I felt him stiffen even more. Cold suddenly radiated from him in icy waves.
‘It was somewhat more complicated than that, Miss Linton.’
Why? I screamed inside. Why and how? Explain! I’m here for you! You can trust me!
I wanted to ask all of that and more. But the tone of his voice made me think better of it. Whatever had happened - Dalgliesh had not told me the truth. Or at least not the whole truth. Half-truths could be so much more dangerous than lies, sometimes.
Later, Lilly. Later.
Reaching for his hand and giving it a squeeze, I leaned my head against him. ‘I said it once already, I believe, but…thank you. I might have got out of there by myself - but then again, I might not have. If Dalgliesh had come back with enough men and searched the woods…’
I let the sentence trail off into a shudder. I didn’t really want to imagine what might have happened then.
He hesitated a moment - then squeezed my hand back. When I glanced up at his face out of the corner of my eye, it was rigid and harder than ever. So hard, in fact, it looked close to shattering.
‘I…had to come.’
My heart rate picked up. ‘Really?’
His arm around my shoulders tightened once more, as if wanting to make sure I was really there. ‘Yes.’
There was a moment of silence. Then…
‘I am not a man who often expresses his emotions, Miss Linton.’
‘You don’t say?’
‘But I must admit I was…somewhat concerned for you.’
I had to work hard to keep a smile from my face.
‘Somewhat concerned? Dear God, really?’
Abruptly, he turned towards me, his eyes blazing with cold fire. ‘Dammit! Do not joke, Miss Linton!’
I looked up at him, the picture of innocence drawn by a five-year-old with absolutely no artistic talent. ‘I wouldn’t dare!’
Stepping towards me, he reached out, until one of his hands gently touched my cheek. ‘I…’ He swallowed, and tried again. ‘I might be slightly…irrationally infatuated with you.’
Warmth spread deep inside me. And on my face, a grin did. ‘Irrationally infatuated? Dear me!’
His jaw clenched. ‘All right, all right! I may even have certain…impulses towards you that border on caring about you.’
‘You don’t say?’ I raised an eyebrow at him. ‘Well, I am so glad to hear that you feel a certain amount of friendship towards me.’
His dark gaze pierced me accusingly. But I was enjoying this far too much to stop. I wouldn’t make it easy for him.
‘Friendship is not quite the right word, Miss Linton,’ he bit out between clenched teeth, every word like a shard of burning ice. ‘My impulses towards you…they might go slightly beyond the platonic.’
‘Oh, so they are Aristotelian?’
‘Mr Lin-’ He swallowed, hard. ‘I mean Miss Linton, we are not discussing philosophy here!’
I batted my eyelashes at him. ‘Indeed? Then pray tell, what are we discussing?’
‘I…I…’
‘You can say it, you know,’ I told him. ‘The word isn’t poisonous.’