There was a long pause and when he finally spoke his tone was chilly. 'You have a worrying faith in human nature.'
She frowned. 'No, I haven't. Most people are very kindhearted. Like you. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't come along when you did. You're my knight in shining armour and I'll love you forever.' She snuggled under the blanket and gave him a wide smile which faltered when she saw the look on his face. 'What? Why are you looking at me like that? What have I done now?'
In the gloom his expression was hard to read but she sensed his exasperation.
'Are you always this reckless?'
'Reckless?' She subdued a yawn and snuggled deeper under the blanket. 'When was I reckless?'
'When?' He lifted one dark eyebrow and his expression was ironic. 'Well, let's see—was it when you drove the ford in a car no bigger than a sewing machine, or flagged down a total stranger, climbed into his car, stripped off your clothes and declared undying love—'
'Not undying love exactly,' Ellie corrected him with a quick frown. 'More eternal thanks.'
He gritted his teeth. 'You're not safe to be let out alone. Didn't your father teach you never to accept lifts from strange men?'
For a brief moment Ellie's smile faltered. 'Yes,' she said in a small voice, 'I suppose he did.'
'So what were you doing, flagging down a total stranger?'
'Well, it was that or die of exposure,' Ellie said logically, pushing away thoughts of her beloved father. 'Dad may have taught me not to accept lifts from strange men, but he also taught me to use my head in a crisis. And tonight is definitely a crisis.'
'I could be anyone.' His voice had a hard edge, but Ellie just smiled trustingly and snuggled further under the blanket.
'I'm sure you're a lovely person. In my experience, most people are.'
'Then you obviously haven't had much experience,' he said roughly. 'How old are you?'
He flicked on the internal light and she blinked.
'You shouldn't ask a woman her age. It isn't polite. And you shouldn't be influenced by appearances.' Ellie's voice tailed off as she saw him properly for the first time.
As their eyes met her breath jammed in her throat and her mouth fell open.
Wow.
The man was stunning. Seriously, breathtakingly good-looking.
She knew she was staring but she couldn't help it. What woman wouldn't stare when confronted by a man like this one?
His hair was too long and there was at least two days' growth of stubble around his jaw, but never in her life had she been faced with a vision of such raw, untamed masculinity. Her eyes feasted slowly on the lean perfection of his face, the bold, dark eyebrows and firm, unsmiling mouth.
A long silence stretched between them and finally he spoke. 'What's the matter?' His tone was rough. 'Now that you've seen me properly, are you finally thinking that you might have been foolish to climb into my car?'
'No.' She shook herself and smiled at him, incurably honest. 'Actually, I was thinking that when women kiss you, they probably keep their eyes open.'
He seemed to have lost his powers of speech and she tilted her head to one side and looked at him curiously.
'What's the matter? I'm just saying that you're so good-looking it would be a te
rrible waste to close your eyes.' She gave an impish smile and he shot her a look of pure, undiluted disbelief.
'Do you always say exactly what's in your head without any thought for the consequences?'
'Always,' she confessed. 'I can't stand people who say one thing and mean another. And don't tell me no one's ever told you you're good-looking before. You must have heard it a million times.'
He studied her, not a flicker of expression on his handsome face. 'Not usually in these circumstances.'
'You're shocked, aren't you? But I don't see why. You must know you're good-looking.' She shrugged. 'It's no big deal. Just a statement of fact. Like saying it's raining.'