Free A High Price to Pay by Sara Craven Page B

sorry, Alison. I'm giving you
    a rough time, aren't I? Can I say I've found today more of a strain than
    I believed possible, and leave it at that?'
    She nodded. She said constrictedly, 'I don't think it's been easy for
    either of us.'
    He slid off his coat and put up an impatient hand to loosen his tie. it
    will be good to get on board Ariadne and unwind,' he said, half to
    himself. 'All in all, it's been a hell of a six months.'

    A knock on the door heralded the porter with their luggage. Alison sat
    on the window seat and sipped her champagne and listened to Nick
    giving clipped instructions about newspapers, and an early call, and
    breakfast. As the porter left, he gave Alison a swift sideways glance.
    Perhaps he was surprised they hadn't already been in some kind of
    clinch, she thought ruefully. Or, more probably, he was surprised that
    they were there together at all. Because she knew she didn't look like
    a bride. She didn't feel like one, either.
    'Do you want to eat here, or go out?' asked Nick, glancing at his
    watch. 'There's a good restaurant on the river, not too far from here,
    where I can usually get a reservation.'
    She could guess in whose company, and the thought cost her a nasty
    little pang. She said coolly, 'I'd just as soon eat in the hotel, thanks. As
    I said, I'm rather tired.' She finished her champagne and got up. 'I
    think I'll have a bath.'
    'Well, take care you don't drown in that monstrous thing,' Nick told
    her, pouring himself some more wine. 'Would you like me to show
    you how the jacuzzi works?'
    'Good God, no!' Her voice was appalled.
    The blue eyes mocked her. 'But you might find it—er—stimulating.
    It's time you started to live a little, Mrs Bristow.' He paused. 'And I
    was only suggesting a demonstration, not that I should share it with
    you.'
    'Well, that's naturally reassuring, but I'm really not interested.' She
    managed to keep her voice equable, but inwardly she was in knots.
    He was doing it deliberately, she thought stormily, because he knew
    quite well that sharing a bath with a man was something totally

    outside her experience. That, and a great many other things besides.
    In fact, he probably thought she was left over from the Dark Ages.
    She took her time over her bath, and wasn't altogether surprised when
    she eventually emerged to find she had the suite to herself. She
    couldn't blame him. The ambience of the place must be setting his
    teeth on edge. Yet if their relationship had been different, they might
    have enjoyed its absurdities together, she thought with a faint sigh.
    She put on a sleeveless green dress and sat down to wait for him.
    When he returned, he seemed preoccupied again, but fortunately no
    longer interested in tormenting her.
    They enjoyed a quiet, civilised dinner, then went for a walk in the
    hotel grounds, relishing the last freshness of the late spring evening.
    When they returned to the suite, Alison felt almost relaxed. During an
    earlier exploration, she had discovered extra blankets in one of the
    fitted wardrobes in the bedroom, and she brought an armful through
    to the sitting room and deposited them on the end of the couch,
    together with a spare pillow, for Nick to find when he came up from
    having his nightcap in the bar.
    Then she went and got ready for bed, changing into a pair of the thin
    cotton pyjamas she preferred to nightgowns. She had brought a
    paperback novel in her case, a detective story by a favourite writer,
    and she managed a chapter before turning off the lamp and sliding
    down into that preposterous apricot cloud.
    She was half asleep when she heard Nick come in quietly and go into
    the bathroom, and she closed her eyes with even greater
    determination, burrowing down under the covers. She heard him
    emerge at last, and waited to hear the bedroom door close behind him.

    Only it didn't. She heard the sounds of movement in the shadowy
    room, a rustle, then the dip of the mattress beside her as Nick got into
    the