The Antique Love by Helena Fairfax Read Free Book Online

on the table and rubbed her tense fingers. “He worked for my grandfather at first. Then Granddad made him partner, and after I took over the business, I inherited him. He and I never really hit it off in the past, but he brought in a lot of business. There was nothing to stop us having a good working relationship, and anyway he’d been with us for ten years without a problem.”
    “He worked for you all that time, and he just left?” Kurt’s eyes widened incredulously. “Left you high and dry? Guy’s a rat.”
    Penny didn’t know what response she’d expected from Kurt, but she found his chivalrous leap to her defence quite touching. She’d been bottling up her feelings for weeks, trying not to worry her grandfather and trying to shelter Tehmeena from the worst of the extra workload. Now Kurt’s unexpected sympathy had an unfortunate effect, and she felt tears begin to prickle. She bit down on her lip, turning her head to one side.
    Kurt placed his hand over hers. His kindness was almost the final straw, and she was horrified to feel she might actually start crying. Then he spoke, bringing her back from the brink.
    “You’re better off without that ass-hole.” His grip tightened.
    Penny gave a watery laugh, sliding her eyes round to meet his. He met her gaze with a grin.
    “If you’ll pardon some Wyoming plain speaking.”
    Penny grinned back. For a second, he gazed down at her, his fingers tightening on hers, and to her surprise, she found herself returning the pressure. Then the barmaid arrived with their meals, batting her massive eyelashes in Kurt’s direction, and the moment was broken. Kurt withdrew his hand to make room for their plates.
    Penny pulled back, glad of the distraction the food offered. Once again Kurt’s actions had thrown her. She sensed that underneath his easy-going charm, he was probably a man you could thoroughly rely on. She glanced over at him, sitting at ease in his shirt-sleeves. Broad-shouldered in real life, as well as metaphorically. The sort of man any woman would be glad to have as a husband—if it weren’t for the fact that he’d probably use a spreadsheet before proposing just to make sure he’d weighed up all the advantages and disadvantages. His outlook went against every romantic fibre of Penny’s being. She had the sudden notion that accountancy was a profession which must suit him right down to the ground, offering an environment of reason, logic, and order. How different his personality was from the romantic aura he carried around him.
    All of a sudden, she chuckled to herself. Kurt looked up from the plate in front of him. “I was just thinking how different the life of an accountant is from the life of a cowboy.” She giggled again. “And how ridiculous you must have thought me when you came to my shop.”
    Kurt didn’t smile back. He gave her comment serious consideration before offering a slow reply. “No, I didn’t think you were ridiculous. I think you’re intuitive, and you have imagination—something people say I lack. That’s why I wanted your help with furnishing my house.”
    Penny bent her head to her meal, feeling a little overcome. She appreciated Kurt’s compliment, but she didn’t believe that he lacked imagination deep down. Why else was he drawn to that Coalport vase? He must have had some sort of imaginative impulse to see the beauty behind the ostentation. And then she’d known as soon as Kurt picked up her love token that he’d recognised the magic in it just as strongly as she did. But he kept his imagination under tight rein. There was something permanently controlled in the way he carried himself, and she found it a little intimidating.
    “Anyway, I’m glad you’re an accountant and not a cowboy,” she said suddenly, looking up. “Handling a herd of cattle is all right, I suppose, but we need someone who’s good with figures. David left the books in a terrible mess.”
    “No problem,” Kurt said, returning to his