looked heart-stoppingly virile and handsome and she felt all quivery inside to think what might have happened if, rather than going back to London, she’d been staying here.
But she wasn’t staying, she reminded herself sharply. As soon as dinner was over they were leaving for town.
Stepping forward, he took her hand. ‘You look delightful. That colour exactly matches your eyes.’
A shade awkwardly, she said, ‘I wasn’t sure whether you’d bother changing.’
Relieving her of her coat, he put it over a dark oak settle and tucked her hand through his arm. ‘Given the circumstances, I wouldn’t, only Mullins had laid everything out ready for me and I didn’t want to hurt his feelings.
‘Now, how about a pre-dinner drink in the study?’
‘A drink?’ She sounded as horrified as she felt.
Glancing at her, he burst out laughing.
He had a nice laugh, deep and infectious. ‘If you could see your face!’ Still smiling, he went on, ‘I don’t blame you for being wary, but I promise I was going to suggest something innocuous. A small sherry at the most. Nothing that would induce a hangover.’
‘Thank heaven for that,’ she said with feeling. And thought that with his tawny eyes still gleaming with amusement and his lean cheeks creased with laughter lines, he was totally irresistible.
He led her to the library-cum-study, where a cheerful log fire burnt in the grate and a drinks trolley waited.
‘So what’s it to be?’
Taking a seat by the fire, she said, ‘I’ll have that small sherry, please.’
‘Cream or dry?’
‘Dry.’
When he’d handed her a glass he sat down opposite and smiled at her.
‘Aren’t you having a drink?’
‘As I’ll be driving shortly, I’d better stick to a glass of wine with the meal.’
‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘I feel guilty.’
‘There’s really no need. You made it clear from the start that you intended to go back to town and book into a hotel. I was just hoping that when you saw Anders you might change your mind.
‘If you don’t like the idea of sharing my bed,’ he went on, ‘you could always sleep in solitary state in the guest room.’
She was sorely tempted. But if she agreed to stay and he turned on the heat, could she trust herself to hold out against him?
As he waited for her answer, he decided that if this gamble didn’t come off he would have to use delaying tactics until he found some other way to keep her here. Without rousing her suspicions.
When still she hesitated he asked, ‘Have you ever slept in a four-poster bed in a castle?’
Silently she shook her head.
‘Then why don’t you try it?’ he said persuasively. ‘It would be a new experience.’
Through lips that felt oddly stiff, she said, ‘No, I’d rather stick to my original plan,’ and braced herself to withstand an onslaught.
But, to her surprise, he gave in immediately and with good grace. ‘Very well. If that’s really what you want…’
Seeing that surprise and knowing he needed to disarm her, he added in a businesslike tone, ‘With regard to a hotel, I suggest the Rochester on Crombie Street. It’s far from luxurious, but it’s pleasant and central and not too expensive.’
‘That sounds fine,’ she agreed. ‘As we’ll be late back, it might be as well if I fetch my bag and give them a ring now.’
Damn! he thought. So much for trying to disarm her.
As she started to rise, he pressed her gently back. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll talk to reception while you drink your sherry.’
He crossed to his desk and, picking up the phone, queried, ‘Shall I make it tonight and tomorrow?’
Already regretting her decision, but knowing it was the right one, she said huskily, ‘Please.’
Depressing the receiver rest, he pretended to make the booking.
While she listened, and watched his broad back, she wondered what had made him give in so easily.
The answer came swiftly. Though it would no doubt have suited him if she had stayed, it was obviously of no great importance. If she wasn’t willing, there must be plenty of women who were.
But she wasn’t cut out for affairs. She couldn’t treat sex lightly, or as just another appetite to be indulged, as most men and a lot of today’s women seemed able to do.
If Richard had been an ordinary man and she and he had been in love with each other and intending to stay together, it would have been different.
But he wasn’t, and they weren’t.
And, no matter how much she wanted him, her pride, her self-respect, insisted that she shouldn’t let herself be swept up and then discarded at a rich man’s whim…
‘All settled,’ he said, replacing the receiver and returning to his chair by the fire.
‘Thank you.’In the end he’d been very civilized about it and she was grateful.
Though she couldn’t regret coming to Anders—it would always shine in her memory—she was guiltily aware that, despite his earlier polite denial, he would no doubt regard it as a wasted day.
As though reading her mind, he said, ‘I hope you’re not sorry you came to the castle?’
‘No, I’m not. I’ve loved being here and seeing over it. The only thing I am sorry about is that I’ve wasted your day.’
‘I can assure you I don’t regard it as a wasted day. Apart from enjoying your company, which I do very much, it’s a pleasure to have someone here who genuinely likes the old place…’
When her sherry was finished, he led the way to a long white-walled dining-room where a refectory table was beautifully set with fine linen, crystal glasses and fresh flowers.
Throughout an excellent meal, as though to put her at her ease, he played the suave host, talking easily about the history of the castle and the Anders family. ‘At one time the estate supported a lot of tenant farmers and labourers who owed their allegiance to the family…’
With a little crooked smile that made her heart start to beat faster, he went on, ‘It all sounds a bit feudal, doesn’t it?’
‘It does rather.’
‘But, from what I’ve read in the archives, most of the Anders were good overlords and their serfs and vassals—some of the descendants of
