A Thorn In Paradise

‘If you say so.’ He let go of her, then said before she could walk away, ‘But first——’ he reached behind her and unpinned her hair in one easy movement and it cascaded down to her waist, long, straight and like spun silk ‘—I’ve been intrigued to see whether you’re as icy and untouchable-looking with your hair loose.’

Vivid colour flowed into her face. She could feel her heart beating like a drum inside her chest and for once she couldn’t think of a thing to say. Without a word, she began walking away.

‘Wouldn’t like to know what I think?’ she heard him ask from behind her, and there was amused laughter in his voice.

Damn him! Was his opinion of her so low that he felt he could do and say anything he pleased to her? The back of her neck was still prickling from where his fingers had brushed against it and, whether she admitted it or not, her blood was racing with a terrible, forbidden excitement.

CHAPTER THREE (#ulink_180256a1-6fe7-5303-8cf7-ef2822308ac5)

BENJAMIN didn’t emerge from his room until the following morning, by which time he had harnessed some of his raging temper, at least as far as Corinna could make out. She laid out his clothes on his bed, and he emerged from his bedroom half an hour later with a few additions to what she had set out. A blue silk cravat and the comfortable loafers which he normally used around the house had been discarded in favour of a pair of tan shoes which looked far too smart for everyday use.

Corinna eyed him with some amusement and he scowled at her.

‘Something the matter?’ he barked, allowing her to take his arm as they walked down the staircase.

‘You look very dapper,’ she said seriously. ‘Are you going somewhere?’

‘Can’t a man look halfway smart in his own house?’ Benjamin barked, ‘without being subjected to wisecracks?’

‘I wasn’t being funny!’

‘Well, it sounded that way to me,’ he muttered grumpily, and she grinned. ‘Where is he, anyway?’

‘Oh, have you dressed to impress?’

‘I have not!’ he denied with a little too much vigour. ‘Why would I do that? I don’t even want him under my roof!’

‘Well, I don’t know where he is.’ They had reached the kitchen and Corinna began laying out his breakfast. Kippers, toast, coffee, juice, while Benjamin took his place at the table and eyed her speculatively.

‘You seem to have improved your image a bit as well,’ he commented slyly, ‘now that we’re on the subject.’

Corinna didn’t look at him but she felt her face redden. All right, so she had decided to wear a little make-up and a deep pink blouse with a matching skirt instead of the usual invisible colours she favoured, but that didn’t mean anything at all. It certainly didn’t mean that she was trying to create any sort of impression on Antonio Silver, because she wasn’t. She hadn’t seen him at all since his arrogant gesture in releasing her hair, just for fun, and in the interim she had decided that she really loathed the man. She didn’t like his massive self-confidence bordering on downright arrogance, she didn’t like his too striking good looks, she didn’t like his easy, sexual charm lurking just below the surface, and most of all she didn’t like the way he always managed to get under her skin and do strange things to her composure. She had always been a very composed girl and she meant to stay that way. Men like that frightened her. They were too powerful, too clever, too self-assured. She had always longed for the non-threatening. Hadn’t she?

‘Well?’ Benjamin prodded in his usual forthright manner, which she was beginning to see wasn’t all that different from his son’s. ‘So what’s behind the charming pink outfit which, might I say, is far and away the nicest thing I’ve seen you in since you were here?’

‘Nothing,’ Corinna remarked, pouring herself a mug of coffee and sitting down. ‘And if you think that there is, then your imagination’s running away with you.’

‘A bit like yours was a minute ago,’ he said mildly, crunching into his toast, and she looked at him with resigned exasperation.

‘Well, now that we’ve sorted that one out,’ she said after a while, ‘what are we going to do today? Shall we take the usual walk and then spend some time on your writing, or would you like to do something different? We could go to the local library. You’ve been talking about needing some books which you haven’t got in your library.’

‘Yes, why don’t you?’ The deep, familiar voice threw them both into startled confusion and Corinna looked up, her blue eyes clashing with Antonio’s.