Reluctant Wife(40)

CHAPTER SIX





HER LIPS parted and she stared up into Adam’s dark eyes and wondered for a moment if she was dreaming,



Then she sighed, a tiny little sound, and without conscious volition her arms slid up around his neck. ‘You came back,’ she whispered.



‘Of course—did you doubt it, Roz?’



‘Yes. No. I mean, you must be tired. I don’t know if it’s much fun to be stranded in Manila at the moment. Oh, you’re changed already,‘ she said softly and confusedly as she realised he had his towelling bathrobe on.



‘I’ve had a shower, and it was no fun being stranded in Manila, but mainly, because it was one of those flights destined to go wrong—my luggage appears to have disappeared and I feel frustrated beyond words with airlines and their bloody silly baggage-handling systems—but I didn’t mean to wake you, You seemed to be sleeping so peacefully I was going to sleep in your bed.’



Roz considered this and the harsh, tired lines of his face and the clean, tangy smell of him although his jaw was dark, and felt her heart contract. ‘Now … now that I’m awake, won’t you stay with me?’ she whispered, and slid her hands beneath his robe.



‘Roz…’ he began tautly.



‘I know, I know we have an agreement,’ she said huskily, exploring the supple skin of his wide shoulders beneath his robe, ‘but could always start again tomorrow if you wanted to. I would … it’s just that I would … love to be loved right now, and you might be able to relax and …’



‘Loved?’ he echoed.



She stared up at him and her heart started to beat uncomfortably. She swallowed and thought with fright that she’d blundered unforgivably again and either desperation or the thoughts she’d entertained before she’d fallen asleep had betrayed her. Then as the silence lengthened, fear hardened into certainty and she withdrew her hands and sat up as he moved back. ‘It doesn’t matter. Are you hungry? Would you like a snack?’



‘No. Roz …’



But she interrupted him. ‘It’s all right—I understand.’



He said ‘What do you understand?’



‘That it’s,’ she turned her head to look at his bedside clock, ‘three in the morning, that you’ve been flying for hours and hours and then driving on top of it.’ She shrugged. ‘That’s enough, isn’t it? To make you feel like a zombie or something? But seriously, if you’d like something to eat …’



‘Milly left something out for me.’



‘What would we ever do without Milly?’ Roz said lightly. ‘Well, I’ll get back to my own bed. Sleep well!’ She went to slide off the bed, but he caught. her wrist.



‘Considering that’s the first offer I’ve ever had from you, Roz,’ he said, his lips barely moving and his eyes as dark as the night outside the small pool of lamplight that encircled them, ‘I’d be a fool to knock it back.’



She took a breath as that dark gaze travelled from her loose dishevelled hair to her lips, her eyes which were wide and disconcerted, then down the sleek white silk to her outlined breasts.



‘But if you don’t want it,’ she whispered, ‘what are you knocking back‘? Nothing of value; .’ She broke off and winced, realising she’d spoken reproachfully, as if she had any right to be that, and because she’d wanted composure and found instead only a tattered kind of dignity. She looked away awkwardly.



Adam was examining her meditatively when she looked back at last, still holding her wrist in his long fingers. Then he remarked, ‘I’m afraid you’ve hit the nail on the head, Roz.’



‘Oh!’ she gasped, and her eyes were stunned and hurt.



He smiled grimly. ‘We could make it worthwhile, though,’ he drawled. ‘You could tell me if you have an ulterior motive——is the gilded cage not so bad after all? Or is the prospect of being an unkept woman rather terrifying suddenly? Or did you just wake up feeling sexy and find me on hand? They might none of those be the best reasons to want to make love, but at least they’d be honest.’



Roz stared at him as if mesmerised; and for a moment she hated him. Then she realised with dull despair that he was entitled to think any or all. of those things. And to tell him now that she loved him could only sound false, because at she’d left it too late, said too much, done to little…



‘Adam, is there someone else?’



If it was any satisfaction to her, which it wasn’t, she saw that she’d surprised him. His eyes narrowed and his fingers tightened cruelly around her wrist before he released it abruptly.