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She couldn't honestly say there was but she wasn't going to give him fresh ammunition for his argument by admitting k. 'I'm not prepared to discuss this any further.'
'That's an answer in itself and it proves I'm right,' he said with what Beth considered immense arrogance. 'And you should be counting yourself lucky. From the little you've told me, your ex was an out-and-out jerk who isn't fit to draw breath. Let someone else put up with what he dishes out; you don't have to any more. You're free of him, free to make a new life.'
'That doesn't help Anna and their children,' she said self righteously in an attempt to make him feel guilty. It didn't work. She hadn't really expected it to.
'It's up to her if she goes or stays. She had a choice, same as you did. And don't give me any flannel about her being trapped because of the kids,' he added, when Beth opened her mouth to do that very thing. 'Anyone with a grain of common sense would see they'd be far better off without a serial adul¬terer for a father who will most likely mess their minds up as badly as he seems to have messed up their mother's.'
She stared at him. 'I don't think I've ever met such an opinionated man as you,' she said with as much disdain as she could muster. 'You really do take the biscuit.'
All she had in answer was a grin. 'Considering the conver¬sation we've just had, I'll count myself fortunate that's the most you've called me,' he said cheerfully, pulling up behind Michael and Catherine to let an old lady with what looked like dozens of little poodles on pink and blue leads cross the road. They took ages, absolutely ages.
He turned his head to face her and Beth met his eyes. She saw the genuine amusement there, the rugged face alight with a self-disparaging humour that was beguiling.
Dynamite. Even as she thought it, their shared glance deepened and held. She found she couldn't look away and she couldn't fathom why but all her nerve-endings were singing and alive, her body tingling. And Travis wasn't smiling any more. She couldn't put a name to the expression on his face.
How long the moment lasted she wasn't sure—it could have been seconds or hours given the way she was feeling— but then as the road ahead cleared he turned his head and broke the hold and the powerful car leapt forward.
Beth sat absolutely still and quiet, every cell of her body reeling. What had just happened? she asked herself silently. She didn't know. Whatever, it was the equivalent of being run over by a steamroller.
She discovered she had been holding her breath and forced herself to regulate her breathing and relax the hands which, unbeknown to her, had curled themselves into fists.
Dynamite, she repeated in her head. That was what he was. As dangerous as dynamite. And she didn't even like getting too close to fireworks! She groaned inwardly. But, re¬gardless of how physically attracted she was to him—and that was all this was, physical attraction—he didn't fancy her, so that was all right. She was safe. It took two to tango.
She continued to breathe evenly and deeply and within a few minutes her body was behaving itself, but even though she was sitting straight she felt as limp as a wet rag. Ridiculous, but that one look had her feeling as shy as if they had just made love. Shyer.
Please, God, don't let him have guessed I fancy him, she prayed frantically throughout the rest of the journey. Not when he's made it absolutely clear I could be a mannequin in a clothes shop as far as he's concerned. She didn't apologise for the exaggeration, feeling it justified in the circumstances. She would die if he knew, she really would, and she still had another five or so months at the cottage to get through. Even though he only visited his second home in Shropshire now and again, she'd be a nervous wreck if she had to think about avoiding him. She'd be on tenterhooks every weekend, waiting to see if he was around.
As Travis followed Michael and Catherine into the car park of what looked to be a very nice country hotel some time later Beth realised they'd arrived. She didn't know if she was relieved or not. Although it would be good to remove herself from the intimacy of the car and join Catherine and Michael, she was worried how her sister would behave throughout the evening. Catherine seemed determined to link her and Travis together just because he had helped her that first night.
'You're tense. Don't be.' As Travis brought the car to a halt he reached out and placed a hand over hers, which were again clenched tightly in her lap. 'I know the score, OK? You intend to stay very firmly in that ivory tower you've built about yourself and repel invaders. And that's fine if that's what you want.' He paused. ‘Is it what you want, Beth?'
Beth glanced at the dark face. She didn't know what she wanted. In fact, she'd never felt more muddled in her life. And it was all his fault. Him and his flipping theories on this and that. She wished she had never met Travis Black.
