Melting Ms Frost (28 page)

‘No,’ she interrupted him again. ‘I’ll be fine taking a taxi on my own. Please just get me a number and go back to your game.’

‘I’m not letting you leave alone, Annabel,’ he stated flatly.

That earned him an angry look. ‘What I do isn’t down to you!’ Slipping from her stool, she began striding towards the staircase.

He followed, hot on her heels and overtook her on the small landing half way down, swinging around to stand in front of her with his arm stretched out to grasp the hand rail to cut off her escape.

Annabel stopped dead. ‘Get out of my way.’

‘No. I’m not going to let you run away without at least offering some sort of explanation as to what the problem is.’

‘What the problem is?’ She puffed out a breath. ‘Jesus, there’s so much wrong here that I don’t even know where to start!’ she muttered almost to herself, rubbing fretfully at her forehead before almost immediately finding a starting place. ‘Because I had no idea about any of this,’ she accused, whipping her hand away and pinning him with a wild look. ‘How does any of this fit in any way with you parading as a barman? These people … the amount of money you had stacked on that poker table … It’s ludicrous. And you’ve got the nerve to keep going on about trust! Like you’re some sort of honourable, dependable saint of a man, worthy of it. But you’re not, you’re plainly a liar. I haven’t the first idea who you really are.’

The breathless rant finished as quickly as it had begun. ‘Yes, you do, Annabel,’ he said calmly. ‘I’m still me.’

She closed her eyes and drew in a breath. ‘But that’s exactly the point, I don’t have a clue who “me” is. I thought I did, but now I realise that I don’t know anything about you.’

He waited until she opened her eyes again so he could look directly into them as he asked, ‘And why do you think that is, Annabel?’

‘How the hell should I know?’ she blustered. ‘Because it gives you some twisted kick to be all secretive and manipulative and deceive people?’

He let the insult pass and held onto her gaze. ‘Or perhaps it’s simply because you’ve never bothered to ask me about myself.’

She paused as that stunningly clear piece of reasoning sunk in, but rather than accept the possibility that her own actions – or more specifically, the lack of them – were responsible for her current state of discomfort, she came right back on the defensive.

‘That’s ridiculous. You could have offered the information. At any time. It’s not as though you don’t like to talk my ears off!’

He wanted to throw his head back and laugh at the tartness of her tone, but with the rapid rise and fall of her chest telling him how high her emotions were running, he suspected she’d likely push him down the stairs if he dared. ‘In the same way that you offer so much about yourself, you mean? Annabel, the only reason I’ve been learning what little I have about you, is from dragging it out of you word by stubborn word.’

Again, she paused, recognising the undeniable ring of truth in his words. But she was still rattled and not ready to admit it. ‘Well at least I’ve never misled you,’ she threw at him. ‘Never pretended to be someone I’m obviously not.’

Skirting around him, she continued down the stairs. He allowed himself a small, secret smile before he turned in pursuit. Helping educate Ms Frost on the requirements needed to conduct any sort of personal relationship was proving to be hugely rewarding.

He caught up with her again at the bottom of the stairs, putting himself right in her way. She gave an exasperated sigh. ‘I don’t like being taken for a fool, Aidan.’

‘And I don’t take you for one, Annabel. Not for a minute. I’ve never pretended to be anything. I am who I am, nothing’s changed.’

‘Oh, how can you say that? Everything’s changed.’

‘No. Only your perception has. I’m essentially the same man I’ve been since you met me. You’re just seeing another side from the one you’re used to.’

Although her chin remained at a stubborn set, it appeared Annabel had nothing else to add at present.

He took advantage of her silence. ‘Let me call for the car so we can finish this in private.’ It may have been phrased as a question, but he delivered it in a tone that made it a statement.

‘Fine,’ Annabel snapped, accepting defeat, but not very graciously. ‘I’m too bloody tired to keep fighting you.’

In less than ten minutes they were in the back of the car, gliding through quiet, snowy streets towards the lights of the city centre.

Turning his back on the window, Aidan angled his body to look across the darkened interior to where Annabel sat staring out at the passing scenery and asked what it was that she’d discovered about him tonight that she found so objectionable.

He wasn’t overly surprised to learn that it had something to do with the poker game. Given her current family situation, she had good reason to be wary of something that had so much potential to wreak havoc. But he felt she was placing the blame in the wrong corner.

‘I understand that you’ve had a difficult time with what happened to your mother with Tony Maplin, but don’t you think it’s a little unfair to judge all gambling based on his actions? Surely you can see the difference between his behaviour and what we were doing tonight to raise money for charity?’

Annabel sent him a look across the car’s interior. ‘You could have easily just given the money to the charity. Gambling is all about unnecessary risk taking.’

‘And what’s so bad about taking risks,
a mhuirnín?
Lots of things in life are a gamble, involve some element of risk. There’s not much reward to be had by playing things too safe.’

‘Yes, but if you risk too much you stand to lose everything.’

He tried to read her expression in the occasional flash of a passing street light. She was obviously much more relaxed and open here in the enclosed, semi-dark intimacy of the car than she had been back at the Reisers’, where she’d felt exposed and vulnerable.

‘And is that what you’re saying, Annabel? That this, us, is too much for you?’

He heard the long intake of breath she took, watched her head sink back into the seat. ‘I’m concerned that the price that’s going to have to be paid in the end is too high.’

That was a remarkably candid admission from her. Perhaps his plan to shake her out of herself was working after all. ‘And you think you’re the only one who’s afraid of that?’ He repaid her openness in kind. ‘You, me, every person on the planet has to take that sort of gamble at some point. All any of us can do is decide for ourselves whether the reward is worth the risk.’

His heart nearly stopped as he saw her shake her head. But instead of telling him he wasn’t worth it, she said, ‘It’s not always about deciding for yourself, though, is it? Somebody else made the wrong decision for my mother.’

‘What happened to Ellen was devastating, unforgivable – but you need to stop using that one bad relationship as a marker for all.’

Annabel’s gaze went back to the window. ‘It wasn’t just one,’ she said quietly. ‘There were a few – not necessarily playing her for her money like Tony did, but who definitely played her emotions, her trusting nature.’

He let that sink in. ‘Is that why you find it so difficult to trust anyone? To trust me?’

Her head turned to him sharply. ‘That’s not fair. I’ve already trusted you more than I should.’

He held her gaze. ‘Why more than you should? I’ve done nothing to betray anything you’ve given.’

‘Haven’t you?’ One of her brows quirked. ‘You’ve not exactly been honest about yourself.’

‘Because I didn’t immediately spill my life story in minute detail all over you uninvited? The words pot and kettle, spring to mind, Annabel.’ He shifted again in the seat, turning to face her head on. ‘But I’m an open book. Ask me whatever you want.’

And she did. Starting with how someone working as a barman could possibly afford his lifestyle, how he came to have friends and acquaintances who were some of the richest and most powerful people in Europe.

‘Ah, now that’s something you already know. That very successful City career I told you about? I landed Damien as a client, and over the years we became friends.’

‘But … I assumed when you mentioned it that some disaster must have befallen you. That you’d ended up at Cluny’s because you’d lost your job in the banking crash.’

‘Ultimately, I did lose the job as a result of the crash, but only after I’d managed to get myself and those of my clients who would listen, out without the huge losses that a lot suffered.’

Annabel frowned. ‘So why haven’t you gone back? I mean, serving drinks in your uncle’s restaurant can hardly be fulfilling after that.’

‘I can’t ever go back into that world, Annabel, even if I wanted to.’

Her look of confusion deepened. ‘Why not? I’d have thought someone who’d managed to save a few fortunes would be considered a big asset. And you obviously did come through it quite well if you can still afford a lifestyle like the one you appear to have.’

‘It’s not that I wouldn’t be welcomed back,’ he told her. Indeed, there’d been more than a few keen offers made based on what he’d managed to achieve. ‘But the effort involved in trying to shore up the solid foundations I’d built against the force of that catastrophic financial avalanche cost me my health. One day I was storming through a solid sixteen hours of work, the next I was laid out helpless in intensive care having suffered a stroke.’

‘Oh.’ Annabel’s eyes went wide. ‘I had no idea. You – you look so healthy.’ Her gaze dropped to run over him in a way that made his abs tighten. ‘Are you fully recovered now?’

Since he’d met her and had her bring back his dreams and ignite every one of his senses to blazing life, he had to admit that he felt better than he had in a long time.

‘It’s taken a while but I’m almost there.’ He smiled at her. ‘But now that the damage has been done, it wouldn’t be wise to go back into such a stressful profession. I’ve been forced to re-evaluate, to find a new direction. And I’m fortunate that I’m able to do that from a position of comfort and security. From a strictly financial point of view, I don’t need to be at Cluny’s, but I’m not really the type to just sit around waiting. I’m a social creature and I hate to be useless. When I learnt Richard needed an emergency staff replacement, I’d been recuperating back home in Ireland for some time and had reached that point of recovery where I’d begun to drive my family, my friends, and myself crazy. I’d worked bar as a student and was desperate to get back to independence so it seemed like the perfect solution all round.’

Absorbing the information, Annabel gave a slow nod and faced forward, her gaze wandering to the windscreen.

‘It’s started to snow,’ she said with sudden and apparent delight.

Looking out of the window himself at the fat, lacy flakes that had begun tumbling from the sky, he also noticed that they were now back in the centre of the city. He felt a hot tingle of anticipation wash through him at the thought that they were very nearly at the hotel.

He turned back to Annabel. ‘Anything else you want to ask?’

Picking up on the slight crack in his voice, Annabel’s attention snapped back to him. When their eyes met, he saw her chest rise on a quick, deep intake of breath. Their gazes stayed locked for a moment before she managed a soft, ‘no’.

Aware of the car slowing to take the final corner, Aidan reached a hand across the space between them and caught one of the wisps of hair that hung down from where she’d pinned the red tresses up.

‘Then there’s only one question that remains, Annabel,’ he said, smoothing his fingers slowly down the silky tendril. ‘Are you ready for me?’

Annabel watched as Aidan closed the door to their suite behind them, hyper aware of the force of the intensity radiating from him. He’d not spoken since she’d offered a ragged ‘yes’ in answer to that one last question.

She held her breath as he stepped towards her and set about silently removing her coat. Tossing it onto the nearby console table, he kept his eyes on hers as his own coat followed suit, then he stepped close again, the fingers of one hand, warm and strong but gentle, wrapping around hers and raising it his lips to press a kiss against her knuckles. Still without a word, he led her towards the bedroom he’d taken as his.

Drawing to a halt in the doorway, he broke his silence at last.

‘Go and stand in front of the mirror,’ he instructed, indicating the full-length mirror hung on the wall at the end of the bed. Compelled by the tone in his voice, Annabel did, watching in the reflection as he moved to close the door before turning back to meet her look in the mirror. Even from across the room he looked commanding yet elegantly at ease in that well-tailored midnight-blue suit, the searing look in those pale eyes hiding nothing of his intent. She shivered and realised that his prediction had turned out to be true. All he had to do was look at her across the room to make her know she was his. How quickly that had happened … within weeks. How long it had seemed, an eternity.

She couldn’t take her eyes off his reflection as she watched him shed his jacket and throw it on the bed before beginning to roll up one shirt sleeve as he slowly came up behind her. When he was within reach, she turned to meet him and put her arms around his neck. He stopped her.

‘No. Face the mirror. From now until I make you come for me, you don’t do anything I haven’t told you to do. Understand?’

There was something electrifying in his tone that short-circuited her need to argue. She could feel the hairs on her arms rising in response to the thread of power that was as irresistible as it was intoxicating. She did as she was told, her eyes glued to his reflection that stared back at her from over her shoulder.

‘I’m going to start with the bit that’s been intriguing me all evening,’ he said as he finished rolling up his other sleeve. ‘The first bit of you I touched.’ One hand came up, the back of one finger stroking down the side of her neck, causing her to arch into the touch. Lowering his head, he put his lips to the curve of shoulder and neck. The lightest brush, like the one he’d pressed on her knuckles. He planted another a little further up. And then another and another. Turning his cheek in to rub against her hair, he tucked his nose behind her ear and breathed her in.