Kissed By a Stranger

‘It’s all right, Glen. You could say I was expecting her.’

At the sound of his voice a strange sensation wound along her spine, all the way to the soles of her feet. Luke Ansfield was her rescuer. She would recognise that deeply resonant voice anywhere. She spun around. ‘Hello, Luke. I came to the right place after all.’

His midnight-blue eyes were masked behind dark glasses and his mouth tightened. ‘I had no doubt that you would, Ms Fox.’

‘It was Sarah yesterday.’ Damn, why was her voice so husky all of a sudden? She’d interviewed royalty without such a betraying effect.

He gave a long-suffering sigh. ‘Yesterday I didn’t know who you were until I pulled you out of that crumpled car.’

‘You mean, if you’d known you’d have let the car blow up and take me with it?’

‘Hardly. What do you want, Sarah?’

It was progress of a sort, but his tone was hardly encouraging. She was also aware of the man, Glen, leaning against the Branxton, absorbing every word. Who was he—assistant, bodyguard? Both? ‘I wanted to thank you for saving my life,’ she offered.

‘You thanked me yesterday.’

‘Well, I...didn’t know who you were then.’

A muscle worked in his jaw. ‘Does it make a difference?’

She threw caution to the wind. ‘You kissed me yesterday. It’s at least worth an introduction.’

He looked as if keeping his temper in check was requiring considerable effort, but he said, ‘Come inside.’ To the other man, he said, ‘No need to loose the dogs yet, Glen.’

Following him inside, she flicked a nervous glance over her shoulder. ‘Dogs?’

‘Guard dogs,’ he supplied, confirming her fears. ‘Between Glen and the Dobermanns, I’m well protected up here.’

Well protected from what? Or from whom? Fans from his racing days, or the problem in his past Kitty had alluded to? Either way, Sarah was grateful Luke wasn’t making any moves to set Glen or the dogs onto her yet.

As he strode ahead of her into the house she again became aware of his sheer physical presence. Yesterday she’d put his startling impact down to the shock of the accident. But what was today’s excuse?

She made herself focus on the imposing kitchen into which he led her. It seemed to be the hub of the house, judging by the vast colonial table which was strewn with papers and a state-of-the-art laptop computer. Dog toys on the floor reminded her uncomfortably of the absent Dobermanns, and the sheer size of a chewed wicker basket made her gulp in dismay.

She brought her gaze back to Luke himself. ‘Coffee?’ he asked, and when she nodded, he began setting up a plunger coffee-maker. His movements were assured, economical and definitely sexy. A man who elevated coffee-making to an art form, she thought with a start.

In an amazingly short space of time he set before her a cup of the most delicious coffee.

‘My own blend,’ he told her when she said so.

She looked around the beautifully appointed kitchen and into the comfortable luxury of the house she could glimpse beyond it. ‘This is a lovely home. Do you live here all the time?’

Tension radiated visibly along his broad shoulders. ‘Is this an interview?’

The sheer mystery of the man had aroused her reporter’s instincts, but she’d resisted the temptation, knowing her interest in him was much more personal. Since she didn’t want to admit as much, she said, ‘It is news, yes. When the Coast to Coast audience finds out who my knight in shining armour turned out to be—’

‘They aren’t going to.’

His furious denial cut across her so abruptly that she spilled coffee into the saucer. ‘I beg your pardon?’

‘I said they won’t find out because you are not going to tell them.’

She’d known he was camera-shy but this was totally unexpected. ‘Surely your neighbours know who you are? Your face isn’t exactly unknown.’

‘My neighbours mind their own business, as I would prefer you to do,’ he stated, in a tone which suggested she would do well to co-operate. ‘These days I’m an ordinary man living an ordinary life, and I value my privacy highly. I would have thought that message came across clearly enough yesterday.’

She felt her face flood with colour. ‘You made your point very successfully.’

He moved closer and her pulses began to race afresh. ‘I could make it again, just so we understand each other.’

She didn’t understand anything, least of all him. All she knew was that the closer he came the warmer the room suddenly became. When his arms slid around her, she held her breath. There was no camera, no reason to let him kiss her, yet she knew as surely as she knew her own name that she was going to allow it.

Her heart thudded as he lowered his mouth to hers. When his eyes locked with her startled gaze, the air seemed charged between them. Her thoughts rioted. What was it about Luke Ansfield that practically bewitched her in his presence?

Whatever it was, it was powerful. Though his kiss was light, almost teasing, daring her to pull away, she could no more have done that than she could have flown.

Instead, she felt an urge to rest her head against his chest and let his strong arms enfold her, shutting out the world as he had shut out the blast from her car yesterday.

He stepped away from her before she could do anything so betraying. She released the breath she had been unaware she was holding. ‘You drive a hard bargain, Mr Ansfield.’

If he heard the tremor in her voice, he ignored it. ‘Then you’ll do what I ask?’

‘Well, you did save my life,’ she said diffidently.

When their eyes met, she was surprised to see something very like appreciation in his sea-dark gaze. ‘It was worth saving.’

She looked quickly away. ‘Why is it so important to you not to be recognised?’

‘Isn’t it enough that it is?’

Her silence was a high price to pay for what he had done, but it was equally obvious that it was his price. How could she refuse? To her astonishment, she realised it was also what she wanted to do, which was against all her professional instincts and training. What was happening to her?

With a reluctance which didn’t bear close scrutiny, she stood up. ‘Very well, I’ll respect your privacy. I owe you at least that much.’

His gaze remained on her. ‘Do I have your word?’

It was her turn to bristle with annoyance. ‘I’ve said I’ll keep your secret and I will,’ she snapped. ‘So there’s no need to set your dogs onto me.’

He ignored the taunt. ‘I’ll show you to your car.’

Her nerves leapt. She told herself it was the prospect of encountering the guard dogs. It couldn’t have anything to do with Luke’s presence at her side, could it?

CHAPTER TWO

A WEEK later, Sarah joined Kitty for cappuccino at the Oasis on Broadbeach. Aware of the curious glances they were receiving, she tried to ignore them. It was part and parcel of having your face on television every other week.

Kitty leaned closer. ‘Have the powers-that-be decided on a permanent anchor for Coast to Coast yet?’