The Virgin Secretary's Impossible Boss. Carole Mortimer

The landlord nodded, unconcerned.

      ‘How…reassuring,’ Andi murmured weakly as she dropped down into the armchair opposite Linus’s—a mockingly amused Linus if the taunting laughter in those pale, green eyes was anything to go by.

      Andi could find nothing about this situation that was in the least amusing. How could she, when just the thought of sharing a bedroom with Linus made her feel weak at the knees? Especially so after the intimacy of his earlier remarks.

      ‘I’ll just go and check on your food,’ the landlord murmured nervously after shooting unhappy glances at Andi and Linus as their gazes remained locked in silent battle.

      Andi sat forward in her chair once the two of them were alone. ‘Linus, you really can’t be serious about the two of us staying here and sharing a bedroom?’

      Linus shrugged out of the warmth of his jacket before answering her. ‘I’m open to any other suggestions you might have. Viable ones,’ he added warningly as Andi would have spoken. He raised mocking brows as he settled back into his chair. ‘Just because I’m a man and you’re a woman does not mean I’m going to pounce on you as soon as we’re alone in a bedroom together!’

      Her cheeks flushed. ‘I never imagined that it did.’

      ‘Perhaps you think you might be tempted to pounce on me?’

      Her eyes narrowed. ‘Linus.’

      ‘Andi?’ he came back challengingly.

      Once again Andi’s chaotic thoughts were brought to an abrupt halt as instead she eyed Linus uncertainly, the dangerous glitter of his gaze enough to tell her she would be unwise to pursue this particular subject at the moment.

      The whole idea of her and Linus sharing a bedroom for the night was unwise…

      She drew in a ragged breath. ‘This is all your fault.’

      ‘I’m hardly responsible for the weather, Andi.’ He gave an impatient shake of his head.

      Her eyes darkened almost to black. ‘You’re responsible for my being in Scotland—that’s enough reason for me to blame you entirely for this mess!’

      ‘What mess?’ he bit out impatiently. ‘As the landlord has already said, this is nothing but a bit of a flurry. He shrugged. ‘A couple of days and we can be on our way.’

      ‘Just in time for your stupid rugby-match, I suppose? Twenty-two men trying to beat each other’s heads in.’

      ‘Thirty men—this is rugby, Andi, not football—and they aren’t trying to “beat each other’s heads in”.’ Linus’s mouth tightened. ‘The object of the game is to score tries by running with the ball and placing it over the line.’

      ‘Whenever I’ve accidentally caught a glimpse of a match on television—as I’m changing channels, of course—’

      ‘Oh, of course!’

      She nodded. ‘There just seems to be a tangle of arms, legs and bodies thrashing about on the ground.’

      ‘That’s because the other object of the game is for the opposing team to stop their opponents from scoring those tries.’

      Andi gave a disdainful snort. ‘I’m not convinced, Linus.’

      ‘I’m not trying to convince you!’ He stood up to pace impatiently. ‘You’re obviously a complete philistine when it comes to the magnificent game of rugby.’

      ‘Magnificent!’ She sniffed inelegantly. ‘I suppose you know all about it?’

      He gave a cool nod. ‘As it happens, I do. I was record holder for the most tries and conversions scored my last year at school.’

      ‘That explains a lot.’

      Linus’s gaze narrowed warningly. ‘Would you care to explain?’

      ‘No, I don’t think I will.’ Andi stood up in one fluid movement, relieved as she did so to find that her limbs had completely thawed out now. ‘“Sassenach”…?’ she prompted scathingly.

      Linus gave a dismissive shrug. ‘Someone from England.’

      Andi continued to look at him suspiciously for several seconds, sure there was more to that word than he was telling her; it had certainly sounded derogatory.

      ‘I’m going to ask the landlord if he has a bathroom where I can freshen up,’ she said abruptly. ‘If you’re serious about our staying here tonight.’

      ‘Oh, I am, Andi,’ he murmured huskily.

      ‘Then our bags are still outside in the Range Rover,’ she told him pointedly, her expression turning to one of quiet satisfaction as Linus’s face creased into a pained grimace. He turned to look out of the window and realized he would have to go back out into the still heavily falling snow to retrieve those bags. ‘Have fun!’ Andi added tauntingly as she went through the doorway marked ‘private’ .

      Her smile faded, however, as soon as she was alone in the hallway, and she paused to lean back weakly against the wall.

      She couldn’t share a bedroom with Linus tonight. Possibly tomorrow night too, if the weather didn’t let up. In fact, she trembled just at the thought of it.

      Linus’s complete dismissal of the significance of the two of them sharing a bedroom wasn’t flattering, either.

      Andi had been traumatized for months after her father and David had died. She hadn’t so much as looked at another man, let alone been attracted to one. But slowly that insidious awareness of Linus had crept into her battered emotions. How could any healthy, red-blooded woman work with him on a day-to-day basis and not be aware of the hard vitality of his body and the rugged handsomeness of his chiselled features?

      Andi certainly couldn’t.

      Which wasn’t going to help the situation at all when Andi found herself alone in a bedroom with Linus later this evening!

      CHAPTER THREE

      ‘THERE’S only one bed!’

      ‘And your point is…?’ Linus came back dryly as he carried their bags into the small but comfortable bedroom that had been assigned to them for the night. A warming fire already burned in the small hearth; the only furniture in the room was a bed, a chair and a desk.

      He had taken advantage of Andi’s absence to pull his jacket back on and go back outside for their bags. The snow was still falling as heavily, and the wind just as remorseless and icy cold. Linus had been relieved just to make it back to the inn.

      ‘You didn’t say anything about there being only one bed,’ Andi persisted, her cheeks flushed as she continued to stare at that bed.

      Whether with temper or something else, Linus wasn’t sure.

      ‘Jim and Jennie have one daughter, hence there’s only one bed.’ He dropped their bags onto the carpeted floor, completely ignoring Andi’s pained wince as they landed with a thud.

      Her gaze was accusing. ‘You knew there was only one bed?’

      Linus shrugged. ‘I guessed that might be the case, yes. Stop being such a damned prude, Andi.’ He scowled as she continued to look at him wide-eyed.

      The heated emotions Linus aroused in Andi were totally new to her, and all the more disturbing. Because, although Andi had been engaged to marry David, she had never been so completely physically aware of him as she was Linus. She was so aware of him that she trembled just at the thought of having to share that bed with him.

      If Andi had learnt anything about Linus the last year, it was that he had absolutely no interest in a permanent relationship. That the moment any of the women who flitted in and out of his bed on a regular basis showed any signs of expecting a commitment from him, they were quietly and discreetly excluded from his life.

      Linus