“I was wondering, for future reference of course, if this dining room table was fair game?” he asked.
Her lips parted, her eyes widened and her head jerked around to look at the table. She felt her stomach flip and little tingles spiral delicately throughout her body.
Her head came back around and she saw his lips were twitching.
He was teasing.
“You’re a brute,” she whispered but her tone was teasing and her mind, somehow, was put at ease.
“You haven’t answered my question,” he drawled.
“Did your father build it or refinish it?” she queried mock seriously.
“No.”
“Your mother?” she continued, tilting her head.
“Of course not.”
“A beloved godfather?”
The twitching lips spread into a grin and he shook his head.
She countered by nodding hers.
“I take it that’s a yes?” he pressed.
She smiled her yes then caught her bottom lip between her teeth while his eyes dropped to watch. Then his face turned serious.
“Sibyl, before we join the others, I want to show you something. When you see it, I want you to promise me that you’ll let me finish what I need to say before you fly off the handle.”
Her eyes widened at this sudden change from flirtatious-mode to deadly-serious-liberally-mixed-with-ominous-hints-mode.
Even so, she focussed on something else and declared in self-defence, “I don’t fly off the handle.
His eyebrows lifted mockingly.
At his eyebrow lift, she sighed and said, “Okay, maybe I do but why would I fly off the handle?”
“Just promise me.”
She felt a shimmer of dread slide up her spine at his still serious tone and she started, “Colin –”
He cut her off, demanding, “Promise.”
He was using his silky voice and his warm eyes but they weren’t working on her this time because his look was so intense, it was scaring her half to death. She needed no more shocks tonight. She didn’t know if she could endure them.
But this was Royce, wasn’t it?
And even if it was Colin, she told herself could trust him. He’d taken care of her tranquillised dog, for goddess’s sake. He was buying her an alarm system. He bought a bunch of furniture for her oldies and she couldn’t forget the luxurious swivel chair. And, even though tonight’s dinner seemed doomed to failure for a variety of reasons, that didn’t happen and it wasn’t all that bad.
Yes, she could definitely trust him.
Couldn’t she?
What could he want to show her that might make her angry? Whatever it was couldn’t be all that awful. Especially if he could explain it.
Taking yet another chance that night, Sibyl decided to trust him.