Mistress Of The Groom

‘Not at all. I’m just saying that once you commit yourself to a course of action you commit yourself utterly—no half measures, no holding back...full steam ahead and damn the torpedoes! A lot of people find that kind of overwhelming strength of purpose intimidating, especially in a woman.’

‘That’s their problem!’ declared Jane, not sure whether to be flattered or insulted by his character sketch.

‘I agree. Fortunately it’s not mine. I’m not easily intimidated.’ He rubbed his jaw reminiscently.

‘Nor am I,’ she said, staring resentfully up at his towering figure. ‘So you can forget about hassling me into a chess game. I’m relaxing with a book, and when I’ve finished this chapter I’m going to go to bed—to sleep,’ she added hurriedly.

He didn’t move away. ‘I’m not used to having such early nights. I’m having trouble sleeping. I toss and turn for hours in my lonely bed—’

‘Probably the lumps in the mattress,’ said Jane repressively, warned by the wicked quirk at the corner of his mouth.

‘One lump in particular,’ he agreed. ‘Care to come to my room and help me smooth it out?’

With difficulty she kept her eyes on his, acutely aware that his hips were level with her face. ‘Sorry—no hands,’ she said sweetly, holding up her bandaged mitts.

‘You won’t need them; you can use your mouth—I happen to know you have a very versatile tongue,’ he shot back silkily, and laughed at her glowering expression, sending a kick of exhilaration along her nerves. ‘Walked right into that one, didn’t you, sweetheart? You know, I think you’re right—an idle chat is far more relaxing than a tense battle of chess that takes all one’s concentration.’

He stretched his impressive musculature, abandoning the chessboard to stroll over to the couch where she was sitting with her book in her lap. ‘Let’s just sit here cosily together and talk some more about ourselves...’

That was the last thing she wanted, since he had an infuriating knack of provoking her into saying things that were better left unsaid.

So, of course, they had ended up playing chess, with Jane being roundly beaten even though all Ryan’s concentration had definitely not been on the game.

The trouble was that no matter how absorbed he appeared to be in his own activities he always seemed to know where Jane was and what she was doing.

She couldn’t even potter about in the garden without his interference. Only this morning she had waited until he was safely engaged in his morning conference call to his office before sneaking out to the garden to do some surreptitious weeding. She had only just worked out a painless technique, using a short length of bamboo stake to burrow under the weed roots and flick them out of the soil, when a shadow loomed and the stick was whipped from her hand.

&n

bsp; ‘Do you have to do this right now?’

His irritation was music to her ears. ‘Yes.’

He sighed heavily. ‘Tell me what to do.’

‘Don’t tempt me,’ she said sarcastically, eyeing the stick in his hand.

He looked down at her, kneeling at the edge of the garden. ‘I know you’re frustrated by the enforced inactivity, but I don’t want you getting that dressing dirty now that those blisters are oozing.’

‘You don’t want me doing anything!’ she burst out irritably. That soothing, reasonable voice of his got on her nerves. She didn’t want him to be kind, she wanted him to be angry and hostile and easy to hate.

‘Just following doctor’s orders,’ he said. ‘Most women would be pleased at having a man run around at their beck and call.’

‘Running around maybe, riding roughshod over no!’

‘I’m just trying to help—’

‘Are you? Or are you just here to enjoy watching me suffer?’

Her bitter utterance was followed by a pregnant silence. He crouched down beside her. ‘I’m sorry if you believe that,’ he said gravely. ‘Maybe it was true—once. But that was before I got to know you—’

She bristled. ‘You don’t know me—’

‘As well as anyone, I suspect. The fact that your best friend lives in Wellington says it all, really, doesn’t it, Jane? You don’t like people getting too close. You’d rather keep them at arm’s length, in case they find out you aren’t as tough as you pretend to be.’

She stiffened. Was that pity she heard in his voice? ‘Spare me your cheap psychoanalysis.’

‘Don’t be so defensive. I’m trying hard to build up some trust here, Jane—how about meeting me halfway? We’ve both been guilty of malice and misjudgement in the past. You said you were searching for new beginnings at Piha. So why won’t you begin by accepting my offer of friendship?’