Boss Meets Baby(116)

He walked towards her, his expression as impenetrable— as the rugged stone that made up the impressive walls of his ancestral home. ‘For the first time in my life I actually looked forward to coming back here…did you know that?’

‘Really?’

She dropped her chin and stared at the floor. A wave of heat swept upwards through her body in a dizzying rush. What was he saying?

‘Why have you never looked forward to coming home before?’ she asked quietly, hardly daring to move in case he denied her the answer. An answer she found she very much longed to know.

‘There was nobody here that I wanted to see before.’ He shrugged, his mouth twisting wryly at one corner.

‘Not even your brother?’ Georgia asked the question even while all her senses were in uproar at what he’d just confessed.

‘I told you we weren’t close.’

A dark look had crept into his eyes.

‘Why weren’t you close?’ Her voice was barely above a whisper. ‘Did you have a fight or something?’ —

A muscle visibly showed itself contracting in the dark shadow of his sculpted cheekbone. ‘No…we didn’t have a fight. The tension between me and Robbie was an unspoken thing.’

‘And you weren’t able to heal that tension before he died? Is that it? Is that why you seem so troubled?’

‘It might be late, Georgia, but trust me—this isn’t the time for night-time confessions! Especially the kind that are apt to make me want to leave this cursed place again.’

‘I don’t want you to leave.’

‘What did you say?’ Appearing startled, Keir stared and Georgia could have bitten out her tongue. Why on earth had she come out with that? But she really didn’t want him to leave again…She just didn’t want him to get the wrong impression about what she’d said and why she’d said it.

‘What a night you chose to return!’ she declared, deliberately— trying to lighten the atmosphere.

‘I know…and I’m sorry if I gave you a fright.’

Surprising her, Keir reached out to touch her, and as his hard, warm fingers curled round her chin to raise it she was seized by such trembling that she could barely conceal it from him.

‘Next time I’ll be sure and ring you to let you know that I’m coming home,’ he promised, his voice threaded with a hushed and sensual undertone that riveted her.

‘Maybe next time you go away I’ll be back in London because I won’t be working here any more.’

‘Are you in such a hurry to leave me, Georgia?’ His tone was slightly mocking and his grip tightened a little around her chin.

‘It’s not that…It’s just that Valerie will be back sooner or later, and I—’

‘You have a life in London, waiting for you…I know.’ His voice threaded with apparent dissatisfaction,— he dropped his hands down to his sides. Immediately Georgia felt bereft of his touch, as if some integral part of her had suddenly been ripped away.

‘Does that include a man, perhaps?’ he demanded.

Shadows seemed to shift in his penetrating glare, and Georgia wished she could look away—but— she couldn’t.

His question threw her into a state of near panic. If he knew…if he even guessed how little experience she’d had of intimate relationships he probably wouldn’t be able to believe it. He might mock her, or— simply conclude she must be lying.

Fiddling with the neckline of her skimpy cotton robe, she was certain her lack of experience must show. Because it was so hard to contain her reaction to him and keep it hidden neatly away, like a secret letter stowed amongst her personal things in a bedroom drawer. His nearness was making her feel as if she stood too close to a scorching fire, yet at the same time she desired it above all else…

‘You’re right. This isn’t the moment for night-time— confessions, and I really think you should go now. We both need to go to bed…I mean to go to sleep…In our—in our own beds is what I mean!’ Her face went beetroot red at the hash she was making of what should have been a simple statement.

In response, Keir looked grim. There was certainly— no amusement evident at her clumsy phrasing.

‘I had better go, then,’ he announced clearly. ‘Before I finish what I started to do before my loyal housekeeper knocked on the door and ruined everything. An event that with hindsight you will probably no doubt welcome!’

He left her then, shutting the door with deliberately— firm emphasis behind him, and Georgia stood frozen for a full minute, locked in the myriad emotions that welled up inside her. She no longer felt afraid of the storm that vented its fury outside because her head was too full of wild, heated thoughts to be fully aware of much else but her own disquiet.

Keir was wrong about her welcoming the interruption— from his housekeeper…so wrong.

‘Good morning, Moira.’

‘Georgia, my dear!’

The friendly housekeeper glanced up from the cooking range as the younger woman entered the large bright kitchen. Immediately she observed the telling signs of a sleepless night on Georgia’s slightly paler than usual face.

‘You look like you had as restless a night as I had, love. Goodness gracious, but that was some hullabaloo last night, wasn’t it? Come and sit down, lassie, and— I’ll make you a nice rejuvenating cup of tea.’