She knew he was serious—she just didn’t want to do it. And if she didn’t want to do it, she saw no reason why she should!
‘We’ll see,’ she answered noncommittally; much as she hated to admit it, she knew she would be able to deal much more capably with this situation once she was well away from Brice.
‘We most certainly will,’ Brice returned determinedly.
The few minutes waiting for the taxi were not the most comfortable Sabina had ever spent, their conversation stilted to say the least, both of them heaving a sigh of relief, Sabina was sure, when the taxi finally arrived.
To her consternation Brice walked outside with her, opening the back door of the taxi for her. Sabina hesitated before getting inside, not quite sure what to say. She couldn’t exactly thank him for a pleasant evening—it had been far from that!—but she somehow felt she should say something.
‘You don’t have to say anything,’ Brice advised dryly as he seemed to read her uncertainty. ‘A kiss will suffice,’ he added softly even as his head lowered and his mouth claimed hers.
Sabina was initially too surprised to resist. And then as the kiss deepened and lengthened she found that she couldn’t have moved away even if she had wanted to—her body simply felt too fluid to obey her commands!
Brice moved slightly away from her, one hand cupping the curve of her chin as he looked down intently into her eyes. ‘I’ll call you,’ he told her huskily.
Sabina moved hastily away, her cheeks heated as she got inside the taxi and closed the door firmly behind her before giving the driver her address, angry with herself as well as with Brice.
She kept her gaze firmly ahead as the car moved away from the pavement, although she was completely aware of Brice standing there watching her until the car turned the corner at the end of the road.
How dared he just kiss her whenever, and wherever, he felt like it? Almost as if he were her fiancé instead of Richard—
Dear Lord—Richard!
What on earth would he say if he knew that Brice McAllister had kissed her, not once, but twice?
She gave a self-disgusted shake of her head. Richard respected the fact that they both had busy careers, that the business relationship of their engagement worked because Richard knew he could trust her, as she trusted him. Okay, so she hadn’t initiated either of the kisses between Brice and herself, but she hadn’t exactly tried to stop them, either.
Why hadn’t she?
That was something she really didn’t want to look at too searchingly! Once she could perhaps explain away, but that kiss just now had been completely unacceptable. Not that she had initiated it, but nevertheless it shouldn’t have happened.
But she didn’t ever intend telling Richard about those kisses. Their own relationship wasn’t an intimate one, and it would only create a situation where she was determined there should be none.
To her surprise most of the lights were on downstairs in the house when she arrived home, her relief immense when she entered the house to find Richard in the lounge listening to classical music. Something he seemed to have been doing for some time, if the glass of whisky on the table beside him was anything to go by.
‘I wasn’t expecting you back until tomorrow.’ She smiled at him warmly.
Richard had stood up at her entry, his eyes narrowed now as he looked at her speculatively. ‘Obviously not,’ he drawled hardly.
Sabina was instantly—guiltily!—aware of the fact that not fifteen minutes ago Brice McAllister had kissed her. Did it somehow show on her face? Were her lips bare of gloss after that kiss? Or was it something else that gave her away…?
Richard turned to pick up his glass of whisky, taking a swallow before speaking. ‘Clive returned over an hour ago,’ he rasped economically, blond brows raised questioningly.
A Clive who had been arrogantly dismissed for the evening by Brice McAllister…!
She winced at the construction Richard must have put on being told that by the driver. ‘I called in to see Brice McAllister on my way out this evening—’
‘Yes?’ Richard prompted hardly as she paused.
She sighed. ‘Could I have a small glass of whisky too, do you think?’
Richard’s mouth twisted derisively, even as he moved to pour the drink for her. ‘Is what you’re going to tell me that bad?’ he prompted as he handed her the glass.
Sabina gave him a sharp look, the whisky having warmed her on its way down. ‘I don’t understand…?’
He shrugged, moving away slightly. ‘We’ve both known from the beginning that our engagement is purely a business arrangement, and you’ve obviously just spent the evening with McAllister—’
‘Hardly the evening, Richard,’ she interrupted lightly. ‘It’s only nine-thirty now. Actually, I called in to see Brice this evening to—to—to—’
‘To what, Sabina?’ Richard prompted softly.
‘To arrange another sitting,’ she burst out in what she knew was a defensive tone. But she couldn’t help it; she simply wasn’t prepared for answering Richard’s probing questions so soon after Brice had kissed her. Because she felt guilty even though she hadn’t been the one to initiate that kiss!
‘Why not just telephone him?’
Why not, indeed? ‘I was passing, anyway.’ She shrugged.
‘And?’ Richard frowned.
‘Richard, you’re home a day early; let’s not waste the evening talking about Brice McAllister,’ she dismissed lightly, hugging his arm as she sensed his tension.
‘But I don’t consider it a waste of the evening,’ he came back softly. ‘Have you spent other evenings at McAllister’s while I’ve been away?’ he prompted lightly.
‘Certainly not.’ She shook her head frowningly. ‘Richard, it was nothing. I didn’t want to tell you this—I know how you worry—but I went to Brice McAllister’s to arrange a sitting, and I—well, the truth is, I fainted,’ she admitted reluctantly.
‘You fainted?’ he repeated frowningly, grasping her arms to look down at her searchingly. ‘What’s happened, Sabina? You haven’t received any more of those letters?’ He scowled darkly.
‘No, nothing like that,’ she instantly assured him. Although it had been Brice’s probing about those letters that had caused her to faint. ‘I forgot to eat today, that’s all,’ she explained with a self-conscious grimace.
‘That’s all?’ Richard echoed reprovingly. ‘You silly girl,’ he rebuked huskily. ‘And I’ve been sitting here for the last hour with all manner of thoughts going through my mind,’ he admitted self-derisively. ‘Have you had something to eat now?’ he prompted gently.
She nodded. ‘Brice insisted on feeding me.’ No need to tell Richard that, because of the subject of their conversation, she hadn’t been able to eat anything but a bowl of soup!
She had known from the beginning that Richard was possessive, but that possessiveness also made him protective of what he considered his. And these last few months, that was exactly what she had needed…
‘Good.’ Richard gave her a warm smile. ‘I’m sorry if I was less than welcoming a few minutes ago. It’s just that you’re so beautiful, so absolutely unique—’ He shook his head ruefully. ‘I should have known better than to doubt you.’
Sabina swallowed hard, knowing that he wasn’t altogether wrong to doubt her…
CHAPTER NINE
‘WHAT do you mean, you want to bring some girl up here?’ his grandfather’s voice sounded impatient down the telephone line.
‘Exactly that, Grandfather,’ Brice replied frowningly.
He had thought it only right, before pursuing the matter with either Sabina or Richard Latham, to ask his grandfather if he minded him bringing a guest with him to Scotland next weekend. He certainly hadn’t expected this reaction to his request!
‘This isn’t a hotel, laddie.’ His grandfather’s brogue deepened in his agitation. ‘I know you boys have never thought so, but I do have a life of my own to live,’ he added truculently. ‘I don’t just sit around here waiting for one of you to honour me with one of your random visits!’
Oops—he really had caught his grandfather on a bad day! And Brice was well aware of how busy the estate in Scotland kept his grandfather, the castle accompanied by several thousand acres of land, some of it given over to the breeding of deer, but the rest of it divided up amongst numerous tenants who lived on the estate. Which, despite the presence of an estate manager, still kept his grandfather very busy.
It was also quite amusing the way his grandfather still referred to Logan, Fergus, and Brice as ‘boys’ they were all thirty-six years old, which hardly made them boys!
‘Besides,’ his grandfather continued before Brice could answer him, ‘it’s just possible I may have a guest of my own staying next weekend.’
‘A guest, Grandfather?’ Brice echoed interestedly.
‘I do have friends of my own, laddie,’ his grandfather rasped.
‘Would this guest we’re talking about happen to be female?’ Brice guessed curiously.
Strange as Brice might find the idea, his grandfather was still a handsome man even though in his early eighties, and he had also been a widower for some years now…