with her in the starring role ofgold-digger? Yet there was something strangely erotic and forbidden about his attraction, something wildly exciting about the way he knew she looked at him from under her lashes. He got horny just thinking about it.
Problem was … what was he to do with this? Where was he going to go with it?
He surfaced from his uncustomary lapse in concentration to find her telling him something about a detour she wanted him to make.
‘Seven … what? What are you talking about?’
‘I said that I’d like to stop off at Sevenoaks. It’ll be a minor detour and I haven’t been back there in over eighteen months.’
‘What’s Sevenoaks?’
‘Haven’t you been listening to a word I’ve been saying?’ She assumed that, after the little jaunt in the clothes shop, his mind had now switched back to its primary preoccupation, which was work, and in that mode she might just as well have been saying ‘blah, blah, blah’.
‘In one ear, out the other,’ Luiz drawled, marvelling that he could become so lost in his imagination that he literally hadn’t heard a word she had been saying to him.
‘Sevenoaks is the home we grew up in,’ Aggie repeated. ‘Perhaps we could stop off there? It’s only a slight detour and it would mean a lot to me. I know you’re in a rush to get to Mark’s hotel, but a couple of hours wouldn’t make a huge difference, would it?’
‘We could do that.’
‘Right … well … thanks.’ Suddenly she felt as though she wouldn’t have minded spending the rest of their time in the town with him. In response to that crazy thought, she took a couple of small steps back, just to get out of that spellbinding circle he seemed to project around him, the one which, once entered, wreaked havoc with her thoughtprocesses. ‘And I’ll head off now and see you back at the bed and breakfast.’
‘What are you going to buy?’ Luiz frowned as he continued to stare down at her. ‘I thought we’d covered all essential purchases. Unless there are some slightly less essential ones outstanding? There must be a lingerie shop of sorts somewhere …’
Aggie reacted to that suggestion as though she had been stung. She imagined parading in front of him wearing nothing but a lacy bra and pants and she almost gasped aloud.
‘I can get my own underwear—thank you.’ She stumbled over the words in her rush to get them out. ‘And, no, I wasn’t talking about that!’
‘What, then?’
‘Luiz, it’s getting colder out here and I’d really like to get back to the bed and breakfast so …’ She took a few more steps back, although her eyes remained locked with his, like stupid, helpless prey mesmerised by an approaching predator.
Luiz nodded, breaking the spell. ‘I’ll see you back there in …’ he glanced at his watch. ‘… a couple of hours. I have some work to do. Let’s make it six-thirty in the dining room. If we’re to have any kind of detour, then we’re going to have to leave very early in the morning, barring any overnight fall of snow that makes it impossible. So we’ll get an early night.’
‘Of course,’ Aggie returned politely. She was gauging from the tone of his voice that, whatever temporary truces came into effect, nothing would deflect him from his mission. It suddenly seemed wildly inappropriate that she had thrilled to his eyes on her only moments before as she had provided him with his very own fashion show, purchased at great expense. She might have made a great song anddance about her scorn for money, her lack of materialism but, thinking about how she had strutted her stuff to those lazy, watchful eyes, she suddenly felt as though without even realising it she had been bought somehow. And not only that, she had enjoyed the experience.
‘And I just want you to know …’ Her voice was cooler by several degrees. ‘That once we’re back in London, I shall make sure that all the stuff you bought for me is returned to you.’
‘Not this
Problem was … what was he to do with this? Where was he going to go with it?
He surfaced from his uncustomary lapse in concentration to find her telling him something about a detour she wanted him to make.
‘Seven … what? What are you talking about?’
‘I said that I’d like to stop off at Sevenoaks. It’ll be a minor detour and I haven’t been back there in over eighteen months.’
‘What’s Sevenoaks?’
‘Haven’t you been listening to a word I’ve been saying?’ She assumed that, after the little jaunt in the clothes shop, his mind had now switched back to its primary preoccupation, which was work, and in that mode she might just as well have been saying ‘blah, blah, blah’.
‘In one ear, out the other,’ Luiz drawled, marvelling that he could become so lost in his imagination that he literally hadn’t heard a word she had been saying to him.
‘Sevenoaks is the home we grew up in,’ Aggie repeated. ‘Perhaps we could stop off there? It’s only a slight detour and it would mean a lot to me. I know you’re in a rush to get to Mark’s hotel, but a couple of hours wouldn’t make a huge difference, would it?’
‘We could do that.’
‘Right … well … thanks.’ Suddenly she felt as though she wouldn’t have minded spending the rest of their time in the town with him. In response to that crazy thought, she took a couple of small steps back, just to get out of that spellbinding circle he seemed to project around him, the one which, once entered, wreaked havoc with her thoughtprocesses. ‘And I’ll head off now and see you back at the bed and breakfast.’
‘What are you going to buy?’ Luiz frowned as he continued to stare down at her. ‘I thought we’d covered all essential purchases. Unless there are some slightly less essential ones outstanding? There must be a lingerie shop of sorts somewhere …’
Aggie reacted to that suggestion as though she had been stung. She imagined parading in front of him wearing nothing but a lacy bra and pants and she almost gasped aloud.
‘I can get my own underwear—thank you.’ She stumbled over the words in her rush to get them out. ‘And, no, I wasn’t talking about that!’
‘What, then?’
‘Luiz, it’s getting colder out here and I’d really like to get back to the bed and breakfast so …’ She took a few more steps back, although her eyes remained locked with his, like stupid, helpless prey mesmerised by an approaching predator.
Luiz nodded, breaking the spell. ‘I’ll see you back there in …’ he glanced at his watch. ‘… a couple of hours. I have some work to do. Let’s make it six-thirty in the dining room. If we’re to have any kind of detour, then we’re going to have to leave very early in the morning, barring any overnight fall of snow that makes it impossible. So we’ll get an early night.’
‘Of course,’ Aggie returned politely. She was gauging from the tone of his voice that, whatever temporary truces came into effect, nothing would deflect him from his mission. It suddenly seemed wildly inappropriate that she had thrilled to his eyes on her only moments before as she had provided him with his very own fashion show, purchased at great expense. She might have made a great song anddance about her scorn for money, her lack of materialism but, thinking about how she had strutted her stuff to those lazy, watchful eyes, she suddenly felt as though without even realising it she had been bought somehow. And not only that, she had enjoyed the experience.
‘And I just want you to know …’ Her voice was cooler by several degrees. ‘That once we’re back in London, I shall make sure that all the stuff you bought for me is returned to you.’
‘Not this
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