Bedded at the Billionaire's Convenience(41)

At least, however, there was work on Monday and even Didi didn’t harbour unrealistic expectations that Georgie would take time off work because Pierre just happened to be around. She knew how much Georgie’s teaching job meant to her. Far and beyond the basic need to pay bills and keep a roof over her head, Georgie derived a great deal of pleasure from her motley crew of children. Having neither parents nor siblings and with no children of her own, she considered her pupils at the local primary school more than just little people she taught because she was obliged to. She spent a great deal of unpaid overtime preparing lessons that were just that little bit different, supervising after-school events that most of the other teachers tried to avoid, especially in winter, and as Christmas approached was in charge of all things to do with the school play and the much awaited visit from Santa.

Right now, she was inordinately grateful for the distraction of her job. In fact, she was the first to arrive at the school. Any earlier and she reckoned that she might well be passing Jim, the night watchman, on his way out. But she hadn’t been able to sleep.

Pierre’s words kept playing in her head, like a needle stuck in a groove, repeating over and over why fight it, why fight it, why fight it…?

She had wasted a lot of beauty sleep primly telling herself that she had been absolutely right to have reacted the way that she had, that it was typical of a man whose ego was the size of a house to just assume that he could have whatever he wanted, including her.

Admittedly, she had given him signs that she was attracted to him, but as she had tossed and turned towards dawn she felt quietly pleased with herself for having informed him in no uncertain terms that she was stronger than any passing attraction that might have temporarily laid waste to her will-power.

By six in the morning, she had exhausted her imaginative repertoire of scenarios in which she was the proud bearer of morality and sense of principle, stating her case in loud, ringing tones while he listened, awestruck and, best of all, admitted that she was right and he was wrong, that he respected her point of view and admired her for standing up for her beliefs.

When she thought of his hands exploring her and that seductive voice of his telling her not to resist him, that she could have more of what she wanted, she immediately filled her head with other, more helpful things. Such as eighteen little children who still needed to get through a little bit of work while the promise of Christmas threatened to have them running out of control.

She planned on making sure that when she went across to Didi’s after work, much later than she promised with some vague excuse about work, she would be able to actually look Pierre in the eye and feel secure on her own moral high ground.

The words had an unfortunate ring. They reminded her of criticisms he had made to her in the past, criticisms of being prissy and judgemental.

Georgie told herself that essentially there was nothing wrong with that because it was far better to have some moral guidelines, rather than end up like Pierre, emotionally adrift, finding passing pleasure in women with whom he had no spiritual connection and who would sail out of his life without leaving much of a mark behind them. Now that, she told herself, was sad.#p#分页标题#e##p#分页标题#e#

She was still stoutly telling herself that as she got dressed later that evening. Nothing fancy this time. Didi was cooking a meal and Georgie had no intention of dressing up because she didn’t want Pierre to think that she was making a special effort on his behalf.

She tied her hair back into two wispy pigtails, and back she was in her usual garb of flowing skirt, flat boots and an array of tops, which started with her two layers of jumpers and culminated in her wraparound poncho, which was vibrant and very, very warm but would have had any well-groomed sophisticate reaching for her designer suite jacket.

In summer she would have thought nothing of hopping onto her bike but, although the snow had stopped, temperatures were freezing and it was miserable outside.

Much as she wanted to dawdle, arriving an hour and a half late with potential frostbite because she had cycled was not an option. She drove. But she did her damnedest not to think of Pierre on the way. She had problems with Santa and thinking about that was restful in comparison.

She arrived to find an anxious Didi with her hand virtually on the doorknob, waiting for her to arrive.

‘Where have you been, my darling?’ A kiss on either cold cheek, accompanied by a worried frown. ‘We were so worried! We tried to call, but there was no answer! Do you know, Pierre was about to come searching for you!’

Georgie guiltily thought of the phone ringing as she lay in the bath, slowly shrivelling from staying there way too long.