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‘Red,’ Gwen corrected automatically.
‘Wed,’ Ellie repeated obediently.
‘Good girl,’ Gwen said absently, trying not to breathe in the warm scent of Rio’s skin that was making her stomach muscles quiver. This, she decided, stifling a deep sigh, was going to be a very long journey. She stood to one side to let Ellie climb into the narrow back seat. Leg room for rear passengers had clearly not been a priority for the designer.
‘Climb in, sweetheart, and be careful of the seat.’ Cream leather and small children were not a match made in heaven.
‘Here, let me,’ Rio offered.
‘It’s fine.’ Gwen elbowed him away and, leaning inside, clicked the belt in place. ‘There’s a knack to it,’ she said defensively when she straightened up.
Gwen and Rio got into the front seats and clicked their own belts into place.
‘She’s not car sick,’ Gwen remarked as the car drew away.
‘That’s good to know,’ Rio said gravely, despite the fact that she could tell he’d never even considered this factor.
‘How far—?’ she began then stopped, horror spreading across her face. There were still several cars parked on the grassy section that had been reserved for parents picking up boarders. Several of the latecomers were gathered in a huddle near the school gate chatting.
She froze for a second, then slid down the seat, ducking out of sight.
‘Don’t stop,’ she hissed. ‘Just drive past quickly. Go! Go!’
‘Are you going to stay there for the entire journey with your head on my lap? I just feel I should warn you that being seen in that position might be...er...misinterpreted?’ The image that flashed into her head at his remark instigated a slow-burn heat in her belly.
Struggling to ignore his silky observation, she eased herself back up in the seat she had just slithered down, pressing her spine against the leather backrest and feeling as mortified as it was humanly possible to feel.
‘What do you mean?’ she choked.
He arched a sardonic brow and she realised itwaspossible to feel more mortified. Her already hot face flamed with a fresh rush of embarrassed colour.
Once more in an upright position, she stared straight ahead at green hedgerows flashing by as she sat, hands clasped in her lap, waiting for him to say something sarcastic.
He didn’t.
‘I suppose you think that was funny,’ she muttered.
She shot a look at his enigmatic profile and looked away again quickly. Now she knew what a silence that spoke volumes sounded like.
‘I thought everyone would already have left.’ She could have kicked herself for being overconfident. The Harker parents were notorious for being late picking up their boys. She bit her lip. ‘If I’d been a bit quicker on the uptake, we could have gone out the back gate.’
‘Because being seen with me would be—?’
‘Have you any idea how fast gossip travels in this place?’
‘I know two-year-olds still believe that closing their eyes makes them invisible, but...’
‘You think they saw me?’
‘I’d say that’s a distinct possibility.’
She bent her head and covered her face with her hands. ‘Oh, God I know they did and I looked straight at them too...it was just instinct.’
Rio had had women he’d never seen before literally fall at his feet to drape themselves all over him in order to sneak a selfie with him, some fainting theatrically so that he could catch them and they could see the image go viral on social media the next day, but to have a woman ashamed to be seen with him was something of a first for him.
Clearly if he wanted his ego kept in check, Gwen Meredith was the right person for the job.
‘I take it you’ve not told anyone where you are spending your vacation?’ he said drily.
