Free A Tempestuous Temptation by Cathy Williams Page B

last night?’
    But she couldn’t get annoyed with him because his voice was lazy and teasing. ‘This time I’m not falling over myself. Like I told you, I enjoy snow. I wish it snowed more often in London.’
    ‘The city would grind to a standstill. If you’re heading out, then I think I’ll accompany you.’
    Aggie tried to stifle the flutter of panic his suggestion generated. She needed to clear her mind. However much she lectured herself on all the reasons she had for hating him, there was a pernicious thread of stubbornness that just wanted to go its own merry way, reminding her of his sexiness, his intelligence, that unexpected display of consideration the night before. How was she to deal with that stubbornness if he didn’t give her a little bit of peace and privacy?
    ‘I actually intended on going on my own,’ she said in a polite let-down. ‘For a start, it would give you time to work. You always work. I remember you saying that to us once when your mobile phone rang for the third time over dinner and you took the call. Besides, if you have an important deal to close, then maybe you could get a head start on it.’
    ‘It’s Saturday. Besides, it would do me good to stretch my legs. Believe it or not, chairs don’t make the most comfortable places to sleep.’
    ‘You’re not going to let me forget that in a hurry, are you?’
    ‘Would you if you were in my shoes?’
    Aggie had the grace to blush.
    ‘No,’ Luiz murmured. ‘Thought not. Well, at least you’re honest enough not to deny it.’ He stood up, towering overher while Aggie stuffed her hands in the pockets of her coat and frantically tried to think of ways of dodging him.
    And yet, disturbingly, wasn’t she just a little pleased that he would be with her? For good or bad, and she couldn’t decide which, her senses were heightened whenever he was around. Her heart beat faster, her skin tingled more, her pulse raced faster and every nerve ending in her seemed to vibrate.
    Was that nature’s way of keeping her on her toes in the face of the enemy?
    ‘You’ll need to have something to eat,’ was the first thing he said when they were outside, where the brutal cold was like a stinging slap on the face. The snow falling and collecting on the already thick banks on the pavements turned the winter-wonderland scene into a nightmare of having to walk at a snail’s pace.
    Her coat was not made for this depth of cold and she could feel herself shivering, while in his padded Barbour, fashioned for arctic conditions, he was doubtless as snug as a bug in a rug.
    ‘Stop telling me what to do.’
    ‘And stop being so damned mulish.’ Luiz looked down at her. She had rammed her woolly hat low down over her ears and she was cold. He could tell from the way she had hunched up and the way her hands were balled into fists in the pockets of the coat. ‘You’re cold.’
    ‘It’s a cold day. I like it. It felt stuffy inside.’
    ‘I mean, your coat is inadequate. You need something warmer.’
    ‘You’re doing it again.’ Aggie looked up at him and her breath caught in her throat as their eyes tangled and he didn’t look away. ‘Behaving,’ she said a little breathlessly, ‘as though you have all the answers to everything.’ She was dismayed to find that, although she was sayingthe right thing, it was as if she was simply going through the motions while her body was responding in a different manner. ‘I’ve been meaning to buy another coat, but there’s hardly ever any need for it in London.’
    ‘You can buy one here.’
    ‘It’s a bad time of the year for me,’ Aggie muttered. ‘Christmas always is.’ She eyed the small town approaching with some relief. ‘We exchange presents at school … then there’s the tree and the food … it all adds up. You wouldn’t understand.’
    ‘Try me.’
    Aggie hesitated. She wasn’t used to confiding. She just wasn’t built that way and she especially couldn’t see the point in confiding in