When Megan drew back the curtains it was to see a misty landscape and rain hissing steadily against the windowpanes. She groaned in disappointment. ‘Great day for a walk in the woods!’ She went into the bathroom, feeling bitter about how life could give with one hand and take away with the other.
As she got out of the shower. Given the weather, the outing would be off, of course, so Ben would probably smile at her over breakfast, wish her well, then drive off into the mist.
When she went down to the restaurant, dressed in jeans and a sweater, she found Ben waiting, sipping a coffee and watching the door.
He greeted her with a rueful smile, waving one hand towards the windows. ‘Just look at that weather! And the forecast is for more rain to come.’
Megan slipped into the chair opposite him and a waiter appeared from nowhere with a jug of coffee. She said it first, to get it over with. ‘Looks like our day out is off, then.’ She looked across at the display of food at the side of the big room and added brightly, to hide her disappointment, ‘Shall we get something to eat?’
He shook his head. ‘I never eat at this hour. You go.’
Why had he asked her to have breakfast with him, then? Hope twitched inside her. Maybe… She didn’t let herself finish that thought, but turned resolutely towards the buffet. How people could start their day without a proper breakfast, she would never understand. She piled fresh fruit salad into a bowl and spooned creamy yoghurt over it for a starter.
He grimaced as she set it down. ‘Rather you than me.’
‘I’m always hungry in the morning.’ She began to eat.
He said nothing until she had swallowed several spoonfuls, then asked idly, ‘What are you doing in Northumberland anyway? We got interrupted when you were going to tell me last night.’
She stopped eating as a pang of grief shot through her and it was a moment before she could answer him. ‘I lived near Alnwick till I was twelve. Then my parents were killed and I’ve never been back since.’
His voice was soft. ‘So this is a sort of pilgrimage?’
‘I suppose so.’
‘What happened after they died?’
‘My aunt and uncle brought me up. They live in Gloucestershire. They’re like a second set of parents. They’ve been lovely to me.’ And that was enough about her, she decided. ‘Are your parents still alive?’
His expression became grim. ‘My mother is. She’s on her fourth husband now. My father died when I was twenty-three and I had to take over the business. It wasn’t quite what I’d planned to do with my life, but if I hadn’t, it’d have gone under. My father wasn’t very attentive to the practicalities of business after my mother left us, you see.’
He stopped and looked at her in surprise. ‘I don’t usually tell people about that part of my life.’
‘I’m honoured, then.’ She was surprised at how different his face looked with that grim expression on it. Intimidating. Not a man to cross. ‘I – um, think I’ll get some bacon and stuff now.’
The grimness vanished and he gave an exaggerated shudder. ‘Bacon at this hour? Ugh.’
She chuckled and went to fill her plate.
When she came back, he greeted her with, ‘Why don’t we go for a drive to Edinburgh instead of the walk? Even if it’s raining, there are things to do in the city and if we take the coast road, the scenery is beautiful whatever the weather.’
He turned another of those devastating smiles on her. ‘Unless you have any other preferences for our day out, Megan?’
‘I’d love to go to Edinburgh. I’ve not been to Scotland since I was tiny. I’ve not been anywhere, really.’
‘Do you dislike travel?’
‘No. I’ve just never had the money. Or the courage to go anywhere alone. My parents were killed in a plane crash, you see, and they didn’t have life insurance. If I hadn’t been at a school camp, I’d have been with them.’ That thought always made her shiver.
‘That must have been hard for you,’ he said softly.
Megan nodded. It had been very hard indeed and she’d taken over a year to settle down in Upper Shenstead. There hadn’t even been anywhere private to weep in such a tiny cottage, where she had to share a bedroom with her cousin. And why she had told him about that, she couldn’t think. She’d found long ago that people didn’t want to hear about your personal griefs. But then, he’d confided something of his own past to her, so maybe he wouldn’t mind.
His voice brought her attention back to the present. ‘So, we’ll go to Edinburgh. And we’ll call in at the garage that’s repairing your car before we set off to arrange for it to be brought here, in case we’re late back.’
His car was a Mercedes. It looked brand new and was very luxurious, silver with pale grey leather upholstery. She stared at it in dismay. He was definitely rich if he could afford to buy a car like this. Heavens, she was way out of her depth here. They moved in such different circles, it’d be stupid to hope for anything.
Hope? She wasn’t hoping.
Was she?
Get real, Megan Ross! she ordered. Do not hope for the impossible.
He helped her into the car and all her good resolutions to remain cool with him flew away. Not that she needed helping, but she’d never realised how special it made you feel – cherished even – when a man fastened your seat belt for you.
They stopped at the garage and she asked what time she could pick up her car. Was it her imagination or with Ben beside her did the mechanic take it all more seriously?
‘We close at three on Saturdays, but if it’s just a blocked carburettor, I’ll easily get it finished by then. No problem,’ he said.
She tried not to show her disappointment as she looked at Ben. ‘It won’t be worth going as far as Edinburgh, then.’
‘Nonsense.’ He turned back to the mechanic. ‘Can you take the car to the hotel? Give us an approximate price. OK. That sounds about right. You can swipe Miss Ross’s credit card now and they’ll get the signed copy for you at the hotel.’
‘I don’t think I can do that, sir. No offence, but I don’t know anything about you.’
‘Ring the hotel now and ask. Tell them it’s for Ben Saunders.’
With a dubious glance at them, the mechanic disappeared into the office. He came out a few minutes later, falling over himself with eagerness to help them.
As they set off again, Megan asked in puzzlement, ‘Why did your name work such magic? It was the same in the hotel. Am I supposed to recognise you?’
Ben shrugged. ‘Of course not. I was involved in the sale of this chain of hotels a little while ago, so I’m known to the management, that’s all.’
She glanced sideways at him. Real estate, he’d said, and she’d thought of selling houses. Selling a chain of hotels sounded like major league stuff to her. And he certainly didn’t look like any salesman she’d ever seen. But she didn’t like to pursue the matter. It’d sound as if she was nosing into his finances and she didn’t want him to think she was mercenary. But it was great that he’d found a way round the problem with her car.
‘I’m so glad we didn’t have to give up our day out!’ she said, beaming at him.
‘So am I. I’m sure the weather will clear up later.’ As if to give him the lie, rain suddenly pounded against the windscreen.
She chuckled. ‘Oh, yes?’
‘You wait and see,’ he insisted.
There wasn’t much traffic on the road and the rain made it feel as if they were in their own little world. She couldn’t help glancing at him. Nice, dark hair, very well cut and gleaming as if newly washed. And she could smell a faint tang of after-shave, too.
She’d never seen the point in talking for talking’s sake, so simply sat and enjoyed the scenery, which was beautiful even in the rain, commenting occasionally on a particularly lovely vista.
He seemed equally happy to travel peacefully.
‘That’s the coast road to Edinburgh,’ he said as they came to a junction. ‘How about we go that way? It’s longer, but more picturesque than the inland route.’
‘Sounds good to me.’
The road was beautiful. It twisted and turned along a mainly unspoiled coastline to reveal little bays with sandy beaches and villages with tiny fishing harbours, interspersed with jutting headlands. A ruined castle graced one of these, seen briefly in the distance during a break in the rain. Small islands lay in misty outline across the grey heaving seas.
‘That’s Lindisfarne.’ Ben pointed. ‘But it’s high tide, so we can’t drive across.’
‘Really?’ Holy Island, she thought dreamily. Saint Aidan building his monastery and converting the heathens of Northumbria. She’d read about it.
‘Oh, stop!’ she cried suddenly.
The car screeched to a halt. ‘What’s wrong?’
She could feel herself flushing. ‘Sorry. There’s nothing wrong. It was that.’ She pointed to the castle towering on top of a cliff ahead of them. ‘It’s absolutely magnificent. What is it?’
‘Bamburgh Castle.’
‘It looks like something out of a medieval fairy tale. Could we stop and look round it, do you think?’
‘Not if we’re to reach Edinburgh in time for lunch.’
‘Oh.’ She couldn’t hide her disappointment.
‘But we could come back tomorrow morning. I don’t have to leave until later in the day.’
‘I’d love that!’ She beamed up at the castle as they drove past.
‘You look like a child promised a treat,’ he teased.
‘Well, it does seem a treat to me. The Cotswolds are full of quaint villages, but Northumberland is less tamed, somehow. And this coastline is magnificent. Why do I not remember it better?’
‘Perhaps your parents didn’t go out on day trips.’
‘No. I don’t think we did.’
‘There’s plenty of birdlife here, too,’ he teased. ‘Enough to suit you, I hope.’
‘I’m not just into studying nature,’ she protested. ‘I love castles and history as well. Don’t you think the architecture of today is graceless? Office buildings mostly look like piles of egg boxes to me!’ She told him about her favourite stately home of all, the magnificently ornate Brighton Pavilion. He encouraged her to talk with the occasional question, sounding as if he was really interested. But after a while she realised how long she’d been talking. ‘Sorry. I didn’t mean to bore you.’
‘You didn’t. I enjoyed your enthusiasm. And you’ve made me want to go and see the Pavilion myself one day. I don’t know why I never have. How about making a bargain? I’ll show you Edinburgh. You show me the Pavilion.’
She tried to conceal her surprise. ‘Oh. Well. All right. If you – you really want to.’ She couldn’t believe a man like him would make plans to see her again, but she would love to get to know him better.
‘I do want to, Megan.’
The way he said her name made her breath catch in her throat and she couldn’t think how to reply.
His voice was a low, amused purr from beside her. ‘I’m afraid you’re going to be disappointed in Bamburgh Castle, though.’
‘Why?’
‘Well, although it’s basically medieval, it was the first English castle to succumb to gunpowder during the Wars of the Roses and most of it’s a nineteenth-century reconstruction.’
‘Oh!’
He chuckled. ‘Confess it, you’re disappointed.’
She couldn’t help grinning back at him. ‘Yes, I am rather.’
‘Don’t be. Bamburgh is still worth a visit, especially the King’s Hall. There’s some magnificent carving there, even though it’s teak not English oak.’
His hand rested on hers for a moment, then he pulled it away and started up the car again.
It wasn’t until they were approaching Edinburgh that she admitted to herself how very attracted she was to him. It was as simple – and as confusing as that. It wasn’t just his looks, it was everything about him. He was so easy to spend time with.
But how did he feel about her? He wasn’t just being polite if he’d talked about her showing him Brighton Pavilion. Surely not?
Could a man like him possibly be as attracted to her as she was to him?
She doubted it. He must have known a lot of women. In fact, they must have been falling over one another to attract his attention. So she’d better not let herself get carried away. Be sensible, she warned herself.
But oh, she didn’t want to be sensible. She wanted to fly to the moon!
With him.
It was a relief to get out of the car in Edinburgh. They walked along the street side by side, not touching. She very aware of him, seeing the buildings they passed more as a frame for his face and lean body. His long, elegant fingers pointed and occasionally he caught hold of her hand to tug her across the road.
She had never in her whole life felt so bewildered by her own feelings. With other guys, she’d always got to know them gradually. Dating a stranger was – rather frightening, at least it was when you reacted so strongly to his lightest touch.
Edinburgh Castle was perched on top of a great mass of rock like a watchdog for the whole city and it was a relief to turn her attention to that. By the time they were inside, she was bubbling with questions and comments, thrilled by the castle’s antiquity.
Once she caught him smiling at her. He was probably amused by her childish enthusiasm. Concentrate on the castle, Megan Ross, she silently ordered herself.
Only when they went into the War Memorial did she completely forget her own feelings, seeing the long lists of names inscribed there. ‘So many men killed,’ she murmured. ‘Why do we have these wars?’
‘For money. I’m rather interested in political history, actually. It’s one of my hobbies.’
‘I prefer social history. I like to find out how ordinary people used to live.’ She added guiltily, ‘I’ve spent a lot of my wages on books and my aunt’s always complaining about the boxes stored in the roof space, my books and my parents’ books too. I can’t bear to throw any of them away.’
‘Do you still live with your aunt and uncle?’
‘No, I’ve got a room in my friend Sandy’s house. She’s pregnant and they’re short of money, so it’s a help for them, but,’ she grimaced, ‘one can grow rather tired of people talking about babies, especially babies not even born yet.’
He nodded, then looked at his watch and changed the subject. ‘I don’t know about you, but I’m getting hungry.’
‘I’m not surprised. Don’t you ever eat breakfast?’
He gave an exaggerated shudder.
She chuckled.
As Ben knew Edinburgh, she let him find them a restaurant. The minute they went inside, she felt overwhelmed by its plush décor and fussy service. There were no prices on the menu and nearly as many waiters as clients.
‘Do you want me to choose for you?’ he asked.
She pulled herself together at that. ‘Good heavens, no!’
She decided on a starter of crudités, followed by veal in a cream and mushroom sauce. After that she turned with enthusiasm to the dessert trolley. Her plate was almost filled by a massive piece of the most delicious cheesecake she’d ever tasted.
When she had finished eating it, she looked up to find him staring at her.
‘You’re obviously not dieting, Megan.’
‘I don’t need to. I’m happy with the size I am.’
She thought he was criticising her until he said, ‘That makes a refreshing change. I’m sick of paying a fortune for meals women only pick at. And I’m also tired of hearing about the latest diet craze from women who’re skeletally thin already.’
That remark made him rise even higher in her estimation.
But the entente cordiale between them didn’t last. She couldn’t resist going into one of the souvenir shops because she knew how much her aunt loved little ornaments with place names on them.
‘You’re surely not going to buy that thing!’ He took it out of her hand.
She snatched it back and glared at him. ‘I most certainly am!’
‘But it’s ghastly!’
‘My aunt will love it.’
‘My aunt would throw it in the dustbin!’
Megan turned her back on him and, spine very erect, marched across to the counter and paid for the ornament. The cheek of him! Telling her what to buy. He might be gorgeous, but he was clearly arrogant as well. A good thing she’d realised what he was like. Now maybe she’d stop reacting so stupidly to him.
‘Don’t worry!’ she tossed at him as they left the shop. ‘Now the dreadful ornament is wrapped up, no one will know what I’m carrying, so you’re quite safe walking next to me.’
He stiffened and stared at her. She stared right back. She wasn’t having anyone criticising her family. They might not be rich or have very good taste, but she loved them dearly.
For the next half hour, as they strolled along the Royal Mile, they were scrupulously polite to one another. They took shelter from a brief shower, then, as they were about to cross a side road, Megan slipped and would have fallen but for Ben’s quick reactions in catching her. She found herself pressed against a firm, warm body and her heart started to pound. ‘Sorry. I’m not – not usually so clumsy.’
‘The ground is quite slippery.’
When she tried to put weight on her left foot, however, she yelped and grabbed hold of him again.
‘What’s wrong?’
‘My ankle. Could you just – wait a minute.’ She moved her left foot experimentally and gasped as pain shot through it. ‘Ouch!’
‘Is it badly hurt?’
‘Just twisted, I think.’ She tried to make a joke of it. ‘It only hurts if I move it.’ What a clumsy idiot she was! Now what was she going to do? Her ankle was throbbing and she’d have to hop around like the Easter Bunny! That’d charm the socks off him.
‘Then you’d better stop moving it, hadn’t you?’
He made certain of that by scooping her up into his arms. She squeaked in panic and flung her arms round him.
‘I won’t drop you, Megan! Don’t strangle me!’
They were almost nose to nose. ‘I’m too heavy!’ she breathed.
‘Nonsense!’
‘It’s not nonsense. I’m five foot seven!’
‘And I’m six foot two. What’s more, Megan, I keep myself very fit. I promise faithfully not to drop you.’ His eyes were warm with amusement.
‘I feel such a fool,’ she muttered.
‘You’re no fool, Megan.’
The skin of his face was beautiful, damp with rain but glowing with health and a golden tan that made him look so un-English. She had a most irrational urge to stroke his cheek.
Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion as he kissed her.
‘I—’ she began, but he made a shushing noise, then gave her a long, curiously gentle kiss. When he drew away, she heard herself sigh in protest. She didn’t want him to stop.
‘You aren’t wearing make-up,’ he said huskily, his eyes seeming darker and full of mystery. ‘You’ve no idea how attractive your skin is. I’ve been longing to touch it all morning.’
She closed her eyes for a moment then had to look at him again to make sure he really meant what he was saying. And his expression said he did, said he found her attractive. So she gave in and leaned her cheek against his shoulder. ‘You’re one hell of a kisser, Ben Saunders.’
‘So are you. And I’d love to go on kissing you, but I must admit I can’t carry you like this for much longer.’ He stared round. ‘Ah, there’s a bench over there. Let’s go and check out that ankle of yours.’
He put her down gently and Megan watched a passer-by, plump and middle-aged, stop to stare at Ben and sigh quite visibly for what she could never have.
‘Now, let me look at your ankle.’ He knelt down and very gently palpated it.
She couldn’t help wincing.
‘I agree, it’s just strained. It’ll hurt for a few days, but you don’t need medical attention.’
She’d reached the same conclusion herself, because the pain was easing a little already. ‘Thank you for coming to my rescue.’
‘It was my pleasure. Look, I’ll bring the car here. I shan’t be long. Sure you’ll be all right?’
‘Of course.’ She watched him stride off and sighed.
When he got back, he looked at her ankle and said, ‘Perhaps we should go and get it X-rayed.’
She couldn’t bear the thought of spoiling this wonderful day be spending several hours hanging around in Emergency. ‘I’m sure it’s only a sprain, Ben. I broke my arm once and it was quite different, a much sharper pain. Truly it was.’
‘We’ll see how it is when we get back to the hotel.’ He helped her into the car, then produced a plastic bag and grinned at her. ‘However, I did a first aid course once and they suggested this as an emergency treatment.’ He opened it up, produced a big bag of frozen peas, then placed it on her ankle.
‘Clever.’ She adjusted it, then sat back to enjoy the return journey.
The tension gave way to a warmer feeling of companionship as he began to tell her of his other visits to Edinburgh and the things there were to do there – if she hadn’t sprained her ankle. In return she told him about the Cotswolds, the small towns and villages she loved and some of the places tourists usually missed. After which she found herself talking about the protection of endangered species again, at his instigation.
‘I’ve been too busy making money to play an active part in any projects like that,’ he said, sounding genuinely regretful. ‘But I have helped financially from time to time.’
‘We need money as well as helpers,’ she assured him.
‘Do you chain yourself to trees?’ he teased.
She shook her head quickly. ‘I couldn’t do that sort of thing. I’m more a behind the scenes helper. What I mostly do is observe, count the wildlife, deal with paperwork, that sort of thing. You need facts if you’re to win support and anyway, I love watching how other creatures live.’
After a while they fell silent, and she leaned back with a sigh.
‘Ankle hurting?’ he asked softly.
‘Not much.’ As she looked round at the big silver car, the tall handsome man and remembered how it felt to be swept up in his arms, she couldn’t help smiling.
He glanced sideways. ‘What’s so amusing?’
‘Us.’
He looked puzzled.
She risked being honest. ‘A luxury car and a handsome man. You’ve swept me off my feet – quite literally at one stage – it’s like something out of a corny film.’
He flushed slightly. ‘Merci du compliment.’
‘De rien, monsieur.’ Aha, she thought gleefully, that’s thrown him off his stride, for once. ‘You’re the one who’s blushing now,’ she teased. ‘You must know you’re handsome.’
‘I’m not used to being told so openly by a beautiful woman.’ He concentrated on his driving.
He called me beautiful, she thought in wonderment. No one had ever called her beautiful before. But she felt beautiful when he said it. She watched the way his firm, well-kept hands moved on the steering wheel and unbidden came the thought of those same hands touching her.
‘Penny for them,’ he said quietly.
‘Oh, I’m just enjoying the drive,’ she said hastily.
By the time they got back, her foot was already feeling a bit better. As they stopped outside the front door of the hotel, he said, ‘Wait a minute and I’ll carry you inside.’
‘I can limp along perfectly well if you’ll just let me lean on you.’
‘It’ll be better for me to carry you.’
He bent down and surprised her by tilting up her chin to kiss her again. She pushed ineffectually at him with one hand, not wanting to embrace in such a public place. But he ignored her and finished the kiss in a leisurely and eminently satisfactory manner.
She couldn’t help sighing as his lips left hers.
When he bent towards her again, she gasped, ‘D—don’t!’
‘Why not? You were enjoying it as much as I was.’
‘I – you – we hardly know one another.’
‘We will,’ he said confidently.
He picked her up and she leaned against his chest, enjoying the sensation of being in his arms.
Then the spell was broken as a concierge rushed to fetch a chair. ‘Shall I bring you a wheelchair, madam? Or a walking stick. We have quite a collection, left behind by guests.’
‘A walking stick will be enough,’ she insisted, feeling colour rise in her cheeks. ‘I’m all right, really I am. It’s just a sprain.’
When Ben had helped her up to her room he smiled. ‘Dinner at seven?’
‘I’d love to.’
‘In my suite again? I’d come here, but I’m expecting a call from New York.’
‘All right.’
‘You’d better rest for a while. I’ll get them to send up some ice, then I’ll go and find out about your car.’
She’d forgotten that completely.
After another excellent dinner in his suite he looked at her across the table as she sipped a liqueur and tried to smother a yawn. ‘You’re tired and I have some international calls to make.’
She looked at him ruefully. ‘There’s something about a day in the fresh air, isn’t there? I loved it, though.’
‘Me too.’
He escorted her to her door again, watchful as she limped carefully along the corridor beside him using the walking stick. She didn’t know what to say. Was this the end of their acquaintance or not? She’d been hoping he’d remember his promise to show her Bamburgh Castle, but he hadn’t mentioned it again, so she hadn’t either.
At the door she turned and gave him a determined smile.
He leaned against the wall, close enough for her pulse to start beating faster. ‘Do you think your ankle will stand another outing tomorrow?’
She looked at him uncertainly. Did he really want to spend the day with her or did he just feel obliged to fulfil the promise he’d made?
He seemed to understand what she was thinking. ‘I mean it.’
Delight flooded through her. ‘My ankle will be fine.’ And if it wasn’t, she wouldn’t tell him.
‘Then I’ll take you to see Bamburgh Castle, as promised. We may be able to hire a wheelchair to take you round it.’
How unromantic could you get? No way was she sitting in a wheelchair with her back to him. ‘I’m sure I won’t need that. My ankle’s feeling better already. The ice did wonders.’
‘I’ll look forward to it, then.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘But I have to make those calls now.’ He dropped a light kiss on the tip of her nose. ‘Eight o’clock breakfast again?’
‘Suits me. I’ll meet you down there.’
Inside her room she raised one fist in a victory salute. He wouldn’t be taking her out again if he wasn’t enjoying her company.
Tomorrow, she thought as she drifted towards sleep, he’s taking me to Bamburgh Castle. Tomorrow…