he concentrated on his call, his voice terse and rapid. He made every other man she had ever met in her whole life fade into oblivion…
Her eyes opened wide as she realised what she had just thought and she closed her mind firmly. She was grateful to him—of course she was—and everyone knew that one felt some sort of attraction for their defender in such a situation, and as a white knight he sure had a head start. Although she doubted very much if his morals were up to the standards of those crusaders of long ago. She smiled to herself at the thought at the same moment as he turned from the phone.
'A smile?' The dark face expressed its approval and she was immensely thankful that he couldn't read her mind. 'Can I ask why?'
'I was just thinking of how you dealt with those two,' she said quickly, her cheeks flushing.
'You sure do bounce back, Miss Bennett.' There was something in his glance that brought the colour flaring more hotly to her face. 'Sunday's child again?'
She nodded in reply.
'Well, that little rhyme has a lot going for it from where I'm standing.' As he took her arm and ushered her out of the office she could feel his hand burning through her coat and wondered again at her body's immediate response to this man.
He was cold and hard—look at how he had been about his poor housekeeper's accident, not to mention his comments on his sister's proposed marriage, she told herself firmly—and she sensed that he could be capable of great ruthlessness; those hired thugs had known it too. And yet… For some reason every minute she was in his company this physical attraction was getting stronger. She'd never felt like this about a man before, hadn't even know it was possible outside romantic novels.
She glanced at him as they walked over to the car waiting regally in the tiny car park. She shouldn't be having lunch with him. No good could come of it. She was probably going to make a worse fool of herself than she had already and she didn't trust herself around him. He had a great deal of something that she couldn't define, but whatever it was it didn't bode well for her peace of mind.
He
settled her in the car as he had before and then walked round to his side, taking off his overcoat and slinging it on the back seat before sliding in beside her. 'I hope you didn't mind my insinuating to those thugs that you were my girlfriend,' he said mildly as he turned the key in the ignition. 'It seemed a good idea at the time.'
'Of course not.' She didn't know how to reply and knew that her cheeks were burning again. 'I doubt if they believed you, though.'
'Why is that?' He turned to face her as the big car purred gently.
'Well, it's obvious, isn't it?' She smiled nervously, but there was no answering warmth in the hard face watching her so intently.
'I must be very obtuse, Miriam; humour me,' he said drily.
'Oh, come on, Reece.' He wasn't making this very easy but she was Mowed if she was going to make a worse. fool of herself than she had already, by playing Cinderella to his Prince Charming. Perhaps he had sensed that she was attracted to him and thought that she was hoping—
'Why wouldn't they have believed me?' he persisted quietly, the silver eyes narrowed on her flustered face with a touch of steel in their depths.
'Because you don't belong in my world,' she said flatly, 'and they would know that.'
'I don't belong—?' She heard him swear very softly under his breath as he swung the big car out into the road, and she sat absolutely still before glancing from under her eyelashes at his face. It was very cold and angry.
'I didn't mean—'
'I don't want to know what you meant.' He cut across her voice before she could say more.
'Yes, but—'
'Shut up, Miriam.' It was said tightly, through clenched teeth. 'You really are the most—' He stopped abruptly and she saw him take a long pull of air before he relaxed slightly against the leather seat.' 'Bonny and blithe and good and gay',' he murmured grimly after one swift glance at her nervous face. 'I'm beginning to think they left out more than they put in.'
'But—'
'It will take us exactly ten minutes to reach the hotel I have in mind and I would very much appreciate quiet and tranquillity after the morning I've had, so if you don't mind…?' He glared at her once before concentrating on the road.
