She would not allow him the satisfaction of playing cat and mouse with her. He had no intention of buying any stables. He had simply used that as a pretext to get her here so that he could spend a few hours watching her squirm because she had wounded his volatile, Argentinean pride.#p#分页标题#e#
‘I’m going.’ She stood up and scooped up her handbag from the table. ‘I don’t have to stay and suffer this.’
‘You’re not going anywhere!’ His voice cracked against her like a whip and she glared down at the impossibly handsome, ruthless face staring back at her with narrowed eyes.
‘You can’t tell me what I can and cannot do, Gabriel!’ She leaned over, squaring her hands on the table, her body thrust towards him. It was a mistake. It brought her too close to him, too close to that sexy mouth of his and, as if sensing it, he smiled slowly.
‘Times really have changed, in that case,’ he murmured, his black eyes flicking to her parted lips, then dipping to view the heavy breasts gently bouncing beneath the cardigan. ‘I remember when I could tell you exactly what to do, and you enjoyed every little instruction, if I recall...’
Bright pink feathered into Laura’s cheeks as their eyes tangled and she drew her breath in sharply.
‘But...’ he was still smiling, although his expression was cool and closed ‘...that’s not what this is all about, is it? This is about the riding stables, which is why you are going to sit back down, like a good little girl. This is about your future, and believe me when I tell you that you have no choice but to endure my company.’
Laura felt all the energy drain out of her. He had the upper hand. Whatever card she pulled out of the pack, he carried the trump. The fact that he loathed the sight of her was something she would have to grit her teeth and put up with because he was right, she had no choice.
‘That’s better,’ he drawled, when she had returned to her seat. ‘Now, I propose that we discuss this over lunch in the manner of two civilised adults.’
‘I am more than happy to do so, Gabriel. You’re the one who’s intend on dragging the past up at every opportunity.’ She was still trembling as she sat back and allowed the large oval plate of filled sole to be placed in front of her. It smelled delicious, but her appetite seemed to have utterly deserted her. ‘Perhaps we could agree to call a truce on discussing the past,’ Laura intoned tightly.
‘You are not in a position to offer agreements on anything.’ He had ordered the halibut and he dug his fork into the while flesh, savouring the delicate flavour. He should been delighted to have won this round, to have pulled the plug on her outburst and forced her to obey him, but, aggravatingly, there was no such sense of satisfaction. He stabbed another mouthful of food into his mouth. ‘But let us get to the matter in hand. What is the position with the riding stables’.’’
‘You know what the position is. It’s a mess. Phillip must have explained all of that to your accountant or whoever the man was who made the phone call.’
‘How much of a mess?’
‘A lot of a mess,’ Laura confessed grudgingly and halfheartedly continued eating. Her stomach felt inclined to rebel at the food being shovelled into it, but she would not let him get to her again. ‘The racehorses have all gone. Sold. Four years ago. Most of the other horses were removed over time. I still have a few, but I doubt I shall be able to hang onto them for much longer. And the house ...well ...it’s still standing, but just.’
‘What happened?’
‘Are you really interested?’ Her eyes flashed at him. She couldn’t help it. ‘Or do you want all the grisly details for your scrapbook on how much the Jackson family fell? So that you can chuckle over it in the years to come?’
‘Now who is guilty of dragging the past up?’ Gabriel taunted silkily. I am not asking questions any interested buyer would not ask.’#p#分页标题#e#
‘And are you really interested in buying, Gabriel?’
Good question. He had toyed with the idea. Andy had been appalled at the thought of investing money in a decrepit stables that would probably never show any return for the money ploughed in, arguing that such enterprises failed or succeeded by word of mouth and that, because Gabriel was not a part of the racing scene, it was doomed to failure. And Gabriel had been able to see his logic. He had also been unable to resist the opportunity to avenge himself for a rejection which he had carried inside him like a sickness for too long. But had he really been serious about buying the place?