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She shook her head. ‘I didn’t really notice the time. I just walked…’
Something in her voice made him take a closer look at her. Why had she just walked? What had occupied her mind so totally that she hadn’t noticed the time or the change in the weather?
Telling himself that it was none of his business, Jake checked the rope one more time and then jerked his head in the direction of the path. ‘Come on. This way.’
She squinted forward. ‘It all looks the same to me. How do you know where the path is supposed to be?’
‘Because I know this walk well and I recognise the terrain.’
He walked steadily, matching his pace to hers and keeping a close eye on her.
She was cold, he could see that, but nowhere near as cold as she’d been when he’d found her. They weren’t far from the car park now so he wasn’t too worried.
He was more worried about the blank, slightly vacant look in her huge dark eyes. Once they started to walk she sank into silence, her eyes straight ahead, stepping where he told her to step.
He sensed that something was very wrong.
Was it was just the pressures of Christmas Day? Was she avoiding everyone else’s happiness?
They reached the car park without mishap and he reached down and detached the rope from her waist.
‘We’re here.’ He glanced around him with a frown. At this level, the mist had lifted sufficiently to improve the visibility but he could only see one car. His. ‘Where did you park?’
‘Oh.’ She blinked and took a deep breath as if waking herself up. ‘Over there.’
His gaze followed the direction of her vague gesture but he saw nothing. ‘Your car’s been stolen.’
It happened, of course, in these isolated car parks.
‘No.’ She shook her head and gave him a wan smile as she handed back the harness. ‘I don’t have a car. I have a bike.’
A bike? He stared again and finally saw a rusty, ancient bicycle propped against a tree.
‘That’s yours?’
‘Yes.’ She pulled the hat from her head and he frowned.
‘What are you doing?’
‘Returning your clothes. Thank you so much.’
‘Stop. Wait…’ He put the hat back on her head, feeling her silky hair brush his fingers. ‘You can’t get on that bike and cycle—you’re frozen.’ And he didn’t want her to leave. He wanted to get to know her. He wanted to—
‘I’ll warm up when I get back to my—’ She broke off and flinched slightly. ‘Home. I’ll be fine at home.’
Was he imagining things or had her voice changed when she’d said the word ‘home’? He was picking up all sorts of signals but so far he wasn’t sure what any of them meant.
But he intended to find out.
‘What are your plans now? Are you spending the rest of the day with friends?’
She stared at him for a long time and then shook her head slowly. ‘No,’ she said quietly, ‘I’m not. But I’ll be fine. I always am.’
Why was someone like her spending the day on her own?
Suddenly he had an urgent desire to know what was wrong—what had brought that haunted look to her face. And he had an even more urgent desire to drag her into his arms and kiss her until her pale cheeks gained some colour.
Unable to remember a time when he’d had such a powerful reaction to a woman, Jake closed his hand over her wrist, unwilling to let her go.
