Скачать книгу

table. He had retreated back into those arctic wastes he normally inhabited, and yet…somehow she was sure she hadn’t imagined what she had seen in his eyes just a moment ago.

      Mind, it was so long since a man had looked at her with any kind of interest that she wasn’t sure if she would even recognise it now, she conceded wryly. But it had seemed, just for those few incredible seconds, as if he really was going to kiss her…

      Impatiently she shook her head. It was dangerous enough to let herself indulge in stupid romantic fantasies about him, but if she was going to start imagining that he might be remotely interested in her she was going to end up making a complete fool of herself.

      By the time he brought the coffee she had managed to reassemble some kind of mask of composure, and her voice was commendably even as she thanked him.

      ‘How’s the wrist?’ he enquired, sitting down opposite her.

      ‘Oh…not too bad,’ she responded with a flickering smile. ‘It still hurts a bit.’

      ‘You were extremely lucky,’ he reminded her.

      ‘I know.’ She risked a brief glance up at him. ‘I suppose I ought to report the accident to the police?’

      ‘I’ve already reported it. Jack’ll be down to talk to you about it when you’re feeling a bit better.’

      ‘Do you suppose they’ll charge me with careless driving?’ she asked anxiously.

      He shook his head. ‘I doubt it. Apart from Bill Wickham’s ditch, you were the only one who suffered any damage. You’ll need to put in an insurance claim, of course.’

      ‘It’s on my husband’s insurance.’ She couldn’t keep the edge of bitterness from her voice. ‘Personally I don’t give a damn whether he makes a claim or not.’

      ‘Even so, don’t you think you’d better ring him and let him know where you are?’ he enquired levelly.

      ‘He won’t care,’ she asserted. ‘He’ll just be sorry I didn’t manage to kill myself—that would have saved him the bother of going through a divorce.’

      Those hazel eyes were completely unreadable. What was he thinking? She hadn’t meant to tell him about her marital problems, but somehow it was a relief to talk about it.

      ‘Why are you getting a divorce?’ he enquired; there was a kind of empathy in the way he asked the question, and suddenly she was sure that he was divorced too.

      ‘Why not?’ She shrugged her shoulders, still trying to hide her hurt behind a pose of indifference. ‘He wants to marry his secretary, and who am I to stand in the way of true love? Besides, she’s pregnant.’

      He looked surprised. ‘Did you know he was having an affair?’

      ‘Of course.’ She was trying to make her voice sound cynical and hard, but she suspected it wasn’t quite coming off. ‘He has affairs with all his secretaries—it’s just one of his endearing little habits.’

      He laughed drily. ‘So why didn’t you leave him sooner?’

      ‘I don’t know,’ she admitted with wry self-mockery. ‘Habit, I suppose. And I didn’t have anywhere else to go.’

      ‘You don’t have any family?’

      ‘No—well, there’s my father, of course, but I couldn’t have gone there. I don’t get on particularly well with my stepmother.’

      ‘You could have got a place of your own.’

      ‘Yes, I suppose so…’ She looked down, swinging her foot in awkward embarrassment. How could she expect him to understand the way Colin had eroded so much of her confidence that she hadn’t believed she could manage on her own? She wasn’t at all sure that she could now—but at least she didn’t have to think about it for a few more days. She wasn’t well enough to leave Tom’s yet, and go to a hotel.

      There was a long silence. She could still feel his eyes resting on her, and a kind of shimmering heat had started deep inside her. Was he aware of the effect he had on her? She was fairly sure he must be—he was far too perceptive to miss the signs that gave her away.

      Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

      Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

      Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

      Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAgEAYABgAAD/4RQnRXhpZgAATU0AKgAAAAgABwESAAMAAAABAAEAAAEaAAUA AAABAAAAYgEbAAUAAAABAAAAagEoAAMAAAABAAIAAAExAAIAAAAUAAAAcgEyAAIAAAAUAAAAhodp AAQAAAABAAAAnAAAAMgAAABgAAAAAQAAAGAAAAABQWRvYmUgUGhvdG9zaG9wIDcuMAAyMDEyOjA5 OjE5IDIxOjUzOjI5AAAAAAOgAQADAAAAAf//AACgAgAEAAAAAQAAAfSgAwAEAAAAAQAAAyQAAAAA AAAABgEDAAMAAAABAAYAAAEaAAUAAAABAAABFgEbAAUAAAABAAABHgEoAAMAAAABAAIAAAIBAAQA AAABAAABJgICAAQAAAABAAAS+QAAAAAAAABIAAAAAQAAAEgAAAAB/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAgEASABI AAD/7QAMQWRvYmVfQ00AAv/uAA5BZG9iZQBkgAAAAAH/2wCEAAwICAgJCAwJCQwRCwoLERUPDAwP FRgTExUTExgRDAwMDAwMEQwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwBDQsLDQ4NEA4OEBQO Dg4UFA4ODg4UEQwMDAwMEREMDAwMDAwRDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDP/AABEI AIAAUAMBIgACEQEDEQH/3QAEAAX/xAE/AAABBQEBAQEBAQAAAAAAAAADAAECBAUGBwgJCgsBAAEF AQEBAQEBAAAAAAAAAAEAAgMEBQYHCAkKCxAAAQQBAwIEAgUHBggFAwwzAQACEQMEIRIxBUFRYRMi cYEyBhSRobFCIyQVUsFiMzRygtFDByWSU/Dh8WNzNRaisoMmRJNUZEXCo3Q2F9JV4mXys4TD03Xj 80YnlKSFtJXE1OT0pbXF1eX1VmZ2hpamtsbW5vY3R1dnd4eXp7fH1+f3EQACAgECBAQDBAUGBwcG BTUBAAIRAyExEgRBUWFxIhMFMoGRFKGxQiPBUtHwMyRi4XKCkkNTFWNzNPElBhaisoMHJjXC0kST VKMXZEVVNnRl4vKzhMPTdePzRpSkhbSVxNTk9KW1xdXl9VZmdoaWprbG1ub2JzdHV2d3h5ent8f/ 2gAMAwEAAhEDEQA/AKGNcaLm2tc5hbPuYYcJBGhXadAzLbceqp7i/cHP3mdxBcYDvpLgrHba3uLg 0AEyZgf5srsvq08RjN+kTVIHP53yT/iIHHA9dB9LkjEdw9CS4EaETOmqYbj2PwgqnfmWUkD0HWM7 P05P0Q33qTbsxzrGDEcXVv8ASdqwHeGi3nf9D03t96gXNz3TABk9oPdcV9avrtlU5FuB0kNrZUTV dl8uL2/TZj/utrd+jfb+eupfb1L6X2F0FpLCHVaFvud/hXLyG4uc0M3F4a92p11cZcSkkO1i/Wz6 xsBsZ1C2yxuprsa2xhHP6Rto/wCjU5dt9X/rJX1zp5yAwVZNThXkVNBc1p5a+vd+ZY1cV0voORdR a/GDbHkCsvfoGOIJtgObt/c+nsUfqZnvxuouw/SdYzOLKyGiS1zHHY4/8H+k22psZAkgH5aXThIA EjfZ9I9fXQjkg+3v4KLMhrYgnbGhjss/IHoXGq1ux7Zhu0fR9vun95COYwCNjd23jZA/6r95Ppit /9DIOOcpjsdrthsBAdEx+d5LosCxmM2hj3aOoLZAk+0u8P5daxMLTIYe2v5F0OFgMy8rBa6w0t9G 7c8AGYuhm7d+b+kU/wARjcb/AEgBS3CfVrt1eieac3Ctcw722VPgEMbwNdzYDme5Z2VTgVV5D8mG t6fd6lc7DtLKsbYXbf536H0P8IrvUemY+d0Szprcn0Glu4vBB+j79llJ2/orP8J+kXnlnV879kvp yXm2ltlYZW6JJrb9J9n84/Yz0K/pqkOLhF/N1ZKBlQ2/Y7Vn1msHUTn4dFLsjZs22HaSwau/RNb6 bLGx9L/yC5MW1syALmux6nWPsa8Dc7Y87o/Na/0oUxgXvdXcHgGxwIMlrhuAf2/7b/rqz1Btgqxs yr3WVvdWXuDS7c33V13tA929nuqs/wAOmcWtXd/81nEANQOGvrxB3ulZ9Y2fY6MjNdl+z7WW7K4q 9v6R+u11f9T/AK4j3UYPTbL+oNpYGlpqzCyp10NcyP0NNP0N7/0l2T/xax/q/k/aOmXdPduD22Ot FjCQ5pcN25uzb6Xu/lLYdnPwOgZuax0ZFo9OkzqHv/QVf2mt9S5QAGOYAb8XDX71/K2p1PBKUtNO KwPl/fa1edjW47bMEE0OmJZtI1+iWzuVcZDtoH5saHaZ4+KwHWOrgMJG0ASNDp4qxRmWs1MWDuHe H9ZaksBs8JvwOjjjJtYp/9HNxXBlgc47WidTprC67oTxY7Ftpa9wrZcw2Brmt91jXsiz+y/6C5Xp zBZkVtMAHdyJ4BK7nptbK+i1OaCXl7gXGXab3wNrC3ap+f4iYxAHDUST/hS/71ZirU9W6b/0Tmuf JfU8Ndvcd3tPta

Скачать книгу