An Exception to His Rule(11)

                Shock seemed to take away all her powers of resistance and when he lifted his head she could only stare up at him with her eyes wide, her lips still parted and her heart beating heavily.

                ‘Mmm...’ He ran his hands up and down her back and hugged her. ‘I must have been mad ever to think you were skinny, Ms Livingstone!’

                Harriet gathered herself. ‘This is...this is,’ she started to say.

                ‘Insane?’ he supplied.

                ‘Yes,’ she agreed, almost biting her tongue in her frustration.

                ‘You’re not wrong. On the other hand, we’ve experienced quite a range of emotions—’

                ‘That’s—what’s that got to do with it?’ Harriet broke in desperately.

                ‘We’ve been angry with each other,’ he went on.

                ‘You murderously,’ she pointed out darkly.

                ‘Well, not quite, but you’ve hated my guts,’ he responded. ‘I reckon we’re destined to run through the whole spectrum—you know, your eyes are stunning.’

                ‘I...they...’

                ‘And there’s your skin.’ He transferred his hands to her arms and ran his palms down them. ‘Smooth and satiny. As for your legs—by the way, I wouldn’t ever wear that wraparound skirt again...’ He paused as she moved convulsively and waited for her to quieten before he went on. ‘Only because it’s criminal to hide your legs.’

                ‘Mr Wyatt,’ Harriet said through her teeth, ‘please don’t go on and will you let me go!’

                ‘In a minute. The other thing Arthur was right about; you have a slightly superior edge at times.’

                Harriet, about to make a concerted effort to free herself, stopped dead and stared at him, completely mystified. ‘What do you mean?’

                ‘Well, for example, in the lounge earlier,’ he elucidated, ‘you looked at me as if I’d crawled out from under a rock.’

                ‘I did not!’ she denied.

                ‘You probably don’t realise you’re doing it. Actually, what Arthur said was that you sometimes look as if your mind is on higher things.’

                Harriet blinked. ‘What does that mean?’

                He dropped his arms and moved back half a pace but Harriet stayed where she was. ‘That you think you’re above this “mortal coil”?’ he mused, and shrugged. ‘Perhaps way above the sweaty realities of life and love, not to mention men? You did say there was no one. One has to wonder why.’ He stopped and shrugged.

                Harriet Livingstone very rarely lost her temper but when she did the consequences were often disastrous, mainly because she was tall enough to be effective about it. She advanced the half step towards Damien Wyatt and slapped his face. She did more.

                ‘Oh, how I’ve wanted to do that,’ she gasped but with great passion. ‘Talk about being above the mortal coil—you obviously see yourself as the bee’s knees!’

                His lips twisted as he fingered his cheek. ‘Bee’s knees—haven’t heard that one for a while. All the same, Stretch,’ he responded, ‘I—’