Annie laughed softly, her tension instantly easing. ‘Let’s go and do that shopping.’
Jessica stood up, her ankle hardly troubling her at all now. ‘We could get all the ingredients to make a nice hot curry tomorrow; that should steam Daddy’s temper out of him!’
‘Now, that isn’t nice,’ Annie reproved her lightly, but she couldn’t help but smile at the thought of Rufus with steam coming out of his ears …
Rufus wasn’t in that deliberately provocative mood any more when they went out for dinner later that evening; in fact he barely spoke at all, seeming totally distracted. Annie wasn’t sure which was worse—a taunting Rufus or an almost silent one!
‘Bad-tempered, and now he’s very quiet,’ Jessica ruminated as she climbed into bed later. ‘I’ve never, ever seen Daddy be quite like this …’
Annie shrugged dismissively, although she had to admit it hadn’t been a very comfortable evening for any of them. ‘He obviously has something on his mind.’ Or someone! The problem of the elusive Margaret was obviously still with him. But she couldn’t exactly tell Jessica that!
In fact, it suited her that Rufus didn’t want to discuss Margaret in front of his daughter; feeling about him as she did, it would be too painful for her to talk about his preoccupation with another woman!
‘I hope he isn’t going to leave again,’ Jessica said wistfully, sitting up in bed, her arms wrapped about her knees.
Annie felt her stomach lurch at the thought of it. Rufus go away again … He had been gone for three months the last time!
The thought of not seeing him for another three months made her feel sick. She couldn’t imagine not having him around, whether he be teasing or deliberately baiting her. How different were her feelings towards him now from when he had first arrived home—was it only three days ago? Then she had believed herself in love with his brother. How weak and insipid were the emotions she had felt towards Anthony compared to what she now felt for Rufus. She could hardly wait to get away from Anthony yesterday, whereas the mere thought of Rufus leaving made her feel physically ill.
‘Do you think he is?’ She looked anxiously at Jessica, her lips feeling stiff and unmoving as she spoke.
The young girl shrugged. ‘It’s difficult to tell,’ she sighed. ‘When he goes, he just goes.’
Which was probably the real reason why he had brought Annie along this weekend—he couldn’t just abandon Jessica here on her own if he was called away suddenly. Annie’s heart felt even heavier at this realisation.
She smoothed back Jessica’s hair as she settled her down onto the pillows. ‘Well, I wouldn’t worry about it until it happens,’ she soothed—she would do enough worrying about it for both of them! ‘Just enjoy the time you do have with him.’ As she intended to.
Rufus was sitting in the lounge, staring morosely into the glass of whisky he cradled in his hands, when Annie returned from putting Jessica to bed. He didn’t look as if he was in the mood to enjoy anything!
‘Jessica is worried about you,’ Annie told him bluntly as she stood in the open doorway.
She at once had his attention as he looked across at her. ‘Jess is?’ He looked troubled.
‘Mmm.’ Annie moved further into the room. ‘She thinks you may be going away again.’
‘Well, I’m not,’ he said flatly.
‘I didn’t say you were.’ Although she couldn’t help but feel relieved that he wasn’t. ‘Only that Jessica thinks you are.’
He looked irritated. ‘And why should she think that?’
Probably because he hadn’t really been here all day! ‘I have no idea,’ she replied. ‘You would have to ask Jessica that.’
‘Is this your roundabout way of telling me to go up and reassure Jess?’ he ventured.
He obviously wasn’t a man who liked to feel he had been manoeuvred into anything! ‘I don’t use roundabout ways, Rufus,’ Annie told him evenly. ‘I am merely relating to you what Jessica said to me—’
‘Okay. Okay!’ he bit back impatiently, putting his glass down heavily on the coffee table as he stood up. ‘I’m going.’ He held up his hands defensively. ‘God save me from a woman trying to be reasonable,’ he said as he crossed the room to the door. ‘It isn’t in the nature of the beast,’ he added insultingly as he left the room.
He was the one being completely unreasonable. Annie didn’t doubt for a moment that she was the recipient of his redirected anger. Rufus was again going out of his way to pick a fight with her, and if this carried on much longer he was going to get one!
‘I thought we could have a game of chess.’ Annie looked up and smiled at him when he returned a few minutes later.
The chess set was already set up in the corner of the room; she had merely moved the table over so that it stood between the two armchairs.
If Rufus wanted a fight, this was the safest way of having one. Besides, if he was concentrating on the game, then he couldn’t sit and brood …
‘Unless you have something else to do this evening?’ she added as an afterthought. Although one thing she was sure of: he wasn’t going to see Margaret!
‘Nothing that can’t wait,’ he answered as he sat down opposite her. ‘Are you any good at this?’ he rasped, eyes darkly probing.
‘I haven’t played for a while.’ There hadn’t been too much time in between working and taking care of herself.
‘Great!’ he responded bad-temperedly. ‘You had better go first, then.’ He hunched over in his seat.
Annie felt the warmth of angry colour in her cheeks. ‘It’s customary to toss a coin for it,’ she said softly.
He opened his mouth to give her another sharp reply, but something in her expression seemed to stop him. He closed his mouth again, sighing deeply. ‘I’m being a moody bast—swine aren’t I?’ he realised self-disgustedly.
‘Yes,’ she replied without hesitation, grateful to him for changing the word he had been going to use to describe himself.
He chuckled softly, some of the humour returning to his eyes. ‘At least you’re honest!’ He grinned.
She looked across at him defiantly. ‘For a woman?’
‘God, I have been an insulting swine today, haven’t I?’ He shook his head. ‘Will one apology suffice, or shall I go through each and every one of them?’ he cajoled.
Annie couldn’t help her lips curving upwards at his remorseful expression. ‘Why don’t we play the game of chess first—and then see if you still feel like apologising?’
His brows rose. ‘Are you that good …?’
She gave him an enigmatic smile in reply. Although, in truth, she was no longer sure how good she was; she hadn’t played for such a long time. She wanted to beat him; she knew that.
She won the toss of the coin, and began the game. And for the next half an hour there was barely a word spoken by either of them as they concentrated on their moves. But Annie could tell they were pretty evenly matched.
‘You are good,’ Rufus murmured appreciatively as Annie took yet another one of his pawns.
‘Thank you.’ She accepted the compliment for exactly what it was.
He sat back, looking across at her. ‘I really am sorry for the way I’ve been behaving today. ‘I just—Look, Annie, you’re a woman—Did I say something funny?’ He reacted as she gave a choked laugh.
‘Not at all.’ Her eyes glowed with repressed humour.
‘Considering I’ve thrown every insult at you today that I could think of concerning women!’ he acknowledged knowingly.
‘Not every insult, surely?’ she teased; there were certainly one or two she could think of that he hadn’t mentioned.
‘All the ones that are relevant to my particular problem. Tell me, why would a woman agree to talk to you on the telephone, but when you turn up in person instead refuse to see you?’ His brow furrowed.
Margaret had refused to see him this morning! And he had been stamping around like a bear with a sore head ever since!
Annie raised her shoulde
rs indifferently. ‘Any number of reasons.’ She moved one of her pieces on the board.
His eyes were narrowed. ‘Such as?’ He made an answering move.
She looked across at him consideringly. ‘Would you be the person this woman refused to see?’ she asked—knowing, of course, that he was …
‘What the hell does that have to do—? Yes,’ he confirmed impatiently as she arched questioning brows.
‘Well, in that case, I can think of a very good reason why I would refuse to see you.’
‘Yes?’ he prompted curtly.
She moved uncomfortably, wondering if she was going too far. But he had asked, and she could only answer him truthfully. ‘You’re very—You can be—’ She stopped awkwardly.
‘What?’ he snapped. ‘What am I?’ he looked at her exasperatedly.
She hesitated again. ‘You’re my employer, Rufus. And I happen to like my job, and—’
‘Forget I’m your employer,’ he cut in irritably, ‘and just answer the question, damn it!’
She had managed to forget he was her employer on several occasions—that wasn’t really the issue. ‘But can you forget I’m your employee?’ she persisted. ‘Perhaps it isn’t really fair to ask me this question.’ She paused. Honesty had its place, but she wasn’t sure whether that was between this employer and this employee!
‘Forget fair!’ he dismissed arrogantly. ‘Just tell me why you would refuse to see me.’
She drew in a ragged breath. ‘Basically for the very reason you have just demonstrated,’ she said carefully.
‘I just—?’ His brow cleared. ‘I forced you to answer me,’ he realised slowly.
‘Exactly,’ she confirmed with relief; she hadn’t had to call him a bully, after all! ‘If you tried that approach over the telephone, then I could just put the receiver down on you.’ Face to face, this man was much more formidable. ‘And so, presumably, could this other woman,’ she added gently. He still hadn’t mentioned it was Margaret from this morning’s call that they were talking about, but she knew that it had to be. And it hurt even to have this conversation, his deep need to talk to Jessica’s former nanny was so patently obvious.
‘She already did,’ he growled.
One of the telephone calls he had made when he’d got back this morning …
‘She refused to see me when I went to her home,’ he admitted. ‘And then, when I telephoned her later, she put the receiver down on me.’
‘As you’ve already said yourself, Rufus—’ she moved her piece on the board ‘—your mood has been a little—aggressive today. Check,’ she told him with satisfaction. ‘And mate.’
‘I’ve felt aggressive because—Did you say checkmate?’ He looked astounded, staring down at the chessboard in disbelief at her claim.
It was the expression on his face that made Annie laugh; he had probably never been beaten at chess in his life before—and he had just been thrashed at the game! ‘Don’t look so surprised, Rufus; a chess set was something the children’s home could afford—and there are a lot of rainy days and evenings in sixteen years.’ She said the last without rancour. Her childhood in care hadn’t been an unhappy one—a little lacking in love, perhaps, but certainly not an unhappy time.
He looked across at her admiringly before looking down at the board once again. ‘Well played, Annie,’ he told her with genuine warmth. ‘You’re a worthy opponent.’ He nodded appreciatively.
She didn’t want to be his opponent, longed for the light-hearted companion from the drive down here, the man who had kissed her …
‘Enough of this.’ He stood up, moving the chess table back to the corner of the room. ‘You’re right, I’ve been a grouch most of the day. I know that isn’t what you said,’ he acknowledged dryly as she almost protested. ‘But I know it’s what I’ve been. Some break away in London you and Jess have had!’ he added with self-rebuke. ‘Well, that’s about to change. If you could pour us both a brandy, I’ll light the fire.’
Brandy and a fire … The brandy she didn’t particularly like, and a fire …! It was a little too cosy considering she worked for this man.
‘It’s a little late in the evening for either,’ she said, looking pointedly at her wristwatch. ‘Especially as I overslept this morning.’
‘As far as I’m aware, you haven’t had any time off in the last few days. You’re here to enjoy yourself, not just to look after Jess.’ He sat back on his heels. ‘Perhaps you would rather go out and visit friends for the rest of the evening?’ he queried with a penetrating look as the thought seemed to occur to him.
It would probably be safer than being cosily ensconced in this room with Rufus!
But a part of her didn’t really want to be safe. She had stayed safe all of her life, never causing waves at the home, being easygoing with her three flatmates, undemanding of the few friends she had had over the years. She didn’t want to be safe any more—and she knew that with Rufus she most certainly wasn’t!
‘I’m really not a night person.’ She refused the offer to let her go out. ‘I’ll pour the brandy.’ To make sure that hers was considerably smaller than his. She needed to stay completely sober around this man.
He picked up his brandy glass, dimming the lights before moving to sit next to Annie on the sofa. ‘There’s nothing like a fire,’ he told her contentedly. ‘The fireplace was the reason I decided to lease this particular apartment.’
She had to admit the fire was lovely—it was also quite seductive sitting here next to the man she loved, watching the flames dance. The few sips of brandy she had taken had warmed her totally.
Rufus relaxed his own head back on the sofa. ‘This is nice,’ he murmured softly.
‘Nice’ wasn’t quite the way Annie would have described it. She should have gone to bed. Or gone out. Anything else but be sitting here in this dimly lit room with this man. Because at this moment she wanted very much to kiss him!
As if sensing that need, Rufus turned to look at her, his eyes very dark, the firelight dancing in their depths. ‘The company is pretty good too,’ he said huskily.
She felt the warmth in her cheeks—and it had nothing to do with the heat from the fire!
‘I mean that, Annie.’ He reached out and clasped the hand that didn’t hold her brandy glass. ‘You aren’t a woman who chatters on about nothing. When you do speak, it’s because you have something relevant to say. Otherwise you just stay silent.’
He hadn’t released her hand!
She knew she should move her hand away, that this was indeed the danger she had been aware of. But she didn’t want to be released. She loved this man. And she might never have the chance to be this close to him again.
She arched dark auburn brows. ‘You like that in a woman?’ she asked playfully.
He smiled. ‘I wasn’t having another go at women, Annie. I actually like women. What I was trying to say just now—and not making a very good job of it!—was that I particularly like you.’
Annie drew back slightly, but somehow he didn’t seem any further away. In fact, he seemed closer than before!
Because he had moved too! He was no longer sitting on the other side of the sofa. He had gently taken the brandy glass from her unresisting fingers to place it on the coffee table beside his own, his face only inches away from hers now.
‘Those eyes,’ he murmured wonderingly. ‘I could drown in them!’
She couldn’t breathe! And as his mouth claimed hers she found she didn’t want to. All she could do was feel, drowning herself in the passion that surged through her as his mouth hardened on hers, his arms moulding her to the muscular strength of his body, her arms encircling his neck as she drew him closer to her.
His mouth left hers, but only to travel over her cheeks, kissing each of her closed lids in turn, her temple, the lobes of her ears, gently nibbling there as she quivered in reaction, tasting the perfume of her throat before once again claiming her mouth with his own.
She was on fire as she felt his hand ca
ressing her breast, her nipple instantly responding to his touch, hardening, sensitive to his every caress.
Annie groaned low in her throat, melting against him, her body like liquid fire, her hands clinging feverishly to his shoulders.
She offered no resistance as he lowered her back onto the sofa, her legs becoming entangled with his as he lay down beside her, her blouse open now, smoothed back to her shoulders, Rufus’s eyes dark with desire as he looked down at the peach colour of her satin bra, her skin as smooth and silky as that material.
She watched him through half-closed lids as his hands moved slowly over the pertness of her breasts, enjoyed the pleasure she saw in his face, knowing she was the one giving him that pleasure.
As Rufus was giving her pleasure too, his mouth closing over one hardened nipple against the silky material, his tongue caressing in slow, heat-giving strokes, his other hand seeking and finding its twin, touching, feeling her response.
Annie arched up into his pleasure-giving mouth, her hands entangled in his hair as she held him to her, filled with the strangest mixture of emotions, wanting to cradle him to her protectively while at the same time wanting more than the pleasure he was already giving her.
Then the barriers of her blouse and bra were no longer there, and it was flesh against flesh, Rufus’s chest naked too, the dark hair there at once silky to the touch, his skin firm and unyielding to her caressing fingertips.
She ran her hands down his muscled back, her nails lightly scratching the dampness of his skin.
‘Oh, yes …!’ Now it was Rufus’s turn to groan, even as the moistness of his mouth claimed one hardened nipple.
Heat. Fire. A longing that made her thighs ache as she moved restlessly against him, his mouth against her breasts no longer enough for either of them—the pulsing of Rufus’s thighs against hers told her that.
‘I want you, Rufus,’ she told him longingly, eyes so dark brown as she looked up at him that it was impossible to distinguish the pupils from the irises. ‘I want you!’ she repeated achingly.
Diamonds Are Forever: The Royal Marriage ArrangementThe Diamond BrideThe Diamond Dad Page 27