Sure, he wanted to remind her at every turn that she was now dependent on him, but every little reminder only drove her that bit further away. Only a fool sabotaged his own game plan with pointless hollow victories.
‘Oh,’ Laura said, taken aback.
‘What were those other points of yours you wanted to mention?’
‘Nothing,’ she mumbled, gulping down the remainder of her coffee. ‘Well...’ She looked outside at the darkness that had fallen and wrapped itself around the house. ‘It’s getting late. Perhaps you should be setting off...’
Gabriel could see her tense in anticipation of another confrontation and so he obligingly got to his feet.
‘You’re right.’
Laura felt that she should be breathing a heartfelt sigh of relief. Why then did she feel just a little bit disappointed at the speed with which he had taken her up on her suggestion? Surely she didn’t want him to hang around any longer? That would be downright masochistic!
‘It will take me at least an hour and a half to get back,’ he chatted casually as he headed out of the kitchen and towards the front door. He would have liked to have given her something to think about after he had gone, a light kiss somewhere innocent yet deeply arousing, perhaps on the side of her neck. Nothing that would indicate the desire for anything else. But there was no point in barging through the sudden window he had created for himself.
Having been so thoroughly wrong-footed, Laura was now overcome by an attack of guilt. It was already after eight and she had offered him nothing to eat. She should at least have suggested that he share the economical dinner she had made for herself. In fact, she had opened her mouth to offer the invitation when caution made her stifle back the words.#p#分页标题#e#
‘So tomorrow,’ he said, turning around to face her, ‘perhaps you could meet me at your accountant’s office?’ Her slightly flushed face and half-parted lips were appealing enough to almost make him forget his resolve not to frighten her away. That mouth was begging to be plundered. His hands ached from wanting to plunge into that prim top of hers and expose the soft, heavy breasts with their tempting, pert nipples. He stuck his hands severely ‘into his pockets.
‘What time?’
‘Nine-thirty. He will be expecting us. My fax confirming the purchase as well as all the contracts with stipulations should have reached him some time this afternoon. In case I failed to mention it, you and I will have to agree on a price for the furniture contained in the house. At least, those items of furniture you wish to sell, of course. Naturally, you can keep the rest here until such time as you wish to remove them.’
‘You mean when you’re ready for me to move out?’ She saw that he had flushed darkly at her words and wondered whether he was perhaps not immune to the slightest twinge of guilt that he was going to be throwing her out of the only house she had ever lived in.
Did she realise, Gabriel wondered, what a vision of temptation she presented when she dropped her guard? He couldn’t help it but he could see the swell of her breasts and his torrid imagination made him flush. ‘There is no rush for you to contemplate any such move,’ he said briefly, turning to open the door just in case he did something he regretted. ‘This is not an ordinary house purchase. You will be in charge of running this show and the best place for you to be will be right here, for obvious reasons. But we can discuss all of this tomorrow.’
‘Right. Yes. Of course.’ Perfectly businesslike. Obviously he no longer felt the need to remind her at every turn that he was the one in the position of doing her a favour. In fact, he obviously no longer felt the need to dwell at all on the fact that they weren’t strangers. He was a businessman first and foremost and this had all now become business.
Laura waited by the open doorway, watching as he strode towards his car, got in and began driving carefully out of the courtyard and down towards the road at the bottom of the long drive.
Now that he had gone, the house seemed suddenly very empty. She ate her meal to the deafening sound of silence and went to bed thinking unwelcome thoughts of Gabriel and the Porsche-driving chartered surveyor with the easy smile and the darkly sexy body. They made a stunning match. Both olive-skinned, both raven-haired, both obviously at ease in each other’s company.
Not that Gabriel and his love life were any concern of hers, she told herself firmly the following morning as she made her way to Phillip Carr’s office in the centre of town.
She had half expected him to arrive late, but in fact he was already there by the time she was shown into Phillip’s office, sitting with his back to her, relaxed and confident.