Kingfisher Morning

Furiously, she burst out, 'Judith told me about the row you had with him! It had never entered your head to marry me until he said he wouldn't permit it. Then, with typical obstinacy, you made up your mind to go ahead and do just that, to annoy him.'

Ross caught her shoulders and pulled her close, his eyes smiling into hers. 'Silly girl! The notions you get! What sane man would behave like that? My father doesn't fool me. He wants me to marry you, that's why he warned me off…I'd already hinted at the possibility, and in his cussed fashion he was delighted, but he would hate me to know that, so he pretended to be annoyed. He knew I'd do just what I wanted to in the end. He likes you—I could tell by the way he spoke of you.'

'I must be going out of my mind,' she said dazedly. 'You talk about marriage as if it were an inevitable fact, yet you know very well that you and I are a million miles apart. We've never been on marriage terms…'

'We kissed, didn't we?' His eyes challenged her to remember it. 'Why, we even shared a bike! How much closer can you get?'

'Oh, don't be absurd,' she snapped. 'You kissed me to work out a fit of temper.'

'I kissed you because I'd been wanting to do just that for days,' he said tightly. 'And I want to do it again. Now.'

She instinctively moved back, but his hands were too strong, holding her firmly as he bent his head. His kiss this time was gentler, but just as compelling, drawing her emotions upwards until she shook with answering passion, her arms sliding round his neck to touch the hair at the back of his head.

When he drew back a little they were both shaken. Ross smiled down at her. 'Will you marry me, Emma?'

'Ross,' she whispered, putting her face against his chest to hide the burning heat of her cheeks for a moment. 'What about Amanda, Ross?'

He laughed. She felt the quiver of it in his chest muscles. 'Oh, Amanda…' he murmured. 'You can't seriously have believed I would fall for Amanda's corny old line? I've known her for years, remember. She's a distant cousin, a poor relation who came to live with us when her family broke up. I know her—only too well! She's always been an opportunist; unscrupulous, malicious, ambitious and a lot of other unpleasant things! My father kept her around because she was a decorative hostess. He paid dearly for the service. She charged everything—clothes, jewels, anything that took her fancy.'

'You always seemed amused by her…'

'She can be an amusing companion,' he admitted. 'She's easy to look at, after all.'

'You did find her attractive, then,' she flared.

'Jealous?' Ross was amused, his eyes mocking her as he grinned at her.

'You must have been drawn to her once,' she said with pain. 'I sensed it, an intimacy between you.'

'I've known her for years,' he said, shrugging. 'She was a beautiful cannibal, all teeth and claws—I was wary of her, but at the same time I was able to admire her beauty.'

'She certainly expected to marry you!' Ross looked stern, brows a dark line. 'I never encouraged such hopes—far from it! You mustn't be sentimental about her, Emma. She felt nothing for me, you know—it was all pretence, and I knew it. She's an ambitious girl, Amanda. I doubt if she's capable of a genuine emotion.'

'I wonder if you are either,' Emma said, the words wrung from her out of her pain and uncertainty. He had kissed her, he had asked her to marry him. But those three little words had not passed his lips.

'What?' He stared at her, going pale. 'What is it? Emma, I thought…'

'You thought that the wonderful, irresistible Ross Daumaury only had to snap a finger for any girl to fall swooning at his feet, I suppose?' She looked at him scathingly. 'Well, you were wrong.'

He caught her close, his arms an unbending prison as she struggled to break free. 'What are you talking about, you halfwit?'

'You're altogether too sure of yourself,' she said bitterly, relinquishing the attempt to get away. 'Just because you think yourself irresistible… saying you knew how I felt!' She snorted scornfully. 'You know nothing of the kind!'

His face cleared. 'You're talking about what I said this morning? But I thought you were going back to Guy, then. I was furious. I wanted to wring your neck. When I said that I knew how you felt about me, I meant that I thought you detested me. I thought I had no chance at all…'

'But now?' she asked.

'After I'd kissed you this morning, I felt much more hopeful,' he admitted. 'I knew you weren't going back to Guy by then, and your response had been pretty terrific. I began to have high hopes again. Then Amanda said something…'

'I can imagine,' said Emma drily.

'Yes, she was her usual charming self—said you were in the throes of a schoolgirl crush on me, nothing more! She meant to be beastly, but it made me feel marvellous!'

'Oh, did it?' Emma asked him sarcastically.

He grinned. 'I'm afraid so!' He lifted her chin with one finger and gazed into her eyes. 'Tell me the truth, darling. Do you love me?'

'I haven't heard you saying those three magic words yet,' she pointed out.