before you go tomorrow.’
Laura just stared at her grandmother. ‘What ride?’
Her gran smiled a soft smile. ‘You were away with the pixies at dinner tonight, weren’t you, dear?’
‘A little bit.’
‘Thinking about that man you love, I dare say?’
‘Yes,’ Laura agreed. It was only a half-lie. Her mind had been full of Ryan but not with thoughts of love.
Jane sighed. ‘I don’t think you should wait for him to propose, dear.’
‘What?’
‘Before you go to bed with him.’
‘Oh. Oh yes. I think you could be right about that.’ If she waited for him to propose then she’d never go to bed with him!
‘I am right. Now, off you go. It’s time I went to sleep.’ And she yawned.
Laura gave her grandmother a kiss and left the room, closing the door quietly behind her.
The old servants’ quarters were just across the back hallway from the kitchen where she found Cynthia and Lisa busily washing up a huge stack of dishes. It still annoyed Laura that her uncle and his son felt that housework was entirely a woman’s domain, but Cynthia didn’t seem to mind. If truth be told, her aunt liked having total control in the house. Possibly, Lisa was of a similar ilk. Although younger, she must have been a bit like Cynthia for Shane to marry her.
‘You know, Aunt Cynthia,’ Laura said as she picked up a tea towel to help Lisa wipe up. ‘You really should have a dishwasher installed.’ It wasn’t as though they couldn’t afford it.
‘What on earth for?’ Cynthia retorted waspishly. ‘They don’t save you any time at all. You still have to scrape all the food off the plates, then rinse them down before you even load the infernal thing. Then you have to unload all the plates afterwards and put them away.’
‘I suppose you’re right,’ Laura said, determined not to fight with the woman tonight. ‘By the way, Aunt, that was a lovely meal tonight. Thank you for all the trouble you went to.’
Her aunt turned a surprised face her way. ‘You know, Laura, meeting that marvellous man has done wonders for your attitude. Not only are you looking so much better, you’ve finally found some manners.’
Laura shook her head whilst Lisa grimaced behind her mother-in-law’s back.
Laura was itching to say something seriously catty in return when Ryan suddenly came into the room.
‘How’s it going with you lovely ladies here?’ he said brightly as he made his way across the floor of the truly large kitchen to where they were grouped by the sink. ‘Need any help?’
‘Heavens no,’ Cynthia trilled, lifting her gloved hands from the sink as she turned towards her guest. ‘This is women’s work. Anyway, we’re just about done here.’
‘In that case, would you mind if I stole Laura away?’ he asked as he slid a warm arm around Laura’s waist. ‘Driving always makes me tired and I didn’t want to go to bed alone.’
Laura was glad that she wasn’t required to say anything. Talking might have been difficult at that moment.
‘You go right ahead,’ Cynthia said obligingly. ‘We can finish up here. As I said, it’s almost done anyway, isn’t it, Lisa?’
‘Absolutely,’ Lisa concurred. ‘It was lovely to meet you, Ryan. Shane and I have something else on tomorrow so we won’t see you again this visit. But I’m sure we’ll see you again soon,’ she added with a knowing little look Laura’s way.
‘I’m sure you will,’ Ryan said. ‘Au revoir for now, then. See you in the morning, Cynthia.’ And he swept Laura away before Cynthia could land them with a specific time for breakfast—which she was likely to do. Cynthia liked to run the house like an army sergeant, with a time for everything.
But Cynthia’s rigid schedules were the least of Laura’s worries as she was steered with considerable speed along the hallway towards the staircase. Ryan’s fingertips were digging into her right hip and his body language reeked of anger.
‘What’s wrong?’ she blurted out when they reached the bottom of the staircase.
‘Everything’s wrong,’ he bit out, and started pushing her up the stairs.
‘But … But …’ she stammered, totally confused by his suddenly aggressive attitude. He’d seemed so agreeable in the kitchen just now.
‘No buts,’ he broke in savagely. ‘And no talking. I’ve had enough talking for one day. And enough thinking. I already know this is a bad idea. I know that neither of us might be happy about it in the morning. But I’m sure as hell going to be happy about it tonight. And so, by God, are you! Or you will, if you just shut up and let me do what I’m good at. Which sounds arrogant, I know, but there’s no virtue in false modesty. I was a damned good goalkeeper and I’m a damned good lover.’
Relief that his bad mood didn’t mean he still intended to sleep on the floor swept through Laura. At that moment, she didn’t care if he was unbelievably arrogant—which he was. Though maybe he had good reason to be. She’d never doubted for one second that he’d be good at sex. And now she was about to find out.
A shiver ran down her spine, then right down to her toes, making her shudder all over.
Ryan immediately stopped at the top of the stairs and pulled her close. ‘Don’t go pretending that you’re cold, madam. You’re hot for me.’
He was right.
‘I thought you said no talking,’ she said huskily, and pressed herself against him.
Ryan laughed, but then he fell silent, his eyes turning to a midnight blue just before his mouth crushed down on hers.
It was a kiss which told a story, if either kisser or kissed could read between the lines. The story was one of total frustration, both sexual and intellectual. Neither could understand the attraction they felt for each other this weekend. It was a mystery to them both. But they’d reached the point of no return, where logic had no power and all that existed for them was desire.
When voices in the hallway below threatened to disturb the marvellous madness of the moment, Ryan scooped Laura up in his arms and carried her into the bedroom, kicking the door shut behind him. He didn’t miss a beat as he charged across the room and fell with her into the middle of the four-poster bed. They kissed on and on, their limbs tangled, neither of them coming up for air.
Ryan was the first to lift his head and draw a decent breath.
‘We’re acting like horny teenagers,’ he said with a ragged sigh. ‘All speed and absolutely no finesse.’
With almost shocking abruptness, he rolled off her and right off the bed.
Laura could not help the groan of dismay which escaped her lips. Immediately, he sat back down on the bed, leaning over to cup her face with gentle hands.
‘I
