he said, a smile tugging at his mouth. ‘You know how much I like challenges.’
‘Oh, I do,’ said Laura, her eyes darkening and her breathing shallowing for a second before she remembered what she was supposed to be doing and giving herself a quick shake. ‘So what have you done with your business?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, presumably you can’t run a business and run a country.’
‘I still have it. I’ve simply taken a step back.’
‘Until you decide what you want to do with it?’
‘Quite,’ he said non-committally.
‘And what are you going to do about your house?’
‘Which one?’
‘How many do you have?’
‘A few.’
Naturally. ‘I mean the one in Little Somerford.’
‘I’m not going to do anything about it.’
‘Oh.’ She frowned.
‘What?’
‘Well, I know it’s your house and it’s really none of my business, but it does seem a shame to leave such a lovely house empty and neglected.’
She felt his heart thump. ‘It’s not neglected. A gardener goes in twice a week and I employ a part-time caretaker.’
‘OK,’ said Laura, nibbling on her lip and ignoring the feeling she might be treading on eggshells. ‘Maybe neglected isn’t quite the right word. Unloved would be better.’
‘Unloved?’ He frowned. ‘It’s a house. It doesn’t need to be loved.’
She gasped and gave him a quick smile. ‘Wash your mouth out. All buildings deserve to be loved. How long have you had it?’
‘Eight years.’
‘And how much time have you spent there?’
‘Not a lot.’
‘That would explain the emotional neglect.’
His expression tightened. ‘I’m busy.’
‘That’s no excuse.’ Laura sniffed. ‘I bet you wouldn’t let one of your businesses slide into neglect.’
‘True. But then I’m not looking to make a profit on the house.’
‘Just as well. You know,’ she mused, ‘if I owned something like that I wouldn’t be able to stay away.’
‘Unfortunately I don’t have that luxury,’ he murmured, his gaze dropping to her mouth.
‘It breaks my heart to see something like that drifting into decline. If you’re not going to maintain it, and if you’re hardly ever there, what’s the point of having it?’
Matt lifted his gaze. ‘I like having it.’
Her eyes widened. ‘It’s a status symbol?’
His eyes went bleak and Laura’s heart squeezed. ‘If you like,’ he said.
‘Oh, the poor thing,’ she murmured. ‘No wonder it was so lonely.’
‘Lonely?’ His tone suggested he thought she was nuts.
‘Yes, lonely. A house like that should be alive. Filled with laughter and activity and a family. There should be hordes of children running all over the place.’
He tensed and she sensed barriers springing up all around him. ‘Perhaps.’
‘Do you have any family?’
‘Not much. I’m an only child. My father died of cancer when I was sixteen. My mother lives in London.’
‘Don’t you get lonely?’
He froze beneath her. ‘No,’ he said gruffly. ‘I’m better off alone.’
Her chest tightened at the bleak look that haunted his eyes. ‘That’s sad,’ she said softly.
And then he rolled over, trapping her beneath him and Laura’s heart began to thump and her breath began to quicken. ‘So make it better,’ he muttered, lowering his head and covering her mouth with his.
Matt watched Laura sleeping. Stared at the fingers of moonlight turning her blond hair to silver and listened as her breath whispered across his chest.
And with every rise of her breasts, every fall, every soft breath he felt another tiny strand of his carefully controlled life unravel.
Dammit, how could he have been so careless? What was it about Laura that had him lowering his guard and revealing so much about himself like that?
He didn’t do feelings. Hadn’t done for years. He didn’t need her making him question decisions he’d made years ago. So why was he?
Why did she have him suddenly doubting his role on Sassania? His belief he was better off alone? And what was all that nonsense about his house needing to be loved?
Matt’s heart hardened and he told himself not to be so absurd. His role on Sassania was clear. He liked being alone. And just because he hadn’t ever got round to sorting out the house he’d bought intending to live in it with a wife and family, it didn’t mean anything.
Laura and her pseudo-psychiatry could take a hike. He really didn’t need it. He was fine the way he was.
So why did he find himself wanting to tell her more?
Matt’s heart thudded and his blood ran cold. Feeling highly unsettled, he eased himself from beneath her arm, swung his legs over the bed and got up. He pulled on his clothes and ran his hands through his hair.
Staring down at her as her mouth twitched in her sleep, he fought the urge to throw his clothes off and get back into bed with her, and picked up his shoes.
That kind of thinking led to madness.
He needed time to regroup. Regain some sort of control and decide what the hell to do about everything.
Work was the solution, he thought, heading to the door and sanity. Work was always the solution. And as neither Laura nor the attraction he seemed to have to her showed any signs of going away, maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to put some physical distance between them.
There was bound to be a conference going on about something somewhere in the world.
Laura felt sunshine prick her eyes, gingerly opened them and then grinned and stretched.
Wow. What a night. Every muscle in her body ached with a delicious kind of languor. In between acquainting herself with every inch
