The Millionaire's Revenge(38)

‘Of course I like it! If you want, I could give you her number and she could do the same here.’

The thought of someone striding through the rooms, casting a baleful eye over the furnishings and then replac­ing the lot with expensive equivalents made her blood run cold. Or maybe she just had an economical streak.

‘I’ll do what I can,’ she conceded, ‘but don’t blame me if you disagree with my tastes.’ He inclined his head in a nod. ‘And when it comes to choosing bigger things, then you’ll have to find the time to pick them yourself.’ Another nod. ‘Good.’

‘So that’s settled?’

‘For the moment.’

‘Then why don’t we leave here and do something al­together more productive ...and enjoyable?’

His restlessness had evaporated. He felt invigorated. The house had been closing him in, closing them both in with its reminder of their reversed fortunes. What better solution than to go outside and leave its depressing presence be­hind? And what better way to voice the suggestion than in words of such blatant ambiguity that she could do nothing but flush at the latent connotations?#p#分页标题#e#

‘What did you have in mind?’ Laura asked warily.

‘Well ...the sun is shining. And I hanker to ride Barnabus again ...I haven’t ridden in months, not since I was in Argentina. Is he still as fiery as he once was?’

‘You want to go riding’?’ Laura squeaked.

‘Outrageous, I agree, but, yes, I do. For one thing, it’s a waste to be inside when we can be outside and for an­other, I could use the opportunity to see the land and try and work out what needs doing.’

‘Oh. Yes. Of course.’ She glanced down at her clothes. ‘I’ll just go and get changed, shall I?’

A perfectly sensible suggestion, she told herself as she hurriedly shoved on a pair of jeans and an old sweatshirt. It was bright but breezy and very concealing. So why then did she feel just a little bit apprehensive? She couldn’t keep the past totally locked away, could she?

He was waiting at the foot of the stairs for her, and he made damned sure that he gave her only a cursory glance.

‘You’re not really in the right gear,’ Laura informed him, en route to the stables.

I didn’t think that I would end up on a horse or else I would have dressed differently.’

‘You mean you have scruffy clothes?’

‘Tut-tut. There you go. Pigeon-holing again.’ But his voice was lazily amused. ‘And for your information, I hap­pen to have quite a lot of scruffy clothes hanging in my wardrobe.’

‘Oh, really.’ The sun, the ease of his conversation, the faint buzzing of the bees in the background, made her feel relaxed. ‘Shabby jeans and faded tee shirts?’

‘Absolutely. The shabbier and more faded, the better.’

She couldn’t help it. She laughed, pushing open the sta­ble door and expertly getting Barnabus ready before lead­ing him out into the courtyard.

‘Do you want me to come riding with you?’ she asked, suddenly realising that she had expected to but that he might want to ride on his own. A lot of people preferred the peace of solitude rather than riding with someone else and having to make conversation.

‘I would not go otherwise. Saddle up one of the others.’

‘Old Lily won’t be able to keep up with Barnabus,’ Laura warned him, watching greedily as he stroked the horse, speaking to it in those low, soothing tones that sounded like waves lapping against the shore, getting it to trust him before he mounted.

She hurried off and was returning with her own horse just in time to see Gabriel mount Barnabus, his every move solid and confident and exquisitely graceful. Whatever gripes her father had had over Gabriel, he had never been able to deny that Gabriel was good with horses. Better than good. He seemed to belong on them.

Laura stood, riveted, as he settled onto Barnabus’s back, the reins lightly held in one hand whilst he stroked the horse’s mane with the other.

‘Are you going to mount or are you going to stare at me for the rest of the day?’

His laconic question, when she hadn’t been aware that he had been so much as looking in her direction, jerked her back to reality and she mounted her own horse with alacrity, pressing her knees firmly on either side to urge it forward.

‘Ready?’ He grinned with infuriating amusement. Her gut feeling was to launch into a lecture on the size of his ego, which had encouraged him to hallucinate that she had been watching him when in fact her thoughts had been a million miles away, but since it would have been patently untrue she contented herself with tugging the rein in her hand and nodding.