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loose.’

      ‘Ferdinand and Kilpatrick are with you, remember,’ he bit out tersely.

      Danny gave an impatient sigh. ‘In that case there are still the men patrolling the house and immediate grounds.’

      ‘After learning of the shambles you’ve made of the rest of the security system I wouldn’t be surprised to know that they’re watching you, too! God,’ he exploded into a sitting position. ‘This is incredible!’

      She chewed on her bottom lip as she realised how seriously upset he was. ‘Are you going to tell your uncle?’ She grimaced.

      His head snapped round, his breathing uneven. ‘You can be sure he needs to be told what’s going on in his own house!’ he told her hardily.

      ‘What will he do?’

      ‘Well, I wouldn’t advise any more late night trips into the grounds,’ he warned grimly.

      ‘Dave Benson isn’t going to get into trouble, is he?’ she asked pleadingly, wishing she had just kept her mouth shut. But it had been something she had never been able to do. Besides, she hadn’t realised it would cause this fuss.

      ‘Mr Benson is going to get exactly what he deserves!’

      His steely tone made her cringe. Pierce Sutherland was obviously a man without mercy, which led her to wonder if he wasn’t his uncle’s hatchet-man; he gave the impression of having to make harsh decisions and seeing that they were carried out.

      ‘Pierce, I—–’

      ‘What do you think you’re doing?’ he rasped, looking down at her coldly.

      Sherry-coloured eyes widened in bewilderment. ‘Sorry?’

      He looked down pointedly at the hand she had placed on his chest as she made her plea.

      Danny looked down at the hand too, the skin almost the same colour as his own mahogany, hours spent working in the grounds meaning it wasn’t a pretty or delicate hand, the nails were kept short and square, the long fingers were capable rather than refined, several callouses on her palm. No, it wasn’t a pretty hand, but it didn’t deserve the dissecting regard Pierce was giving it, either.

      ‘Why are you touching me?’ he asked slowly.

      She breathed softly as she realised the reason for his terse query. ‘I talk with my hands,’ she dismissed. ‘My father says that if my hands were tied behind my back I’d be silent.’

      ‘I doubt that,’ Pierce drawled derisively.

      ‘It’s true. I—–’ The light explanation was cut off as firmly moulded lips descended almost roughly on to her own.

      Surprise was quickly followed by pleasure, and with a low groan of surrender she curved her body in to his, her arms going up about his neck, opening her lips as the rigidity of his tongue probed against them.

      Her mouth widened even more as she gasped at the coolness of the marble against her back as she was lowered to the ground, the hardness of Pierce’s chest crushing her breasts in a most erotic way, the peaks erect through her bikini top.

      ‘Danny—– What is your name?’ Pierce demanded against the curve of her breast.

      She mumbled her reply, surprised she could remember her name, feeling dizzy at the expertise of this man’s kisses. God, he …

      ‘I’m sorry, Mr Sutherland, I had no idea—–!

      My God, Danny!’ Don Bridgeman, Head of Security for the Sutherland estate, gasped as he stood several feet away from them, his dark-suited figure strangely out of place.

      ‘What is it?’ Pierce sat up, effectively shielding Danny as she straightened her bikini.

      ‘We have a security alert on the west wall—–’

      ‘I’m surprised you were aware of it,’ Pierce snapped with icy reproval as he stood up.

      ‘Sir …?’ Don Bridgeman looked puzzled.

      ‘Never mind,’ Pierce dismissed. ‘I’ll talk to you about that later. Wait for me outside.’

      Danny watched the exchange with a puzzled frown, feeling sorry for the older man, knowing his rebuke had all been her fault. But how was she supposed to know her casually given admission would cause this much trouble; the alarm was only off for a matter of minutes, for goodness’ sake!

      ‘I’m sorry about this.’ Pierce put out a hand to pull her to her feet, instantly releasing her as she straightened. ‘I had no idea we would be interrupted.’

      She dismissed the apology with an impatient shrug. ‘What are you going to do about Dave Benson?’

      His head went back haughtily. ‘I don’t believe that is any of your business.’

      ‘But—–’

      ‘If you’ll excuse me, I have to go and check on this break in security,’ he cut in pointedly.

      Danny would have liked to have said more, but she could see by the implacability of his rigidly clenched jaw that Pierce wasn’t in the mood to listen. With a shrug she collected up her robe and left, the mischievous leaps and bounds of Ferdinand and Kilpatrick as they accompanied her back to the cottage not soothing her at all. Pierce seemed to be a powerful and respected man—and she was more deeply attracted to him than any man she had ever met.

       CHAPTER TWO

      ‘ANY more lemon meringue pie?’

      Danny stood up with a smile, going to the dish that stood on top of the cooker.

      ‘You make the best lemon meringue pie I’ve ever tasted.’ Gary watched her movements.

      It had been a successful meal, plain English cooking, soup, roast beef with all the trimmings, and Gary’s favourite dessert, lemon meringue pie, but she knew that was the sort of food he preferred, not a man to go in for exotic food. Thank goodness, because she couldn’t cook exotic food!

      She had finally come up with this idea midweek, inviting Gary over for a meal, knowing he would mention it to Cheryl the next time he saw her, and knowing that her sister would instantly be suspicious; her lack of cooking ability had become a family joke over the years, and it was something she avoided at all costs. Close as the sisters were, Cheryl would not appreciate Danny inviting Gary here when she herself wasn’t present.

      Gary was her own age, the two of them in the same class at school, in fact it had been because of their casual friendship that Cheryl and Gary had met and fallen in love. Cheryl would not be pleased to know Gary had spent the evening with Danny.

      The idea had come to her as she spent the afternoon in the seclusion of the vegetable garden, trying desperately to think of some way to bring Cheryl to her senses, her sister having telephoned her again the previous evening before going out to a party with Nigel Patrick. It had suddenly seemed imperative that she do something to stop the relationship, sure that Cheryl would regret it if Gary should find out about the other man. She had decided that a little healthy jealousy on Cheryl’s part might not be a bad thing.

      Not that Gary saw any romantic interest in her invitation! It would have been insulting if she weren’t used to it. Gary never saw any other woman but Cheryl, and so looked on Danny as a sister; he already had two, one more made no difference! He accepted the invitation to dinner because she was Cheryl’s sister, had talked of nothing but Cheryl since he arrived. Tall and firmly muscled, his only other real interest besides Cheryl was food, he ate the meal she had prepared in appreciative silence.

      ‘Will Cheryl be coming home this weekend?’ she asked as she gave him his third helping of pie. Her sister had been very non-committal about her plans when they spoke two days ago.

      ‘No.’ He ate his pie with relish.

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