For Christmas, Forever: The Yuletide Engagement / The Doctor's Christmas Bride / Snowbound Reunion. Barbara McMahon
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the only sound the drip, drip of the coffee percolator.
Patrick’s eyes were mesmerizing now as he looked down at her, obliquely black, ringed with silver. ‘Dinner on Tuesday?’ he prompted huskily.
‘Er—Well—Yes,’ she agreed awkwardly, still unsure as to the reason for his invitation. ‘Although—’
‘Just a yes will do,’ Patrick assured her mockingly, his arms moving lightly about her waist. ‘I would like to see you relaxed and enjoying yourself for a change,’ he added frowningly.
If he thought she was going to be relaxed in his company then he was mistaken! Although she would enjoy spending the evening with him. If she knew the reason for it…
But he was standing so close now she couldn’t even think straight, let alone try to rationalise his dinner invitation. Her heart was beating erratically, her breathing shallow as she looked up into the handsome ruggedness of his face.
‘You look extremely lovely tonight, Ellie,’ he told her huskily.
‘You said that earlier,’ she reminded him breathlessly.
He smiled, his eyes crinkling warmly at the corners. ‘Some things need to be repeated.’ His hands linked at the base of her spine and he moulded her body lightly against his, his head bending slightly as his lips moved teasingly across hers.
She had forgotten to breathe again, felt as if time itself were standing still. Only her hands resting on the broadness of Patrick’s shoulders prevented her from actually falling down.
‘You have a very kissable mouth, Ellie Fairfax,’ Patrick murmured huskily as he took little sips from her lips. ‘A very sensuous neck,’ he whispered as his lips moved down the silky column of her throat. ‘Divine breasts—’
‘I think perhaps you should stop there, Patrick, don’t you?’ Ellie moved awkwardly in his arms, very aware of the sudden pertness of those ‘divine breasts’, the nipples hard against the silky material of her dress.
He straightened, his head tilted to one side as he regarded her quizzically. ‘Why do I get the impression you’re an innocent?’ he murmured ruefully.
‘Probably because I am!’ Ellie admitted uncomfortably as she extricated herself from his arms, at the same time looking up at him irritably. ‘There’s nothing wrong with that,’ she added sharply.
Patrick’s smile deepened. ‘Did I say there was?’
‘You looked as if there was,’ she snapped defensively.
He shook his head, still smiling. ‘I don’t think so, Ellie.’
Well…okay, maybe he hadn’t. But he certainly seemed surprised to meet a twenty-seven-year-old virgin!
Maybe it was odd at that; Ellie really wouldn’t know. It wasn’t something she had ever discussed with any of the women she worked with.
She had been out with several boys of her own age up to the age of nineteen, but after her parents had died she had been too busy trying to keep a home for Toby and herself—hadn’t really had much time to think about relationships. Which was probably the reason she had fallen for Gareth’s charm six months ago!
But in the face of Patrick’s sophistication, his obvious experience when it came to women, she must seem rather gauche and naïve.
Well, tough! She had no intention of pretending an experience she just didn’t have. And that included appearing sophisticated in the face of Patrick’s appreciative comments on her body!
‘Coffee, Ellie,’ he reminded her lightly, moving to sit down at the kitchen table.
‘Of course.’ She moved economically about the kitchen, getting out the cups, cream and sugar, all the time avoiding Patrick’s gaze, but knowing it followed her every movement.
‘Did Davies—? Steady,’ Patrick soothed as a spoon landed on the floor with a clatter when Ellie just dropped it.
She bent to pick it up, her face averted so that he shouldn’t see the heated colour in her cheeks.
‘Ellie?’
Just that. Her name. Nothing else. But it was said compellingly enough for Ellie to know he wanted her to look across at him. And she did exactly that. The steadiness of his gaze as he looked at her wordlessly was as forceful as Ellie had known it would be.
‘What do you want to know, Patrick?’ she snapped impatiently, picking up the tray of coffee things only to put it down noisily on the kitchen table. ‘Whether Gareth and I came close to being lovers?’ she bit out sarcastically. ‘What business is it of yours if we did?’ she added challengingly, blue eyes bright with anger as she glared down at him.
‘Black, no sugar,’ he told her economically. ‘My preference for coffee,’ he explained mildly at her blank look.
‘Oh. Fine,’ she muttered, sitting down abruptly to concentrate all her attention on pouring the coffee. She didn’t want to think about anything else!
‘You’re quite right, Ellie,’ Patrick began softly, ‘it is none of my business just how—intimate your relationship was with Davies. Except…’
She looked up sharply. ‘Yes?’
His gaze was intense on the paleness of her face. ‘Did he hurt you, Ellie?’
She felt the blood drain completely from her cheeks, her hand shook as she held the coffee pot poised over one of the cups.
‘Ellie?’
She drew in a deep breath, swallowed hard, willing herself to carry on pouring the coffee without spilling it. No, Gareth hadn’t hurt her, he had humiliated her. But it wasn’t an incident she particularly wanted to relate to Patrick. It was the reason she knew she had meant absolutely nothing to Gareth—the reason she knew what sort of man he really was…
She gave an over-bright smile, her gaze not quite meeting Patrick’s as she handed him his cup of coffee. ‘It isn’t important, Patrick,’ she dismissed lightly. ‘We’re all agreed that he isn’t a nice person.’
Patrick reached out, his hand covering hers as it rested on the tabletop. ‘Tell me what happened,’ he encouraged huskily.
She closed her eyes, wishing she could shut out the memory of that last time she had been with Gareth but at the same time knowing that she couldn’t.
Gareth called into her office as she was finishing work, suggesting that he drive her home. Things had been rather strained between them the last couple of weeks—forgotten telephone calls, cancelled dates—and she had welcomed this chance to talk to him alone for a while.
Toby was still at work when they arrived back at the house, and almost before Ellie and Gareth were in the door, it seemed, Gareth began to kiss her. But as the kiss deepened, with Gareth’s hands roaming more freely over her body than ever before, Ellie began to pull away from him.
‘Don’t,’ she told him frowningly, at the same time pushing ineffectually at his painful hold about her waist.
He smiled then—a smile like no other Ellie had seen him give, a smile so scornful it made her cringe. ‘That’s always been the trouble with you, Ellie,’ he told her scathingly as he released her so abruptly she staggered slightly. ‘Maybe if you hadn’t been so frigid I wouldn’t have needed to find someone else. As it is…’
Ellie stared at him. She had suspected something; of course she had. Gareth had been far too elusive these last two weeks for her not to have realised that something had gone seriously wrong with their relationship.
Gareth raised blond brows at her stricken expression. ‘Of course, it isn’t too late,’ he drawled suggestively. ‘I could still be persuaded into continuing our relationship. If you were to—’
‘You conceited—!’ Ellie broke off angrily, glaring up at him disgustedly.