bsp; ‘What do you think you’re doing?’
His eyes glinted at her across the roof of the car. ‘Coming in to finish the conversation.’
‘No way!’ She didn’t want him in her house. There were too many clues in there. She swung her bag over her shoulder and glared at him as she marched past him and made for her front door. ‘It’s late and I want to go to bed.’
Bother! Why on earth had she said that? The look in his eyes brought the colour to her cheeks but thankfully he didn’t make the obvious remark.
‘We need to talk, Brooke.’ His voice was low and very, very male. ‘Preferably without an audience.’
Her hand shook as she tried to get the key in the lock. ‘We have nothing to talk about.’
The key turned at last and she pushed open the door and turned to say a firm goodbye, but he was already shouldering his way past her into the narrow hall of her cottage.
‘How dare you?’ She stared at him, outraged. ‘You can’t just barge in here and take over my life.’
‘I’m not taking over your life.’ Jed’s voice was calm and slightly amused. ‘Calm down. I don’t want anything from you except a conversation.’
‘Yes, well, after the day I’ve had I’m not up to conversation.’ Suddenly exhausted, Brooke dropped her bag in the hall and closed the front door. How was she going to keep her secret, with him prowling round her house?
Marching past him without a glance, she took the stairs two at a time and braced herself for the worst. What had a whole day of rain done to her house?
Gingerly she pushed open the door and gasped in horror as she saw the overflowing bucket. Replacing it quickly with an empty one, she sank back on her heels and stared helplessly at the ceiling.
‘So this is the roof bit of your problem?’ Jed lounged in her doorway, surveying the damage through narrowed eyes.
‘Sorry?’ Brooke glanced nervously at him but reassured herself that there was nothing in this room to give him any clues as to who normally slept there. She’d emptied it out as soon as the roof had started to leak.
‘When I picked you up you said, First the heating, then the roof and now the car. Presumably this is the roof bit of the problem.’
Brooke nodded and braced herself to lift the brimming bucket.
‘I’ll do that.’ He took it from her easily and deposited it in the bathroom. ‘How long has it been like this?’
‘Since the weekend.’
He frowned. ‘Wouldn’t anyone come and see to it?’
Probably, if she could have afforded to pay them, Brooke thought grimly.
‘They’re coming on Saturday.’ After payday.
He squinted up at her ceiling. ‘It’s probably nothing much. Just a few tiles missing. What happened with the heating?’
‘It broke.’ Nothing behind her words betrayed the cost of having it fixed.
‘And the car?’
She managed a smile. ‘Well, let’s just say that broke, too. I’m having a really good week.’
His eyes searched hers for a moment and then flickered back to the bedroom ceiling. ‘Is it your house?’
‘Yes, for my sins. If it was rented at least I could threaten the landlord.’
There was a slight pause. ‘You don’t have a man in your life?’
She swallowed and shook her head. What was the point in lying? ‘No. And, anyway, I don’t see what difference that would make. Now, will you go and leave me alone?’
He didn’t budge. ‘I could probably help with that roof—’