Lord, she had spent so long trying to expunge him from her mind. When he had walked out of her life, she had been desperate with grief, but she had hidden her desperation well. Her mother’s health had been failing, and her father had already told her in no uncertain terms that any shock might prove the final straw and running after Gabriel Greppi would surely constitute shock. She had listened to them, aching and silent, and their soothing words that it was all for the best, that she was young, that she had her whole life ahead of her, that their two worlds could never meet and he was from a different world from the one she knew, had gradually numbed her into staying put.
And at the back of her mind grew the nagging suspicion that if he had truly loved her, he would have understood why she had refused his proposal. She had pleaded with him to stay and he had abandoned her. Then her mother had died and everything had slowly gone into free fall.
Seeing him again had been more than a shock, and realising the depth of his hatred for her even greater. But far more shocking was the fact that when he had touched her, every fibre in her body had burned and come alive and she had responded. God!
She printed off the letter in front of her, determined not to let him invade her mind, and was scanning Hugo’s spidery handwriting to begin another letter when the door clanged open and she looked up to see the object of her fevered thoughts standing in the doorway. It was so unexpected a vision that she had to blink several times, convinced that the darkly sexy shape framing the doorway was an illusion.
No chance. Not unless everyone else in the office was simultaneously having the same illusion because a quick glance around showed six faces all turned in his direction and Hugo was briskly exiling his office, hands out-Stretched, obviously sensing someone with a lot of purchasing power.
Gabriel’s black eyes found hers but he remained where he was, his sheer presence rendering total silence amongst her normally garrulous colleagues.
‘Do come in! I’m Hugo, Hugo Ross. Come in, come in!’ Hugo’s booming voice broke the silence and they all returned to what they were doing. All except Laura, who could feel a sizzle of treacherous excitement exploding in her veins as Gabriel continued to watch her bewildered face.#p#分页标题#e#
‘Hugo.’ His voice was drily polite, but he did manage to tear his eyes away from her sufficiently to concentrate on the blandly handsome man bearing down towards him. ‘I hate to disappoint you, but I’m not in the market for a house...’
To be fair, Hugo took the disappointment well. He fell back and shrugged with a rueful smile. Gabriel was well aware that she was stunned to see him here where she worked. He was no longer looking at her but he could sense her eyes on him, wondering, no doubt, what decision he had come to in connection with the stables.
‘Are you quite sure? We have some glorious properties around just at the moment.’ Laura had seen that Hugo had already sized up the cut of Gabriel’s cloth and she had no doubt that those glorious properties would begin at the million pound mark.
‘I’m sure you do,’ Gabriel returned smoothly, ‘but I’m here on personal business.’
All eyes swivelled interestedly onto her as she stood up and plastered a bland smile on her lips.
‘Hugo,’ she said, moving into action and searingly aware of Gabriel’s dark eyes riveted on her. ‘This is Gabriel Greppi. Remember I told you that he might be interested in buying the stables?’
‘Ah, yes, so you did.’ This time Hugo’s blue eyes were speculative as they focused on Gabriel. He was well aware of the extent of the financial difficulties hanging over the stables and Laura could see him making a careful judgement of the man in front of him. Judgement of the man as her prospective rescuer and of the man as simply a man and she felt a twinge of sympathy for him.
He had employed her initially as a favour to her father and they had become friends and he had made it clear that they could be more than just friends if she’d wanted. She had not and he had taken her refusal in good spirit, proving in the end to be one of the steadiest friends she had had over the years.
‘I thought you might have telephoned,’ she addressed Gabriel, ‘or perhaps called Phillip to let him know...’
‘Oh, I prefer to deal face to face with you in this matter.’ He turned to Hugo with an icily polite smile. ‘If you don’t mind, Laura and I will discuss this matter in private. Get your bag,’ he told her and, when she glanced uncertainly towards Hugo, he repeated the command, leaving her no choice but to obey.