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He sat up, flexing his shoulder. The instinct to touch her, to make some gesture that acknowledged what had just happened between them, was impossible to resist and he reached out for her hand. When his fingers touched hers, she moved them away. But when his gaze met hers they seemed locked together still.
‘Will you trust me, Clara?’
Trust didn’t come easily for her. But when he reached for Clara’s hand again, she didn’t move. Balancing her fingers lightly on his, he guided them to his lips, brushing the most dispassionate of kisses against them.
It was another exercise in taking things as far as they could. When he let her hand go, she nodded slightly, as if Clara knew that Gabriel had drawn a line that he wouldn’t cross.
‘So, can anyone do this hammer lock? Could you teach me?’
‘You’d probably be far more effective than I am. You’re strong...’ Her assessing gaze made him shiver. ‘Why would you want to learn?’
‘Just for my own amusement.’ He could see that she didn’t believe him for a second. ‘We’ve recently commissioned a study on violence against rescue workers, and learning a bit more about self-defence might help me think about the issues more clearly.’
She smiled. ‘And, of course, you have to know for yourself. You can’t just take anyone else’s word for it.’
‘I like to be as hands on in my approach as practically possible.’ Maybe he should have phrased that slightly differently. The flush on Clara’s cheeks seemed to deepen a half-shade, and Gabriel felt his heart beat a little faster.
‘Okay.’ If her heart was beating faster too, she disguised it admirably. ‘Maybe I can. Let’s get tomorrow over first, shall we?’
‘Yes.’ Gabriel got to his feet, holding out his hand to help her up. He’d answered one question at least. However much Clara tried to hide it, she too wanted to know where the limits of their relationship lay.
CHAPTER SEVEN
CAUGHT UP IN the preparations for the cocktail party this evening, counting bottles and proclaiming that the patio lights were all wrong and needed to be done again, Gabriel seemed more relaxed than Clara had ever seen him. He was getting to grips with his situation, and if it took being forced to the floor with an armlock, then that was what it took.
Something had happened. There had been a moment when they’d both been at one with each other. The feel of his body, and hers. Knowing how his would react and understanding that he was trusting her. But Clara couldn’t think about that because she had just one, overarching goal. Keep him safe.
Halfway through the afternoon, and Clara was beginning to feel a sense of satisfaction. Then her phone rang.
‘Clara... He’s on the move.’ Instinctively Clara took a couple of steps towards the back windows. She’d seen Gabriel sizing up the camera angles that morning, and the back of the house was the way she would have chosen to make a surreptitious exit as well.
‘All right. Thanks, I’ll deal with it.’ She put her phone into her pocket and hurried through to the kitchen, where the caterers had taken up residence. Ducking out of their way, she glanced towards the hook that usually housed Gabriel’s car keys and saw that it was empty.
She had to be quick. Grabbing her bag from the hallway, she ran down the front steps of the house into the street outside, where the small run-around that Gabriel used was parked.
He appeared just on schedule, turning out of the narrow path that led from the back of his garden onto the end of the street and sauntering along the pavement as if he had nowhere in particular to go. Maybe he didn’t and this was all just a game to him. When he saw Clara, leaning against his car, his pace hardly faltered.
‘Hello, there.’ He gave her an urbane smile.
‘Hello. Going for a walk?’ Clara tried to keep the irritation from her tone.
‘No, a drive.’ He held up his car keys.
‘And you didn’t think to tell anyone? I thought we’d worked this one out, Gabriel.’
‘Private business.’ He moved towards the car door as if that was the end of the matter, and Clara shifted to block his path. If last night had taught her one thing, it was that Gabriel was pretty much incapable of pushing a woman out of the way.
‘Here’s the thing.’ She folded her arms in an indication that she wasn’t going to shift until she’d had her say. ‘You can do whatever you want to. Go wherever you want to go. But it’s a waste of money to engage security consultants and then decide that you’ll play games and give us the slip.’
He nodded, giving her his most alluring smile. That wasn’t going to work either. Scratch that, it worked extremely well, but it wasn’t going to make her move.
‘Game over. You got me. And I’m duly impressed by your vigilance. I’ll be back in an hour or so...’
Maybe she needed to be a little more direct.
‘Look, I know you want to push things and face the risk. But this isn’t the time or the place to confront whatever demons are driving you...’
Something in his eyes told her that she’d hit home. Gabriel shook his head slightly, as if to dispel the blow.
