Living With The Enemy. Laura Martin

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СКАЧАТЬ Darcy looked puzzled—as well he might, she thought miserably; she was getting everything into a terrible tangle.

      ‘Reassure you? What would he need to reassure you about?’

      ‘Oh...you know!’

      ‘Actually I don’t; that’s why I’m asking,’ Alex replied with deceptive mildness ‘Care to explain?’

      ‘Six-foot blondes, with hair the colour of corn!’ Lucy muttered.

      ‘What?’ He wasn’t angry; in fact he looked vaguely amused.

      She tilted her chin and looked up at him. ‘Your regular type of encounter—your women.’

      Dark eyes narrowed dangerously. Now he was angry. She had gone too far. Lucy felt a charge of panic.

      ‘Are you deliberately trying to provoke me?’

      ‘N-no.’

      ‘Charles has given you the impression I’m womanmad—’ Alex frowned in noticeable irritation ‘—is that it?’

      ‘No!’ Lucy put a hand to her head. ‘I don’t know!’ she added almost wildly. ‘I don’t care if you have hundreds of women. It’s none of my business, is it?’

      ‘No! Damned right, it’s not!’

      ‘Will you let go of my arm now?’ she asked shakily. ‘I’d...I’d like to go inside.’

      ‘To do what? Pack?’

      ‘To phone Charles, to ask him if he’ll come out and fetch me.’

      ‘You know he’s busy in Geneva. Besides, if you want to leave that badly you can always book a flight out of here yourself. You’re not a prisoner.’

      ‘I haven’t got enough money!’ Lucy murmured, conscious of the strong fingers still gripping the sleeve of her robe. ‘I’m sure Charles has told you that Paul squandered every penny I had earned and saved before he died!’

      The coal-black eyes narrowed perceptively. ‘No, he didn’t.’

      ‘Oh...’ Lucy bent her head and looked at the ground. ‘Well...he did, and I refused the money Charles offered to tide me over until I can get a job.’

      ‘Why did you do that?’

      ‘Because I don’t like charity, that’s why!’ Lucy flashed. ‘Now if you don’t mind—’

      ‘What did you do?’

      The change of tack disconcerted her for a moment. ‘You mean work?’ she quened. ‘Oh, nothing much. You wouldn’t be interested.’

      ‘How do you know? Try me.’

      She stared down at the ground self-consciously. ‘I...I went to drama school for a while. Then I got work in an office. Nothing very spectacular. I’m not good at anything in particular.’

      ‘Don’t undersell yourself!’ It was another of what Lucy suspected would turn out to be a long line of rebukes.

      She pursed her lips and took a deep breath, staring up into Alex Darcy’s face. ‘I’m not underselling myself,’ she replied frostily. ‘Just stating the obvious. Now would you mind letting go of my arm, please? I’d like to go inside to phone Charles.’

      ‘You are a stubborn young woman; you know that, I presume?’

      There was a hint of exasperation in his tone. Lucy looked up into the angular face. ‘It’s been my downfall,’ she asserted quietly. ‘I realise that now.’

      ‘Well, if you can see that,’ Alex replied, without any signs of sympathy, ‘surely you’ll understand that flouncing out of here after only a few hours is not the most sensible thing to do?’

      ‘You don’t want me here,’ Lucy murmured. ‘That’s as plain as day. I don’t want to spend time where I’m not wanted.’

      ‘Now you’re feeling sorry for yourself!’ Alex replied crisply. ‘Always a big mistake.’

      ‘Like my stay here!’

      The long, lean fingers shook Lucy’s arm a little; a mixture of impatience and irritation crossed the handsome face. ‘I can’t deny Charles’s request for help did come out of the blue,’ Alex responded sharply, ‘but I agreed to have you here and I stand by that arrangement.’

      Her green eyes narrowed provokingly. ‘You’re regretting it, though, aren’t you?’

      His sensuous lips compressed into a firm line and his fingers pulled her closer towards the large, broad frame. ‘Will you stop forcing the point, Lucy? You’re being totally impossible.’ He surveyed her with an irritated gaze. ‘I live a solitary life—always have, always will. I can’t deny that your presence here will take a bit of getting used to, but I’m perfectly capable of being sociable if you’ll act in an appropriate manner.’

      She frowned up at him. ‘And what do you mean by that?’

      ‘If you’ll stop acting like a petulant child!’

      ‘Maybe I want to act like a petulant child; maybe I always have!’ She didn’t care what he thought of her. She didn’t! For the past few weeks she hadn’t cared about anything much at all. Lucy tried to shake his hand free, but his grip was firm and uncompromising, matching his expression. ‘Will you let go of me?’ she gritted.

      ‘No.’

      She had an overwhelming desire to stamp her bare feet on the dusty ground, to pull and tug herself free and run off sobbing. ‘I want you to!’ she told him wildly.

      ‘No, you don’t.’ His voice was calm and controlled. ‘Tell me something.’

      ‘What?’ Lucy tilted her chin and eyed Alex warily. He looked so handsome, so completely male—cool and totally in command.

      ‘When was the last time you here held?’

      Her heart skipped a beat. ‘I...I don’t know.’ She shook her head, hardly daring to meet his gaze, repeating the word as if she hardly knew its meaning. ‘Held?’

      ‘Yesterday?’ Alex persisted. ‘A week ago, a month?’

      Lucy stared up at the smouldering eyes and felt every nerve-end tingling as a new, quite daunting prospect loomed into view. ‘I...I can’t remember,’ she murmured evasively.

      ‘I shouldn’t imagine Charles is particularly good at hugging, is he?’ Alex continued smoothly. ‘And there’s no one else now, is there?’ He released a breath and the firm line of his mouth softened a little as he looked at Lucy. ‘You lose someone—someone close—and everyone backs off. They don’t mean to, but grief is difficult to deal with. Even the simplest phrases of condolence sound clichéd or banal, don’t they?’

      ‘Yes.’ She contemplated the strong, rugged planes of his face and nodded slowly, remembering, marvelling at СКАЧАТЬ