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‘And lonely.’ She glanced round at the wooded countryside on all sides. ‘Where’s the nearest house?’
‘Half a mile away.’ He smiled slowly. ‘Peaceful, isn’t it? There’s a small stream that runs through the bottom of the garden and a den of badgers in that copse beyond, but it’s still only five minutes to the village.’
‘I’d have never put you down as a country bumpkin,’ she said coldly as he moved round the car to open her door. ‘And there is no way I’m getting out of this car, Blade. I want to go back, now.’
‘Country bumpkin?’ He leant for a moment on the open door, apparently considering her words. ‘Well, if by that you mean I like it here, then guilty as charged.’ He eyed her piercingly. ‘But I also like the bright lights, don’t get me wrong. I am a man of big appetites, Amy, and I am in the fortunate position to be able to indulge them.’ The innuendo was clear and she flushed angrily, dropping her eyes from his.
‘I meant it, I’m not getting out of this car.’
‘Don’t be tiresome,’ he drawled lazily. ‘I’m offering you a cup of coffee at the end of a long day and a look round this place, that’s all. At the very least you should come in and phone Mrs Cox to explain where you are and that you’ll be a little late.’ When she still didn’t move his tone became more caustic. ‘Amy, I’m a grown man of thirty-six and well past the stage of groping at every opportunity. I want to get our relationship on a more civilised plane, that’s all. Now be a sensible girl and get out of the car before I have to lift you out. You are the one who doesn’t want any physical contact, after all.’ He laughed softly and her nerves twanged at the derisive amusement in both his voice and face.
‘Have I a guarantee that you’ll remember that?’ she asked tightly, ‘if I come in for a while?’
‘Of course.’ A wicked grin that caught her heart like an iron fist lit up his dark face briefly. ‘As long as I can be sure that you will treat me accordingly. I’ve had the nasty notion more than once recently that you’ve got designs on my body …’ His rich chuckle at her furious face was just the spur she needed to get out of the car, refusing the hand he held out to her with cool disregard. He thought he was irresistible, did he? His ego really was jumbo-size.
‘Now then.’ As he opened the old wooden front door and ushered her through into the beautiful little room beyond, his voice was quietly satisfied. ‘Come into my parlour, said the spider to the fly.’
She glanced at his hard handsome face for just one second as her blood ran cold. This was a trap, a carefully stage-managed trap, and suddenly she knew just how that fly from the old nursery rhyme had felt. But it was too late now, much much too late.
CHAPTER SIX
‘DO STOP looking so tragic.’ They were seated in front of the carefully restored old fireplace which dominated the small room, which was all old wooden beams and traditional cottage fare, the pretty chintz covers that covered the two large winged armchairs matching the curtains at the narrow leaded windows. ‘I’m not going to eat you alive.’
She raised her eyes from the fireplace slowly. The first thing that had registered on her after her initial panic had been the enormous bunch of fresh flowers in place of a fire, the beautiful display that scented the air with summer chilling her very soul. She couldn’t have had more apt confirmation that what she was doing was right, she thought bitterly. ‘Do you replace these daily?’
‘What?’ His eyes were puzzled.
‘The flowers.’ She took a sip of the scalding hot coffee he had just brought through from the quaint little kitchen, hoping it would calm her racing nerves. ‘Do you get fresh ones each day?’
He glanced from her pale face to the delicate blooms and then back again, his gaze narrowing at the expression in her eyes. ‘No.’ He leant forward slightly as he spoke, searching her face intently. ‘They’re from the garden outside. It’s a mass of colour in the daylight but it would be a shame to rob it of all its beauty. Those are a few days old, but I change the water daily.’ He was speaking mechanically as though his mind were elsewhere. ‘Why did you ask that, Amy? It seemed as though it was important to you in some way.’
‘Of course it’s not.’ She tried to smile but it was a dismal failure. ‘I just wondered, that’s all.’
‘I see.’ It was obvious he didn’t but she was relieved he had decided not to pursue the matter. ‘Well, what do you think of this place? Cute, eh?’
