Page 59 of To Love A Spy
That was for sure.For a brief, fleeting time, he had been under the illusion that the wounds of the past had healed. But since crossing swords in the Bois de Bologne, sunlight flashing over their steel and sweat, she had retreated behind the shield ofold hostilities. He wondered now whether it had been a mistake to shed his air of reserve. Up close, his flaws were likely all too visible. Instead of the magisterial Head Merlin, he had shown himself to be a mere man.
A man who had found the clash exhilarating. The challenging gleam in her eye, the heated rasp of her breath, the taut flex of her thighs. He shut his eyes, trying not to think of the rapidfire rise and fall of her shapely breasts.
An experienced agent knew how to turn a weakness into a strength, he reminded himself.
The air was crackling with tension. Another glib comment would provoke a fight. And Rochambert, being the ruthless predator that he was, would smell blood.
“Actually, having passed some time with a Gypsy tribe in the Balkans, I’ve learned a little something about the art of divination,” drawled Lynsley. He pressed his fingertips to his temples with a theatrical flourish. “I am sensing a stirring of anger.”
“No, I am merely annoyed by your pompous, presumptuous tone,” she countered. “If I were angry, you would be digging the tip of your elegant walking stick out from the depths of your arse.”
Lynsley waited for a moment before replying. “Excellent. Well played. That should set the tone nicely for what I have in mind.”
“You deliberately goaded me into a temper?” said Valencia through gritted teeth.
“No matter how good one is at acting, there is no substitute for the real thing. Right now, your dislike of me is apparent in a myriad of little ways.”
“Like what?”
“Like the sparks in your eyes and the rigid set of your shoulders,” he replied.
She muttered an oath and slouched back against the leather squabs. “And your mistrust of me is apparent in the cool contempt in your voice and the condescending curl of your smile.”
Though he was feeling anything but cool, Lynsley answered with icy politeness. “You are mistaking pragmatism for personal feelings.”
“And God knows, the high and mighty Lord Lynsley has none of those to speak of!”
“Dear me, we are beginning to sound like an old, married couple.”
Valencia shut her mouth with an audible snap of teeth.
It was far better to have her furious than held in check by the oddly muted mood of the past day. Anger he could understand, and defiance. But subdued silence was so unlike her.
Or maybe it wasn’t.A person could change beyond recognition in ten years.
Staring out at the stately elms, Lynsley caught his own blurred reflection in the glass. How did she see him? As a tyrannical teacher? A pompous prig? He had dared to show her a glimpse of his private self, and for a short time, he had sensed a new sort of bond growing between them.
But apparently, his instincts in regard to women were woefully rusty.
As for his own feelings . . .
They were irrelevant, he reminded himself.
He took a moment to master the tiny twitching of his jaw muscle before turning back to business. “Now, perhaps we might convene a council of war without any further explosions?”
Valencia gave a curt nod.
“Contrary to what you believe, I am as anxious as you are to accomplish our goal as quickly as possible,” began Lynsley. “But there are a number of reasons why we cannot rush our moves.”
“You are in command, sir. You need not explain yourself,” she said tersely.
“Ah, but I think I do,” he said. “There can be no misunderstandings, Valencia. No misgivings. All jests about mind reading aside, we must be on the same page.”
“I will follow orders to the letter. Sir.” Had her voice been forged out of iron, it couldn’t have been more rigid.
Heaving an inward sigh, Lynsley went on. “Before we can decide on a plan of action, we must be absolutely certain of success. You wonder why we cannot simply break into Rochambert’s mansion after a single surveillance? Because we cannot know where the explosive might be hidden. I can hazard a guess, but if I am wrong, it would destroy our chance of success.”
“I understand that,” she said softly.
