Desert Wedding. Alexandra Scott
one of the sofas, while he perched on the arm of a chair opposite. ‘Now, I did promise you a drink, so what would you like? Coffee? Gin and tonic? Or...or what? I think we have quite a range. I usually have a sandwich about now too.’
‘Oh...oh, I couldn’t.’
‘Couldn’t what?’ Not giving her a chance to reply, Nathan looked over her head and spoke to someone out of her sight. She imagined it was the servant who had been hovering since their arrival. A few words were exchanged before he reverted to English. ‘It’s all organised. Ismail will rustle up some coffee, but, in the meantime—’ getting up, he crossed to a cabinet and she heard the clink of glass ‘—what do you say to a gin and tonic?’
‘Fine.’ It was her own voice, but shadowy and distant—a reflection, perhaps, of how she was feeling. It was as if her own fairly firm decision-making capacity had been removed. ‘But very weak, please.’ She must not let him think that she couldn’t assert herself.
‘Couldn’t be weaker.’ He handed her a glass, placed a table conveniently close and sat opposite, taking a swallow of his own drink while managing to keep his attention firmly fixed on her face. Leaning forward, he put his own glass onto the tiled table which separated the settees. ‘Tell me about yourself.’ He leaned back, his long legs stretched sideways, crossed at the ankle.
She determined to be guarded; he struck her as the kind of man to whom it might be too easy to unburden oneself. ‘That might take some time and could be extremely boring.’
‘Well—’ he grinned, teeth gleaming white against tanned skin ‘—it is Sunday, after all. We have plenty of time—and I promise not to be the least bit bored by what you say. But you don’t have to go too far back. What brings you out here to Raqat, for instance? That seems a reasonable place to begin.’
It was a safe enough starting point. ‘I’m here for just a short break. You see...’ Georgia paused to take a sip from her glass—‘I’m in fashion design.’ And minus a job at the moment, though there was no way that she was prepared to admit as much to this seemingly highly successful man. ‘I felt I was running out of steam, was in need of inspiration, and I’ve always had a hankering to see the desert so...’
Leaning forward, she placed the glass with great care on the table. There was something unnerving about such total concentration, however friendly it seemed. ‘So here I am.’
‘Ah...’ He paused while Ismail wheeled in a trolley and placed it conveniently for his employer. ‘Thanks, Ismail. It all looks very good.’
That was undeniable. The scent of the coffee and the sight of so many tiny savouries reminded Georgia that she had gone without breakfast that morning. She swallowed, accepted the strong fragrant brew when the cup was passed to her and was disinclined to argue when plates of food were offered.
‘And the Taylors?’
‘What?’ Her mouth was filled with a delicious mix of feather-light pastry, cheese and spinach, which had to be swallowed hastily. She dabbed her mouth with the napkin. ‘I’m sorry...?’ She frowned.
‘The flat you’re in. The one directly under this. It belongs to a young man who teaches locally. He and his wife have gone on leave, I understand.’
‘Oh, that... Well, that’s not a long story. His uncle is a friend of my father’s, and it was a long-distance arrangement. I offered to rent the flat for the month that the Taylors are away. So far, it seems to be working out pretty well.’
‘But I understood...’
‘What?’
‘No, I’ve obviously made a mistake. Let me fill up your cup.’
‘It’s a tiny flat, of course. Just one bedroom—not a bit like this.’ Slightly envious of so much space, she looked about her. Then she helped herself to another asparagus roll—wafer-thin bread, buttered and wrapped round stalks of steamed asparagus. ‘You must have the entire top floor to yourself. At least, I didn’t see another door on the landing.’
‘Yes.’ Nathan sat back, frowning as he stirred his coffee. ‘Yes.’ There was an edge of impatience in his voice. ‘You’re right. I have this vast flat to myself. But tell me how you came to get mixed up with the Cannings.’
‘Oh, the Cannings.’ She wrinkled her nose. ‘Entirely by accident, I assure you. I simply walked through the club to order a car to bring me home and he seemed to appear from nowhere. I couldn’t even remember where we had met till he reminded me. And then he persuaded me to have a drink. Oh...maybe I didn’t need such a lot of persuading. I might even have been glad of some company, I don’t know.
‘Anyway, no sooner had I put the glass to my lips than his wife appeared and practically accused me of alienating his affections; would you believe it? All in front of a hugely entertained audience. I should think,’ she said moodily, ‘everyone in Raqat will know about it by now.’
‘Well—’ he smiled ‘—you mustn’t mind them. Living in such a restricted community means that the most minor drama turns them all into theatre critics. I imagine most of them had to sit on their hands as you delivered your last line.’
‘Oh, dear.’ There was a rueful side to her laughter. ‘I wish I hadn’t. But I was, in fact, about to add something worse. I did so want to let her know that poor Grev, married or single, was safe as houses. But before I could I caught sight of his face, saw how crushed, how utterly humiliated he looked and decided to call it a day. Poor man,’ she said.
‘Yes, poor man. He has the reputation of being totally under her thumb. Whether or not she has any reason to suspect him I don’t know, but seeing her in full flow... Could anyone blame him?’
‘In fact I found it decidedly unpleasant.’ She refused to be persuaded that it had been amusing.
‘I’m sure you did. But not, I hope, to the extent that you’re wholly disillusioned by men in general, which is what you implied. Surely it wasn’t “poor Grev” who had such a profoundly adverse effect?’
‘Not him at all,’ Georgia agreed sweetly. ‘And I don’t know that I would agree that the effect was adverse.’ And, having no intention of pursuing the conversation as it was currently directed, she got to her feet, placing her crumpled napkin on her plate. ‘But now I really must go. Thank you for the help and sustenance; it was exactly what I needed.’
‘Oh, must you? What a pity—just when the conversation was set to become interesting...’ Nathan was teasing, she knew that, but she was feeling bruised and touchy.
‘I’m sorry if I bored you earlier.’
‘Did I say that?’ He was still amused.
‘You implied—’
‘Perhaps I should have used the word intriguing. It would have been much more apposite. But your conversation was interesting from the first—so interesting that I want to hear more and wonder if you could be persuaded to come out to dinner with me tonight?’
‘Oh, no.’ She replied almost before he had finished speaking, with a force that caused him to raise an eyebrow. ‘I’m sorry.’ While determined to remain firm she grew more amenable. ‘But thank you for asking me.’ There was no way she was ready for another involvement, however innocuous.
‘Perhaps some other time.’
If he were disappointed it certainly didn’t show—amused rather, she decided with a touch of pique, which might have been why she refused to reply.
But he walked with her to the door, saw her into the lift, stepped in after her and pressed the button.
‘Really, there’s no need for you to come down with me.’ There was momentary panic as Georgia tried to understand his motive.
‘I’m not. I’ve left something in the car, I’m going down to pick it up.’ Nathan’s tone was so very dry that she had little doubt he was into