she added disgustedly.
He had come to a halt some distance away from her. âFrigid,â he repeated scornfully.
Her eyes glazed coldly. âYouâll never know,â she bit out forcefully.
He smiled. âBut I already do know, Ellie,â he assured her derisively. âOh, well.â He shrugged in the face of her stony expression. âI made the offer. See you around.â He raised a hand in farewell before letting himself out of the house.
Â
S HE turned to Patrick now, having no intention of relating any of that conversation to him. It was bad enough that she still remembered every painfully humiliating word of it, without sharing it with anyone else. Least of all Patrick!
She gave him a dismissive smile. âIt isnât important what happened, Patrick,â she told him lightly. âGareth hurt me with words, thatâs all. And as my mother always said, âsticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt meâ,â she quoted ruefully.
Patrick looked unconvinced. âBones heal; words can never be forgotten.â
How true that was. She hadnât forgotten a single word Gareth had said to her six weeks ago, whereas a brokenfinger or wrist would have healed and been dismissed by now.
âSurely itâs Garethâs problem if he considers that any woman who doesnât want to sleep with him must be frigid.â She shrugged.
Grey eyes widened. âHe actually said that? To you ?â Patrick sounded incredulous.
Ellie gave him a disgruntled frown. âYes, he said that to me,â she repeated irritably.
Patrick chuckled softly. âYouâre right, Ellie.â He gave a rueful shake of his head. âHe isnât important,â he explained at her questioning look. âHe obviously didnât get to know you very well at all, did he?â he added derisively.
âExactly what do you mean by that remark?â she demanded defensively.
He looked at her consideringly before answering. âEllie, you are one of the warmest, most responsive women I have ever had the pleasure to meet.â
Her cheeks coloured hotly. It was no good denying what he said; her response to him whenever he touched her was undeniable.
âIâll tell you something else,â Patrick added huskily as he stood up to move round the table and pull her unresistingly to her feet. âIâm glad Davies never got close enough to you to discover that for himself,â he murmured throatily, before bending to lightly brush Ellieâs lips with his own.
So was she.
She hadnât always felt that way, had wondered in the days and then weeks that had followed Garethâs abrupt departure from her life whether she could indeed be frigid. But she only had to be in the same room withPatrick to be completely aware of him, and when she was actually in his arms like thisâ¦!
No, she wasnât frigid. She was just a woman who only responded to the right man. The right man for her. Because, although he was unsuitable in every other wayârich, powerful, successful, completely removed from her own lifestyleâshe knew she had fallen in love with Patrick McGrath.
She had been fighting that knowledge for some time now, refusing to allow the thought to even enter her head. But alone here with him in the silence of her kitchen, held in his arms, their two bodies moulded perfectly together, she could no longer deny how she felt about him.
To herself, at least.
To Patrick it was another matter!
âWell, Iâm relieved to hear it,â she told him lightly, at the same time moving determinedly out of his arms. âMaybe thereâs hope for me after all,â she added with deliberate self-derision.
Patrickâs gaze followed her frowningly. âEllieââ
âI just heard a car in the driveway, so I think Toby must be home,â she told him with a certain amount of relief.
Her mother used to say something
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