Page 59 of Christmas at Sturcombe Bay
It was ten minutes past seven when she appeared, and he smiled to himself, guessing that the timing had been deliberate. A test. Just long enough to keep him waiting, but not so long as to justify him being impatient.
She’d always be one to test the limits, always prepared for something to blow up in her face.
She’d pushed the line just a little with her outfit too. Navy-blue trousers and a chunky cream sweater with brown ankle boots. Smart, but a bit too casual for anywhere ‘posh’ — a message, if he’d needed one.
He climbed out of the car and went round to open the passenger door for her. She smiled up at him, but hesitated before getting in.
“Where are we going?”
“A place called the Old Mill. It’s not far.”
“Oh, yes.” The slight tension in her shoulders visibly relaxed. “Some of the hotel guests have been there for lunch or dinner. They’ve said it’s nice.”
“It looks it on the website. I hope you like it.”
She slid into the passenger seat and smiled at him as he slipped in behind the wheel. “This is a nice car.”
“It is.”
“I’ve never ridden in a Jaguar before,” she confessed.
“There’s a first time for everything.”
“Lisa’s brother’s got an Aston Martin — like James Bond.”
He laughed. “I saw it. Now thatisa nice car.”
“Better than this one?”
“Hmm. Probably. I’ve never driven one.”
They turned onto Church Road and drove up the hill. The car was smooth and quiet, a pleasure to drive. If he was going to stay in England, he’d need to buy a car instead of hiring one. Should he buy a Jaguar or an Aston Martin, or something else?
He glanced across at his passenger. Maybe he wouldn’t mention the car purchase to her. Some women might be drawn like magnets to a man who could afford to buy one of the most expensive cars on the road, but he suspected that it would have the opposite effect on Shelley.
For the same reason, he wouldn’t tell her about his plans to buy the hotel. At least, not yet. He didn’t intend to tell anyone until the deal went through.
* * *
In spite of her wariness, Shelley was enjoying herself. The car was beautiful; sleek and comfortable, and smelling of new leather. She’d already guessed that Alex was quite well off. Cleaning his room, she’d seen his clothes — mostly casual but ofvery good quality. His shoes and his luggage were too — always a good tell.
Which meant that the gulf between them was very wide indeed. She’d known that from the start. So, as Jess had said, she should just enjoy this while it lasted. He’d said he might be staying in Sturcombe for a month or so, and then he’d be gone.
Okay, that was fine. Nothing in her life had lasted much longer than that, except for her time at the Carleton. And now that was coming to an end too. Oh well . . .
She hadn’t meant to sigh, but it had slipped out, and Alex glanced across at her, one dark eyebrow raised in question.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” She managed a smile. “Just admiring the sky. It’s so pretty, with all the stars coming out.”
“Ah, yes. It is pretty.”
“Do you think there really are people on other planets up there?” she mused, hoping to distract him from questioning whether she was all right or not.
“I don’t know about people, but there are so many billions of stars out there that it’s quite likely there’s some form of life. But I doubt if they’ll be landing on Earth any time soon, unless they’ve got some weird sort of propulsion system that we don’t know about. The distances are just too great.”
She laughed. “Well, that’s good to know, anyway!”
