‘Why don’t you explain what you intend to do with La Petite Maison, Kate,’ Guy suggested dryly. ‘I can see that you would like to hear more, Professor Gilman.’
Oh, no you don’t, Kate thought, shrewdly side-stepping the trap. ‘Professor Gilman, I would be delighted to send you some promotional literature,’ she said calmly, ‘once we are up and running.’
‘I’ll look forward to receiving it,’ the Professor replied, giving Kate an amused, measuring look.
As the Professor prepared to leave later that evening Megan leapt up too. ‘Would you mind if I shared your taxi, Professor Gilman? I fear I won’t be much company. My eyes are playing up—the onset of a migraine, perhaps,’ she said, looking apologetically at Kate.
‘Shall I come with you?’ Kate said, half standing.
‘No offence, but I’d like to go straight to bed,’ Megan explained, pressing her back down in the chair again. ‘That sometimes gets rid of the symptoms—prevents a full-blown attack.’
‘I’ll call my driver at once,’ Guy said.
‘No, no, don’t trouble,’ Megan insisted. ‘It’s only a hop, skip and a jump back to the cottage and I’m sure Professor Gilman won’t mind…’
‘Of course I don’t mind,’ the Professor confirmed.
Guy called a member of his staff across. ‘Would you take these ladies to collect their wraps?’
‘I really should go with them,’ Kate said, starting to get up.
Guy put his hand on her arm, stopping her. ‘Please don’t,’ he said softly. ‘My mother may yet feel strong enough to come down and…’
‘I’m sorry,’ Kate said, not knowing which way to turn. ‘Of course I’ll stay. If there’s even the slightest chance…’ She stopped and put her hand on top of the clenched fist he was resting on the table. ‘The last few months must have been dreadful for you, Guy, assuming the responsibilities of the estate whilst you were still suffering the aftermath of such a dreadful loss.’
Guy took a few moments to respond and then his mouth twisted in bitter agreement. ‘Taking over the business was nothing, Kate. That’s what I do. But losing my father…’ He gave a long shuddering sigh and it was a few moments more before he could bring himself to speak. ‘The accident, your aunt Alice…’ He wiped a hand across his eyes as if to try and erase all the painful memories. ‘It was all so dreadful,’ he said in a voice that was barely audible, ‘and so fast… I still can’t believe he’s gone.’
Reaching out, Kate put her hand on his arm as he continued to stare blindly across the terrace. ‘Would it help to talk about it?’
‘It won’t bring my father back,’ he told her bleakly. ‘I loved him so much, Kate.’
‘I know that,’ she said softly. ‘And you’re still suffering from shock, Guy. It takes time to develop strategies for coping with something so terrible…so unexpected.’
He nodded agreement. ‘And now my mother’s health seems to be failing.’
‘But maybe there’s a chance that can be reversed,’ Kate cut in thoughtfully.
‘Do you really think so?’ he said, touching her with his eagerness.
Kate pressed her lips together as she thought about it. ‘She must feel lost—uncertain as to how she will carry on without your father. It must seem to her as if the whole fabric of her life has been ripped into shreds. But if she was given a new sense of purpose—of self-worth…’
‘But how, Kate? How?’
‘I’m not sure yet,’ Kate admitted honestly. ‘But if you’ll let me, I’d like to try and help.’
When Professor Gilman and Megan returned they were forced to abandon the conversation. Kate didn’t feel proud of herself when Professor Gilman slipped in a few more discreet enquiries regarding her future plans and she fielded them with the same aplomb that had always left her with a sense of satisfaction in the past. The reason for that was Guy, she thought. He had always been a tower of strength, not just to her but to his family and everyone connected with him. Tonight he had revealed his most private wounds to her and they went deeper than she could ever have imagined. Without careful nursing they might never heal.
CHAPTER SIX
‘YOU must be rather pleased with yourself,’ Guy observed as they waved off the Professor’s taxi. ‘Dodging Professor Gilman’s question about what you intend to do here,’ he clarified as he cupped her elbow to guide her up the steps.
Whatever her thoughts on his state of mind, this was not the time for truth games, Kate decided. Not while there was still a chance of a meeting with his mother. A bad atmosphere between them would make such a meeting impossible. ‘No dodging about it,’ she said, fighting to keep her mind on track while her senses were flaming at his touch. ‘Good business practice, that’s all. I don’t expect you to tell me about your confidential dealings and until I’m ready to go public you’ll just have to put up with the little you know.’
‘Which is nothing,’ Guy pointed out in a low drawl that strummed a quivering chord of pure sensation up and down her spine.
Kate watched as suspicion honed his keen grey gaze into a laser beam trained on her face. ‘That must make quite a change for you, Guy,’ she said, as uncertainty made her revert to the light banter that had always brought her close to him in the past. She wasn’t expecting to be swung around quite so forcibly.
‘Ca suffit maintenant! This is no joking matter, Kate,’ he said tersely. ‘I am through playing games. Those covenants stand. I forbid you to operate a business on my land.’
‘You forbid?’
‘You heard me,’ he said firmly. ‘I have already conceded the point of you retaining La Petite Maison for your own use, but I will not be pushed into agreeing to some wild scheme…’
‘Wild scheme?’ Kate said angrily as she attempted to shake herself free. ‘I lay all my business plans with great care, or have you forgotten the success I’ve had already with Freedom Holidays?’
‘I confess I’d forgotten what it feels like to run up against you,’ Guy admitted as he tightened his grip.
Kate shivered as she noticed something very dark and dangerous brewing in his eyes.
‘Oh, pour l’amour de Dieu, Kate! Do your worst,’ he grated, holding her so close now her lips tingled in response. ‘I’m ready for you.’
‘Oh, really?’ she challenged.
‘Really. And you will do what I say,’ he added with the force of inborn authority.
She should have moved then—moved as soon as she saw the expression in his eyes warning her that he was brutally aroused—and not just by the conflict between them. She knew she should struggle, but his hands were too skilful and knew her too well. Their touch was so light and seductive and she had waited so long. Holding her locked in the arrogance of his heated gaze, Guy began to feather touches across her shoulders and down her arms. He had no need to do more. She came to him willingly, eagerly, surprising them both with the force of her desire.
‘No,’ he murmured sternly, holding her away from him. ‘Not here and not now.’ And, easing her arms away from his neck, he took her by the hand and led her out into the garden again. Fountains were playing a soothing tune in hidden courtyards and the scent of lavender hung heavily in the air as he took her through an iron gate that led into a large cobbled yard in the gardeners’ kingdom. He kept her close by his side as he took her down a flight of steep stone steps and Kate was forced to cling to his hand as she peered into the gloom, wondering where he was taking her. Their footsteps echoed eerily in the still black night and when they reached the bottom she couldn’t resist an anxious glance back up to the top.
‘Having second thoughts?’ Guy suggested dryly.
‘Certainly not.’ But she was shivering now and not from the cold, for the air was heavy and warm, but from a heady mix of uncertainty, expectation and desire.
Guy’s firm lips curved in a hard smile. ‘Well, if you’re quite sure…’ He pushed open a heavy oak door to reveal a brilliantly lit, château-sized potting shed with a stone floor
where row upon row of new young plants on tiered platforms awaited transfer to the flower beds outside. He heard her gasp and turned around. ‘Not quite what you expected?’ he murmured.
It certainly wasn’t. With one of the most beautiful homes in Europe at his disposal it was an odd place for a romantic tryst—if that was what he intended. ‘Are you sure you haven’t brought me down here to lock me in and throw away the key?’
‘I hadn’t thought of that,’ he admitted throwing her a look. ‘Don’t tempt me.’
As he started to walk away from her Kate couldn’t stop herself blurting out, ‘Don’t leave me.’
‘I won’t be long,’ Guy promised. ‘Stay there. You’re not scared, are you, Kate?’ he suggested with a wry twist of his wickedly beautiful mouth.
‘Of course not.’ She had all the same symptoms, though, Kate realised, staring back at him defiantly. Her heart was racing; her lungs were pumping.
‘If you will just excuse me for a few moments,’ he drawled, sketching a mock bow.
Hugging herself for comfort, Kate gazed around. The rows of plants seemed to stretch to infinity, but there were no dark corners so there was absolutely no need for her to be nervous, she told herself firmly as she hummed a tuneless little song. But as the minutes ticked by she thought more than once about tearing back up the stairs and out into the open air again.
‘Thank you for waiting.’
She whirled around at the sound of Guy’s voice, then uttered a short cry. ‘Comtesse de Villeneuve!’ Kate sped across to Guy’s side where his mother stood leaning on her son’s arm, but her attempt at a formal greeting was brushed aside as the Countess drew her into a warm embrace.
‘Thank you so much for coming to the château, Kate, chérie. After the accident—’ The Countess broke off and made a small gesture with one hand as if to signal her inability to discuss the tragedy. ‘I only ever leave my room now to come down and see my plants,’ she explained in a voice husky with emotion. ‘Guy thought I might be on my way down. It’s my usual time.’
‘But you can’t remain isolated like that,’ Kate declared impulsively. ‘You must come to the cottage and visit me.’ She took the old lady’s free hand in a firm grip and squeezed it encouragingly.
‘I never leave the château,’ the Countess explained apologetically, shaking her head. ‘I don’t feel safe—not since the accident.’
‘You’ll feel safe with me,’ Kate promised fervently.
‘We’ll see,’ the Countess said wistfully. ‘Will you take me back now, Guy? Come with us, Kate. Guy will take you home when he has seen me to my room.’
On impulse, Kate lifted the Countess’s hand to her lips. ‘I’ve missed you,’ she said shyly.
The Countess stroked her hand down Kate’s hair as she studied her face with a still clear gaze. ‘And I’ve missed you, my dear Kate. More than you know.’
‘You look as if you’ve lost a penny and found a pound,’ Megan exclaimed as they clashed pots together in the sink the next morning.
Kate touched her hands to her cheeks, remembering her visit with the Countess that had more than made up for her lapse of control with Guy. Fortunately, with his mother uppermost in both their minds, she had been spared his teasing on the drive home. Megan’s face lit up at the news of Kate’s encounter with the Countess. ‘It might not be much,’ she said wisely when Kate explained how short and unusual her visit had been, ‘but it’s the first small step towards recovery. Now we have to persuade her to visit us here at the cottage.’
‘How’s your migraine?’ Kate enquired, although Megan looked as fit as a fiddle.
‘Never mind that. Do I detect a feverish glow in those emerald eyes of yours?’ Megan countered. ‘And don’t tell me that’s a love-bite on your neck?’ she said, furiously working the wire wool over the frying pan.
‘I don’t know what you imagine, but I can assure you that Guy has no romantic interest in me whatever. And, as for a love-bite—’ Fat chance! Kate thought ruefully. ‘I just rubbed myself too hard with the towel this morning after my shower.’
‘If you say so—’
‘I do say so.’
‘Ah, well then.’ Megan sighed. ‘But did my little ruse work?’ she demanded, keeping her eyes fixed resolutely on her task.
‘Your little ruse?’
‘That’s right,’ Megan said as she lifted her head to quiz Kate. ‘You see, I thought that if I just left you with him…’
‘You left me on purpose!’ Kate exclaimed incredulously. ‘How could you do that? How could you leave me alone with Guy?’
‘I made such a mess of everything earlier—scattering those paint brushes—I just thought if I left the two of you alone together it would solve all your problems.’
Kate’s facial expressions ran the gamut from surprise and then on to amusement as she realised what Megan was getting at. ‘What? Buy him off with my body, you mean?’
‘It’s a thought…’
‘Megan! If it was anyone but you…’
‘Well, it isn’t,’ Megan said gruffly.
‘I know,’ Kate said, giving her a hug. ‘You’re as bad as ever.’
‘I certainly hope so.’
‘But, for your information…’
‘Yes?’ Megan prompted eagerly.
‘Nothing happened,’ Kate said flatly. And that was all she was prepared to admit, even if Megan was giving her one of her special narrowed eyes looks. And it was thanks to Guy’s self-control rather than her own shaky willpower that she was able to make that proud assertion at all, she realised ruefully.
‘Pity.’
‘You’re impossible, Megan O’Reilly.’ Kate sighed with exasperation. ‘Sleeping with Guy isn’t the answer.’
‘Not for you, maybe, but for every other woman on the planet.’
‘He doesn’t want me, I’ve told you that already,’ Kate asserted, determined to shoot Megan’s grand plan out of the sky once and for all. ‘He’s only playing games with me—just like he always has done. And, if following some extreme lapse of judgement I did sleep with him, how do you think he would react when he found out that I had pulled the wool over his eyes?’
‘And you really think you can do that?’
‘What?’
‘Pull the wool over his eyes,’ Megan said, clearly unconvinced.
‘Well, I can try,’ Kate said, feeling dejected too suddenly as she contemplated the enormity of the task she had set herself. It was one complication she could certainly do without.
‘Have you not tried to talk him round?’
‘There’s no point,’ Kate said. ‘He’s absolutely adamant.
‘Ah, well then.’ Megan sighed with a frown. ‘If direct confrontation won’t work, we’ll just have to let him get used to the idea slowly.’
It was perhaps as well Megan had no idea what they were up against, Kate thought. Even without Guy’s disapproval, it was one thing expecting Megan to see her way around the cottage with candles in the evening, but it was quite another to expect paying guests to do the same. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll work something out,’ she said, hoping to sound more confident than she felt.
‘That’s my girl.’
As she gave Megan a quick hug, Kate remembered how much was at stake for her friend. ‘I’ll show you,’ she promised fiercely.
‘Of course you will,’ Megan murmured soothingly. ‘Of course you will, my pet.’
The single imperative bleep of Kate’s mobile phone drove them apart. ‘I don’t suppose you’d like to answer that?’ Kate suggested wryly.
‘Not a chance,’ Megan retorted, matching her mood with a lopsided grin.
Kate hesitated a moment and then picked up the phone.
‘Well?’ Megan demanded after a lengthy period of thoughtful hums from Kate, mingled with some muted agreement. ‘Who was it?’
‘Madame Duplessis,’ Kate revealed in a voice taut with surprise and pleasure. ‘Madame le Comtesse has asked whether she might pay us a short visit…’
‘I told you,’ Megan broke in excitedly. ‘She’s going to take the first step to recovery, thanks to you.’
‘That’s overstating my involvement,’ Kate said. ‘It was Guy who brought us together.’
‘But it’s up to us now to do all we can to help her,’ Megan pointed out.
‘I know,’ Kate agreed.
‘That poor woman hasn’t been out of doors since the accident,’ Megan went on, ‘and that’s more than six months ago now.’
‘I’m as anxious about her as you are.’
‘It’s up to us to heal her spirit—bring her here and then…’
Megan’s eyes were dancing with enthusiasm and Kate hated to bring her down to earth. ‘Take her into our confidence?’
‘Yes, why not?’ Megan agreed passionately. ‘Maybe she can talk Guy round for you.’
‘No,’ Kate said firmly. ‘The last thing Guy’s mother needs is to be drawn into a dispute between us.’
‘She’s made of stronger stuff than you think,’ Megan said directly.
‘I’m not prepared to risk upsetting her,’ Kate said. ‘And, whatever you say to try and make me feel better about all of this, just remember, I’m misleading her son.’
‘Oh, pish!’ Megan said dismissively. ‘Guy will survive.’
‘Maybe,’ Kate murmured, unconvinced, wondering if her friendship with him would too. When she had inherited the property she had taken Guy’s support for granted. Now she could see how rash she had been. But the last thing she had been expecting was for him to forbid her the right to develop the cottage as she wanted. Suddenly it seemed as if Aunt Alice’s loving gesture might well backfire and be the one thing that drove Guy away from her. ‘I can hardly pretend I don’t know anything about the covenants,’ Kate reasoned. ‘But to be honest with you, Megan, I haven’t even read through them properly yet…’
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