Free Unknown by Unknown

should even consider the idea that she would go upstairs without dressing.
    Back in her bedroom, Sara grimaced at the image in the mirror as she brushed her slightly longer than shoulder-length chestnut hair and tied it loosely back at the nape of her neck. Admittedly, her mouth was a little large, but she had always thought it balanced her slightly larger than normal brown eyes. Her cheekbones had a nice definition and her nose was straight. She was willing to concede that she was no raving beauty. Still, Brad didn’t have to make her feel like such an ugly duckling.
    ‘Well, at least, now that he knows what I look like in the morning, he won’t be anxious to renew his efforts to get me into his bed,’ she muttered, in an effort to cheer herself up. This thought, however, did nothing to alleviate the sting his remark had inflicted.
    Delivering his coffee, she asked how he wanted his eggs, then went into her studio to work for a while before preparing breakfast. The man’s presence permeated the air around her; a sensation she attributed to the fact that she was working on his bust. After building the mound of clay into approximate proportions in readiness for the actual shaping, she stepped back to survey her progress. ‘Maybe I should add enough on top to carve out a pair of horns,’ she mused sarcastically, then covering the clay she went downstairs to begin breakfast.
    She had removed the bacon and was cracking the eggs into the skillet when Brad came into the kitchen carrying his place setting. ‘I’m not a man who enjoys wasting time, nor do I live on a set schedule. So we’ll eat breakfast together each morning and use this opportunity to map out our days so that neither of us interferes with the other’s schedule.’ When she started to protest, he held up his hand. ‘You can consider it a business meal.’ His manner made it clear that he intended to remain firm on this point.
    ‘As you wish,’ Sara conceded, unwilling to face another confrontation so early in the morning.
    Her easy acquiescence obviously surprised him and he stood leaning against the counter watching her sceptically.
    ‘Don’t you have a paper to read?’ she demanded, giving in to a fit of nerves.
    ‘Sorry,' he apologised in a voice that held no remorse. ‘I forgot how disturbing it can be to be constantly under surveillance.’ Then a sudden tenseness filled the air as he added tersely, ‘Tell me the truth. Is that why you’re here?’
    ‘What?’ Pausing with the food-filled plates in her hands, Sara turned towards him, her face a mask of confusion.
    ‘I half expected you to have changed your mind when I came by your place yesterday morning to help you move,’ he elaborated. ‘And it’s now occurred to me that you might be here because Steve talked you into keeping an eye on me again.’
    ‘He didn’t, and I wouldn’t have agreed to such an arrangement even if he had asked,’ she assured him tightly, adding with a perplexed pout, ‘Although I have to admit I was surprised by his acceptance of this situation. I expected him to try to talk me out of it when he showed up instead of helping me move.’ Then as an afterthought she said, ‘Besides, if he thought you were in any danger he wouldn’t have allowed me near you.’
    ‘He sent you to the ball,’ he reminded her.
    ‘Yes, but I was supposed to remain inconspicuous and have no contact with you.’
    ‘You certainly botched that assignment,’ Brad commented drily.
    ‘That’s why I’m an artist and not a detective,’ she returned coolly, completing her action of placing the plates on the table.
    As they began to eat, a heavy silence descended over the meal, in spite of Brad’s earlier pronouncement that they would discuss their daily schedule. Sara forced herself to eat, refusing to give the man the satisfaction of knowing that he was upsetting her. Finally, though, unable to bear the strain any longer she said, ‘You were going to outline your day for me