Redeeming the Reclusive Earl - Virginia Heath Page 0,64

‘A hilarious joke...’ Except he wanted to cry it was all so tragic.

‘It is?’ Her expression was now as bland as the cream plaster wall behind her and he really could not read her. Awkwardness and hurt turned to uneasiness and abject humiliation, making him want to howl at the moon rather than stand in front of her denying all the feelings he could no longer deny to himself.

‘Well, of course it is. We are friends, Effie. Nothing more and nor could we be, thank goodness.’ Talking hurt. Swallowing was impossible thanks to the crushed glass which had suddenly materialised in his throat. His palms felt clammy and he wanted to run. ‘The fact we are friends is bizarre enough, don’t you think? What with you being the bane of my life and all...’

‘The bane.’

‘In a good way.’ The ground felt unsteady under his feet as he realised, too late, he had made a hash of things. Somewhere between blaming the excitement of the shield and perhaps a wee bit before he had called her a bane out loud, he had grievously insulted her. She made no attempt to mask the upset on her lovely face.

‘Can banes ever be good?’

‘In your case, exceedingly.’ He knew he had to fix it, but had no earthly idea how without telling her that he cared. For her. A great deal. ‘Not every man can boast a bane quite like you, Effie.’ Without the benefit of either a trowel or a shovel he was apparently digging the largest hole he had attempted in a fortnight. A deep, cavernous pit which was taking him straight to hell. ‘You are unique.’

‘Unique?’

‘Yes—different. Totally unlike any other person I have ever met before, nor likely will ever meet again...’ He paused before the truth tumbled out, before he confessed he found her attractive in every sense of the word—mind, body and soul—but she misconstrued his silence completely and instinctively backed away as if he just slapped her.

‘An oddity, then.’ There was no misinterpreting her expression now. She was angry. Two chocolate eyes glared back at him stormy.

‘Not in a bad way.’ Five pathetic and lacklustre words which he would have chiselled on his gravestone as penance after she murdered him for them. ‘Not so much an oddity in the odd sense, more odd that you are so...’ Maddening, lovely, entertaining, necessary, entirely perfect from your magnificent big brain to your mismatched earrings. ‘Errr...uniquely you.’

‘If you will excuse me, Max, your sister is expecting me.’

He caught her arm as she barged past and she stared at his hand as though it were a snake. ‘I am not articulating myself very well, Effie. You see, the thing is...’ Perhaps the best solution was to simply start all over again from the beginning, leaving out all the bits which might let her know he had fallen for her hard. ‘What I meant to say was...’

She tugged her arm away and peered at him down her nose. ‘I understood your initial statement perfectly, Max. Without the need for all your inappropriately descriptive clarification. Like everyone else you see my big brain first and not the woman! And there I was thinking you were different from everyone else!’ Then she stalked off towards the drawing room, leaving him standing there wondering how he had managed to make a bad situation so much worse without even trying.

Chapter Sixteen

Dig Day 801: it is still raining. Thank God!

‘Is everything quite all right, Miss Effie? Only you don’t seem yourself.’

Mrs Farley placed another cup of tea on the desk alongside a slice of fruitcake. Fruitcake which instantly reminded her of him. Dratted man. ‘The rain is getting me down. It has barely stopped in a week and I am eager to get back to the dig site.’

A big fat lie.

For the first time since she had seriously picked up the trowel after Rupert’s death, Effie was actively avoiding the ruined Abbey. Or rather she was actively avoiding a certain irritating gentleman who technically owned it and wasn’t in any hurry to reacquaint herself with him after he had kissed her senseless and then likened it to a mere bumping of faces in a