An Affair to Forget Read Online Free

spending a night with me.”
    “ I have no intention of spending the night with you,” she flared at him, panic welling up again.
    “ I don’t think you’ve got much choice,” he told her silkily, then the grin that had been struggling to the surface managed to break through. “OK, perhaps I put that crudely. I meant a night under my roof, not necessarily in my bed. Although for a while there I really thought that we – ”
    “ I don’t suppose I’ve got any option… about staying, I mean,” she interrupted, and turned away.
    He helped her to take her coat off, his hands lingering briefly on her shoulders. “You haven’t, but don’t worry, I won’t tell a soul. Your secret will be safe with me. Shall we go back to the sitting-room and have some more brandy?”
    “ I’d rather just go to b– to my room, if you don’t mind. I’m tired.” She couldn’t go back into that room with him, not with the memory of his kisses tingling wherever they had touched.
    “ Please yourself. I left a pair of my pyjamas in the room at the back when I was getting changed. They’ll be too big for you, but they’re better than nothing. Unless, that is, you’re one of those women who prefer not to wear anything in bed?”
    “ Thank you, the pyjamas will be fine.” Morrin said, and fled to the stairs.
    “ By the way…” He came to lean on the newel post, her coat still folded in his arms. “That phone call… it seems that my grandmother isn’t too well, so I’ll have to go to Wales tomorrow to see her.”
    “ Your grandmother has a very attractive voice.” The words were out before Morrin could stop them. Gareth’s eyes blazed with sudden astonishment, then he recovered himself and grinned.
    “ This is a night of surprises. I’ve never known you sound bitchy before, my love. That was her god-daughter on the phone.”
    “ I see.”
    “ No you don’t,” he challenged her. “Why don’t you come with me tomorrow and meet the old lady?”
    “ I can’t. There’s your book to finish and post off.”
    “ We wouldn’t be away for very long. It won’t matter if the manuscript’s a few days late.” He frowned when she shook her head. “Now what’s bothering you?”
    She hesitated. How could she tell him that after that scene on the rug before the fire she needed a few days away from him in order to get her sense of proportion back? How could she explain that being with him during the journey to Wales and then in his grandmother’s house was more than she could handle?
    “ Oh forget it, it doesn’t matter,” Gareth said before she could think up a sensible explanation. “It was a stupid idea anyway.” He swung away from her and headed towards the kitchen door. “I’ll let the dogs out before they settle down for the night.” He tossed the words over his shoulder.
    In the spare room the gas fire glowed cosily and a pair of light blue pyjamas trimmed with navy had been tossed on to the bed. There was even a toothbrush still in its wrapping, and a small tube of toothpaste, as well as towels and soap. She washed hurriedly in the nearby bathroom, keeping one ear open all the time for his footsteps on the stairs or in the hall outside, then scurried back to her room and undressed. The pyjamas were, of course, far too large for her. She had to roll up the trouser legs and the arms of the jacket before she could move.
    Situated as it was at the back of the house, the room had a view – in daylight – over the large garden. As the storm was attacking from the front this room was quieter than the larger spare room, at the front of the house and next to Gareth’s bedroom.
    Morrin took a hairbrush from her bag, sat down before the dressing-table mirror, and began to brush her hair with long steady strokes. It crackled beneath her fingers, and she worked on it long after it was smooth and shining, lost in her own thoughts, soothed by the rhythmic motion of the brush.
    When Gareth said from the doorway, “I