‘Why didn’t you?’
She gave one of her cute little lip-shrugs. ‘I don’t like it when people say stuff about me that isn’t true, so why would I do that to someone else?’
Julius had measured the risks when he’d left to go away for work. But he’d figured Sophia would keep things in check. His housekeeper guarded his privacy almost more zealously than he did himself. But it was true Holly could have made things difficult for him. She could have made herself a small fortune. All it would have taken was a phone call. Why hadn’t she? It wouldn’t even have broken her probation conditions. Had he misjudged her? Or was this a clever ploy of hers, to get him to trust her before she went for broke? ‘Thank you for acting so...honourably,’ he said.
Her features took on a cynical cast. ‘Haven’t you heard there’s honour amongst thieves?’
‘But you keep insisting you’re not a thief.’
‘I’m not.’
Julius wanted to believe her. He wasn’t sure why. Maybe to reassure himself he wasn’t harbouring a criminal under his roof. Maybe so he could justify his growing affection for her. Something about the way she held herself, the stubborn pride he could see glittering in her gaze as it held his, made him wonder if he wasn’t the only one to have misjudged her. He knew enough about the legal system to know the courts did not always serve justice. Attack-dog lawyers could swing a case. Evidence could be planted. Reputations ruined by innuendo. Holly had no money, no way of defending herself against a powerful lawyer. She had already hinted about the bleakness of her background. What chance would someone like her have against a system that favoured those with unlimited money and power at their disposal?
‘It’s late,’ he said. ‘You should’ve been in bed hours ago.’
‘By the way, thanks for the clothes and make-up and stuff.’
‘You’re welcome,’ he said. ‘Your hair looks nice, by the way.’
‘Much more acceptable, huh?’
‘It was fine the way it was, but I thought—’
‘It’s fine, Julius,’ she said with another stiff smile. ‘Do you airbrush all of your girlfriends?’
‘You are not my girlfriend. And, no, I do not.’
There was an odd little silence.
Julius watched as she sank her teeth into her lower lip as if she had suddenly found herself out of her depth. Had he offended her by organising a hairdresser? Sophia had suggested it, but now that he thought about it, maybe it had sent the wrong message. Had the clothes also been too much? Had he made her feel she wasn’t acceptable without fine feathers? He thought he’d been helping her. She’d been bathing in her underwear. Surely it was the decent thing to do, to buy her appropriate clothing? The make-up and perfume... Well, didn’t all girls enjoy that sort of stuff? She had come with so little luggage. Just a beaten-up backpack that hardly looked big enough to carry anything. Surely it hadn’t been wrong to give her a few things to make her feel better about herself...or was he trying to make himself feel better about those fingerprints on her arms?
His gut clenched sickeningly as he thought of how easily she could have exploited him. All it would have taken was a photo of those bruises and a call to a nosy journalist and his reputation would have been shot. She’d had the perfect opportunity to get back at him, yet she hadn’t. The week had passed without incident. Sophia had informed him Holly had been a perfect house guest, going out of her way to be helpful.
A good girl...
Not a moment’s trouble...
‘If you say you didn’t intend to steal the cufflinks, then I believe you.’ It was only once Julius said the words that he believed they were true. Her explanation was perfectly reasonable. She could have been startled and slipped them into her pocket without realising. How many times had he done the same with his keys when something or someone distracted him?
Or was he looking for a way to keep her with him?
It was a shock to think his motives were perhaps not as altruistic as they ought to be. The energy he felt with Holly, the electric buzz of sensation and thrill of her, overrode everything that was logical and responsible in him.
Her eyes widened momentarily before narrowing. ‘Why?’
‘I just do.’
She dropped her gaze from his. ‘Thank you.’ Her voice was just a thread of sound. Then she seemed to gather herself and brought her eyes back to his for a brief moment. ‘Well, goodnight, then,’ she said and left him with just the lingering scent of her fragrance to haunt his senses.