Weather's going to turn bad,' Tam told her laconically, Ought to get the sheep down off the hills, especially the ewes. Suppose I'd better get over to Sefton and see Blake,' he added morosely, whistling to his dog.
Watching them go Sapphire realised the extent of Blake's influence on Flaws Farm. No wonder he didn't want to lose the land. He probably looked on it as his own already. She had wanted to protest to Tam that her father was the one to ask about the sheep, but instinctively she had known that Tam wouldn't have understood. What she considered to be Blake's interference would be taken as good neighbourliness by the old shepherd.
As she walked back into the kitchen the phone was ringing, and she answered it automatically.
Sapphire, is that you?'
Yes, Blake.'
I forgot to mention it this morning, but I'll be round about seven-thirty tonight to take you out to dinner, and before you say anything, I didn't plan it. It was your father who mentioned it; he seemed to think some sort of celebration was in order, and I think he's probably right. If we're seen dining together, it won't come as too much of a surprise to people when they know we're back together.'
Surprise? Don't you mean shock?' Sapphire gritted into the receiver. Especially where your female friends are concerned Blake.'
If I didn't know better I might almost believe that you're jealous.'
Funny,' Sapphire snapped back. I never realised you had such a powerful imagination. I must go now Blake,' she lied, Dad's calling me.'
See you tonight.'
She hung up quickly leaving her staring at the black receiver. How could her life have changed so radically and so fast. One moment she had been looking forward to her holiday with Alan; to their relationship perhaps deepening from friendship into marriage, convinced that she had laid the ghosts in her past, and now, so swiftly that she could scarcely comprehend even now how it had happened, her life had somehow become entangled with Blake's again, but this time she was older and wiser. She had been burned once-so badly that there was no way she was ever going to approach the fire again.
But fire has a way of luring its victims, she acknowledged, bitterly, just like love.
CHAPTER FOUR
SHE WAS READY when Blake arrived. He gave her black-clad body a cursory examination as he stepped into the kitchen and then drawled, Mourning, Sapphire?'
It was the only dress I had with me.'
Again those golden eyes studied her body, but this time there was no mocking warmth to light their amber depths as Blake said coolly, You should have told me, I've still got a wardrobe-full of your things up at the house, and by the looks of you you could still get into them.'
He made it sound more of an insult than a compliment, and Sapphire turned away so that he wouldn't see the quick flush of colour warming her skin. Why was it that Blake seemed to possess this ability to put her in the wrong, even when she wasn't?
If you're ready I think we'd better be on our way. I've booked our table for eight.' He glanced at his watch, the brief glimpse she had of his dark sinewy wrist doing strange things to Sapphire's stomach. She recognised the sensation immediately, and it gave her a sickening jolt. She had thought she was long past the stage of experiencing sexual appreciation of something as mundane as a male arm. As a teenager, the merest glimpse of Blake in the distance had been enough to start her stomach churning with excitement but that was all behind her now. Shrugging aside her feelings as an echo of the past she picked up her coat and followed Blake to the door.
To her surprise he hadn't brought the Land Rover but was driving a sleek black BMW. Some of her surprise must have communicated itself to Blake because he glanced at her sardonically, his eyebrows raised as he waited for her to join him, opening the door for her as she reached the car. But then he always had had that air of masculine sophistication, a rare commodity in the Borders where most of the boys she had grown up with thought only of their land and their stock. But she had lived in London for long enough not to be overawed by Blake any longer, surely? Alan was always meticulous about handing her into his car, but his fingers beneath her elbow didn't provoke the same jolting, lightning bolt of sensation that Blake's did, her senses told her treacherously.
Ridiculous to feel so affected by such casual contact-no doubt she was over-reacting. She had had to guard herself against thinking about Blake for so long that she was almost hyper-sensitive to him. Yes, that must be the explanation Sapphire decided as Blake set the car in motion. Of course she was wound-up and tense, who wouldn't be after learning that their father was close to death and that the one thing he wanted in life was the one thing she least desired. Marriage to Blake! She glanced covertly at his profile. He was concentrating on the road, his lips set in a hard line. Reaction suddenly shivered through her. What had she committed herself to? Despite the warmth from the car's heaters she felt chilled, and yet her face seemed to be burning. She couldn't go through with it. Her father would understand. She must talk to Blake, she …
If you're having second thoughts, forget them, I'm not letting you back out now Sapphire.' The coldly harsh words cut through her anguished thoughts like a whiplash. How had he known what she was thinking? He was right about one thing though, it was too late to back out now. Her father wanted their reconciliation too desperately.
Where are we going?' She asked the question more to dispel the tense atmosphere inside the car than because she really wanted to know.
Haroldgate,' Blake told her briefly.
She only just managed to catch back her protest. Haroldgate was a small village nestling in one of the valleys and as far as she knew it possessed only one restaurant. Blake had taken her there the evening he had proposed to her. She had been so thrilled by his invitation. The Barn' at Haroldgate was the most sophisticated eating place in the area and she had never been before. She could vividly recall how impressed she had been by her surroundings, and how tense. Shaking herself mentally she tried to appear unconcerned. The Barn' might have seemed the very zenith of sophistication to an awkward seventeen-year-old who had never been anywhere, but it could hardly compare with some of the restaurants Alan had taken her to. Alan was something of a gourmet and discovering new eating places was one of his hobbies. He also liked to be seen in the right places, unlike Blake who had little concern for appearances or being seen to do the right thing', Sapphire acknowledged. Neither did Blake make a sacred ritual out of eating as Alan did. Frowning Sapphire tried to dispel the vague feeling that somehow she was being disloyal to Alan by comparing him with Blake. They were two completely different men who could not be compared, and of the two …
We're here.'
The curt comment broke across her thoughts. Blake stopped the car and in the darkness Sapphire felt him studying her. Her muscles tensed automatically and defensively, although she couldn't have said why.
I won't have you thinking about him while you're with me,' he told her tersely. I won't have it Sapphire, do you understand?'
She was far too taken aback by the tone of his voice to make any immediate comment. How had Blake known she was thinking about Alan? And why should he object? His attitude fanned the embers of resentment that had been burning in her all day.
You don't own my thoughts Blake,' she told him mockingly, and if I choose to think about the man I love that's my affair. You can't stop me.'
You think not?'
The headlights from another car turning into the car-park illuminated the interior of the BMW briefly and Sapphire was struck by the white tension of Blake's face. Did getting her father's land mean so very much to him? Fear feathered lightly along her spine.
Don't push me too hard Sapphire,' he warned, as he unfastened his seat belt. I am only human.'
You could have fooled me.' She muttered the words flippantly beneath her breath, but he caught them, leaning across to grasp her forearms while she was still fastened into her seat.
Could I? Then perhaps this will convince you just how human I can be, and not to rely too heavily on your own judgment.' The words carried a thread of bitterness Sapphire couldn't decipher but there was nothing cryptic about the pressure of Blake's mouth against her own, hard and determined as his hands pressed her back into her seat.
It was a kiss of anger and bitterness, even she could recognise that, and yet it called out to something deep inside her; some shadowing of pain she hadn't known still existed and which suddenly became a fierce ache, leaping to meet and respond to the anger she could feel inside Blake.
The result was a devastation of her senses; a complete reversal of everything she had ever thought about herself and her own sexuality; her physical response to Blake so intense and overwhelming that it succeeded in blocking everything else out.