Page 14 (2/2)
‘Hi, there’
The deep male voice caused her to juasp left her lips, she looked up to see a tall, dark stranger standing in the doorway of the sitting roo so hard she put a hand to her chest to contain it, she bit out, ‘Who on earth are you and what are you doing in my flat?’ as her mind raced What ithin reach to defend herself with? Only her handbag, andJennie and Susan had bought her for her last birthday, it was hardly the stuff to strike terror into a burglar’s heart
There had been a spate of break-ins in the area over the last months and alhen the householders were at work Only last week one occupant of theransacked and the assailant had turned very nasty
‘Hey, it’s OK’ The male voice was lazy ‘Don’t panic’
As hefor her perfume ‘This is a pepper spray and you corated withIn truth she was scared to death He was so big and broad She hadn’t turned the hall light on when she’d co rooh the half-open door was so dim it merely shrouded him in shadow Nevertheless, she could see she’d stand no chance
‘Letto use so The element of surprise is crucial’
He was now so close she could see his features and she received her second shock of the evening As burglars went, this one was to die for She already kneas tall and dark, now add handsoht nose, firm sensual lips, and his eyes…She stared into the heavily lashed golden-brown gaze alether, she said icily, ‘Now, look here—’
‘The nah it would clarify everything, and when she still continued to hold herself tense and at the ready, he added, ‘Jennie’s cousin? She called you and Susan earlier to explain’
‘Explain?’ she echoed a little vacantly The tawny eyes were co, a separate part of her mind stated ominously Whoever he was, this netis he’d use it to his advantage without any co in the circumstances
‘Have you checked your mobile recently?’ he said patiently
A little too patiently, Rachel thought critically His voice carriedin its velvet depths And, of course, today would be the day she’d turned her mobile off when she’d been called in to Jeff’s office for her dressing-down and forgotten to turn it on again
Stiffly, she said, ‘I’ve been extremely busy’
He nodded A fairly benign action and his face was quite impassive, so why she should find the movement so offensive Rachel wasn’t quite sure Perhaps it was his resigned air?
‘I’ain in the same patient tone ‘Our fa up soa lot of each other before my parents moved to Canada when I was sixteen and Jennie was eleven I’ Jennie to say hi she insisted I have dinner with you all tonight’
That explained the smoky, sexy burr to his voice She hadn’t been able to place the accent, it was so slight, but it added to his overall attraction a hundredfold Not that she was attracted to hiant, handsome charmers and Jennie’s cousin seemed full of himself
‘I called in at Jennie’s office and picked up her key earlier—she insisted the flat was a better place to chill out after the flight than a hotel room,’ he continued lazily ‘I’m afraid I’ve been dead to the world on the sofa’