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‘And a sense of proportion?’
‘What?’ She faltered; he looked disconcertingly bored.
‘Don’t you think you’re going a bit overboard with the unfit parent stuff?’ he drawled.
‘That’s rich coming from you,’ she gasped incredulously. ‘You’ve only just finished telling me all the things I’m doing wrong!’
‘Rachel, what I know about childcare could be fitted on the back of a postage stamp. Of course I’m going to tell you you should be expanding your social horizons; it’s in my best interests. We both know I’ve got an ulterior motive.’
‘You have?’ Responding at this point might be construed as encouragement but the words that trembled on the tip of her tongue wouldn’t be censored.
‘I want to be your lover, Rachel.’
‘Just like that?’ she choked. She’d steeled herself for something much cleverer and more subtle. The simple brutality of the truth was totally devastating. She knew her colour was fluctuating in tune with the violent changes in body temperature she could feel taking place. ‘You’re very sure of yourself.’ It was more a croak than an indignant sneer, but it was the best she could do.
‘The only thing I’m sure of, Rachel, is that we’d be good together—very good.’ Her seared nervous system reacted as violently to his husky tone as if it had been a caress.
‘Nigel…’
‘Oh, yes, Nigel,’ he mused. ‘I think you should tell Nigel it’s over, don’t you?’
Her mouth opened but no sound emerged. His arrogance was literally breathtaking. ‘Why should I do that?’ It didn’t matter a jot that she’d known since the night he proposed that the days of her comfortable relationship with Nigel were numbered. What right did Benedict have to instruct her?
‘I’d prefer exclusive rights…’
‘To what—my body?’ She sucked in air wrathfully. ‘I’m no radical feminist but that’s the most outrageous thing anyone has ever…’
‘You might not be political, but you are the most stubbornly independent female I’ve ever met.’
‘You mean I don’t hang on your every word.’
‘Don’t get me wrong; I like independent. I’m all for a girl taking the initiative,’ he purred suggestively.
This unsubtle reminder of her earlier lapse made her set her chin stubbornly despite her flaming cheeks. ‘One kiss and you take a lot for granted. You get exclusive rights to my body and I get what…? Nigel wants to marry me…’ She let her words trail off provocatively. That ought to send him running; the prospect didn’t make her feel as happy as it should have.
‘I’m not proposing.’ He didn’t appear as intimidated by the suggestion as she’d expected—he didn’t seem fazed at all.
‘You do surprise me,’ she snapped sarcastically. ‘Tell me, do women usually do exactly what you tell them? They must do; nothing else could account for your incredible arrogance.’
‘I gave up comparing you to the other females of my acquaintance within the first thirty seconds of meeting you. Fortunately I like a challenge. I like you.’
‘You do?’
‘Don’t sound so surprised, Rachel. Of course I like you. If you give it half a chance you might find I’m not totally without redeeming features.’
‘I don’t have time in my life for—complications.’ Or heartbreak, she thought, firming her weakening resolve.
‘So you admit I’m a complication.’
‘We don’t want the same things out of life, Ben.’
His mouth thinned and an unexpected spark of anger smouldered to life in his eyes. ‘And when did you become such an expert on what I want out of life?’
She stared at him, perplexed by his obvious annoyance. ‘I’m not. I couldn’t be, could I? You never tell me anything.’ As she warmed to her theme his anger seemed all the more perverse. ‘You’re very clever at worming personal information out of me, but what do I know about you?’ Her expansive gesture sent a copper pan suspended decoratively on the wall clattering noisily to the floor. ‘A big fat zero. But if office gossip is anything to go by your life follows a fairly predictable pattern.’
‘All you had to do was ask. For you I’m an open book. What do they say about me on the office grapevine?’
‘Depends on who you’re talking to—male or female,’ she responded sweetly. She wasn’t about to bolster his already inflated ego.
‘Ouch!’ He winced, with a grin.