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‘I thought I’d better check you hadn’t drowned.’ He looked into her rosy face, at the dilated pupils of her drowsy eyes. She was looking at him as though she was drowning, he observed thoughtfully, before closing his mind to that wide-eyed appeal.
‘And did you just happen to be passing?’ she asked him sleepily. ‘Or do you go around playing guardian angel to all the female guests? Barging into their bathrooms and leering at them?’
‘No, I make an exception for you, Shelley.’ He laughed softly. ‘I always did. As for leering—that kind of implies that it’s unwanted attention, and I certainly didn’t hear you objecting a minute ago! In fact, I rather got the feeling that you were sorry I stopped.’
‘Well, you would, wouldn’t you? The phrase may have gone out of fashion—but you obviously haven’t moved with the times since you are the original male chauvinist pig, Drew Glover!’
‘Ah, but pigs can be very lovable animals, Shelley! Now why don’t you let that water out and catch up on some sleep before I buy you dinner?’
She very nearly sat up in indignation, but remembered where she was just in time, and contented herself with a snort instead. ‘You have to be out of your tiny little mind!’
‘Very probably.’
‘You seriously think I want to have dinner with you?’
He shook his head. ‘No, that’s just the thing—I don’t. Certainly not on any sensible, rational level. Any more than I wish to have dinner with you. And yet at the same time there is nothing I want more, and the same goes for you, Shelley. If I go home and eat supper alone—or even with someone else—I’ll spend the whole evening thinking about you. Wondering about you. What your life has been and whether it’s lived up to all its promise.’
‘I’m flattered!’
‘Oh, don’t be!’ His mouth flattened. ‘It’s only like the scratching of an itch, or the slaking of a thirst. I don’t want you to be an enigma any more—so let’s have dinner as equals. Simple. An equal I can deal with.’
‘Deal with?’ she questioned uncertainly.
‘Sure. We both know that there is a sense of unfinished business between us, and don’t deny it, Shelley, because I can read in your eyes that you agree. It’s an interesting but rather annoying dilemma, isn’t it? For both of us to be drawn so irresistibly towards something we’d both rather forget? But at least this time my desire for you is not restricted by any outdated morals. So—’ he raised his brows ‘—dinner?’
‘What if I told you I’m not hungry?’
‘Then I’d be justified in calling you a liar!’ he retorted softly, staring down at the highest cheekbones he had ever seen on a woman. ‘But telling the truth was never your strong point, was it, Shelley?’ He stared down at the pinched paleness of her face. ‘You look bloody awful as it is—and I don’t want you collapsing on me.’
‘Why should you care whether I collapse or not, Drew?’
‘Care?’ He laughed, but it was the emptiest sound she had ever heard. “‘Care” wouldn’t be my word of choice, Shelley. Let’s just say that it’s about time we tied up the loose ends left over from our relationship once and for all. Maybe then we’ll both be free of whatever it is that still binds us.’
‘And for tying loose ends I presume you’re talking about sex?’
‘Well, I certainly don’t mean a restrained courtship,’ he answered cruelly. ‘Been there; done that!’
‘You are a hard, hard man!’ she shot back, then wished she could bite her words back as she saw his arrogant responding smile. She waited for some remark which was heavy with innuendo.
But Drew was never predictable.
‘Just get out of the tub, Shelley,’ he growled as he swung out of the bathroom.
CHAPTER SIX
SHELLEY was covered in goosebumps as she climbed out of the bath once Drew had gone. She dipped her hand in and fished around in the soapy water to find the plug and let it out. The water was now almost completely cold! But her teeth stopped chattering once she had wrapped herself in the monstrous bathrobe which hung on the back of the door. She stood by the open door of the bathroom, put her head to one side, and listened.
Nothing.
Her breathing sounded magnified in her ears as she went back into the lilac bedroom, half expecting to see him arrogantly sprawled out on the shiny expanse of the bed, but the room looked empty.
‘Drew?’ Her voice sounded indistinct. ‘Are you still in here?’
Feeling a little like an amateur detective, she even peeped behind the silky lilac curtains, until she had satisfied herself that he had definitely gone!
