Jessica Hart - Birthday Bride

‘You can if you know what you’re doing,’ said David. ‘And fortunately I do. I’ve spent some time in Shofrar, and I’m quite capable of getting myself to Telama’an.’

Had there been a stress on that ‘myself? Claudia fiddled with her ring and wished she hadn’t been quite so forthright in her opinion of him earlier on. ‘Um...I haven’t got very much money with me,’ she said awkwardly. ‘But if you would give me a lift I’m sure Patrick would give you half the cost, and then I’d be able to pay him back when I got to London. I’d be very grateful.’

She looked at him pleadingly. ‘Please,’ she added.

She really did have extraordinary eyes, David found himself thinking. They were somewhere between blue and grey, a deep, soft, smoky colour, like twilight over the hills, the kind of eyes a man could lose himself in, the kind of eyes that could make him forget to breathe.

He dragged his gaze away. Claudia was everything he disliked in a girl. She was silly and superficial. She had irritated and exasperated and deliberately provoked him, and he knew perfectly well that he would be ready to murder her long before they reached Telama’an. Just because she had beautiful eyes that played odd tricks with his breathing, it was no reason to take her with him. If he had any sense, he would just say no.

‘Oh, all right,’ he said irritably. ‘But no complaining! It’ll be a hard trip and if I have to listen to any moaning you can get out and walk!’

‘Thank you!’ Claudia’s face lit up with a smile that stopped the breath in David’s throat. He hadn’t seen her smile before and he was taken aback to discover how it illuminated her face and deepened the blue in her eyes. ‘You won’t regret it,’ she promised. ‘I won’t say a word,’ she offered generously. ‘I’ll do whatever you say.’

‘I’ll believe that when I see it!’ David thrust his hands deeper into his pockets and scowled at the poster on the wall, infuriated by his own reaction. Damn it, the last thing he needed right now was to start noticing how much younger and warmer and lovelier she looked when she smiled. The meeting in Telama’an was vital to the future of the firm and it was that he should be concentrating on, not pretty eyes or unexpected smiles!

‘I’ll go and see what I can find out,’ he added in a brusque voice. ‘Stay there.’

‘All right.’ Claudia was too relieved at his agreement to object to his tone. For a nasty moment there she had thought he was going to refuse, and she couldn’t really have blamed him. They hadn’t exactly got off on the right foot. She was determined to be nice to him from now on, though.

She waited obediently until David returned, but as soon as she saw his face she knew that he hadn’t had any success. ‘I’ve had a word with a few people,’ he said. ‘It might be possible to fix something up, but I can’t do anything until we get into town. Apparently they’re trying to arrange some kind of bus, so in the meantime we’re just going to have to wait.’

‘I seem to have spent this entire trip waiting,’ sighed Claudia, and he glared at her, still resentful of the effect her smile had had on him.

‘I thought you weren’t going to complain!’

‘That wasn’t a complaint, it was a comment,’ she muttered, but lapsed into a sullen silence rather than get into an argument with him. She had promised to be nice, and she wouldn’t put it past him to leave her behind after all!

Sighing, she crossed her legs in an effort to get comfortable, then uncrossed them when it didn’t work. A few moments later, she tried crossing them the other way.

‘For God’s sake, stop fidgeting!’ hissed David.

Claudia opened her mouth to tell him she was bored and uncomfortable, but thought better of it. ‘I’ve got cramp in my leg,’ she said placatingly. ‘I’ll just walk around a bit.’

She wandered over to the window and stood for a while watching the luggage being unloaded off the plane onto a decrepit trolley. As she watched, she saw Amil, the man who had been sitting across the aisle from her, walk purposefully over and pick out a bag. He looked like a man who knew where he was going, and Claudia waved at him as he came back through the terminal.

‘Aren’t you waiting for the bus?’

‘I am fortunate in having family contacts here,’ he explained. ‘I need to be in Telama’an by tomorrow, so one of my relatives has brought me out a car. If I set out now, I think I will be able to make it in time.’

‘Oh, you are lucky!’ sighed Claudia enviously. ‘It looks as if we’re going to be here for ages yet.’

‘You are anxious to get to Telama’an?’

‘I have to be there by tomorrow.’

‘Then why do you not come with me?’ Amil suggested. ‘It will be a long and uncomfortable trip, and it will mean spending the night at an oasis, but if you want to be in Telama’an by tomorrow I would be more than happy to take you.’

‘Go with you?’ Claudia hesitated, her mind working quickly as she considered his offer. Amil seemed charming, but he was a stranger and she knew nothing about the customs in Shofrar. It would be hopelessly naive to entrust herself to him.

On the other hand, she couldn’t bear to waste two days of her precious holiday sitting around in this terrible place if David didn’t manage to get hold of a car. She couldn’t spend her birthday alone here, and Amil’s offer might be her only chance to get to Telama’an in time.

She couldn’t risk it, though. ‘It’s terribly kind of you...’ she was beginning when she caught sight of David over Amil’s shoulder. He was sitting on the orange plastic chairs, looking as tough and self-contained as ever, but his jaw was tight and she had the impression that even his cool was beginning to fray, and Claudia’s words trailed off even as she tried to frame a polite excuse.

Of course! The answer was so obvious that she couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of it straight away. ‘It’s terribly kind of you,’ she said again to Amil with a warm smile. ‘We’d love to come with you. I’ll just go and tell my husband the good news!’

CHAPTER THREE

THERE was a tiny pause. Amil’s own smile, which had broadened as she rushed into eager acceptance, froze just a fraction. ‘Your husband?’

‘David.’ Claudia was all innocent surprise. ‘Didn’t you realise I was married?’

‘No.’ Amil pulled himself together. ‘You must forgive my surprise,’ he apologised. ‘It was just that I had the impression that you were travelling alone when we talked before.’

‘I’m sorry, I should have introduced you,’ said Claudia, looking suitably penitent. ‘He was sitting next to me on the plane. I’m a terrible coward about flying and he had to hold my hand all the way down.’

It was obvious that Amil was remembering, and Claudia congratulated herself on a convincing touch. ‘That was your husband?’ he said.

‘Of course,’ she said, opening her eyes wide. ‘I would hardly hold hands with a perfect stranger, would I?’

‘Of course not.’ Amil smiled. Claudia could almost see him giving a mental shrug at a lost opportunity and deciding to make the best of it. ‘In any case, I shall be delighted to give both you and your husband a lift.’

She had to give him full marks for courtesy. Perhaps there hadn’t been any need to lie after all? Still, it was too late now.

‘You’re very kind,’ she said, and meant it. ‘When were you planning to leave?’

‘As soon as possible.’

‘Then I’ll go and find David at once.’ Claudia smiled again. ‘I won’t be a minute.’

From the other side of the room, David saw her hurrying towards him, all smiles. He was prepared for the effect this time, though, and had time to rigidly control his breathing as she rushed up.