Free The man at Kambala by Kay Thorpe

this job.'
    `While your mother was alive?'
    'Yes.'
    `Still miss her?'
    `It depends on how you mean it.' Her tone was careful. 'It was a long time ago, and Dad has been marvellous.'
    `It might have been better for you both if he'd got married again, though,' was the judicious comment. 'A girl needs a mother as well as a father. Would you have objected?'
    `Not if he'd met somebody he'd wanted to marry.
    Anyone he'd chosen I'd have liked.'
    Steve's lips twisted a little. 'Life isn't always as easy as that.'
    `Well, I wouldn't have been jealous, if that's what you're suggesting. I'm not that self-centred.'
    `Don't jump the gun. All I meant was that it isn't always possible to like someone just because someone else does. The qualities a man might look for in a woman don't have to include a strong maternal instinct.'
    `Oh?' She looked at him quickly. 'Don't you like children yourself?'
    `Can't say I've given it a great deal of thought. What makes you ask that?'
    `The way you spoke about what a man looks for in a woman.'
    `That was a qualified statement I made, not a hard and fast rule. I daresay I'd be as keen to have a couple of kids as the next chap if I got married.'
    Sara made her voice deliberately light and breezy. But you being a confirmed bachelor, that situation is hardly likely to arise.'
    His mouth pulled up at the corners. 'I never said anything about being a confirmed bachelor. Just because I've steered clear of the matrimonial bed till now it doesn't necessarily mean that I shan't take myself a wife one of these fine days. It's a pity you're not a few years older yourself. With a little training you'd probably fill the bill very nicely.'
    Her heart was beating unaccountably faster, but she kept her smile steady. 'I'd probably put arsenic in your whisky before the week was up.'
    `I don't doubt it. Nothing like living dangerously !' He gave a mock sigh. 'Like I said, it's a pity.'
    `I wish,' she said with her eyes on the road, 'that you'd stop treating me like a twelve-year-old.'
    `How would you prefer to be treated?' on a jeering note. 'As a woman?'
    Her chin came up. 'It would make a change. You might even get an adult response !'
    There was a screeching of brakes as he brought the car to a sudden and startling halt. He turned sideways in his seat and looked at her, one arm resting lightly along the wheel, his expression speculative. 'All right,' he said, 'let's be adult. Come over here.'
    Sara shrank back involuntarily into her corner of the cabin. 'Don't be ridiculous!'
    `There's nothing ridiculous about a kiss between a man and a woman,' he returned equably, and took his arm off the wheel to reach out and draw her resistingly towards him, holding her there in front of him with an arm about her shoulders. With the other hand he smoothed back the tousled hair from her forehead, then slid his fingers down the line of her cheek and along her lips. She saw the glint in the grey eyes as he bent his head towards her, felt the brush of his lips at the corner of her mouth, then he was holding her away from him and studying her flaming cheeks with a satirical smile. B ut I don't think you're quite ready for the full treatment yet.'
    Sara's eyes were blazing. 'You . . . You . . .' she stammered.
    `Now don't say anything you'll be sorry for,' he advised. 'Grown-ups don't let their tongues run away with them. Maybe next time I'll get around to taking things a little further.'
    `If you touch me again you'll be sorry,' she managed, low-toned. ... I'll report you to the Director!'
    His grin was derisive. 'That's my girl ! Never a dull moment! Are you going to behave yourself until we get back, or shall we do a little more research into this touching business here and now?'
    She sat back in her seat with compressed lips, not deigning to answer. It was useless, she told herself furiously. Steve always managed to have the last word no matter what she said.
    The moment they came to a stop outside the house she got out of the car