Deception by Margaret Pargeter Read Free Book Online Page B

worry. His fever must have returned. He must
be delirious and wandering about his room this time. She was
so anxious she forgot all about her resolve to try and make
herself look older before he saw her again. As she neared
his room she did wonder why she should feel such a sense of
anxious urgency, but de cided it must be because she had no
wish to spend any longer than necessary nursing him.
    Bursting
into his bedroom, her hair flying, colour wildly tinting her
breathless young face, she also forgot she was supposed to represent the cool
efficiency of the nursing profession. 'Mr Murray!' she cried, her voice raised
in dis approval even as she opened his door. Then, starded, she stopped
short. He was in bed, not wandering about the room, lying
quiedy, although she knew with him this could be a . It was his
expression that told her he was far from pleased about something.
    'Miss
Andrews?'
    Before
he could attack her, as he was so obviously about to,
for entering his room in such an impetuous fashion, she beat
him to it. 'You've been out of bed?' She had thought she
might have been mistaken, now she wasn't so sure.
    His
voice was curt, leaving her very aware of his rising anger.
'I won't have you speaking to me like that, girl, and I
must repeat what I said earlier. If you want to work for me then I ask the
questions.'
    More from a sense of frustration than any real desire to annoy
him, she retorted quickly, 'We're not living in the Dark Ages, Mr Murray! At
least, I didn't think so until I came here! I'm quite
aware that you probably intend send ing me packing as soon as
you're well again, but while I'm looking after you, I
think I have the right to know why you've been out of bed.'        —
    The
glitter in his eyes was almost brilliant. 'You have no rights
at all, Miss Andrews, when it comes to me. Neither you nor any other woman,
remember that. I left this bed simply to test the strength of my
legs and to see who was coming up the road too fast. I might have
known it was you! In future, if you can't drive with more
care, don't take any vehicle of mine out again.'
    Sullenly,
Thea stared at him, thinking he was full of arrogant ingratitude.
'Don't you understand it was because of you I was hurrying?
Which should prove I do have a sense of responsibility.' Making a
greater effort to ignore his ever curling lips, she asked politely,
'And how did you feel when you were out of bed?'
    'Bloody
awful,' he confessed, with tight-lipped im patience, 'but I can't afford to lie
here.'
    Thea's
eyes fell away from his quickly. Perhaps there were things she
couldn't afford to indulge in either. Did he have to look like
some proud Highland chief tan, even when shirtless and in need of
a shave? Shivering, she recalled the feeling of that
rough, cleft chin against her soft flesh, the fkm insistence of the
mouth above it. Ill though he was, the rate he was making her heart beat was
far from com fortable. It was imperative that by the time
he was up and about she should have her emotions well
under control. Something she might only achieve if she stopped thinking how she had felt when
he had kissed her.
    Meeting
the glinting irritation in Murray's eyes, she said sharply,
'You can't expect to feel up to much after what you've had. Or are
still having,' she finished, with Hi- concealed relish. She
wasn't going to reassure him by say ing she thought he seemed
much better, nor would she sin by telling him he looked worse. He
was too full of ingrati tude and conceit of himself. After
all she had done for him she had barely received a word of thanks!
    To
her alarm, he repeated her thoughts almost exactly. 'While you're busy counting
all the things you've done for me, Miss Andrews, let me remind you,
yet again, that you work for me. I might not have known about it
myself, but you obviously had it all planned, from the
moment you set foot in my house. You wanted to be my housekeeper. This being
the case, you must have realised what such a position