Page 203

Libby wasn’t sure if she should be glad about that or not. Not glad, given his expression. He obviously didn’t want her here, and any fond reunion fantasies she might have entertained had already died. She didn’t want to overstay her welcome. Then again, she didn’t want to go back out into the snow, not when she was already freezing and in wet clothes.

‘Oh,’ she said, not knowing what else to say. ‘I suppose you want me to go back to my car?’

He gave her a quick scan, his frown deepening. ‘You’re still shivering.’

‘Yes. My clothes are wet, and my ankle is sore.’

A sharp, irritated breath escaped him, sending a spike of unfamiliar annoyance through her, the same way as it had when he’d coldly ordered her to tell him why she was here. As if she was one of his staff, or a dog even, and not someone he once knew who was basically freezing to death on his couch.

That’s your own fault.

Yes, okay, it was. She shouldn’t have come here like this, ill prepared and invading his privacy, but still, she was here, and she was cold, and her ankle hurt. ‘Look, I’m sorry for invading your privacy,’ she said tartly. ‘If I could just warm up, I’ll get out of your hair.’

He glared at her. ‘It’s freezing outside. Where are you going to go?’

‘I have a car I can sit in.’

‘You’ll freeze to death out there.’

‘Yes,’ she said, starting to get even more annoyed now. ‘I probably will.’

A muscle in his strong jaw flicked and abruptly he turned away, going over to the fire and staring down into it for a long moment. ‘Can you walk?’

Libby tested her ankle and grimaced. ‘No.’

He muttered something under his breath that sounded like a curse, which didn’t make her feel any better. She didn’t want to be a burden on anyone, not when she was the one who usually carried the burdens for others. ‘It’s fine,’ she said quickly. ‘Give me half an hour to warm up and—’

He turned from his study of the flames, his icy gaze meeting hers. ‘You can’t go back into that cold, not tonight. You’ll have to stay here.’

Shock rippled through her. Stay here? With him? ‘Oh, no, that’s very nice of you, but—’

‘Quiet.’ He stalked over to the couch and for the second time that night, picked her up in his arms.

‘Hey!’ Libby let out a little squeak of shock. ‘What are you doing? And don’t tell me to be quiet.’

He ignored her, turning and striding into the hallway and then up a wide set of wooden stairs. Briefly she debated protesting, then decided there would be no point since she couldn’t walk, and he didn’t seem inclined to listen to her anyway.

‘Where are you taking me?’ she asked, using the same tone she used on the naughtier children to keep them in line.

‘To the bathroom.’ He reached the top of the stairs, where a long, wide hallway stretched, ending with another of those huge, floor-to-ceiling windows.

‘You need to get warm and into dry clothes.’

The warmth of his body was seeping into her the way it had when he’d picked her up out of the snow, and she was conscious that he was very hard, too. There was nothing but muscle beneath the cotton of his T-shirt, and why she should be aware of that she had no idea. It made her uncomfortable.

‘Put me down,’ she muttered. ‘This is embarrassing.’

‘In a moment.’ He didn’t look at her as he carried her down the hallway and into a huge bathroom. The walls were of dark grey stone, with black fittings, and a massive walk-in glass-enclosed shower filled one corner. A huge bath, carved from what looked like a whole piece of black marble, stood in solitary splendour on a plinth before yet more big windows.

Kai set her down on top of the black stone vanity that made up the entire length of one wall, then went over to the bath and turned the tap on, testing the water as it ran.

Libby tried very hard not to stare at the bath, because she loved baths. Her bathroom at Worthington didn’t have one, and she’d always longed to have one put in somewhere. There was nothing nicer or more relaxing than lying back in hot water and letting it seep into your bones.

‘You don’t have to run a bath,’ she forced herself to say. ‘I can shower.’

‘No,’ he said in a flat voice. ‘You can’t stand up.’

‘I can if you—’