She wanted to be angry, but it was hard. Hard to be angry that he cared about her. And what made it harder still was that he knew her so well.
He had guessed correctly—although for the wrong reasons—that she would never get round to replacing the car and so he’d sorted it out himself.
He had done that for her, and the pleasure and pain of knowing that made her feel slightly shaky.
‘I can’t—’ she began.
He caught her hand. ‘Yes, you can.’ His eyes on hers were the soft green of young beech leaves. ‘If something happened to you… I just need to know you’re safe.’
Her heart thudded. ‘Thank you,’ she said quietly.
Their eyes met and he stared down at her, and suddenly she was breathless at his closeness.
Terrified that he would guess, she tried to smile. ‘I’d better go and take a look, then.’
Watching Nia pick her way delicately across the snow-covered road, Farlan could feel his body straining towards her like a Pointer reaching for a scent.
On waking, his guilt about the night before had returned, so that buying the car for her had seemed perfectly rational.
And then he’d told her that they could both move on.
But could something that felt so momentous happen and yet leave no trace?
His eyes flickered momentarily across the smooth white fields, but he knew he hadn’t been thinking about last night’s blizzard.
Reaching out, he touched the bonnet of the old Land Rover. Despite the chill in the air it was still warm and, staring through the mud-flecked windscreen, he could almost picture their frantic, jerky coupling.
He breathed in sharply against the headrush.
It would pass, he told himself quickly. He wouldn’t forget it, or her, but he would make it all fit into his life and find a way to move forward.
‘So, what do you think?’
Having enthusiastically explained every feature of the new car, Gordon had just been picked up by his colleague, and they were alone again.
‘I think it’s amazing.’ Nia’s eyes found his. ‘Thank you again for sorting this out for me.’
‘My pleasure. I know cars aren’t your thing.’ He grinned. ‘However, they are mine.’
‘Tom told me about your supercar.’ She smiled.
‘Yeah, it’s a great ride. It’s just on loan, but I’ve actually put in an order for one back in the States.’
It had been an enthralling drive. But for some reason the memory of it wasn’t giving him the same rush of excitement as before.
‘How long is it until you go back?’ she asked quietly.
I can go back whenever I want.
The rogue thought popped into his head unasked-for.
He glanced down at her. ‘Ten days.’
For a moment she looked somewhere over his shoulder, and then she met his gaze. ‘And nights?’ she said slowly.
Her words floated between them, pale and sparkling like snowflakes, and a beat of heat pulsed inside him.
Was she saying what he thought she was?