study—a room that I view strictly as my own domain—you’ll no doubt see evidence of those important female touches everywhere else in the house courtesy of my housekeeper.’
Vaguely discomfited by the fact that he’d practically read her mind, Georgia moved her glance to the opened casement window opposite Keir’s desk and back again. ‘You mentioned last night at dinner that your brother had died? I just wanted to say how sorry I was to hear that. It must be devastating to lose someone so close in your family.’
‘We weren’t as close as we might have been, but, yes…it was quite awful to lose him.’
Seeing the sympathy on her concerned face, Keir felt strangely at odds admitting something so personal to a woman he’d only just met—like trying on a suit that didn’t fit—and was frankly surprised that he’d allowed himself to be so uncharacteristically candid. But sometimes the pain of losing Robbie and remembering the bleak reality of their childhood was so crushing that he thought he might go mad if he didn’t ever speak his feelings out loud. Yet he knew in reality that he couldn’t afford to show even a hint of such weakness to anybody. In his illustrious family it just wasn’t done.
‘Was he married? Did he have a family of his own?’ Georgia ventured.
‘The answer is no, to both of those questions. Thank you for your condolences, but I really do need to get on.’
‘Right.’
He saw her own guard come up, and immediately regretted it.
‘So? Presumably you wanted to talk to me about work?’
She crossed her arms over her chest in the too-large navy blue sweatshirt she wore, with its recognisable sports motif, and Keir realised that it had probably belonged to her brother at some point. The realisation immediately reminded him of how close the two of them must be, and he knew again a faint yet disturbing pang of envy.
Because Robbie was dead, and he would now never have the chance to be close to him even if he wished it, and because he’d been forced to return to Glenteign when he’d rather be a million miles away, Keir’s pain spilled over into sudden irritation.
‘I know it’s Sunday, but we’re going to have to make a start on things today. Everything’s got far too behind to be left until tomorrow, so the sooner we start to tackle the backlog, the better. If you had any plans to look round the gardens or drive into the village, then I’m afraid you’re going to be disappointed.’
‘I didn’t make any plans to go anywhere, and I’m perfectly aware that I came here to work. It’s no problem for me to work on a Sunday…I’ve done it many times.’
‘Good. Then might I suggest that you change into something a little more appropriate for work, and come back here in…’ he gave a perfunctory glance at his watch ‘…say twenty minutes?’
‘I’m only dressed like this because I took Hamish for a walk!’
‘The shirt is your brother’s, I take it?’
‘Is that a problem?’
For a moment Keir saw mutiny in her surprised glance, and as his gaze descended from those flashing hazel eyes of hers to her softly bare mouth an unexpected jolt of sexual heat zig-zagged hotly through his insides. The sensation staggered him, arising unbidden as it did—and in what could hardly be deemed a ‘provocative’ situation.
‘I don’t have time to stand here bandying words with you, Ms Cameron…Just go and do as I say, will you?’
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