An Exception to His Rule(50)

                He raised an eyebrow.

                ‘I was full of approval for you but you went and spoilt it with your anti-feminist remark!’

                ‘My apologies, Miss Livingstone. Uh—how can I make amends? Let’s see, you did pretty damn good for a girl before I took over and—can I cook you breakfast?’

                Harriet blinked. ‘You cook?’

                He shrugged. ‘Some things. Bacon and eggs.’

                ‘Only bacon and eggs?’

                ‘More or less. Steak, I do steak as well.’

                ‘I have both,’ Harriet said slowly.

                He laughed again, kissed her fleetingly on the lips, and removed his hands from her waist just as Stan came round the corner of the stables.

                Fortunately Charlie turned up at the same time, wanting to know what all the hullabaloo was about and they repaired to the flat after Stan had offered to finish Damien’s horse and put it in its box. And they had a jolly breakfast of steak, bacon and eggs.

                Charlie even said, ‘Notice how the sun’s come out!’

                Damien frowned. ‘It’s been up and out for a couple of hours.’

                ‘I was speaking relatively,’ Charlie said with dignity.

                Damien narrowed his eyes as he studied his brother. ‘I...think I get your drift,’ he said slowly. ‘My apologies.’

                ‘That’s all right. We’ll forgive you, won’t we, Harriet?’

                She was clearing the table and about to pour the coffee but she couldn’t help herself. She looked up and straight at Damien.

                ‘Yes...’ she said, but it sounded uncertain even to her own ears, nor could she mistake the ironic glint that came to his dark eyes as their gazes clashed.

                So, she thought uneasily, he might laugh with me as he did this morning but I’m a long way from forgiven.

                * * *

                And although this lifting of the thundercloud, so to speak, over Heathcote, was much appreciated by Charlie and no doubt everyone else on the property, it brought Harriet mental anguish and confusion.

                No longer was she able to keep Damien Wyatt on the back roads of her mind. Not that she’d been able to do that for a while but it seemed to have grown ten times worse day by day.

                She was incredibly aware of him whenever he came within her orbit. He literally made her tremble inwardly and all her fine hairs rise. He made her tongue-tied now, never capable of thinking of anything to say.

                He made the completion of the work on his mother’s treasures and the paintings drag because she spent a lot of time day-dreaming.

                Would she ever finish this job? she asked herself desperately once.

                * * *

                Then the kitchen was finished and Isabel organised a party to celebrate the fact.

                ‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen a renovation, especially not after a fire, be so swiftly and painlessly achieved,’ Harriet murmured to Isabel as she was being given a tour of all the spectacular slimline stainless steel equipment and granite counters that now graced Heathcote’s new bottle-green, white and black kitchen.