Lee Wilkinson - A Vengeful Deception

His green eyes glinted. ‘I actually meant about staying here. Don’t you think, as we’re both on our own, that it would be nice if we were to spend Christmas together?’

Trying to believe he was teasing, she answered as lightly as possible, ‘Thanks for the offer, but I couldn’t possibly stay.’

Finishing her tea as quickly as she could, she put her cup back in the saucer with a little rattle, and, striving to sound casual, remarked, ‘Cleo will be wondering where on earth I’ve got to.’

Dark brows lifted a fraction. ‘I understood you to say she wasn’t expecting you?’

Cursing herself for telling him so much, Anna said weakly, ‘She knows me well enough to be certain I’d change my mind. Now I really must be going. They eat about seven, as soon as the twins have gone to bed…’

‘Well, if I can’t persuade you to stay,’ he murmured regretfully, ‘I’ll see you to the door.’

At that instant the lights flickered and went out.

Anna’s gasp was audible.

‘Don’t worry.’ In the darkness, Gideon’s voice sounded unconcerned. ‘It’s the generator. I’m afraid it’s on the blink. If you stay where you are for a moment, I’ll find a candle.’

Just as he finished speaking, the lights flashed on again, brilliant after the momentary blackness.

With a feeling of relief she hurried out of the kitchen and, trying belatedly to look as if she wasn’t escaping, crossed the hall to the front door.

Though she’d had several seconds’ start, and Gideon didn’t appear to be moving quickly, he was there before her.

His back to the dark wood, blocking her way, he said, ‘Let me know about the job, won’t you?’

‘Yes… Yes, I will.’

‘Oh, just one more thing…’

She paused and looked up at him. Close to, he dwarfed her five feet seven inches, and his shoulders seemed as wide as a barn door.

He lifted his right hand over their heads and, before she could react to the sprig of mistletoe he held, bent his head and kissed her on the lips.

For a few endless seconds she stood transfixed while that firm mouth covered hers, making her heart race and her head spin. Then, jerking away as though she’d been scalded, she brushed past him and pulled open the door.

She was shocked to find everywhere was white-over and a full-scale blizzard had started to blow. Snowflakes gusted in, swirling round their heads like handfuls of icy confetti.

‘I think it would be extremely unwise to set off in conditions like these,’ Gideon advised evenly.

Panic-stricken at the thought of having to stay, she insisted, ‘I’ll be all right, really I will. I don’t have too far to go.’

Disturbed, almost shocked by the effect of that relatively innocent kiss, she knew wild horses would have had a job to keep her there.

‘Well, do take care.’

Ducking her head, she made her way through the driving white curtain to the car.

Standing in the doorway, Gideon called after her, ‘Goodnight, Anna, and a merry Christmas.’

Somehow she managed, ‘Thank you, and the same to you.’

Slamming the car door behind her, she fastened her seat belt and felt for the keys which she’d left in the ignition.

Though the lights came on feebly, proving it wasn’t the battery, the engine flatly refused to start.

‘Try it without the lights,’ Gideon shouted, appearing at the car window.

She tried repeatedly, without success and with growing desperation.

Opening the car door a crack, he remarked cheerfully, ‘It doesn’t seem to be firing.’

Endeavouring to speak calmly, she asked, ‘Is there anything you can do?’

‘I’m sorry to say I don’t know much about machinery.’ Humorously, he added, ‘When I tried tinkering with the generator I only seemed to make matters worse.’

In an odd kind of way his answer surprised her. She had put him down as a man who would be able to deal with almost anything.

‘You don’t have another car, I suppose?’ She was clutching at straws.

‘I’m afraid not. All the family cars were sold after my father died.’

Freezing snow was blowing in, settling on her hair, making her shiver. ‘Then it will have to be a taxi.’

‘I doubt if any taxis will continue to run in these conditions.’

‘It’s quite likely that the main roads will still be clear. Please will you phone for me?’

‘Sorry. That isn’t possible.’

‘Why isn’t it possible?’ she asked sharply.

‘Because the phone isn’t working. The gales blew down several trees, which in turn brought down the line…’ He was having to shout, the wind whipping away his words. ‘I gather it will be after Christmas before they get round to mending it.’

‘Haven’t you got a mobile phone?’ Most people had these days. Though of course he was newly over from the States…

Opening the door fully, he said, ‘Yes, I hired one. But unfortunately I wasn’t thinking, and I left it in my car.’ Then, briskly, ‘Now, may I suggest you come back inside, before we both freeze to death?’

For one mad moment she toyed with the idea of setting off on foot, until common sense reminded her that it must be something in the region of five miles back to where Cleo lived.

It would be unwise, to say the least, to attempt to walk that far at night and in a raging blizzard, wearing high-heeled fashion boots.

Fate, it seemed, was against her.

Seeing nothing else for it, she clambered out.

‘I expect you’ll be wanting these.’ Reaching over, he used his right hand to gather up her bag and case from the rear seat, then leaned against the car door to close it.

Head down against the driving snow, her teeth clenched to stop them chattering, Anna followed him back to the house.

The air inside felt almost as cold as the outside, and a drift of snow, blown in through the partly open door, powdered the dark oak floorboards.

Using his foot to shut the door behind them, Gideon remarked, ‘As I said earlier, the central heating isn’t working, so with an Aga that runs on either gas or solid fuel, the warmest place in the house is the kitchen.’

He led the way back there and, putting her belongings on an old settle, shrugged out of his wet jacket and hung it on one of a row of large, wooden pegs.

‘Let me.’ Having one-handedly helped her off with her coat, he hung it beside his own, before finding a couple of towels. ‘Better dry your hair. You don’t want to catch a chill.’

He rubbed his own head then, leaving the towel hanging around his neck, crossed to the huge fireplace, both sides of which were stacked with kindling, split logs and sawn-off branches the size of young trees.

Anna dried her face. Her cheeks felt stiff and frozen, her ears were numb, and she could tell her nose was red.

While she removed the pins and rubbed her long, dark hair, she watched him take a match from the box, strike it with a flick of his thumbnail, and crouch on his haunches to light the kindling.

Then, his right hand flat on the stone hearth, he leaned forward to blow the faltering flame into life.

She noticed that he wore a heavy gold signet-ring on his fourth finger, before her eyes were drawn to his handsome profile.

Once again she saw a sneaking likeness to David.

But while David’s profile had been just as handsome, it had had nothing of the ruthless quality that this man’s possessed.

Using both hands to pull back her still damp hair, she knotted it loosely in the nape of her neck, while a shiver ran through her that had nothing to do with the cold.

What on earth was she going to do, stranded here alone with this disturbing stranger?

Her practical streak pointed out that there wasn’t much she could do. Somehow she would have to pull herself together and make the best of things. At least until the blizzard stopped.