The Beautiful Widow - By Helen Brooks Page 0,40
‘Quite distinctly.’
‘Was I?’ she asked in genuine surprise.
‘What were you thinking?’ he asked softly.
She knew him well enough by now to know he would persist until he got an answer, and he always seemed to be able to detect a lie. Keeping her voice steady, she said, ‘I was just thinking you don’t seem yourself this morning, that’s all.’
He shot her a look of sardonic amusement. ‘Is that so?’ he drawled lazily. ‘And what, exactly, is myself?’
‘I’m sorry?’ She wished she hadn’t spoken now.
‘How would you sum me up, Toni?’
This conversation wasn’t going at all as she wanted. There had been one or two other occasions lately when he’d displayed a somewhat mordant slant, but they’d been short-lived and gone in minutes. Impossible man.
‘Ah, I see you consider that too personal a question. Am I right? All the little shutters have gone up with a vengeance.’
She’d often got the feeling he was laughing at her and this was one of those times. Annoyance brought an edge to her voice as she said, ‘You might consider my reply too personal if I answered truthfully.’ And put that in your pipe and smoke it.
‘Touché.’ He grinned that sexy, charming grin of his and her heart began an undignified gallop. ‘So do I take it I haven’t managed to redeem myself over the last six months?’
Was he flirting with her? He couldn’t be. Not Steel. Toni found she wanted to put a hand to her chest to still her hammering heart but didn’t dare to. Instead she forced herself to speak calmly and steadily: ‘I don’t know what you mean.’
‘Do you know you always say that when you’re prevaricating?’ His tone wasn’t critical, more casually amused with a warm edge to it. ‘And you rub your nose when you’re enthusiastic about something and hold onto your bottom lip with your teeth when you’re listening intently.’
She stared at him, unable to say a word or spring back with one of the witty responses she was sure his girlfriends would use. He’d been observing her while she’d been observing him?
‘And there’s a note in your voice when you talk about your children that’s never there at any other time.’ He drew the car to a stop and cut the engine. ‘Here we are,’ he continued, as offhandedly as though they’d just been discussing the weather. ‘I’ll just open the gates. They’re supposed to be automatic but they don’t work; one of many things which will need attending to if I take the house.’
He slid out of the Aston Martin and opened the massive wrought-iron gates set in a high red-brick wall. Toni watched him, her head whirling.
Once he’d climbed back in the car he drove on to a long winding drive bordered on each side by lawns, shrubs and trees. The house was a hundred yards or so in front of them, a mellow old building with honey-coloured stone and a thatched roof. It was as different from what she’d expected as could possibly be.
Her face must have expressed her thoughts because beside her Steel murmured, ‘Surprised? What did you have me down for? No, let me guess. A new build perhaps. Or maybe a barn conversion. Something with a modern feel anyway and perhaps a little soulless. Am I right?’
He was absolutely spot on. ‘Not at all,’ she said tightly, glaring at him. ‘I had no thoughts about what to expect one way or the other.’
‘Liar.’ He left the car before she could retort, walking round the bonnet and helping her out of the low sleek vehicle with a solicitous hand at her elbow.
It was the tranquillity of her surroundings that hit Toni immediately, that and the sound of birdsong in the trees. She breathed in the crisp frosty air that smelt different from the fuel-laden fumes of the city and then gazed up at the house. It was beautiful, stunning, the quintessence of old-world charm. England at its best. She swallowed hard. ‘How old is it?’
‘Sixteenth century. At least the original part of the house is, but it’s been extended. It sits in two acres and has magnificent views at the back. It even has its own small wood with resident badgers.’ He smiled at her rapt expression. ‘You like it, then? It meets with your artistic approval?’
‘Who wouldn’t like it? It’s wonderful.’
‘Reserve your opinion until you’ve seen inside. The setting is perfect but the house itself needs some work doing to it. The kitchen’s small and outdated and the house itself is