Savage Awakening(8)

So why shouldn't she take advantage of it?

'All right,' she said, feeling a little frisson of excitement in the pit of her stomach. 'Where do you want to go?'

Matthew Quinn frowned. 'Well, there's a coffee shop in the supermarket,  isn't there? Or-' His mouth thinned. 'We could go back to my place.'

'The supermarket sounds fine,' said Fliss hastily, turning to lock the car again. She moistened her lips. 'If you're sure.'

'Why shouldn't I be sure?' he demanded, and then sudden comprehension  brought a sardonic twist to his mouth. 'Oh, right. You think I might  want to avoid public places, yeah?'

Fliss gave a nervous shrug. 'It's your call.'

'But you know who I am, right?' he persisted, and she gave him a defensive look.

'Did you think I wouldn't?'

'Perhaps I hoped,' he admitted, moving closer as another car came to  take the slot beside Fliss's. 'I guess the whole village is twittering  about it.'

'You flatter yourself!'

Fliss used the retort to put some space between them. The other car had  initiated an intimacy she hadn't expected and she couldn't deny she was  flustered. The brush of his arm against hers had stirred an awareness  that pooled like liquid fire in her belly and she was desperate to  escape before he realised she was unsettled by his nearness.

'Do I?' he asked now, falling into step beside her as she hurried towards the supermarket. 'How's that?'

'Well, I didn't say anything!' exclaimed Fliss hotly, feeling an  unwelcome trickle of perspiration between her breasts. Rushing about in  this heat wasn't just unwise, it was stupid. 'If you don't believe me-'

'Did I say I didn't believe you?' he countered softly. Then hard fingers  fastened about her upper arm, bringing her to an abrupt stop. 'OK,  let's start again, shall we? I know I probably seem paranoid to you and  I'm sorry. It's what comes of spending the last six months trying to  pretend I'm normal. Obviously I'm not being very successful.'

Fliss's eyes widened. 'Don't be silly,' she said after a moment. 'Of  course you're normal. It's me. I'm too easily offended. But, honestly, I  haven't told anyone who you are.'                       
       
           



       

His lips twitched. 'I believe you.'

'Good.' Fliss forced a smile, even though she doubted anything he said would slow her pulse. 'So-do you want to go in?'

Matthew Quinn smiled then, which did nothing for her rattled  equilibrium. Yet there was a vulnerability about that smile-as well as a  raw sensuality-that seemed to tug almost painfully at her heart.

The fact that he'd actually said nothing to warrant such a reaction  disturbed her quite a bit. She had no reason to feel sorry for him, for  heaven's sake. Or was feeling sorry for him her defence? The  alternative-that she might be attracted to him-was definitely a more  dangerous proposition.

'You wouldn't reconsider my offer of coffee at my house,' he said at  last, when she was almost at breaking point. 'Maybe you're right; maybe I  do flatter myself. But right now, I've got no desire to risk being  stared at yet again.'





CHAPTER FOUR





HE WAS sure she would refuse.

As he released her arm and stepped back from her, he realised he was  banking on it. He'd already regretted issuing the invitation, however  urgent his motives had been. All he really wanted to do was go home and  close his door against the world. He wasn't up to entertaining anyone.  Diane's visit had proved that. So what in hell was he doing inviting  this young woman back to his home and risking his fragile independence  yet again?

She was looking at him now, her blue eyes wide and troubled. What was  she thinking? he wondered. That she couldn't trust him? That he was some  crazy nutcase who was suffering a bad attack of paranoia? If so, she  was probably right.

She looked so innocent, he thought irritably. Which couldn't be true.  What had Diane said? That she'd got herself pregnant at sixteen? Hardly  the behaviour of an innocent. And women could effect any number of  disguises. Diane had proved that, too.

But this girl was nothing like Diane. He knew that. For one thing, Diane  would never go out without make-up, or give so little regard to her  appearance. OK, Fliss Taylor's skin was smooth and creamy and seemed to  need little improvement, but her hair clashed wildly with the pink  overalls she was wearing, and, judging by the way her breasts moved, she  wasn't wearing a bra beneath that skimpy T-shirt-

Hold it! Where the hell had that come from? It was a long time since he'd even noticed a woman's breasts.

'All right,' she said suddenly, startling him out of his guilty reverie.  'Let's do that.' Was it only his imagination or was she putting a brave  front on it, too? 'I assume you came in your own vehicle.'

Matt's gaze moved automatically to where he had parked the Land Cruiser.  'Oh-yeah,' he said, his heart sinking. He was going to have to go  through with this. 'D'you want me to follow you home or vice versa?'

'I'll follow you,' she said at once, and he wished he hadn't given her  the option. Now he was going to be aware of her behind him, watching his  every move, all the way back to Mallon's End.

Great!

'OK,' he said now, forcing a polite smile. 'I'll get going.'

In fact it wasn't as bad as he'd anticipated. She kept a comfortable  distance between them the whole way and he'd already parked the Toyota  and got out of the driving seat before she turned up the drive.

Fortunately Matt had visited the supermarket himself before he'd  accosted her and now he hauled a couple of plastic carriers out of the  back of his vehicle before wrestling his key into the lock.

'Come on in,' he said, backing up against the door to allow her to  precede him into the hall. 'You'll have to forgive the state of the  place. I haven't gotten around to doing any decorating yet.'

'Actually, I like it the way it is,' she said as he closed the door  behind them, and he remembered why he had wanted to talk to her in the  first place.

'Yeah, right,' he said, edging past her when she paused to look up the  curving staircase. 'Diane said you used to work here. Is that true?'

A faint colour invaded her creamy cheeks as he spoke. 'I might have  done,' she said, and he sensed she wasn't as comfortable with it as  Diane had implied. Her steps definitely slowed as she reached the  kitchen. 'Where is Diane, anyway? Did she suggest I might be interested  in working for you? Is that what this is all about?'                       
       
           



       

He dumped the carriers on the pine table before he looked at her again.  'Diane's in London,' he said flatly. 'I'm sorry if you expected she'd be  here. I'm afraid there's only me.'

Fliss's soft lips pressed together for a moment. 'But she did suggest  that I might be glad of a job, didn't she?' She gave a rueful shake of  her head. 'I should have known.'

Matt hesitated only a moment. 'If you know Diane at all then you should  know that she'd never suggest I employed any woman under the age of  fifty. Especially not someone she seems to regard as a rival.'

He heard her suck in a breath. 'You're joking, right?'

He hadn't been, but Matt regretted being so honest. 'Yeah, maybe,' he  said, knowing Diane would definitely not approve of him saying that.  'Anyway, forget it. Which do you prefer? Tea or coffee? I have both.'

She hesitated. 'Um-tea would be nice,' she said at last. 'Do you need any help?'

Matt's mouth compressed. 'Why? Do I look as if I do?' He plugged in the  kettle. 'No, don't answer that. My ego's not up to it at the moment.'

A trace of humour touched her lips. 'I'm sure that's not true either.'  She wrapped her arms about her midriff. 'What did Diane tell you about  me?'

Matt didn't want to get into that. 'Not a lot,' he said, not altogether  truthfully. He unloaded some steak and a couple of pre-cooked meals into  the fridge. 'I guess Amy's at school right now, isn't she?'

Fliss nodded. 'She's in year five at the village primary. You must have  seen the school as you drove through.' She paused and then went on.  'So-do you need a housekeeper?'

Matt was taken aback. He wasn't used to people speaking their minds so  openly. Since his return, the opposite had been true. Even his mother  verbally tiptoed about him, as if she wasn't entirely sure what he might  do if she said the wrong thing. But Fliss Taylor …

'I-I need some help around the house,' he agreed neutrally.

'And when Diane told you I used to work for Colonel Phillips, you thought snap! She can work for me, too.'

Matt abandoned the rest of the shopping and propped his hip against one of the mahogany units. 'It wasn't quite like that.'

'But that is why you approached me in the car park,' she persisted, and he gave a concessionary shrug.

'All right. I admit, I thought about it.'

Her brows drew together. 'But now you've changed your mind?'

'No! Yes!' Matt heard the kettle boiling and turned gratefully to make  the tea. He sighed. 'You make it sound as if I could have no other  reason for speaking to you. We're not exactly strangers, for pity's  sake. I mean, I made no complaint about your daughter dumping her rabbit  on my doorstep, did I?'