Housebound by Anne Stuart Page A

from fiendish tempers and shrill voices,” he said calmly. “Good night, Annie. See you tomorrow.”
    Tomorrow , she thought dismally. Not if I can help it. “Good night, Noah, Ashley,” she managed coolly. And retrieving her teacup, she retreated into her bedroom.
    â€œI thought I warned you,” Ashley said sotto voce, his high forehead wrinkled with disapproval.
    Noah stood there, his eyes enigmatic as he stared at the closed door. “You did,” he said briefly.
    â€œYou don’t seem to be paying any attention, dear boy,” he remarked plaintively.
    Noah turned to look at him then, and Ashley recoiled from the totally unexpected depths of pain there. “I’m trying, Kirkland,” he said roughly. “I’m trying.”
    Â 
    S TUPID, STUPID, STUPID , he told himself savagely. Stupid to have gone after her, stupid to have given in to that irresistible temptation, stupid to have gotten involved. And there was no doubt of it—involved he was. Even a self-absorbed dilettante like Ashley Kirkland could see it. Noah Grant was on the edge of making still another mistake, and God only knew who he would hurt this time.
    And there was no damned way he could get out of it, no way he could be honest. For a moment he toyed with the idea of waiting till Ashley finished his midnight prowling and went to bed. He could do a little midnight prowling of his own, beard Anne in that small, cozy little lair, and do something lawyers tried their best not to do. He could tell her the truth.
    â€œListen, Annie love, I’m here to steal your house away from you,” he could say, and watch the light go out of those green eyes of hers. “Your family doesn’t care about the house—they’d rather have the money. And if they hurt you in selling it, they’ve already told themselves that it’s all for the best.
    â€œOh, and I thought while I was here doing this I’d help your sister steal your fiancé, and maybe try and get you in bed myself. I can’t seem to keep my hands off you, even thoughI’m so tied to the memory of my dead wife that I’m hardly even aware of other women. All I know is that I want you, and what I’ll give you in return is absolutely nothing. But let’s have sex anyway.”
    What would she do? Would she hit him? Would she scream the house down, do everything she could to stop the sale of the white elephant she loved so dearly? Anything she did would only be nuisance value, but as such it could be substantial. And there was nothing he wanted more than to finish this last little favor for his father-in-law and leave. And maybe then Nialla would stop haunting him.
    And he needed that far more than he wanted to spare Anne Kirkland. He knew with sudden self-loathing that he wasn’t going to tell her what was going on. And he knew with even deeper disgust that chances were he wasn’t going to leave her alone. He’d do his best, but sooner or later something was going to happen between them. And knowing that it would cause nothing but pain for her, he was still going to let it happen. Even help it along.
    It was no wonder Nialla haunted him. He deserved it, just as he deserved Anne Kirkland’s eventual hatred. If he had any claim to decency he’d leave first thing in the morning, keeping well out of Anne Kirkland’s way, and never see her again. But at times he suspected decency had left him a long time ago, along with Nialla. And Anne Kirkland, with the soft, delicious mouth, warm body and serene strength was more than he could resist.

Chapter Six
    The house was mercifully, disappointingly silent when Anne woke up, just after the early-morning sunlight blazed into her windows. It had been hours before she’d finally fallen asleep, and she didn’t need to look at her small travel alarm clock to know that she’d have to make do with a very few hours of sleep. She lay there for a few