‘Y-you—’ her voice quivered and, to her amazement, she heard herself go on ‘—got rid of the settee. As if it meant nothing.’
‘I didn’t get rid of it,’ he denied. ‘I had it moved to my bedroom, just in case I should be plagued by any erotic images of you during a business meeting.’
Harriet blinked and this time her cheeks grew so hot she had to put her hands up to cover them. ‘I can’t believe I...said that.’
He looked darkly amused for a moment. ‘Maybe your innermost sentiments got the upper hand. Harriet, we can’t go on like this. I can’t anyway.’
He sat back and Harriet was suddenly shocked to see how tired he looked.
She opened her mouth but he waved a hand to forestall her. ‘Don’t say it. I know what you’ll say anyway. You’ll offer to go, just like you did the last time. Well, it’s been a couple of times now but I can’t guarantee a gatepost for you to drive into this time.’
‘Wh...what do you suggest?’ she asked. ‘You say we can’t go on like this but you don’t want me to go.’
‘Marry me,’ he said after a long tense pause. ‘I’ve given you three months to recover from Simon Dexter and your best friend Carol.’
Harriet gasped. ‘You didn’t have to—’ She stopped abruptly. ‘I mean...I mean there’s still Veronica, there’s still the way you feel—’
His dark eyes were mocking. ‘You have no idea how I feel. I had no idea what it was all about so there was no way you could have known,’ he said.
‘I don’t understand.’ Harriet blinked almost frenziedly.
‘Then I’ll tell you.’ He sat forward. ‘I can’t cope any more.’
‘I still don’t understand.’
‘Harriet—’ he fiddled with a pen for a long moment then looked into her eyes ‘—can I tell you a story?’
She nodded.
‘I couldn’t...right from the beginning I couldn’t get you out of my mind. I told you that was why I agreed to see you again?’
‘Two months later, though. I mean—I don’t mean to nit-pick but it was that.’
He grimaced. ‘You’re entitled to nit-pick. But from then on I couldn’t get you out of my mind. I couldn’t believe you were still driving that ghastly old tank and I had to do something about it. I couldn’t believe how much I worried about you. I couldn’t believe how I kept coming up with jobs for you. I couldn’t believe,’ he said dryly, ‘how the thought of your legs kept interfering with my sex life.’
Her lips parted. ‘You mean...?’ She looked incredulous.
‘It’s true. After I kissed you the first time,’ he said wryly, ‘I decided I’d either gone a bit mad or I needed some nice girl who understood the rules—no wedding bells, in other words—and I found a couple. But the trouble was, they had ordinary legs.’
Harriet put a hand to her mouth. ‘I don’t believe this,’ she said indistinctly.
‘You should,’ he replied. ‘Of course, it wasn’t only their legs. I simply didn’t seem to be attracted to anyone any more—anyone who wasn’t you, that is.’