Just for a Night Read Online Free PDF Page B

‘What was his name again?’
    â€˜Shane.’
    â€˜What does he do for a living?’
    â€˜He helped my mother run her riding and dressage school. He’s quite marvellous with horses.’
    â€˜I see. But what is he doing now that your mother has passed on?’
    â€˜Just the same. It would be a shame to let all my mother’s work go to rack and ruin. She built up a good business with plenty of clients. And her horses are simply the best.’
    â€˜But that’s not what you do, is it?’
    Marina was startled by his intuitive comment. ‘Why do you say that?’
    â€˜Your hands, for one thing. It’s also obvious you don’t spend much time in the sun.’
    She stared down at her soft, pale hands, which were resting lightly in her lap. She was unnerved by the sharpness of his observations. What else had he noted about her? Could he look into her mind as well, see all those appalling thoughts she’d been having about him?
    Her fingers linked together and pressed down hard. ‘You’re quite right,’ she said a little stiffly. ‘I’m a teacher.’
    â€˜A teacher,’ he repeated, and smiled a strange little smile. ‘Yes, I can see you in front of a class. But notboys,’ he added wryly. ‘You would distract boys far too much. You teach at a girls’ school, I gather?’
    Marina was rather rattled by his comments. For, while the use of the word ‘distracting’ suggested he found her looks attractive, this fact seemed to slightly annoy him. Was this because she was an engaged woman? Would he perhaps have adopted a different attitude to her if she’d been free to accept…to accept…what?
    A romantic tryst while she was down at Winterborne Hall?
    Marina found such a thought breathlessly exciting. It was with difficulty that she reminded herself she had developed an overheated imagination since stepping off that plane. For all she knew, the Earl of Winterborne was just making idle and polite conversation to pass the time while in her company. His tendency to an occasional sardonic remark could be caused by boredom. It was a sobering thought.
    â€˜Actually, you’re wrong this time,’ she told him crisply. ‘I do teach boys. Boys and girls. I’m a primary school teacher. I have a class full of nine-and ten-year-olds. Or I did. I’ve taken compassionate leave till next term.’
    His smile was accompanied by a drily amused gleam in his eyes. ‘Ahh. But boys of that age are not boys at all, just wild little savages. I was thinking of the slightly older species, which begins to appreciate the difference between boys and girls. And how old are you, exactly, Marina?’
    â€˜Twenty-five.’
    He said ‘ahh’ again, as though highly satisfied with her age.
    The green saloon turned down a narrow street at that point, angling between cars parked down one side, then turning into an even more narrow and slightly cobbled lane. The brick buildings on either side were three storeys high, with doors which opened straight onto the street. So did the windows. Only the window boxes spilling with brightly coloured flowers gave some relief to the austerity of the architecture.
    â€˜These are mews,’ His Lordship volunteered, on seeing her glance around.
    â€˜Oh, yes, I’ve read about them. They used to be the royal stables, didn’t they?’
    â€˜Not all of them royal, but certainly once belonging to London’s wealthy. They’ve all been converted to apartments nowadays.’
    â€˜They must still be expensive, being so close to the city.’
    â€˜I dare say. This one’s been passed down through the family. I inherited it when my father died. It might normally have gone to the eldest son but I think Father wanted to keep some of the estate out of Laurence’s spendthrift hands. As it was, my brother did his best to bankrupt the estate.
    â€˜But I