A Winter Proposal / His Diamond Bride: A Winter Proposal / His Diamond Bride

‘You flatter me,’ he said. ‘The truth is, I’m mystified by you. When I think I understand you, you do the opposite to what I was expecting.’

‘Just like the financial markets,’ she observed saucily. ‘You manage well enough with them.’

‘Sooner or later, the financial markets always revert to type. With you, I’m not so sure.’

‘Perhaps that’s because you don’t really know what my type is. Or you think you know, and you’re mistaken.’

‘No—’ he shook his head ‘—I’m not arrogant enough to think I know.’

‘Then let me tell you, I’m devoted to my job and to nothing else. I promised to get to know Charlie and “beguile” him, but I couldn’t have done that in an office. It was necessary to work “above and beyond the call of duty.”’

‘And how is your case going? ‘

‘Fairly well. He’s seen through Ginevra.’

‘And if you can persuade him to grow up, he’s all set for a serious career.’

‘You mean in the firm with you? Suppose that isn’t what he wants?’

‘He’ll thank me in the end, when he’s a successful man and he realises I helped to guide him that way.’

‘Perhaps you should stop guiding him and let him find his own path.’

‘Into a police cell, you mean?’

That silenced her.

After a moment he said, ‘Why are you frowning?’

‘I’m just wondering about your methods.’

‘I don’t know what you mean.’

‘You don’t really expect me to believe this is coincidence, do you? You knew Charlie was going to be here.’

‘I see. I’m supposed to have every room bugged, and to bribe half the staff to bring me information. Shame on you, Pippa.’

She blushed, feeling foolish for her wild fantasies.

‘I suppose I might be the evil spy of your imagination, if I needed to be,’ he said in a considering tone, ‘but when my brother conducts every phone call at the top of his voice I simply don’t need to be. I happened to be passing his office when he booked the table.’

‘And you made immediate arrangements to put him under surveillance. Or me.’

‘I made immediate arrangements to have an enjoyable night out.’

‘Teresa must have been surprised to be summoned at the last minute.’

‘Teresa is a lovely woman, and she enjoys nightclubs. It gives her a chance to display her beauty, which, you must admit, is exceptional.’

It was on the tip of her tongue to ask if he’d hired his companion as he’d hired her, but her courage failed her. Besides, the memory of how he and Teresa had practically embraced as they danced, was all the answer she needed. It seemed to underline his sedate demeanour with herself.

She wasn’t used to that. Men usually seized the opportunity to make contact with her body. One who behaved like a Victorian clergyman was unusual. Interesting.

Annoying.

The floor was getting crowded. Dancers jostled each other until suddenly one of them stumbled, crashing into Pippa, driving her forward against Roscoe, cancelling the distance he’d kept so determinedly between them. Taken by surprise, she had no time to erect barriers that might have saved her from the sudden intense awareness of his body—lithe, hard, powerful.

It was too late now. Something had made her doubly aware of her own body, singing with new life as it pressed up to his, and the sensation seemed to invade her totally—endless, unforgettable. Shocking.

She tried to summon up the strength to break the embrace, but he did it for her, pushing her away with a resolution that only just avoided being discourteous.

‘We’d better return to the table,’ he said.

Then he was walking off without a backward look, giving her no choice but to follow. Which was discourteous. She might have been irritated if she hadn’t had an inkling of what was troubling him. She too needed time to think about what had just happened; time to deny it.

Charlie had reached the point of talking nonsense and Teresa looked relieved to see them.

‘How did you get here?’ Roscoe said, placing a hand on his brother’s shoulder with a gentleness that contradicted the roughness in his voice.

‘I hired Harry and his car. He’s waiting for us.’

‘Good. He can take you home while I take Pippa.’

‘Hey, Pippa’s with me—’

‘And the less she sees of you in this state the better. Waiter!’

In a few minutes he’d settled everything—Charlie’s bill as well as his own. They escorted Charlie out to the side road where the chauffeur was waiting. Teresa helped to settle him in the back seat, which gave Pippa the chance to mutter to Roscoe, ‘I’ll take a taxi home.’

‘You will not.’

‘But I don’t want to be a gooseberry,’ she said frantically. ‘You and she…I mean…’

‘I know exactly what you mean and kindly allow me to make my own decisions.’

‘Like you make everyone else’s?’ she snapped.

‘I won’t pretend not to understand that, but you can’t have known my brother a whole two days without realising that he’s vulnerable. I don’t want people to see him like this. Do you?’

‘No,’ she said. ‘Just let me say goodnight to him.’

But Charlie was dead to the world and she stood back while Harry drove off with him. Watching Roscoe get into the driving seat of his car, she realised that she’d seen him drink only tonic water, and after several hours in a nightclub he was stone cold sober and completely in control.

Which was typical of him, she thought crossly.

Teresa didn’t seem annoyed at having Pippa foisted on her when she would no doubt have preferred to be alone with Roscoe. As they sat together in the back she chatted merrily, mostly about Charlie, whose company she had enjoyed, especially as he had entertained her by running through some routines by another more talented comedian he’d recently seen perform.

‘He’s really good,’ she recalled.