Running From the Storm

‘I can easily believe you’re level-headed and clever but, though I still don’t know you well, I have a gut feeling that you’re too tender-hearted to make it a comfortable profession.’

‘Now should I be flattered or insulted?’ she wondered aloud.

He laughed. ‘Please, take it as a compliment.’

At that moment their first course arrived. It proved to be a very tasty lobster bisque, and apart from an occasional remark they fell silent as they did justice to it.

It was followed by a tender steak served with a delicious cheureuil sauce, and they ended with a fruit and cream cheesecake that was light as a dream. As soon as their plates had been whisked away, the attentive waiter brought coffee, chocolates and a small trolley holding a selection of liqueurs.

‘Which would you prefer?’ Zander asked. ‘Brandy? Cointreau? Benedictine?’

‘I like Benedictine,’ Caris admitted. ‘But as I’ve already had at least two glasses of champagne I’m not sure if it would be wise.’

‘Well, as you won’t be driving, I can’t see the harm. And it may help you get a good night’s sleep in spite of the ankle.’

Taking that as a yes, the waiter poured a generous amount of Benedictine into one of the glasses. Then with the bottle poised he enquired, ‘And for you, sir?’

Zander shook his head. ‘Nothing for me, thanks.’

When the waiter had departed, with no need for small talk they sipped their coffee in companionable silence, looking out over the dusky garden.

A warm evening breeze drifted by, carrying with it the fragrance of roses, lavender and the haunting scent of rosemary.

With a sigh, Caris turned to her host and said, ‘That was the best meal I can ever remember having.’

In the flickering candlelight, Zander smiled at her. ‘I’m glad you enjoyed it.’

He had good teeth—nicely shaped, gleaming white and healthy—and his mouth was beautiful, she thought, the top lip ascetic, the fuller lower lip more sensuous.

She was still staring, caught by the sexiness of it, when he added approvingly, ‘It’s a pleasure to have dinner with a woman who appreciates good food and doesn’t want to chatter all through the meal.’

Floating on cloud nine, happy that he seemed to like her company and hadn’t found her silence dull, Caris glowed.

She already knew that she would always remember this lovely, romantic evening. An evening she never wanted to end.

But her father was a hard taskmaster; for the past few weeks, needing to get things done before her vacation, she had worked far into the night most nights and slept badly in consequence.

Now tiredness was starting to catch up with her, made even more soporific by too much alcohol; she found herself having to stifle a yawn.

Zander noticed at once. ‘About ready to go?’ he queried. ‘It’s getting late and you look tired.’

‘Yes, I’m ready.’ She managed a smile.

But after such a wonderful evening to return to her lonely apartment with its empty fridge and stripped bed seemed like a complete anti-climax, and her heart felt like lead.

‘Or perhaps you’d rather not go home tonight? It won’t be much fun going back to an empty apartment so late, especially with an injured ankle and no holiday to look forward to …’

Surprised by the way he had picked up so accurately what she was thinking and feeling, she asked, ‘How long have you been psychic?’

‘So I guessed right? You don’t want to go home?’

As lightly as possible, she said, ‘I don’t have much choice now I’m not going to Catona.’

‘Why not spend the night at my house?’

As her head came up, he added, ‘I ought to make it clear that this isn’t an indecent proposal. But as you don’t want to go home—’

Horrified in case he thought she had been angling for an invitation, she broke in sharply. ‘Oh no, I couldn’t possibly.’

‘Why not?’

‘I just couldn’t.’ Uncomfortably, she added, ‘I didn’t mean to sound as if I was …’

On her wavelength immediately, he heaved a mock sigh. ‘That’s a pity. I was rather hoping you wanted my company as much as I wanted yours. However, if you don’t, there’s always the river.’

Smiling in spite of herself, she said, ‘I just didn’t want you to think I was—’

‘I didn’t think anything of the kind. But, if by any chance I had, I assure you I would have been extremely flattered. So do come.’

‘I really couldn’t put you to so much trouble,’ she protested thickly.

‘It’s no trouble. Hallgarth has a perfectly good guest room, which my housekeeper always leaves made up, and we can be there in less than half an hour.’

Persuasively, he added, ‘Say yes, and after you’ve enjoyed a good night’s sleep we can have breakfast together before I take you home.’

Under normal circumstances, common sense would have insisted that she should say no and mean it. But too much alcohol had swamped both her usual reserve and her inhibitions. If truth be told, she was curious to see his house.

After a brief hesitation, she threw caution to the winds and agreed, ‘Very well, I’ll come.’

He smiled, a white, attractive smile that creased his lean cheeks and made her heart give a little lurch. ‘That’s good.’

Watching her stifle yet another yawn, he signalled to the waiter to bring her jacket, adding, ‘If I don’t get you home soon, you’ll be fast asleep.’

When he had paid the bill and added a generous tip, he lifted her into his arms.

At that moment Claude appeared and beamed at them. ‘I hope you have enjoyed a good meal and had a pleasant evening?’

‘We can answer a resounding yes to both those questions,’ Zander told him.

‘Then you must both come again as my guests.’

‘We’ll look forward to it.’

Their thanks and goodbyes said, they made their way out to the car.

When Caris was settled in the front passenger seat, Zander got behind the wheel and fastened both their seatbelts. In a matter of seconds they had left the lighted restaurant behind them.

Only when they were travelling down a deserted, tree-lined road, their headlights groping through the darkness like the luminous antennae of some insect, did she have second thoughts about the wisdom of what she was doing.

After all, it was far from sensible behaviour to go off into the blue with a man she scarcely knew, a man who, though he had talked about a housekeeper and a guest room, had a reputation as a Casanova.

As though he sensed her sudden unease, he glanced sideways at her in the weird, unearthly light from the dashboard.

‘Something wrong?’

‘No, not really …’ she mumbled.

‘I thought you might perhaps be regretting your decision to come?’

Her silence effectively answered his question.

‘What are you afraid of? That I might turn out to be a homicidal maniac?’

‘Of course not!’

‘Then you’re scared I’ll twirl an imaginary moustache and whisk you off into the woods like some pantomime villain?’

‘Hardly.’

‘But that’s closer to the mark?’

Once again her silence spoke for her.

He sighed. ‘I frankly admit that if you do want to share my bed I’ll be delighted. But, if you don’t, then you’ll be as safe as if you were in a nunnery.’

Though his tone was quizzical, her every instinct told her that he spoke the exact truth.

More seriously, he went on, ‘If I haven’t managed to set your mind at rest, and you really don’t trust me, say so at once and I’ll be happy to turn round and take you home.’

‘I do trust you. Implicitly,’ she added.

‘Thank you for that.’

He drove in silence for a while, then as they took the road that climbed steadily into the mountains he slanted her a glance.

She was asleep, her thick lashes making dark fans on her high cheekbones, her lovely mouth slightly parted. She looked both alluring and vulnerable, and he felt a strong urge to stop the car and kiss her.

When they reached Hallgarth and drew up in the pool of light cast by the porch lantern, she was still sound asleep.

Reluctant to disturb her, he left her where she was while he took her case and holdall up to the pleasant but seldom-used guest room.

Returning to the car, he lifted her out carefully and carried her up the hickory staircase. Laying her down on the bed, he removed her sandals before settling her dark head on the pillow and pulling up the lightweight duvet.

He had half-expected her to stir and open her eyes, but she remained soundly asleep until he finished his ministrations and left, closing the door quietly behind him.

When Caris awoke, she opened her eyes to a large, pleasant room with light modern furniture and apricot walls. A room that was totally strange to her.

Two long windows hung with fine muslin curtains looked out over well-tended lawns and colourful flowerbeds to a group of white wooden chalet-type buildings. Through a vine-hung trellis she could just glimpse the blue waters of a swimming pool.

For a moment or so she was at a complete loss, with no idea where she was or how she had got there.

Then it all came rushing back—the magical evening she had spent with Zander and his invitation to spend the night at his house.

So that solved the mystery of where she was; she was in Zander Devereux’s guest room. But the combination of tiredness and alcohol had zonked her so completely that she had no recollection of the journey, or of arriving here.

She was still wearing her dress, and her jacket was hung neatly over a nearby chair. Her evening bag was lying on the bedside table.

She must have his housekeeper to thank.

Wondering how long she had slept, she looked at her watch a little blearily and found it was mid-morning.

She still felt slightly muzzy from the unaccustomed drink, but a refreshing shower would help to clear her head and set her to rights.

Galvanized into action, she pushed back the duvet and swung her feet to the floor.

After removing the bandage and cautiously trying out her injured ankle, she found it was less painful than she had expected and she could just about walk on it with care.

The pale grey carpet was soft as smoke beneath her bare feet as she crossed to where her luggage had been placed on a low chest.

When she had found her toilet things and a change of clothing, she made her cautious way to the sumptuous en suite bathroom, with its mirrored walls and off-white carpet.

There she found a luxurious bathtub and shower, and on a glass shelf an array of toiletries, towels and a pair of folded bathrobes.

By the time she stepped out of the shower the hot water had done its work; her head had cleared and she was feeling altogether brighter.

Wearing one of the bathrobes, she brushed her teeth and blow-dried her long hair, leaving it loose around her shoulders before returning to the bedroom.

Having donned clean undies, a silky dress that echoed the turquoise, green and gold of a tropical sea, and flat-heeled sandals, she swapped her evening bag for her handbag, which she’d put in her holdall, and repacked her case.

Then, leaving her bag and a lightweight jacket on top of the case, she ventured onto the landing. She was suddenly filled with excitement and anticipation at the thought of seeing Zander again. She made her way down the graceful curve of stairs to a spacious hall, with doors leading off on either side.

Right at the far end, through a partially open door, she could see a small but well-equipped gym but it appeared to be empty.

Everywhere was silent and, with no one about to ask, she went to the nearest door and tapped lightly on it.

She struck lucky the first time. Her knock was answered by Zander’s voice calling, ‘Come in.’

Wondering if he would have the same powerful impact she recalled from the previous evening, she walked into an office full of state-of-the-art technology.

Looking fresh and strikingly attractive in an olive-green silk shirt, short-sleeved and open at the neck, he was sitting behind a desk working with a laptop. A lock of his thick blond hair, which was parted on the left and cut fairly short, hung over his forehead.

When he glanced up, and those eyes met hers—those fascinating green eyes—she found it difficult to breathe.

Which effectively answered her question.

Rising to his feet, he brushed back the stray lock and, with a smile that stopped her breath completely, said, ‘Ah, so you’re up. When I checked on you a little while ago, you were still sleeping soundly. How are you feeling this morning?’

Somehow she dragged air into her lungs and managed, ‘I’m fine, thank you.’ Seeing him start to shut down the computer, she added in a rush, ‘Please don’t stop work on my account.’

‘I’ve done all I need to do. How’s the ankle?’

‘Oh, much easier.’

He frowned. ‘It still looks a little swollen. I’d better put another bandage on it. But first I presume you could do with a drink of some kind?’

‘I certainly could,’ she admitted.

‘Can you make it through to the kitchen without too much discomfort?’

If she said no, he would carry her; just the thought of being lifted and held in his arms again made her feel almost lightheaded.

Pushing aside temptation, she assured him, ‘Oh yes, I can manage quite well so long as I’m careful.’

As they crossed the hall he slipped a hand beneath her bare elbow, sending shivers running up and down her spine.

He seemed even taller than she remembered, and somehow his height and the mature width of his shoulders, his sheer masculinity, made her feel dainty and feminine.

The kitchen at Hallgarth was large and airy, with all mod cons, its open windows letting in the sunshine and fresh mountain air.

Comfortable and homely, it was fitted out like a farmhouse-style living-kitchen, with hickory furniture and an open range, which at the moment was partially screened by a vase of flame-blue delphiniums and pale-pink scented roses.

Caris had half-expected his housekeeper to be there, but they seemed to have the place to themselves. Wondering about it, she asked, ‘Does your housekeeper live in?’

‘Mrs Timmins lives over the garage. But it’s her weekend off. I hope you don’t mind?’

Flustered to realize he must be the one who had put her to bed, she stammered, ‘Well, n-no, I … No, of course not.’

He gave her a sidelong glance. ‘I realize it would have been much more circumspect if my housekeeper had been here, but she’s gone up to Buffalo to visit her family.’

Straight-faced, but with a gleam in his eye that suggested he was teasing, he went on, ‘If in the circumstances you feel seriously compromised …’

Caris was about to deny any such thing when he finished, ‘You can always marry me.’

His words made her heart give a little jump. Managing a laugh, she said with determined lightness, ‘That seems a little drastic.’

‘You mean you’ll settle for less?’

‘I’ll settle for a cup of coffee.’

He sighed. ‘Well, if you change your mind about marrying me, just let me know.’

CHAPTER THREE

HAVING filled a percolator and put it on the electric hob, he took a first-aid box from a cupboard and squatted on the hearthrug at her feet.

‘While that heats, suppose I take a look at your ankle?’

Watching her wince as he ran assessing fingers over her ankle and slender foot, he said, ‘I think some more spray and another bandage wouldn’t go amiss.’

The cold spray was soothing—his nearness anything but—and she quivered inwardly at the thought of those strong, long-fingered hands touching her while she slept.

Her pulse rate going up alarmingly, she did her best to ignore how his stone-coloured trousers pulled tight over his lean hips and muscular thighs. Her stomach clenched and a sweet, languorous heat began to spread through her.

Glancing up at her as she sat to all intents and purposes calm and composed, he felt a sudden desire, a strong urge to pull her into his arms, to kiss her and go on kissing her until he had brought an end to that composure.

In short, he wanted her to be aware, as aroused as he was.

Almost from the start he had known that this woman had a powerful, quite unprecedented effect on him. What he didn’t know for certain was how she felt about him.

And he badly wanted to.

As he stared at her, he noticed the pulse in her throat was beating visibly, and realized with a surge of triumph that despite her calm appearance she was feeling the excitement he was feeling too.

It was a heady thought.

With an effort, he leashed his libido. It was too soon, he warned himself. This was neither the time nor the place to make love to her, and anticipation would only increase the pleasure.

The air was still thick with sexual tension, but his impulses were once more firmly under control. His voice was even as he asked, ‘Not too tight, I hope?’

Looking down into his lean, tanned face and noticing how his long, thick lashes curled, she assured him huskily, ‘No … No, it’s perfectly all right, thank you.’

When he had fastened the bandage securely, he replaced her sandal and rose to his feet in one lithe movement. ‘Now for some coffee.’

He filled two earthenware mugs and handed her one before taking a seat opposite and stretching out his long legs.

The coffee was hot, strong and fragrant, and Caris sipped it gratefully.

When it was gone, he queried, ‘More coffee?’

‘Please.’

Having refilled her mug, he said, ‘While you drink that, decide what you’d like for brunch.’

Still feeling that sensual heat, and terrified of giving herself away, she tried for the prosaic. ‘Who does the cooking when your housekeeper’s away?’

‘I do.’

Remembering her time at university—when most of her male friends had admitted to living on tinned food, takeaway pizzas and being helpless in the kitchen—she asked, ‘Really? Can you cook?’

‘Can I cook!’

Noting the gleam in his eye, she demanded, ‘Well, can you?’

‘Of course I can.’

‘Honestly?’

‘Oh ye of little faith.’

‘Sorry.’

‘I should think so.’

‘What kind of thing can you cook?’

‘I make a mean omelette.’

‘In that case, an omelette would be great.’

With a fresh pot of coffee keeping hot, he quickly set the table before taking a pack of bacon and a bowl of brown eggs from the fridge.

While the bacon grilled, he made a large omelette, golden and puffy. Folding it neatly, he garnished it with rolls of crisp bacon before dividing it between two warm plates.

They ate their meal in a companionable silence, and when her plate was empty Caris thanked him, adding, ‘I really enjoyed that.’

‘Good. Ready for more coffee?’

Reluctant to tear herself away but afraid of outstaying her welcome, she shook her head. ‘I really ought to be going.’

‘Why? What’s the hurry?’

Trying to put conviction into her voice, she told him, ‘I’d really like to get home.’

A glint in his eye, he asked, ‘Now, why don’t I believe that?’

Vexed that he’d seen through her pretence, she asked tartly, ‘Why don’t you?’

‘You have a very expressive face.’

A little disturbed by that remark—wondering what else she might have inadvertently given away—she felt the colour rise in her cheeks.

With a slight grimace, he said, ‘Now I’ve embarrassed you.’

‘Not really,’ she denied, sticking to her guns. ‘But I really ought to be going.’

‘If you’re determined, I’ll get the car out and drive you back.’

‘You’re sure I won’t be interrupting your work?’

‘I’ve done all I need to do for the moment. I’m now planning to enjoy myself.’

That made her smile. ‘I can’t believe chauffeuring a strange woman around counts as enjoyment.’

‘Surely that depends on the woman?’

She could think of nothing to say to that.

When she stayed mute, he pointed out teasingly, ‘That was meant to be a compliment.’

As lightly as possible she said, ‘In that case, what can I say but, thank you.’

He pretended to consider. ‘You could possibly add, “you’re very gallant”.’

‘I’ll be happy to, especially if you were to offer to bring my things downstairs.’

With a grin, he saluted her spirited answer.

Then, his face growing serious, he asked, ‘If you go back to Albany, what will you do with yourself?’

‘Well, I …’

‘Do you really want to hurry home just to sit in an empty flat all weekend?’

Caught on the raw—because that was precisely what she almost certainly would be doing—she said a shade crossly, ‘Well, what would you suggest I do?’

‘You could always stay here.’

Hurriedly she said, ‘Thank you, but I really couldn’t.’

‘Still not sure you can trust me?’

‘It’s nothing like that,’ she denied.

‘Then why can’t you stay?’

‘I couldn’t put on you.’

‘A quaint phrase, that, and if it means what I imagine it means—i.e. to impose—then my answer is if I’d thought you were putting on me I wouldn’t have offered.’

‘You might have felt obliged to.’

‘Well, I didn’t,’ he replied shortly. ‘And when you get to know me better you’ll realize that I don’t do anything I don’t want to do.’

He smiled at her suddenly, lightening the tension. ‘Now, if that’s set your mind at rest and you have no other serious objections, please stay. I could use the company.’

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