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And that change left her feeling as uncomfortable as it had left her gratified.
‘I’ll come back one day,’ she said, shrugging her shoulders against the cold wind and the icy fingers trying to find their way under her scarf. ‘All those sights have been there centuries. They’ll all still be there.’
‘Maybe you will come back for your honeymoon.’
She looked across at him. Had he been tapping into her thoughts? Was he warning her not to think this was anything more than temporary? He should have kept listening and then he’d have got to the part about never falling for a man who couldn’t trust you implicitly, even if the sex was mind-blowing. That might have given him a measure of comfort.
But until then, she might as well play along.
‘What a great idea,’ she said. ‘Maybe I will. And I’ll be sure to bring him around to meet you, don’t worry.’
‘That would not be such a good idea.’ But there was a smile behind his words that told her he knew she was kidding.
He ushered her back towards the car, wondering at this woman who didn’t quake in fear or even take him seriously but bounced shots right back at him. He’d smiled, even though her words grated on him. There was no place for her in his future—even as a visitor. There was even less place for a partner. He didn’t want to think of another man with her, then or now. Which was a thought that gave him pause. Because he’d never asked...
‘Do you have a boyfriend back in Australia?’
She stopped halfway back to the car and turned to him. ‘That seems a very odd question to ask someone after the things we’ve done together.’
He shrugged. ‘Do you?’
She searched his eyes, and sighed, looking for the message in his words, when he’d already made it plain that this was temporary. ‘You have already branded me a thief. And now, I see, you’re attributing me with the morals of an alley cat. If you want me to be impatient for being free of you, you’re going the right way about it.’ She turned to walk away and he stopped her with his hand on her arm.
‘I am surprised if you do not, that is all. I was not trying to insult you.’
‘You could have fooled me. If your woman was travelling in another country, how would you feel if she slept with another man while she was there?’
‘It would not happen. She would not be my woman if she could do such a thing.’
‘Then why would you possibly imagine I could do that? Unless you thought I was some kind of tart.’
‘I have already told you, I didn’t mean that. I just do not understand why a woman such as you wouldn’t have a man.’
‘You mean a thief like me?’
‘I mean beautiful like you.’
She closed her eyes, swallowing against a shudder. She wished he hadn’t said that. It was pointless. Irrelevant. And dulled the edges of her resentment and made her wish that he was another man because she could not afford to go falling for this one.
‘I had a man, as it happens. Though more a worm than a man, come to think of it.’
Dark brows drew together. ‘What happened?’
‘I found him in bed with my best friend.’ She gave a tight smile. ‘Not my favourite day, that one.’
He stood there, dark eyes meeting blue as the cold wind whipped around them both, and she held her breath, praying that he didn’t say he was sorry. She couldn’t bear it if he pitied her.
‘He was a fool.’
She breathed out again, relieved. ‘Perhaps.’ And while it had been nice to hear Kadar’s assessment equated with her own, it hadn’t been Cameron who’d been the biggest fool. ‘I’m well rid of him and I’m not looking to go down that particular route again any time soon, so, you see, you have nothing to fear from me.’
‘I had nothing to fear from you anyway.’
She smiled, but it was half through gritted teeth this time, and she wondered at a conversation that seemed to have more twists and turns than a grand prix track. ‘Other than I might sneak off with the silverware, you mean.’
‘No, it is you who needs to fear, if that happens.’
She blinked. ‘I’ll keep that in mind.’
‘That would be wise.’
* * *
A few kilometres beyond the town, they pulled up outside a high stone wall. ‘Welcome to the Pavilion of the Moon,’ Kadar said as their driver took care of their luggage.
Amber was confused. All she could see behind the wall was a cliff face, soaring high. Until he swung the gate open and she could see the tall timber doors and the windows, set into the cliff itself.
