Rachael Thomas – Red-Hot Affairs: The Crown Affair / Craving Her Enemy's Touch / A Lone Star Love Affair (страница 14)
The nearest thing happened to be Matt. For a second she clutched at his arm. But the feel of his muscles brought the memory of that afternoon careering back and she went dizzy all over again.
Jerking back, Laura dragged in a breath and willed the room to right itself.
No need to panic. There was bound to be some rational explanation for Matt being here. At this particular moment she couldn’t imagine what it could possibly be, but she’d figure it out somehow.
Just as soon as her heart rate slowed and her breathing returned to normal. Which would happen a lot quicker if he didn’t look quite so gorgeous. Wearing a pale blue shirt with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows and light brown chinos, he looked rumpled, incredibly sexy and oddly at home. His face was more tanned than when she’d last seen him and the lines around his mouth and eyes a little sharper, but if anything they just made him even more attractive.
Heat pooled in the pit of her stomach and began to spread through her body. Extinguishing it with a determination she hadn’t known she possessed, Laura ran her palms down her skirt and fixed a neutral smile to her face. ‘Matt,’ she said as coolly as she could, as if she weren’t completely clueless as to how to proceed. ‘How lovely to see you again.’
‘Quite.’ He didn’t look like he agreed. ‘How’s the bump?’
Laura blinked and tried not to think about the circumstances that had brought about the bang to her head or the consequences. ‘Fine. How was the rest of your weekend?’
‘Pleasingly uneventful.’
Oh. So he clearly hadn’t spent any time drifting around in a daze. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘I live here.’
Right. Laura’s mouth opened and then closed. She couldn’t begin to work out where to start. Was he here for a job, too? ‘Village mansions a little on the small side?’
The ghost of a smile played at his lips and Laura had the uncomfortable feeling that he knew everything while she knew nothing.
‘It comes with my job.’
‘What do you do?’
‘Usually?’
How many jobs did he have? ‘Yes.’
‘I buy ailing businesses, turn them around and sell them for a profit.’
That didn’t make things any clearer. ‘Is that why you’re here?’
‘In a way.’
Laura frowned. ‘But you were the “sir” on the other end of the line.’
Matt nodded. ‘I was. Would you like to sit down?’
‘No, I’m fine.’
‘I think you should sit. You look a little pale.’
Was it any wonder? Laura thought, sinking into a leather library chair before her legs gave way. Baffled didn’t begin to describe the way she was feeling. ‘How did you know I was here?’
‘I saw you from the window.’
So that would account for the weird tingling that she’d experienced while she’d been walking across the patio. The twitchy feeling that had made her stop and ask the security guard about mosquitoes.
‘I don’t get it,’ she said, her eyebrows drawing together a fraction. ‘I’ve just been contracted to restore the palace. Why does it have anything to do with you?’
Matt moved round to sit on the edge of the huge partners’ desk. ‘It’s my palace.’
Maybe the state had given it to him in payment or something. Laura blinked but it didn’t make her brain hurt any less. ‘I’d have thought it would belong to the king.’
‘It does.’
His expression was unreadable, his eyes unfathomable. Which was a shame as she could really do with a little help here. Absolutely nothing was making any sense.
If the palace belonged to the king and it also belonged to him, then that would mean that Matt was the king. Her brain might be about to explode but she could work that much out. And if he was king what had he been doing in Little Somerford? What had he been doing smouldering at her, tearing off her clothing and taking her to heaven and back?
God, it was a good thing she was sitting down.
‘Who exactly are you?’ she said, not at all sure she wanted to have the horrible suspicions flying around her head confirmed.
‘You know who I am.’
‘I thought I did. I thought you were Matt Saxon.’ She gave a little shrug as if it didn’t bother her one way or the other. ‘It looks like I was wrong. Silly me.’
‘You weren’t. I am Matt Saxon. I happen to also be King of Sassania.’
Ah. There it was. Proof that she hadn’t been going mad. At least not within the past five minutes.
Laura gulped, completely unable to unravel the swirling mass of emotions rolling around inside her. Maybe it would be best to stick to facts. ‘Since when?’
‘Three weeks ago.’
‘Before or after we …’ she broke off and went red ‘… you know …?’
‘The coronation took place the Monday after the weekend when we … er, met.’
He gave her a little mocking smile and her cheeks flamed even more.
And then out of the tangle of emotions, indignation suddenly broke free and fuelled through her. How dared he laugh at her? It was all very well for him, perched there being all high and mighty. She was the one who was totally wrong-footed and struggling to get her head round what was happening. She had every right to be confused. And to demand some answers. ‘And you didn’t think to mention it?’
His eyebrows shot up at her sharp tone. ‘Why would I? We didn’t exactly stop to engage in small talk.’
Damn. That was true.
Matt tilted his head and shot her a quizzical glance. ‘Did you really not know who I was?’
Laura scowled at him. ‘I really didn’t.’
‘No, well,’ he said, lifting himself off the desk and moving to sit behind it, ‘I doubt the coronation was covered in
Laura’s eyes narrowed. Oh, he was clever. Turning it around so it was her fault. ‘I’d like to believe that, but somehow I don’t.’
Matt gave her a quick grin that curled her toes. ‘We’ll never know now, will we?’
Unfortunately not. ‘What were you doing in Little Somerford?’
‘Escaping the press.’
No wonder he’d flipped when he’d thought she was a journalist. He was gorgeous, young, rich and royal. A paparazzo’s dream. And she hadn’t had a clue. She really ought to broaden her reading horizons.
‘And you got me instead.’
‘Briefly.’ The grin faded and his mouth twisted.
Hmm. Laura bit back the urge to apologise. Any previous notion she might have had of apologising had long since disappeared beneath a blanket of confusion, indignation and something that felt suspiciously like hurt. ‘You sound peeved,’ she said coolly.
He raised an eyebrow. ‘Well, the speed with which you fled wasn’t particularly flattering.’
A smidgeon of guilt elbowed its way through her indignation. Laura shrugged and ignored it. ‘We had a quickie. It was no big deal.’
His eyes glittered. ‘If it was no big deal why did you run?’
‘Like I told you at the time, I had plans.’
‘Right.’
He fixed her with a gaze that had her squirming in her chair until she couldn’t stand it any longer. So much for thinking she might have had the upper hand. Matt made one formidable opponent.
‘OK, fine,’ she said, throwing her hands up in exasperation. ‘I guess I panicked.’
‘Why?’