Irresistible Temptation(24)

Her lips soundlessly framed, 'Yes.'

He drank down his coffee and stood up. 'Fifteen minutes?'

Olivia nodded. Touched the paperweight 'Thank you again for this. I shall treasure it always.'

He said quietly, 'This time I wanted to give you a rose that wouldn't wither or die. I'm glad you like it.'

When he'd gone, she picked up the weight and held its coolness against her flushed cheek for a long moment.

She said softly, 'It's my birthday-and I'm going to be happy-no matter what it costs me.'





CHAPTER NINE





It was windy on the Thames, and Olivia was glad she'd put on her grey  linen jacket She unwound her new scarf from her neck and tied it over  her ruffled hair, allowing the long ends to float free behind her.

Earlier, she'd applied her make-up carefully, covering the tell-tale  shadows under her eyes and emphasising her cheekbones with a discreet  amount of blusher. She'd sprayed herself with the Estée Lauder scent  she'd received that morning, and, at the last minute, slipped Beth's  amber earrings into her ears.                       
       
           



       

She thought she looked good, but if she'd been hoping for any overt  appreciation from Declan she was disappointed All she'd got was a  laconic, 'Ready? Then let's go.' They disembarked at the Tower, and  walked up the ramp to join the crowds who were milling around the ticket  booths and gift shop in front of the main entrance.

After her bag had been checked, they walked under the stone arch, and up the slope into the Tower itself.

Declan handed her a guidebook. 'Do you want to join a tour, or shall we just wander round by ourselves?'

'I'd rather wander.' Olivia looked up at the tall stone buildings  crowding around them. She said, It's formidable, isn't it? Imagine being  brought here, not knowing what was going to happen to you.'

'On a day like this, perhaps.' Declan lifted his face towards the sky. 'When the sun might be about to go out for ever.'

She shivered. 'That's a ghastly thought Those were inhuman times.'

'Nothing changes very much,' he said quietly. 'These days inhumanity takes different forms, that's all.'

They walked slowly, pausing at intervals to consult the guidebook,  passing the Queen's House, where Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard had  both passed their last days, and skirting Tower Green, basking  innocently in the sunlight. They looked at the display of armour in the  White Tower, then climbed the stairs into the Bloody Tower and saw the  rooms which Sir Walter Raleigh had occupied for so long.

'He had his family in here with him for a time,' Declan told her.

Olivia wrinkled her nose. It's awfully cramped, and not much privacy either.'

'I don't suppose they minded-as long as they could be together.' He paused. 'Do you want to go into Martin's Tower?'

'What's there?'

'A reconstruction of the rack, among other delights.'

Olivia shuddered. 'I'll pass. But I would like to see the Crown Jewels.'

'So would half the world,' Declan said drily when they saw the queue.

'You must be so bored,' Olivia said awkwardly, as they moved slowly forward.

'On the contrary.' Declan looked around. 'I'm wondering if I can't get  the company interested in another popular history series on famous  prisoners who were kept here, from Henry the Sixth to Rudolph Hess,  maybe.'

'I'd watch it.'

'So I should hope.' He grinned at her. 'But you're a captive audience. I've bought your loyalty.'

As the queue moved forward again Olivia was conscious that a number of  curious glances were coming their way, accompanied by a lot of nudging  and pointing.

She said, 'I think you've been recognised. Will your street cred ever recover?'

Declan shrugged. 'Who knows-and who cares, anyway? It's not something I allow to trouble me.

He turned courteously as a woman came up to them shyly, proffering a  postcard and a pen. 'Could I have your autograph, Mr Malone? I always  watch your programme.

'That's good to hear.' Declan smiled at her as he scribbled his signature.

'You've made her day,' Olivia whispered, as the beaming fan rejoined her party.

'I think she's started something,' he muttered back as other people  began to converge on him, waving scraps of paper, as well as postcards  and guidebooks. He inscribed one giggling girl's wrist, but politely  declined to sign her companion's bare midriff.

'Don't you mind?' Olivia asked when they reached the comparative  sanctuary of the Jewel House and began to walk round the exhibition of  banqueting and church plate, displayed alongside the Swords of State and  the Coronation robes.

'Sometimes, but I'm aware it's ungrateful of me.' Declan paused in front  of the maces. 'They provide me with my living, and television's a  fickle medium when all's said and done. It can lift you up and drop you  down before you can draw breath. I plan to get out before the slide  begins.

'Oh?' Olivia looked up at him, startled. 'What will you do instead.

'Go back to my first love-horses,' he returned promptly. 'My father  always hoped I'd take over the running of our stud farm eventually, and I  shan't disappoint him.'

She drew an incredulous breath. 'You mean you'd give up London? Leave your beautiful house?'

'When the time comes.' He nodded. To me, the secret of happiness is  finding where you really belong, and doing what you know is right.'

'And for you that's horses,' she said slowly.

'Animals are honest They'll make a welcome change to some of the people I  have to deal with.' He lifted a quizzical brow. 'Don't you think I'm  capable of making the switch?'

She said quietly, 'I think you're capable of doing anything that you want'

And they went down to the lower level to look in awed silence at the jewelled glory of the State Crowns and Coronation regalia.

'They hardly look real,' Olivia said softly.

'I'd like to have seen the original regalia,' Declan said thoughtfully.  'The stuff that Cromwell sold off or had melted down. One of the many  things to curse him for.

They emerged blinking into the sunshine, and Olivia sighed happily.  'That alone was worth the trip.' She paused. 'Thank you for bringing  me,' she added stiltedly.                       
       
           



       

'It was my pleasure,' he returned. 'And I'm perfectly aware that you can  make your own way back, and you don't want to take up any more of my  time. But you're not getting rid of me that easily.'

'How did you know what I was going to say?' she asked indignantly.

'I've teen working with you all week. I've learned to read your  silences, and this one said you were figuring a tactful way of telling  me to shove off,'

She choked on a giggle. 'I don't think I like being so transparent.'

'You're not,' he said, 'At least not to other people.

While Olivia was digesting this, he went on, 'So what do you want to do after lunch-Madame Tussaud's-the Planetarium?

She hesitated. 'Could we go to the Tate? I want to see the Turner exhibition.

'Great idea,' he approved. 'We'll be inside when the weather changes.'

Olivia looked suspiciously at the sky, and the fluffy clouds floating in it 'It doesn't look like rain.'

It will be here by late afternoon, believe me. The Irish are experts on rain.'

'Well, it's very hot now.' Olivia folded her jacket over her arm. 'Would it be the pits if I had an ice-cream?'

This is your day,' Declan said quietly. 'You can have anything that you want Anything at all.'

She was going to joke about it being an extravagant offer, but as her  eyes met his the words died suddenly on her lips, because the heated  intensity in his gaze was no joking matter. His eyes were caressing her,  sending a message too explicit to ignore.

She was aware of her heart hammering jerkily against her ribcage, and a  strange tremor compounded of nervousness and excitement fluttering deep  inside her.

She wanted to stretch out her hand and take his. To feel his arms close round her, and his mouth warm and possessive on hers.

It's because I'm hurting over Jeremy and want comfort, she told herself wildly.

But comfort was not what Declan was offering. Passion, she thought  confusedly. Danger and darkness. Glory and heartbreak. All the things  she dared not risk.

She turned away. 'I think lunch and the Tate are enough to be going on with.' Her voice sounded small and husky. 'Shall we go?'

She stood watching the river, forging a composure to enclose her like armour while Declan bought her ice-cream.

When he returned, her smile was self-possessed, even teasing. 'I bet it's a long time since you did that.'

'Lost in the mists of time,' he agreed. 'Take the damned thing before it melts.'

'Don't you want one?'

'I'm trying to give it up.' He leaned against the parapet, watching her with amusement 'How old did you say you were today?'

'I didn't,' said Olivia, getting into trouble with the melting bits.

'Because you look about ten years old,' he went on. 'God, woman, you've even got some on your nose.'

'Oh, where?' She squinted, trying to see.

'Here,' he said, and bent to lick the tip of her nose, swiftly and sensuously.

For a moment the world stopped. She felt sweet, heady warmth sweep  through her body. Her voice shook slightly. 'I--thought you didn't want  any.'