Fingering his phone in his pocket, he looked away and gritted his teeth. It would be the work of moments to call the taxi driver back and double...triple his fare to take her away. So why was he hesitating?
He glanced back at her and his groin tightened. That was why! He felt heat slide over his skin and wondered if she had any idea how incredibly sexy she looked. Was this really the same shy girl he’d married seven years ago? Standing there barefoot on his lawn, her hair tumbling over her shoulders, her breasts thrust forward like a modern-day Semiramis.
He shook his head, to clear it of this arousing, unsettling chain of thought, and as if on cue she stepped forward, eyes flashing, ready for battle. ‘I won’t leave on your say-so, Laszlo. You’ll have to drag me kicking and—’
‘Okay. Okay.’ He raised his hands in surrender. ‘Give me your bag!’
Prudence looked up at him suspiciously. ‘Wh—why would I want to do that?’
Their eyes met and the silence between them rose and fell in time to the sound of her heartbeat.
‘So I can carry it for you. I don’t usually conduct business on the lawn. Let’s go somewhere more private. And safer!’
She heard the smile in his voice and, glancing up at him, she felt her stomach flip over as his eyes locked on hers. ‘Trust me. This lawn’s actually much more dangerous than it looks.’
She felt the hairs rise on the back of her neck and suddenly breathing was a struggle. ‘No, thanks,’ she said hoarsely, averting her gaze. ‘You probably just want to throw me in the moat or something.’
Laszlo shook his head and looked up at her speculatively through thick dark lashes.
‘That definitely won’t happen.’ He paused, the corners of his mouth tugging upwards. ‘We haven’t had a moat since the sixteenth century.’ Glancing up at the sky, he frowned. ‘Besides, it’s about to start raining. I’m too much of a gentleman to leave you to your one-woman protest, and rain means my hair is going to get wet. And you know what happens when my hair gets wet...’
Shaking her head, she gave a small reluctant smile. ‘Gentleman? More like gentleman of the road!’
He winced as a drop of rain hit his shoulder. ‘Come on, pireni! You know how much I hate it when my hair goes curly.’
Breathing unsteadily, her heart banging against her ribs, Prudence frowned.
‘I promise I won’t do anything you don’t want me to,’ he said lightly.
He watched the colour spread over her cheeks as she hesitated, and then she nodded. And then the clouds split apart and they ran as rain thundered down.
‘This way!’ he shouted over his shoulder as water splashed at them from every direction, and then, as one, they burst through a heavy close-boarded door into an enormous empty barn. ‘We’ll have to wait here until it stops!’ He glanced down at her feet. ‘Are you okay? You didn’t cut yourself or anything?’
He had to yell to make himself heard and she shook her head dumbly. Was she okay? She was in a barn, alone, standing with a soaking wet, panting Laszlo. How was that ever going to be okay?
Her eyes fixed on his rain-spattered shirt, the definition of hard muscle clearly visible against the damp fabric. Instantly she felt a familiar tingling ache low within her pelvis: she knew exactly what lay beneath that shirt. She could feel a yearning deep inside for the ceaseless touch of his hands, his lips—
And then the air slammed out of her lungs as he suddenly shook his head like a dog.
Abruptly she heard the rain stop.
He looked up at her and Prudence felt her pulse jump.
‘I don’t want to have to drag your grandfather into this, Laszlo. I just want you to give me my job back,’ she blurted out.
Laszlo studied her calmly. ‘I know what you want,’ he said slowly, and his shimmering golden gaze slipped over her skin in a way that made her stir restlessly inside.
Flustered, almost squirming with tension, she lifted her chin. ‘Do you?’ she said challengingly.
His eyes gleamed and the trace of a smile curved his lips for the briefest of moments—and then his smile faded. Staring at her broodingly, he let his gaze drift over her soft pink mouth and felt his body respond instantaneously. It had always been like this with Prudence—this fierce, relentless tug of physical need like a terrible, aching hunger that must be satisfied.
He frowned. He felt as if he was teetering on the brink of something.
‘Okay,’ he said softly. ‘You can stay. The job is yours.’
Heart thumping, Prudence bit her lip. Had he really changed his mind? Or was this some sort of cruel game? But one look at his face told her that incredibly, unbelievably, he was telling the truth. She turned away to hide her confusion as instead of relief a spasm of doubt ran through her body.
‘And you’re sure about this?’ she said slowly, looking up at him and frowning. ‘Only it all seems a bit sudden. You changing your mind like this.’