CHAPTER THREE

‘YOU were listening?’

He gave her an arrogant inclination of his head. ‘Perhaps instead of looking so outraged you should think yourself lucky that I was the one who decided to take a walk in the garden.’

Holly paled a little. ‘Maxine …?’

‘She is his wife—’

‘If you think I encouraged that scene you witnessed with James then you’re mistaken,’ Holly snapped. ‘You have no right to accuse me of—’

‘I haven’t accused you of anything,’ Zack reasoned smoothly. ‘I just want to know what you’re going to do about this situation.’

She flushed. ‘I’m not sure there is a situation—’

‘Don’t be ridiculous, Holly,’ the usually lazily mocking man lost his temper with her. ‘Of course there’s a situation!’ He glanced impatiently at his wrist-watch. ‘I just don’t have the time to argue with you about it now, you have to get back to James and I have to drive Maxine into town. But we’ll talk when I get back,’ he warned, opening the door. ‘I may not have accused you of anything yet, but I will if you can’t think of a way to sort out this mess so that no one gets hurt.’

‘Mr Benedict—’

‘Give it some thought, Holly,’ he advised softly, all laughter missing from a man she had thought found humour in everything. ‘Because this certainly can’t go on.’

The room was curiously silent and empty after he had gone, and Holly knew that although she had done nothing personally to merit his anger he had a perfect right to feel it. The whole situation was turning into a farce, and she was going to be the innocent victim if she wasn’t careful. Once again! She had been blamed for something that wasn’t her fault once before, she couldn’t let it happen again.

Fortunately James seemed to have forgotten all about the conversation she found so embarrassing by the time she returned with her notes, and with Maxine and Zack out of the house they were able to work steadily through the morning, James only calling a halt to it when he heard the other couple returning for lunch.

‘I suppose we’ll have to join them.’ He didn’t looked very pleased at the prospect.

‘I’ll just go and freshen up,’ she nodded, no more eager to see Zack again than James seemed to be about his wife. And only yesterday morning she had thought how happy she was here; that idea was fast disintegrating.

Neither Maxine nor Zack was anywhere to be seen as she made her way up to her room, although she knew Zack was a man of his word, that they would talk some time today. Zack Benedict might not be anyone’s idea of a confidante, but she knew she had to tell him her feelings towards James were merely those of affection, and if James had misunderstood those feelings she had no idea what to do about it other than leave here as soon as possible.

The atmosphere between the three occupants of the lounge was tense to say the least when she entered the room a short time later, still wearing the fitted black skirt and cream blouse she had worn all morning. Maxine’s dress was as sophisticated as usual, its purple shade suiting her dark colouring. The two men were sipping what looked like whisky, surprising Holly; she could never remember James drinking in the middle of the day before.

His expression was darkly scowling as he put his empty glass down on the table. ‘Shall we go in to lunch now?’ he rasped.

‘Oh, Holly and I aren’t lunching here.’ Zack was the one to answer, strolling across the room to her side, the mockery in his eyes taunting her open-mouthed surprise at his statement. ‘We’re going out for lunch,’ he added as he turned to face the other couple.

To say they looked stunned was nothing to how Holly felt. This might be his idea of a joke, but she for one didn’t find it funny. Although he didn’t seem to be laughing either!

‘You didn’t mention this earlier.’ Maxine looked at her brother-in-law accusingly.

‘I didn’t think you would be particularly interested in my plans with Holly,’ he dismissed.

‘Really?’ Maxine was tight-lipped.

‘Well, I’m very interested,’ snapped James. ‘Holly is my secretary, Zack, I don’t expect you to come here and start flirting with my employees.’

‘No one would have wanted to flirt with Miss Preston,’ Zack mockingly named Holly’s predecessor, a woman in her early fifties with a sergeant-major manner. ‘You shouldn’t have got such a beautiful replacement for her,’ he drawled.

Holly hated the way he constantly thrust her in the middle of the tension between his brother and himself. ‘I’m sure that if James would rather I didn’t go out we could change our plans—Zack,’ she added the latter awkwardly.

‘No matter what he may have led you to believe to the contrary, Holly,’ Zack ignored the way she stiffened as his arm came about her shoulders, although one glance at her rigidly set features made him ease the pressure so that he barely touched her, ‘my brother doesn’t control your every waking moment. I believe even slaves had some time off.’

James became flushed with anger at the taunt. ‘How dare you even suggest—’

‘Calm down, big brother,’ taunted Zack, guiding Holly towards the door, whether she wanted to go or not. ‘You had Holly this morning, now it’s my turn.’

She waited only as long as it took him to close the door behind them before turning on him angrily. ‘I do not want to have lunch with you,’ she burst out fiercely. ‘And I do not like your innuendoes about your brother and myself. We spent the entire morning working, and I—’

‘Calm down,’ he gave her the same advice he had given James seconds earlier. ‘I’m quite sure you did spend the morning working, I’m equally sure you don’t want to have lunch with me.’ He was suddenly serious. ‘But we have to talk, remember?’ he said grimly, the jagged cut on his chin giving him a fierce appearance. ‘You do remember, Holly?’ he prompted hardly, all lazy humour gone now.

She was finding it hard to cope with this man’s lightning change of moods, had a feeling that the lazy charm and mockery hid a dangerous will of steel, that he rarely exerted that will unless he felt it very necessary. At the moment he found it so.

‘Yes,’ she mumbled. ‘Although you don’t have to take me to lunch. We can talk here.’

‘I’d prefer it if we didn’t.’ He gave her a critical look. ‘Do you have anything less—formal to wear?’

She blinked. ‘Less formal?’ She had never thought of the blouse and skirt as such.

‘Jeans and a tee-shirt?’

Her frown deepened. ‘Just where to you intend taking me for this lunch?’

His mouth quirked at her worried expression. ‘Wait and see. Do you have denims and a tee-shirt?’

‘Yes. But—’

‘God, you’re an argumentative woman!’ he put in impatiently. ‘Go and change and meet me here in five minutes.’

Holly would have liked to press him for more information about their destination, but the complaint of her being argumentative kept her dumb, going up to her bedroom to change. The denims were old and faded, very rarely worn, their cut and style drawing attention to the curve of her hips and the lean length of her legs; her tee-shirts were a little more numerous, as she occasionally wore them with a summer skirt, choosing a pale blue one with short sleeves, resting on her hips over her denims. Her reflection in the mirror showed she looked young and attractive, an impression she didn’t normally cultivate. But nothing about Zack Benedict could be called normal; the man was a law unto himself!

‘Much better.’ He was waiting at the bottom of the stairs for her, taking hold of her elbow to guide her out to the car, a low green sports model that she had to climb down into, fitting his own long length into the confined space next to her out of familiarity, driving the car with ease out on to the main road.

The roof of the car was down and the wind whipped her hair about her face, although being short it didn’t become tangled. She pushed her hair back from her face as she turned to look at him. ‘Are you going to tell me where we’re going now?’ she asked dryly.

‘Hm?’ He inclined his head towards her, his own hair completely blown out of style, gleaming golden in the bright sunshine.

‘Where are we going?’ she raised her voice.

‘You’ll have to speak up,’ he shouted over the noise of the wind and the noise of other traffic. ‘I can’t hear a word you’re saying.’

She wasn’t sure he wanted to, damn him! ‘Never mind,’ she dismissed, irritably noticing he had no trouble at all hearing that, grinning as he moved away.

He was obviously enjoying the power in his car as it ate up the miles, the firm mouth curved into a perpetual smile of satisfaction, and lean strength of his hands and arms easily in control of the car’s movements.

‘Here we are.’ He finally turned the car off down what seemed like a well-worn dirt-track, turning to grin at her. ‘You’re going to enjoy this.’

If Holly had expected a restaurant at the end of the track she was sadly disappointed. The track ended in a lush green clearing surrounded by huge oak trees. She turned to the man at her side with questioning eyes, only to find he was already climbing out of the car, a triumphant smile to his lips. ‘Zack—’

‘It’s just as I remember it,’ he turned to tell her excitedly, the green eyes alight with pleasure. ‘We used to come here when James and I were children; it hasn’t changed at all since then.’

There didn’t seem to be much that could change! ‘Zack, I—’

‘Well, don’t just sit there,’ he chided with impatience. ‘There’s work to be done!’

Her eyes flashed a warning at him. ‘Will you tell me what we’re doing here, in the middle of nowhere!’

He raised dark blond brows at her vehemence. ‘Having lunch, of course. Picnicking,’ he announced as she seemed about to snap again, pulling a wicker basket out of the open boot of the car. ‘See?’ he held it up to her.

She shot him a look that threw daggers, and climbed out of the car with difficulty, smoothing her hair as best she could without benefit of a brush or mirror. ‘You really know how to take a girl out to lunch in style,’ she muttered as she helped him spread the blanket on the grass beneath the shade of a particularly lushly branched oak tree.

‘Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it,’ grinned Zack at her discomfort, looking young and almost boyish. ‘Mrs Ashley is a wonderful cook, and she prepared all the food.’

‘That’s something, I suppose,’ she mumbled as she helped him unpack it. There was so much there, and so beautifully prepared, that she knew it couldn’t possibly have been got ready in the five minutes Zack had given her to change. She eyed him suspiciously.

‘And before you ask,’ he sighed, ‘I asked her to prepare it this morning before I went out.’

‘Without consulting me?’

He shrugged. ‘You have a way of proving difficult over everything, so I thought I would present you with a fait accompli. You have to admit this is better than trying to talk in a crowded restaurant.’

The reminder of the reason they were here had the effect of silencing her, and she continued to set out the food on the checked tablecloth with a thoughtful expression.

‘Wine or fruit juice?’ Zack prompted softly, the cooler open in front of him.

‘Fruit juice, please,’ she said instantly.

‘I knew you would say that.’ He placed two cans of juice on the cloth too.

Holly ignored his mockery, concentrating on enjoying the food, feeling hungry after her morning of work. She secretly enjoyed the informality of the picnic, the peacefulness of their surroundings; even Zack’s presence was not abrasive as he too concentrated on eating instead of goading her.

‘Picnics aren’t what they used to be,’ he murmured regretfully as they repacked the hamper.

Her eyes widened at his almost wistful tone. The food had been perfect, the weather bright and sunny, what could possibly have been wrong with it? They hadn’t even argued! ‘No?’ she enquired lightly.

He shook his head. ‘The sandwiches used to be soggy, the fruit juice warm, and at least one person would get stung by a bee or ant. Those were the days!’

Her mouth quirked, until once again she found herself laughing at him. One thing this man did have was the ability to make her laugh. He really seriously looked as if he would have preferred the soggy sandwiches and warm fruit juice to the banquet he had just eaten. ‘You’ve grown up, Zack,’ she told him gently. ‘I’m sure those picnics weren’t really as good as you remember them, it just seemed that way when you were a child.’

‘You’re right,’ he grimaced. ‘I was usually the one who got stung by the bee!’

She burst out laughing again. ‘You probably goaded that until it was angry too!’

‘Probably,’ he nodded, relaxing back on the blanket. ‘How about you, did you get stung at picnics?’

The laughter left her face as she suddenly sobered. ‘My parents both worked when I was young, so we didn’t have a lot of time for picnics. After my father died when I was thirteen we had even less time for them,’ she recalled woodenly.

‘That’s tough,’ he murmured.

‘You don’t miss something you’ve never had,’ she dismissed hardly.

‘I wasn’t talking about the picnics,’ Zack said softly. ‘It was hard losing your father at that age.’

‘Yes,’ she acknowledged tautly. ‘Although my mother married again when I was fifteen.’

‘Even tougher.’

She turned away, finding his understanding something she couldn’t cope with. Losing her father and then having him replaced so quickly had been something she had found very hard to accept at the time, turning to Alex for the understanding she needed, until he too had let her down. Was it any wonder she had learnt to be wary of men and their intentions?

‘Did you like your stepfather?’ Zack probed at her silence.

She shrugged. ‘He seemed all right. I didn’t see much of him—I was sent away to school shortly after he and my mother were married.’ Her voice was flat, showing none of the bitterness she had felt at the time.

‘He was rich?’

‘Yes,’ she admitted dully, remembering the decision that at fifteen she should be sent away to boarding-school, the same school her stepfather’s daughter attended, so that there should be no misunderstanding about her simply being pushed out of their lives. She had been pleased for her mother at the marriage, happy that at last the worry about money had been removed from her too slender shoulders, that her beauty wouldn’t fade under drudgery. The adaption to a boarding-school hadn’t been easy after years of living at home, but for her mother’s sake she had done it. In the end it had been her salvation.

‘Is your mother still married to him?’

‘No,’ she answered Zack woodenly. ‘They were divorced several years ago.’

‘Amicably?’

‘Not exactly. I—’ she broke off, glaring at Zack as she realised how he had been drawing her out. ‘I don’t see what business it is of yours,’ she snapped. ‘My family is my own affair.’

‘Not if it influences the situation now,’ he shook his head.

Holly frowned her lack of understanding. ‘Influences it? I’m not sure I know what you mean?’

‘I’m sure you don’t,’ he said dryly. ‘But you’ve already denied loving James, and after the way you tried to evade the issue with him this morning I’m inclined to believe you.’

‘Well, thank you!’

‘Don’t mention it,’ Zack drawled. ‘So if you aren’t in love with him,’ he sobered thoughtfully. ‘I have to try and find out how you do feel about him. Knowing a little about your background could tell me that.’

‘I don’t see how,’ she snapped her indignation.

‘Well, you could see James as a father-figure—’

‘At only thirty-six?’ she scorned.

‘Mm, it is unlikely, I’ll admit that,’ he said softly. ‘Or he could be like an older brother. I take it you are an only child?’

She nodded. ‘Except for the stepbrother and sister I acquired for a few years,’ she confirmed stiffly. ‘But couldn’t I just feel compassion for James? Want to help him?’

‘We all want to do that,’ Zack sighed.

‘Some of us have a funny way of showing it,’ she taunted.

‘Some of us don’t intend to show it!’ he rasped, his eyes hard.

Holly looked away, feeling rebuked in some way. ‘Well, you don’t need to worry about my feelings in this any more,’ she told him curtly. ‘I intend handing in my notice.’

‘No—’

‘I have to.’ She stood up in jerky movements, walking over to lean against the tree they had eaten beneath. ‘Until today I hadn’t realised that James was—that he was—’

‘Coming to rely on you emotionally,’ Zack finished softly.

She shot him a resentful glare. ‘Yes,’ she bit out. ‘This morning, if you hadn’t interrupted, he would have—He almost told me—’

‘Yes,’ Zack acknowledged huskily. ‘Whether he really means it or not, James imagines himself in love with you at the moment.’

‘Whether he means it or not?’ she frowned. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Do you know anything about James’s accident, the extent of his injuries?’

‘Only that it was a racing car accident. And that he can’t walk any more,’ Holly stated the obvious.

‘Yes,’ Zack stated harshly, his eyes narrowed against the glare of the sun. ‘Shall we sit down again?’ he suggested. ‘We have a lot more to talk about, we may as well be comfortable while we do it.’

Talking was what they had come here to do, after all, delightful as the picnic had been. She followed him back to the blanket and sat cross-legged at his side.

‘I’ve always wished I could do that.’ Zack lay on the blanket beside her, leaning back on one elbow. ‘I find it difficult enough at the best of times, after last night I think it would be impossible.’

She blushed deep red at the jibe. ‘We were discussing James,’ she reminded him tightly, aware that although he might have forgiven her for last night he did not intend either of them to forget it.

His humour faded at the mention of his brother. ‘James sustained a serious back injury at the time of the accident—’

‘I already guessed that!’

‘Let me tell this in my own way, hmm?’ he mocked. ‘I may not have such a gift with words as James has, but I do know how to do my own talking.’

‘I thought you had only contempt for James’s work,’ she scorned.

‘At the time he began it I think it was all that kept him sane,’ Zack grated. ‘And when he took such an interest in it we were all grateful; for weeks he’d just lain in bed, apathetic to everyone and everything. But I don’t think any of us, his family or his friends, expected it to become his entire life.’

‘You make him sound obsessive about his writing. And he isn’t,’ she shook her head.

‘You didn’t know him before the accident. You think I never take anything seriously?’ he derided. ‘James was the original daredevil and joker.’

It seemed difficult to envisage the grim man Holly knew today with such an image, so she wisely kept quiet. Zack knew his brother better than she did; she was beginning to realise that!

‘Life was a game to him,’ continued Zack in a preoccupied voice, his thoughts inwards, with the past. ‘And he enjoyed every moment of it, met every challenge. All my life I wanted to be like him, and I always came a poor second.’ He looked up at Holly with pained eyes. ‘Do you have any idea what it’s like to have your idol knocked off his pedestal in one blow?’

Her breath caught in her throat. Yes, she knew, she knew exactly how it felt!

‘We all thought he would come out of it eventually, bounce back as he usually did.’ Zack didn’t wait for an answer, not seeming to need one. ‘That he would meet this challenge too, start fighting back. He never has.’

‘How can he fight his disability—’

‘He doesn’t have to be in that wheelchair!’ he fiercely interrupted the gentle reasoning of her voice. ‘The doctors told him long ago that there’s no longer any medical reason why he shouldn’t walk, that the injury to his back has completely healed.’

Holly was very pale. ‘You mean he could walk again if he wanted to?’

‘Oh, not instantly,’ Zack dismissed. ‘The muscles haven’t been used for a long time, he would need physiotherapy, exercises. Unfortunately he also needs the will to walk, and he just doesn’t have it,’ he added grimly.

‘I can’t believe it,’ she gasped. ‘No one would stay in a wheelchair through choice.’

‘James does.’

‘But why?’

‘Because he’s safe there, no one expects anything of him,’ Zack stated flatly. ‘He’s afraid to start living again, because he’s afraid of failing. While he can hide in the wheelchair he can blame all his misfortune on that, the way he alienated all his friends one by one, the way he pushed his family out of his life, the way he’s rejected Maxine. If he walks again, becomes completely mobile, then he has to begin living again. And he’s afraid it’s too late?’

‘With Maxine? Or with his family and friends?’

‘Both.’

‘And is it?’

‘I can only speak for the family,’ he met her gaze challengingly, knowing what she had been implying. ‘As far as I’m concerned he will always be my brother, and I’ll always love him. I know my parents feel the same way.’

‘And Maxine?’

He shrugged. ‘She’s had to take a lot from James the last couple of years, not least of all being his complete indifference to her happiness.’

‘Oh, that isn’t true,’ Holly defended firmly. ‘He always has time for Maxine.’ James’s wish to please his wife had interrupted their work schedule more than once. ‘Maybe he’s a little abrupt with her at the moment, but she was away for quite a long time, and he—’

‘Did he notice?’

‘Of course he—’

‘Calm down, Holly,’ Zack sighed. ‘I thought we’d agreed not to argue any more?’

‘Yes,’ she acknowledged heavily.

‘And you misunderstood me when I said James was indifferent to Maxine’s happiness, there are many degrees of indifference.’

‘But you said—’

‘You misunderstood the way in which he’s indifferent to her,’ he raised dark blond brows. ‘Just as there’s no reason why James shouldn’t walk there’s also no reason why he can’t fulfil a complete marriage. I trust you do understand me this time?’ he mocked.

Only too well! She had assumed James was unable to be a husband to Maxine in a physical sense; she knew that the couple had separate bedrooms. Zack seemed to imply that this had been James’s decision and not Maxine’s.

‘I can see that you do,’ Zack taunted the hot colour in her cheeks. ‘Any woman would find it difficult to live with her husband choosing not to sleep with her. From what I knew of them before the accident they were very close, in every way. Maxine naturally feels rejected, unwanted. In fact, superfluous.’

‘A physical relationship isn’t everything.’

‘It can damn well help, though,’ he grated. ‘A lot of problems can be solved in the bedroom.’

It seemed to be where all of hers had begun, but she didn’t tell Zack that. ‘If you say so,’ she muttered.

‘I do,’ he nodded grimly, surprisingly making no comment about her lack of knowledge on the subject. ‘Unfortunately James and Maxine aren’t sorting their problems out anywhere.’

‘Well, I don’t see how my staying on as his secretary is going to help. You’ve already said you think he’s in love with me,’ Holly frowned.

‘Yes,’ Zack confirmed. ‘And James and I may be brothers, but with only two years’ difference in our ages, we’ve always been great rivals too. For a while Maxine and I thought a little jealousy about the two of us might be what he needed to goad him on; James just withdrew more into himself. Now he’s decided to settle for a nice safe love, for someone who won’t demand too much from him, someone who didn’t know him before the accident. If he thought he was losing that nice safe love to me he just might begin to fight at last. In fact, he’s already started.’

Holly listened to him in incredulous silence, the full impact of his words sinking in. ‘You aren’t seriously suggesting—You can’t want me—’

‘I do,’ he said firmly. ‘He needs a incentive—’

‘Well, I’m not it.’ She uncrossed her legs to jump up. ‘I’d rather leave than do what you’re suggesting!’

‘And ruin the little progress James has made the last two days?’

‘I—’

‘Do you really dislike me so much that you’re willing to let him stay in that wheelchair?’

‘This is blackmail!’

‘Of the first degree,’ he nodded calmly.

‘But I don’t want to become your girl-friend!’ she said with obvious distaste.

‘I can see that,’ grinned Zack. ‘And I wasn’t suggesting it as a reality, only as a means to an end.’

‘You say James is really still in love with Maxine, that he didn’t react at all to thinking the two of you were lovers, so what guarantee do you have that he’ll react to the two of us going out together?’ she scorned.

‘He already has,’ he reminded her. ‘And if he really thought he was losing nice loyal Holly to me he’ll react even more, I’m sure of it.’

‘It sounds cruel,’ she said with reluctance for the idea.

‘It’s being cruel to be kind.’

‘I doubt James will see it that way.’

‘I don’t care how cruel I have to be to get him out of that chair,’ Zack told her grimly. ‘I’ll be downright vicious if I have to be. At the moment he’s making himself and everyone about him unhappy. Maxine would have left him long ago if she hadn’t thought it would do him more harm than good.’

‘Ah!’ Holly gave him a derogatory look, her mouth twisting with contempt. ‘Now we’re coming to the real reason you want James mobile; once he’s out of his chair you’ll feel free to take his wife away from him.’

‘If I didn’t genuinely think you believe what you’re saying I think I’d beat you,’ he rasped. ‘But I happen to believe you’re the reason they’ll break up, if at all.’

‘My involvement is purely unintentional,’ she flashed.

‘Will that really matter if the end result is the same?’ he derided.

Much as she disliked his form of logic, it did make sense. She hadn’t chosen to become involved in this situation; it seemed to have chosen her, James’s behaviour this morning only confirming that she was involved. But she didn’t want to be!

‘I suppose not,’ she agreed grudgingly.

‘Of course it won’t,’ dismissed Zack impatiently. ‘Now what do you think of my idea?’

‘I don’t like it.’

‘Besides that,’ he mocked.

She shook her head. ‘It isn’t something I can decide right now, I have to think about it.’

‘For how long?’

‘For as long as it takes,’ she snapped.

‘A week? A month? We don’t have that long, Holly. Now is the crucial time, and we have to act on it.’

She turned to look at him, seeing his genuine concern. ‘What will Maxine think of our—your suddenly becoming interested in me?’ she asked in a weary voice.

‘Just leave Maxine to me—Think what you like, Holly,’ he sighed his impatience with her sceptical expression. ‘You will anyway,’ he derided. ‘All I’m interested in at the moment is getting my brother back on his feet.’

Holly moistened her lips. ‘I still need time. I don’t—’

‘Do you already have a boy-friend, is that it? If you do, you have my permission to tell him exactly what we’re doing.’

‘Thank you!’

‘Is there a boy-friend?’ he persisted.

‘No,’ she bit out.

‘I didn’t think so,’ he said confidently, standing up to stretch his long legs. ‘Maxine told me you rarely, if ever, take advantage of the weekends to leave the house.’

Holly bristled with indignation. ‘I wasn’t aware she monitored my movements,’ she snapped.

His mouth twisted. ‘She only mentioned it in passing. Oh, don’t worry, you haven’t been an unwanted third all this time,’ he added tauntingly. ‘Robert is already that.’

The hot colour wouldn’t seem to fade from her cheeks. ‘He had his job to do, as I do.’

‘Maxine could do his job as well, if allowed to,’ Zack dismissed that excuse.

‘I doubt she could lift him—’

‘Maybe not, but Mrs Ashley’s husband could have helped out with that.’

‘James doesn’t like a lot of fuss being made about his disability,’ she defended.

‘Doesn’t he?’ his brother challenged. ‘I reserve judgment on that.’

‘How good of you!’

‘Why it is that you rarely leave the house?’ he persisted.

‘I beg your pardon?’ Once again she had been taken aback by his sudden reversal of the subject.

He picked up the blanket, shaking it free of grass before, beginning to fold it. ‘Your mother is still alive, isn’t she?’

Her hands clenched involuntarily, making fists at her sides. ‘Yes,’ she confirmed abruptly.

‘Where does she live?’

‘London.’

Zacks’s brows rose. ‘That’s only an hour’s drive from here. Why is it you never visit your mother?’

Holly moistened her suddenly dry lips. ‘Mr Benedict—’

‘Oh-oh,’ he gave a wry smile. ‘We’re back to that again, are we? I gather your mother is a subject you would rather not discuss?’ he asked lightly.

‘I—’

‘Damn—what was that?’ Zack suddenly dropped the blanket, looking down at his left hand. ‘I don’t believe it,’ he muttered. ‘I just don’t believe it!’

‘What is it?’ Holly forgot that they had been discussing her mother, aware only that something was wrong.

He raised eyes that showed his incredulity. ‘I’ve been stung,’ he told her astoundedly. ‘I’ve actually been stung!’

‘Let me see—’ She rushed over to where he was still holding his left wrist, a red mark already beginning to appear on the skin between the fine golden hair. ‘What was it?’ She gently probed the wound.

‘A damned bee,’ he growled. ‘It must have got caught up in the blanket, and as I folded it the damn thing got loose and stung me!’

‘Do you swell up? I mean, do you have an allergy to them?’

‘Not so far, no. Although there’s always a first time,’ he added in a cross voice.

Holly’s mouth began to twitch, although she did her best to control her amusement, knowing the sting must still be painful even though he didn’t have an allergy to them. ‘I’m afraid you would be angry too if you’d been trapped beneath a blanket and some two hundred and fifty pounds—’

‘Two hundred,’ Zack corrected indignantly.

‘A heavy man,’ she amended, ‘—came and sat on you. I know I’d be a little mad!’

He scowled at her, picking up the blanket to roll it up and throw it into an untidy bundle on the boot of the car with the picnic basket. ‘Trust you to see this from the bee’s point of view,’ he muttered. ‘I’m the one that’s in pain!’

‘But he’s dead.’

‘There is that,’ Zack grimaced. ‘Still, at least he didn’t go in vain, he made you laugh, and my arm will be sore for weeks. Shall we go?’ he suggested curtly. ‘I’ve suddenly lost my liking for picnics.’

Holly sat in the car beside him, deeming it prudent to keep silent. After all, she hadn’t been very sympathetic so far. Maybe if he hadn’t been showing such an interest in her mother when it happened she would have been, but she didn’t like it when anyone probed about her family. And this man seemed to enjoy delving into things that didn’t concern him.

This time the silence during the drive didn’t bother her, in fact she enjoyed the scenery. Zack had little time for anything but his driving, his grim expression showing that his arm was bothering him, although he wasn’t going to admit it was.

Holly hid a smile, turning away. Men were such babies when it came to pain, she remembered the way Alex—All the sunshine went out of the day as she thought of him for the second day in succession, and after doing everything in her power to put him completely out of her mind. Working with James had seemed so without complications, now it was full of them.

‘What are you thinking of?’ asked Zack, as they neared the house.

Her mouth firmed. ‘Your idea,’ she said abruptly.

‘And by the look of you no nearer to coming to a decision,’ he rasped as he swung the car up the driveway to the house. ‘Well, don’t rush on my account,’ he ground out as the car grated to a halt on the gravel. ‘So far knowing you hasn’t been too thrilling as far as I’m concerned,’ he turned to look at her with blazing eyes. ‘I’ve been physically attacked by you, almost cut my own throat while thinking about you, and now I’ve been stung by a damned bee. And all within the space of twenty-four hours! Being with you any more than I have to could be too dangerous to my health!’ He got out of the car, slamming the door behind him before striding into the house.

Holly’s good humour had somehow returned in the face of Zack’s childish display of anger, and she smiled to herself as she slowly went into the house behind him.