‘You know that’s not it,’ Abby intoned, relieved that they weren’t face to face but instead both staring forward, out toward the dark shadow of the pool bordered with shrubs, trees and manicured lawns, liberally interrupted with flower beds, then, beyond that, to the necklace of rolling green fairways that circled the compound.
It was easier to talk when his dark, unsettling eyes weren’t pinned to her face, depriving her of breath.
‘Don’t worry, it isn’t a declaration of intent, and you don’t get to keep it.’
‘I knowthat,’ Abby said sharply. ‘I’m not a complete idiot, Gabriel. Like I said, you don’t have to worry that I might start thinking that this charade is for real.’
‘Sure about that?’ Gabriel’s voice was light, but there was an underlying seriousness beneath the casual tone that made her teeth snap together.
There was so much she wanted to tell him and she fought to remember that he was her boss and that, when this was over, she didn’t want to have said anything she might later come to regret.
‘Quite sure,’ she confined herself to telling him, and he chuckled.
‘My grandmother would be hurt and bewildered if you didn’t wear the ring,’ Gabriel said. ‘Deep down, I do believe she thinks that it was always my intention to give my dearly beloved fiancée the ring that belonged to my mother. Indeed, she refused to accompany me down. Didn’t want to spoil the special moment when I placed it tenderly on your waiting finger.’
‘You’re so cynical, Gabriel.’
He shrugged, took the box from her and flipped open the lid, then he removed the ring and circled it thoughtfully between his fingers. ‘I don’t even remember my mother wearing this,’ he mused.
‘That’s really sad.’
‘Is it?’
‘Yes. It is.’ She took the box from him and slipped the ring on her finger. ‘This feels...weird.’
‘Well, I don’t suppose either of us ever imagined that we’d end up engaged.’
‘Very funny.’
‘It might be a charade but I don’t want my grandmother suspecting anything. Above all else, we have to be convincing.’
‘That’s going to take some effort,’ Abby murmured lightly, but her heart did a little flip as she held out her hand, twirling it around and admiring the charming old-fashioned setting in which was nestled one perfect diamond surrounded by a circle of tinier ones. The ring she had returned to Jason had been a stark, modern piece. She had thought she liked it but, compared to this, it was forgettable.
‘Why?’
‘You? Me? We’re a good team when I’m working for you...’
‘And this is no different,’ Gabriel said, shifting so that he was looking at her profile. And a remarkably delicate profile it was as well.
She was hot, tired and quite probably dazed, yet he would never have guessed as she stared serenely out to the darkened landscape.
Feeling his eyes on her, Abby remained quite still, but she had to make an effort to breathe normally.
‘We get to my proposition.’ Gabriel broke the silence, although he kept his eyes on her averted face, mesmerised by the smoothness of her cheeks and the silkiness of her hair which had unravelled during their journey so that, normally sleek and tidy, there were strands blowing across her cheeks in the lazy, night-time breeze.
He resisted an insane urge to brush them off her face.
Abby turned slowly to look at him, thankful that the relative darkness hid her expression because she had no idea what to expect.
‘Like I said to you, I am deeply grateful for your agreement in helping me, Abby. Trust me, I know it’s beyond your remit. But I think it’s important that we keep this on a business footing, and here’s what I propose. You’ve told me about your parents and about your father cashing in all his bonds so that he can take your mother on a recuperative cruise. I’m guessing that that must leave him in a somewhat vulnerable state, financially.’
‘It’s nothing he can’t handle.’ Or so he’d assured her worriedly six months ago, when he had told her what he planned to do.
‘Being financially stretched when you’re a certain age is always something a guy finds tough to handle,’ Gabriel said with assertion. ‘So here’s what I propose. I give you the equivalent of what he has had to invest in this trip. In other words, I restore his finances to rude health. Let’s be honest here, Abby, if your father’s pension is exhausted, he’s going to be left in a very precarious state, and that kind of stress is the worst sort.’
‘Yes, it is,’ Abby said calmly. Part of her wanted to turn his offer down flat because it went against every grain of pride inside her, but why should she?
He was right. What he’d asked her to do was way beyond her remit and why should she be the eternally well-behaved secretary, willing to go the distance when it came to sacrifice?
