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‘You did this yourself?’ Alistair wasn’t a born handyman, but he’d had five years to learn.
‘No.’ He shot her a pained look. ‘I was practically living at work, and I left it to the builders.’
That sounded a bit more like it. ‘So you don’t have any tips on stripping a fireplace?’ Raina ran her hand across the smooth, polished wood of the mantelpiece. It was undoubtedly original, and the small imperfections of age only added to its appeal.
‘Not one. My builder did a great job, and I left him to it. The only thing I’d have contributed to the process would have been unwelcome interference.’
Raina chuckled. ‘Okay. I’m reassured that you haven’t undergone a complete personality transplant.’
‘I haven’t changed that much. Just deafer and with a few more grey hairs...’
If he had any grey hairs, Raina couldn’t see them. Alistair was the picture of a man who was just starting to reach his prime. His polo shirt and jeans did little to conceal the strong lines of his body, and if his face seemed more assured, then his tawny eyes were the same. Capable of an irresistible boyishness when he smiled, even if they did seem to hold a hint of sadness at times. Maybe hers did too. They’d both seen their share of grief.
‘So...’ Alistair rubbed his hands together, seeming to prefer action to speculation. ‘Dinner’s prepared and it won’t take more than twenty minutes to cook. What do you think—we can do the talk now, then eat and discuss it all afterwards?’
‘That sounds perfect. I tell you how things are supposed to work, and then you ask a few awkward questions.’
His grin showed a trace of mischief. ‘Sounds like a plan.’
There was no plan. Just the two of them, and an evening that could finish any way they wanted it to. Whatever it held, she was ready.
* * *
Alistair had brought the data projector home from work, and with a little fiddling around Raina hooked it up to her laptop. He moved the sofa, giving her a blank wall for the projected images, and then closed the curtains and settled himself into an armchair. Raina shot him a slightly embarrassed smile and then began.
She had nothing to be embarrassed about. Her presentation was clear and understandable, and she covered all the issues. When she got to the part about the computer system, Alistair found that Raina had done the impossible and reduced what both he and Gabriel had dismissed as being way above their heads to something that seemed easy.
‘Any questions?’
‘Nope.’
Raina frowned. ‘Is that because you understand everything? Or because it’s all as clear as mud?’
‘I’ve got it. It all makes perfect sense.’ His answer didn’t seem to mollify Raina, and Alistair tried to think of something to say. ‘All right. So the size of the prosthesis is just scaled up or down to fit the individual child, is it?’
‘You know very well that it isn’t, but it’s the kind of question someone might ask...’ Raina smirked with satisfaction and warmth tingled through his chest. He didn’t remember having a crush on any of his teachers when he was a child, but he was making up for it now. The chance to watch her unashamedly, to react to everything she said, was affecting him far more than he’d thought it might.
She pulled up another set of images from her laptop, and launched into an explanation of how each prosthetic was tailored to fit an individual child. This had clearly caught her imagination and her enthusiasm shone through her words. Since Alistair already knew the process, he allowed himself to forget what she was saying and watch Raina.
‘I wouldn’t normally include the part about how the team use the software to do it, but when Ben showed me, it was fascinating. Does it make sense?’
‘Uh...? Yes, I see it.’ The way that Raina moved made sense. He could understand exactly why the shadows in the room would want to caress her face. ‘It’s a beautiful concept.’
She smiled. ‘Yes, it is, isn’t it? That’s the way that Ben sees it, and when he gets cross and waves people away is when he thinks they’re not appreciating it properly.’
Ben could be in love with the concept if he wanted, that was his choice. Alistair preferred to be in love with the teacher.
He dismissed the thought, because being in love with Raina had a lot of complications attached to it, ones that the finest mind wouldn’t be able to make sense of. ‘So is this a good time to break for dinner?’
‘Yes.’ Raina shot him a look of mock solemnity, which made his heart bounce in his chest. ‘Afterwards you can think up a few more tricky questions for me.’
Dinner was a couple of pan-sizzled steaks, done the way that Raina liked them, with peppercorn sauce. Alistair had decided that the table in the breakfast room lent the right amount of informality to the meal, but had made the concession of covering it with a white cloth and adding a couple of candles and a bottle of very good red wine. Two mixed salads were placed on the table, and he dimmed the lights as far as he dared. Nice, but not romantic.
Raina’s presence was something he hadn’t calculated in, though. He’d always felt that she could turn a sandwich on a park bench in November into an intimate, romantic meal for two, and this was no challenge to her at all.
‘Would you like some more wine?’ Alistair didn’t refill his own glass. One had already gone to his head.
‘No, thanks. Half a glass is enough for me. I’m driving, remember...’
