LITMIR.BIZ

       CHAPTER THREE

      HARLEY SAW THE man coming towards them and raced excitedly towards him. Clearly, Luke didn’t inspire the same reaction in him as Greg Hughes. Considering the muddy ground, Abby hoped Luke wasn’t thinking of suing her for a new suit.

      Harley’s paws could be lethal.

      The dog fussed about the man, wagging his tail. Oh, Harley, you Judas, Abby intoned silently as Luke bent to scratch the retriever’s head.

      She’d thought he might not have heard her approach, but, as if on cue, Luke straightened to face her. ‘Your dog?’ he asked as Harley bounded back to his mistress, and Abby nodded.

      ‘Mine,’ she agreed, half wishing she’d chosen another route for their walk.

      ‘He’s a beautiful animal.’ Luke came closer as she struggled to find the clasp of the leash. ‘Hey, don’t bother fastening him up on my account. I like dogs, and fortunately they usually like me.’

      Why was she not surprised? Finding the catch, she fastened the leash to Harley’s collar, anyway. He whined a little plaintively, but she refused to be deterred. ‘I didn’t think anyone else was about or I wouldn’t have let him run free.’

      Luke shrugged, glancing about him. ‘I was just familiarising myself with the area. It’s a beautiful part of the country.’

      ‘It is.’ What else could she say? That was why she’d moved here, for heaven’s sake. ‘Do you know it well?’

      Luke shrugged again. ‘My father lives in Bath these days, but I don’t know Ashford-St-James very well.’

      So how on earth had he found out about the properties? wondered Abby curiously. Or had he been searching the Internet and come upon them, much as she’d done herself four years ago?

      As if reading her thoughts, he said, ‘It was my father who alerted me to the sale. He used to play golf with Charles Gifford, the father of the present owner.’

      ‘Yes. I know who Charles Gifford is—was,’ said Abby flatly.

      ‘So I guess you knew that I was involved before I walked into the café a few hours ago?’

      Abby nodded. ‘I got a letter, the same as everybody else.’

      ‘And you’ve been cursing me ever since,’ remarked Luke cynically. ‘Don’t look like that. I can tell.’

      Abby sighed. ‘As a matter of fact, my first thought was that you knew I owned one of the businesses, and you’d bought them as—as a kind of revenge,’ she said honestly.

      Luke snorted. ‘You’re kidding me.’

      ‘No.’ Abby was defensive. ‘We didn’t exactly part on the best of terms, did we?’

      ‘No.’ Luke conceded the point. ‘But you must have quite an opinion of yourself if you think I’m still stressing over something that happened, what? Four years ago?’

      ‘Five,’ said Abby shortly, wondering if he’d really forgotten. ‘Anyway, I’m glad I left no lasting scar on your life.’

      * * *

      If she only knew, thought Luke grimly, looking down at the retriever again so she wouldn’t see the hostility in his eyes.

      She’d only been responsible for his break-up with Ray Carpenter, who hadn’t been able to stand the bitter way Luke had come to regard his life.

      And she’d also been the reason he’d married Sonia, the girl he’d been seeing in the weeks before Annabel—Abby—had come on the scene. The marriage had been a mistake from the outset and a year later, it had been over.

      Now he made a dismissive gesture, amazed the lie came so easily. ‘I’d forgotten all about it,’ he said carelessly. ‘Like you, I’ve moved on with my life.’

      ‘Well, I’m glad.’ Abby gazed up at him, rather guiltily, he thought. ‘It was all my fault that—well, what happened, happened,’ she said.

      That had been Luke’s take on it certainly. Nothing could alter the fact that she’d been married when she’d agreed to meet him. He should have felt sorry for her husband, instead of threatening to sock him on the jaw.

      He knew he shouldn’t be having this conversation with her. As soon as he’d walked into the café and discovered who the owner of the business was, he should have left it there. Instead, he’d spent the last few hours hanging around Ashford, trying to think of a reason to go back.

      When she’d come to serve him, he’d been staggered—and angered—by his reaction. He’d had no idea she’d moved to the town and opened a café. She’d been a researcher in English at the university. An academic. As soon as he’d learned her real name from Harry, it had been easy enough to find out where she worked.

      He’d also discovered that her husband—Harry Laurence—had worked in the city. He was fairly well-known in stockbroking circles, although some people considered he was a bit of a barbarian.

      Luke had wondered if the bruise he’d seen on Abby’s neck that night had been put there by her husband. But then he remembered Harry’s boast that she would never leave him.

      And she hadn’t.

      She could have got a divorce. If she’d had any self-respect, she would have. Luke knew from his own unhappy experience, divorces were not that hard to come by.

      He wondered when she had got a divorce, and whether she’d been the one to initiate it. Recalling how she’d deceived her husband, Luke thought it was reasonable to assume he’d been the one who had finally wanted out.

      Even so, he hadn’t forgotten a moment of their time together. He could still taste her sweetness on his tongue. An affair that had never become an affair, he reminded himself bitterly. She’d left the wine bar with her husband, and, until today, he’d never seen her again.

      It didn’t please him that she was even more attractive now than she’d been five years ago. And oh, yes, he knew exactly how long it was since that scene at the Parker House.

      His presumed stumble over the years had been a deliberate attempt to disconcert her. Unfortunately, it had had the opposite effect.

      Had she gained a little weight? If so, it suited her. And her hair wasn’t as ghostly pale as it had been before. It was still thick, and a rich honey blonde, with silver highlights. But she’d drawn it back into a ponytail, exposing the delicate bones of her face.

      So why was he noticing these things? Did he want to risk her making a fool of him again? He still wanted to have sex with her. That much was unfortunately true. But it was just a physical thing and he had no intention of acting on it.

      She seemed to hesitate, and then said, ‘You left without your coffee this morning.’ A faint smile touched her lips. ‘Were you afraid I might poison it?’

      Luke’s lips tightened. ‘No, I can honestly say, that didn’t occur to me.’ Probably because he considered she was too clever to make a mistake like that, however much she might resent him.

      ‘Good.’ She caught her lower lip between her teeth. ‘I shouldn’t like there to be any animosity between us.’

      ‘Us?’

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