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He silenced her with a look. ‘I could do with a walk too.’
‘Fair enough,’ she said, and her resigned expression worried him all the more.
‘He’s just over here.’
He looked away and started moving, trying to ignore the anxiety creeping its way in.
Colin straightened as they approached, a smile Marcus hadn’t seen from him before breaking across his face.
‘Good to see you, Miss Hayes, shall I take that?’
He reached out and she gave him a warm smile, passing him her bag. ‘Thank you.’
‘We’re just going to take a walk,’ Marcus said as Colin placed her bag in the boot. ‘If you park up locally I’ll call when we’re done.’
‘Very well, sir.’
He turned to offer her his arm, just as he’d done that first night, but her eyes darted away. It was a damn stupid move, really—they weren’t on a date...they weren’t even together. He morphed it into a gesture for her to precede him, and together they wove through the pedestrians, neither saying anything for a while.
‘It’s actually good that you’ve come,’ she said eventually, giving him a sidelong glance.
‘You’ve changed your tune,’ he remarked, pulling his gaze up.
‘It means we can discuss your proposition.’
It wasn’t what he’d expected, but it worked for him. ‘Sounds good to me.’
‘Don’t get too excited,’ she said. ‘It’s a no.’
‘A no?’ He nodded thoughtfully, doing his best not to acknowledge the weird sensation pulling at his gut. ‘Might I ask why?’
She looked at him, for longer this time, and then she was off once more, picking up her pace. ‘It’s not easy to explain.’
‘Okay,’ he said, walking after her. ‘Can you at least try?’
Again her eyes flicked back to his, but this time he could see wariness—fear, even—and she made no effort to elaborate.
‘I’m going to get a complex if you keep this up.’
‘You with a complex?’ She rolled her eyes at him but her humour didn’t reach her voice. ‘If you say so.’
‘Okay, it’s true that I know from the way you climax when you’re with me that it’s not because you hate the sex.’
She let go of a breath, her eyes flickering, that knowing hint of colour hitting her cheeks. He’d done it on purpose—throwing her back into another time, another place.
‘No, it’s not that.’
Her husky intonation rippled through to his groin.
‘Then you really are confusing me, because all I’m asking for is more of the same.’
She nodded. ‘You’re honest—I’ll say that.’
‘That’s something you can always be certain of. Now, if you’ll only do the same and put me out of my misery...’
‘I don’t have time for this between us.’
‘What—sex? We’ve made a fair amount of time for it to date. Granted, not enough, but we can work on that.’
