meal of grilled rainbow trout, salad
and a glass of white wine. Matt ordered a steak, then when their
waiter left he settled back in his chair and lazily contemplated her.
What shifted, she wondered, behind those private eyes, reflecting the
intense blue of his dark suit so that he seemed almost a stranger?
'What will you be doing with your summer, Sian?' asked Matt, one
corded, long-fingered hand idly twirling the glass of Scotch that had
been set before him. 'Do you have a job lined up?'
'I was going to wait until my father came for his visit before I
decided what to do,' she replied, unaware of her wry grimace or the
downward bent of her mouth. 'Now I suppose I'll have to rethink
things. To be quite honest, I'm not sure what I'll do. The last few
months of school have been too pressured for me to do anything but
cope with the deadlines as they came up.'
'Jane mentioned you graduated top of your class. Congratulations,' he
said, 'and well done. You've worked very hard.'
'Thank you.' Her green eyes held genuine pleasure from his praise.
'But it's not over yet.'
Their meal came, attractively displayed and superbly cooked. Sian
picked at hers without much interest.
'You're going on to graduate school?' he asked after the interruption.
'Mmm, two more years.' He was not looking at her any longer, but
instead studied the amber lights in his drink; she wasn't sure why she
went on to confess, slowly, 'I'm rather intimidated by it, actually.
Courses in business administration aren't exactly my strong point.'
'So you choose to grapple with the subject, instead of avoiding it. I'm
sure you'll do just fine once you're in the middle of it,' he remarked.
His iced-water glass was sweating. With one forefinger he wiped
down the edge of the glass and came away wet. She gave the
movement close attention. Matt lifted his gaze and said softly, 'After
all, as with anything else, it's the anticipation that's the worst part.'
The gold necklace at the base of her neck winked with her tight
swallow. 'Is it?' she said very drily, regarding him from under level
brows. 'And what of reality that exceeds all expectations?'
He was sober-faced, and laughing at her. 'Clarify the matter for me. I
don't see reality's exceeding all expectations as necessarily a terrible
thing.'
'Catastrophe?' she murmured. Her sarcasm was a delicacy flavouring
her words with rare spice. 'Flood, fire, act of God?'
'One cannot live one's life in constant fear of disaster, Sian,' he
returned. 'Bad things do happen, to good and bad people alike. Don't
you see that's why it's so important to snatch at the good when
fortune presents it to us?'
Her smile was excessively mild. 'I don't disagree with you, Matthew.
I do, however, take issue with the imposition of your values over
mine. I'm the one to judge what's good in my life, and I will take it
where I find it.'
His face had tightened until it was a study in angled severity. It gave
her no pleasure to look on it. 'Like Joshua?' he bit out.
She lifted her chin. She didn't know why she didn't just either tell him
.she was 'engaged' to his brother, or confess the real story to him. The
timing would have been right for either. But one was a weapon she
wasn't prepared to use, and the other too revealing. 'If I choose,' she
said coolly.
His eyes glittered. She distrusted him, and her own assessment of his
strange mood, however, as he paid for their meal with apparent
composure, as they strolled leisurely to the parking area.
She did well to be wary, but it was not enough. She waited in silence
while he unlocked her door, then quelled an impulse to step back as
he straightened and turned to regard her with brooding eyes, a taut
mouth.
'I have been remiss. I never did tell you how lovely you look,'
Matthew said then, almost absently. 'You are stunning, Sian. I was
proud to be seen by your side tonight.'
She was shaken by the intensity of pleasure that coursed through her
at
and a glass of white wine. Matt ordered a steak, then when their
waiter left he settled back in his chair and lazily contemplated her.
What shifted, she wondered, behind those private eyes, reflecting the
intense blue of his dark suit so that he seemed almost a stranger?
'What will you be doing with your summer, Sian?' asked Matt, one
corded, long-fingered hand idly twirling the glass of Scotch that had
been set before him. 'Do you have a job lined up?'
'I was going to wait until my father came for his visit before I
decided what to do,' she replied, unaware of her wry grimace or the
downward bent of her mouth. 'Now I suppose I'll have to rethink
things. To be quite honest, I'm not sure what I'll do. The last few
months of school have been too pressured for me to do anything but
cope with the deadlines as they came up.'
'Jane mentioned you graduated top of your class. Congratulations,' he
said, 'and well done. You've worked very hard.'
'Thank you.' Her green eyes held genuine pleasure from his praise.
'But it's not over yet.'
Their meal came, attractively displayed and superbly cooked. Sian
picked at hers without much interest.
'You're going on to graduate school?' he asked after the interruption.
'Mmm, two more years.' He was not looking at her any longer, but
instead studied the amber lights in his drink; she wasn't sure why she
went on to confess, slowly, 'I'm rather intimidated by it, actually.
Courses in business administration aren't exactly my strong point.'
'So you choose to grapple with the subject, instead of avoiding it. I'm
sure you'll do just fine once you're in the middle of it,' he remarked.
His iced-water glass was sweating. With one forefinger he wiped
down the edge of the glass and came away wet. She gave the
movement close attention. Matt lifted his gaze and said softly, 'After
all, as with anything else, it's the anticipation that's the worst part.'
The gold necklace at the base of her neck winked with her tight
swallow. 'Is it?' she said very drily, regarding him from under level
brows. 'And what of reality that exceeds all expectations?'
He was sober-faced, and laughing at her. 'Clarify the matter for me. I
don't see reality's exceeding all expectations as necessarily a terrible
thing.'
'Catastrophe?' she murmured. Her sarcasm was a delicacy flavouring
her words with rare spice. 'Flood, fire, act of God?'
'One cannot live one's life in constant fear of disaster, Sian,' he
returned. 'Bad things do happen, to good and bad people alike. Don't
you see that's why it's so important to snatch at the good when
fortune presents it to us?'
Her smile was excessively mild. 'I don't disagree with you, Matthew.
I do, however, take issue with the imposition of your values over
mine. I'm the one to judge what's good in my life, and I will take it
where I find it.'
His face had tightened until it was a study in angled severity. It gave
her no pleasure to look on it. 'Like Joshua?' he bit out.
She lifted her chin. She didn't know why she didn't just either tell him
.she was 'engaged' to his brother, or confess the real story to him. The
timing would have been right for either. But one was a weapon she
wasn't prepared to use, and the other too revealing. 'If I choose,' she
said coolly.
His eyes glittered. She distrusted him, and her own assessment of his
strange mood, however, as he paid for their meal with apparent
composure, as they strolled leisurely to the parking area.
She did well to be wary, but it was not enough. She waited in silence
while he unlocked her door, then quelled an impulse to step back as
he straightened and turned to regard her with brooding eyes, a taut
mouth.
'I have been remiss. I never did tell you how lovely you look,'
Matthew said then, almost absently. 'You are stunning, Sian. I was
proud to be seen by your side tonight.'
She was shaken by the intensity of pleasure that coursed through her
at
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