‘What if I have? It’s no business of yours!’ erupted Tom. ‘Our wedding is no business of yours. You aren’t wanted here; she just told you. You see? I knew how she felt. She’s no deaf mute. She’s saying what I said she would say. So, why don’t you just clear off? And don’t come back.’
‘I’ll do whatever I damned well please!’ Randal bit out.
Pippa’s mouth went dry; she had never seen him look so angry. He scared her.
But she wouldn’t let him see that; she pushed between him and Tom, staring angrily at Randal.
‘Go away! I told you not to come here, and I meant it. And stop threatening Tom. Or I’ll hit you with the nearest heavy object!’
He looked down at her, his face softening, relaxing, his mouth curling at the edges with amusement and his grey eyes dancing.
‘I’m really scared!’
‘I mean it!’
He held his hands up, palms towards her. ‘Okay, okay, I’ll be good. Promise, miss.’
She studied his features, hoping he meant it, but not assured by the amused mockery in his eyes, then turned to Tom. ‘I think you’d better go now, Tom.’
Tom was still in a belligerent mood. ‘Why should I leave? Tell him to go.’
‘I will,’ she told him firmly. ‘But first I want you to go. I don’t want you both leaving at the same time. I don’t want a fight starting up outside the cottage; the neighbours have had enough excitement for today. Once you’ve driven off, he can go.’
‘Tell him to go first, then I’ll leave. Why should I be the first to go?’ Tom stubbornly said.
She put her hand on his arm, her eyes pleading. ‘Don’t be difficult, Tom, don’t go on arguing. Just leave, please.’
He hesitated, clearly very reluctant to climb down, especially in front of Randal, but eventually shrugged. ‘Oh, very well, but only for you.’ Averting his eyes from Randal, he marched out of the room towards the front door. Pippa followed, ruefully wondering why men were always so obsessed with their pride, their sense of themselves.
She had the strong feeling that Tom was more concerned with defeating Randal than he was with her.
Tom opened the front door, then paused, looked at her. ‘Will you be staying on here, in the cottage?’
‘No. I’m going to sell it. I’ll contact an estate agent later today, or tomorrow.’
‘Don’t do that. I’ll buy it. You know I’ve always loved it. It will save you the agent’s percentage to sell it direct to me.’
She was taken aback. ‘Are you sure you really want to live here?’
‘Certain. I’ll get the house valued to make sure I’m paying the market price; I don’t want you to feel I’m cheating you. Or you can get an agent to value it, if you prefer. Once we’ve agreed the price, we can complete the deal through our solicitors.’
Slowly, she nodded. ‘Okay, Tom. You have the house valued. I trust you. Get in touch with someone. He can ring me to make an appointment to view the cottage.’ She smiled at him. ‘It will save me a lot of money to cut out an agent.’
He nodded, then shot a look past her into the hall. ‘Are you sure you can deal with him? I’ll sit in my car, if you like, until he goes.’
‘There’s no need, Tom. I’ll be okay.’
He shrugged, smoothing down his fair hair. ‘Very well, if you’re sure. But don’t let him talk you into seeing him again.’
‘I won’t, don’t worry.’
Tom bent and kissed her lightly on her lips, said huskily, ‘I’m going to miss you.’ Then he walked away, got into his car, and drove off.
Sighing, Pippa slowly closed the front door and turned back, starting as she found Randal only a few feet behind her, his graceful body leaning against the wall in a casual manner which did not, disguise his poised capacity to be difficult.
‘Were you eavesdropping?’ she angrily demanded.
He raised one brow mockingly. ‘I wanted to make sure he left without making any more trouble.’
‘It was you who made the trouble!’ She opened the front door again. ‘Now, will you go, please?’
He sauntered back towards the kitchen, saying over his shoulder, ‘Not yet.’
She let the door slam again and ran after him. ‘I don’t want you here! We’ve got nothing to say to each other. We’ve said it all.’
He swung, and the tension in his long, powerful body sent her heart into her throat. ‘I haven’t. Why did you let him kiss you?’
‘I didn’t let him. It just happened! But it’s not your business, anyway.’
‘Oh, yes, it is,’ he said, and she looked up again to find his grey eyes focused on her mouth with an intensity that made her pulses race.
She didn’t want to respond like that. She wanted him to go away and leave her alone. But when he looked at her with such desire she felt her own passion leap up to meet his, and that terrified her.
‘Leave me alone!’ she whispered, her heart beating worryingly fast.
He pushed the chair aside and took her shoulders in his strong, supple hands. ‘You belong to me, Pippa, you know that, even though you keep trying to pretend you don’t. From the minute we met we both knew we were meant for each other. If I’d been free then, we’d have been together all these years, but by bad luck I wasn’t free, so you ran away, and you’re still running. Why?’
‘I told you. You’ve ruined my life twice—I’m not going to let you do it again!’
‘You love me,’ he whispered, his hand going down to her waist, pulling her closer. ‘I love you, too. Stop wasting any more of our time.’ His cheek descended against her face, their skin brushing softly. She wanted to resist, push him away, but she was paralysed, her whole being intent on her awareness of his heart beating against her own, his arm round her waist, his thigh
