The Seduction Charade by Penny Jordan

Author:Penny Jordan [Jordan, Penny]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781488032028
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 1987-08-31T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIX

AFTER supper, Gray rang Alex and spent some time on the telephone telling him how pleased he had been by the yacht’s performance.

Supper had been a quiet meal. Gray had eaten his chilli hungrily, with the appetite of a man who had been out in the open air all day, but Stephanie had only been able to nibble at hers.

Her appetite seemed to have deserted her completely. She was tired as well. Not the healthy tiredness that came from enjoyable physical activity, but the draining, exhausting lassitude that followed intense emotional trauma.

One of her favourite hobbies was tapestry work. She used her own designs, which appealed to the artistic side of her nature, while the practical work of stitching the designs was very soothing.

A London friend had commissioned from her a set of six chair-seats for her rambling Cotswold cottage, and she was half-way through the work. Each seat-cover depicted a scene that had some relevance in her friend’s life, and while Gray was on the telephone she went upstairs to collect her work. It took her longer than usual to become engrossed in what she was doing, at least half of her concentration unashamedly focused on Gray’s conversation.

When he eventually hung up he was smiling contentedly as he walked over to join her.

‘You’re pleased with your progress so far then?’ she asked him as he sat down opposite her and picked up a book from the coffee table.

‘Yes, very.’

Her heart sank. Only now was she prepared to admit to herself that she had hoped that somehow the yacht would not pass muster and he would change his mind about the Fastnet.

The silence wrapped round them as Stephanie worked on her tapestry, and Gray read his book. It should have been a companionable silence, but it wasn’t.

Stephanie was acutely conscious of every movement he made; every time he turned a page she looked up; every time the fire crackled and spat she used it as an excuse to study him.

At last she couldn’t stand it any longer. Putting aside her work, she got up.

‘I’ll go and make us some coffee.’

‘No, you sit down, I’ll do that. You made the supper, it’s my turn now,’ Gray told her easily, putting down his book and pushing her gently back into her chair.

The moment she felt his fingertips touch her arm, she flinched. She couldn’t help it. The shock of him touching her, when she had yearned so much for some contact between them, had her cowering back in her chair petrified that she might betray herself in some way and that he would see how she felt about him.

Immediately, his expression changed, his smile turning to grim surveillance of her tense features. His hands locked round her upper arms, causing her to tense even more.

‘What’s the matter with you?’ he demanded bitterly. ‘I’m not going to hurt you, Steph.’

But he already was, and although he didn’t know it, his words were an exact echo of the ones Paul had used to her so often after he had lost his temper with her and was trying to coax her round.

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