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‘And we both know that we’re going to stop now. You’ll stop because your professional integrity means a great deal to you. And I’ll stop because I respect that and want you as a friend.’
She nodded, pressing her lips together. Gabriel had gone to every place imaginable with more women than he could remember, but this... He hadn’t been here before. Knowing that, he had to let Clara go.
‘It can’t happen again, Gabriel. My job’s at stake, and it’s so important to me...’
‘It’s okay,’ he reassured her. ‘We won’t let it.’
‘So you’ll forget all about this?’
‘No. I want to remember that we talked, and that we kissed. And that then we drew a line under it, because we value each other’s principles.’
She thought for a moment and then suddenly stretched up, kissing his cheek. The brief touch of her lips was more affecting than the most sensual caress.
‘Thank you. I’d like that. I’m going to go now, before I’m tempted to kiss you again.’
‘Good idea.’ Gabriel moved away from the door, opening it for her. ‘I’ll see you in the morning?’
‘Yes.’ As she walked past him into the hallway, she seemed to remember something and turned back. ‘I’m glad we’re remembering it. It would be a crime to forget something that nice.’
He closed the door behind her, leaning back against it and closing his eyes. Gabriel’s relationships generally went a little more predictably. Talk a little, smile a lot. A first kiss that could be a good night, or the beginning of a better one. And maybe, just maybe, after hours of lovemaking, that exquisite moment of togetherness, which allowed him to forget that he was a man who always felt himself alone. It came close to the kind of feeling he’d had with Clara tonight, but had none of the intensity of feeling himself tumble into her smile.
The outrageous idea that no-strings sex might be overrated crossed his mind. How many times had he walked away from an affair without looking back? But somehow Clara’s touch seemed to linger, long after he’d heard the front door close and watched from the window as she walked to her car. It followed him from his study to his bedroom, the empty sheets seeming to mock him as he climbed into bed.
CHAPTER TEN
CLARA HADN’T SLEPT well last night. Thoughts of Gabriel’s lips, trailing fire across her skin, vied with fears over whether she could trust him to keep silent about what had passed between them in the privacy of his study.
She arrived at his house and found him eating breakfast. As he offered her coffee, the warmth in his eyes told her all she needed to know. Gabriel regretted nothing, and he would say nothing.
His diary was, as always, full. A morning’s work at the charity’s offices, along with a visit to Mike, to make sure that he was ready for his journey up to Hertfordshire the next day. Clara followed him, sitting quietly on the edges of everything, but somehow his gaze seemed to find her every now and then.
The afternoon was taken up by therapy sessions at the clinic, and then back home to dress for a dinner party, while the security team took a break in the basement office.
‘He won’t be going yet, will he?’ One of the guards who would be staying behind at the house tonight was new on the team. When Clara rose, collecting her handbag and pulling on her coat, barely fifteen minutes after she’d returned, he raised his eyebrows.
Clara looked at her watch. ‘I’ll give him...two minutes at most. What do you think, Ian?’
‘I’ll go for three. Three to four.’
‘Five minutes.’ Joe was watching the feeds from the cameras. ‘He got as far as the top of the stairs and then went back into his bedroom. He’s on the phone. Looks pretty intent over it...’
‘Maybe we need two cars for tonight.’ Guessing what a client might do next was a way of whiling away the time, but Ian was obviously thinking ahead as well. Clara felt an ache of dismay at the idea that Gabriel might be returning here with someone, and that her place next to him in the back of the SUV might be taken by another woman.
‘I’ll follow you, then.’ If someone was going to have to make room for the lovebirds, then she’d take the second car.
‘Okay.’ Ian was studying the camera feed over Joe’s shoulder. ‘One minute thirty. Looks as if you won this one, Clara.’
Gabriel was standing in the front hall, his phone still pressed to his ear, waving at the camera in a signal that he was ready to go. Clara picked up the keys for the second SUV, and made her way upstairs.
He was listening on the phone, trying to fix his cufflinks at the same time. Even for someone as adept at doing two things at once as Gabriel was, it wasn’t really working, and Clara held out her hand silently. He nodded his thanks, giving her the cufflinks.
‘I’m not entirely sure, Mike. The idea is that you choose the sessions you feel might benefit you the most, and discuss that with the people there.’ He grinned at Clara. Gabriel had said much the same thing to Mike that afternoon.
She caught Ian’s silent glance in Joe’s direction, and knew that the question of whether Gabriel was talking to his date for the night had been settled. All the same, a second car might not be a bad idea. It would establish a precedent.
Clara put the car keys into her pocket, and Gabriel held out one arm, still talking to Mike. ‘No, mate. Look, maybe the best thing to do is plan to decide later. They’ll give you plenty of time to think about it...’
He flashed Clara a frustrated look. Mike had wanted to know every detail of what was going to happen on the course, so that he could plan his reactions, and Gabriel had gently talked him out of it, but it seemed that Mike had now had second thoughts. Clara snapped the cufflink into place, and as Gabriel passed the phone from one hand to the other he almost dropped it.
