‘Where to?’ He pulled out of the hospital car park and drove slowly towards the main road, glancing at her expectantly.
She rallied her flagging spirits and fumbled for the doorhandle. ‘I don’t want you to take me home. I don’t want to go anywhere with you.’
‘Unless you want to add to your problems by falling out of a moving car, I suggest you leave the door shut,’ he drawled, picking up speed so that she had no choice but to release the handle.
‘You’re a bully.’
‘Stop behaving like a child and give me some directions.’ His words were clipped, his expression exasperated. ‘Brooke, you missed your bus and I’m taking you home. It’s as simple as that. Now, do I turn left or right?’
‘I don’t want to go home with you.’ For some reason the tears wouldn’t stop flowing and she hated herself for it.
‘Left or right?’ This time his voice was gentler and he paused at the junction with the main road and dug a hand in his pocket, handing her a tissue.
She took it and blew her nose hard. Oh, what was the point in fighting with him? She needed to get home and this was as good a way as any. ‘Right. Take the road towards Elterwater.’
‘Progress!’ He slammed his foot on the accelerator and the car sped along the quiet roads, making a soft purring sound that Brooke had never heard before. Her car made the oddest noises. Bangs and grinding noises. Nothing like this. Maybe this was what a car was meant to sound like when it worked.
His eyes were fixed on the road ahead. ‘So, how long have you lived up here?’
‘In the Lake District?’ She pushed the tissue up her sleeve. ‘Two years.’
‘Why did you move from London?’
‘I needed—’ She broke off and glared at his profile. ‘Who said I was in London?’
He gave a sigh, his dark hair glossy in the moonlight. ‘Are you always this defensive? Relax, Brooke. You won’t be giving anything away. I know who you are and I know you worked in London. Why did you move?’
For a hundred reasons, none of which she could tell him. ‘I like the country.’
‘Right.’ He glanced at her, one eyebrow lifted. ‘Where now?’
‘Left at this junction and then right up the hill. My cottage is first on the right. Or at least it was when I left it this morning,’ she said dryly. ‘Knowing my luck, it’s probably fallen down by now.’
He laughed but he gave her a keen look as he pulled the car to a halt. ‘That bad, huh?’
‘You have no idea,’ Brooke muttered under her breath, releasing her seat belt and giving him the best smile that she could manage. ‘Thanks for the lift.’
She scrambled out of the car, thinking that sports cars weren’t that easy to get out of, and slammed the door, her eyes narrowing as he did the same thing.
‘What do you think you’re doing?’
His eyes glinted at her across the roof of the car. ‘Coming in to finish the conversation.’
‘No way!’ She didn’t want him in her house. There were too many clues in there. She swung her bag over her shoulder and glared at him as she marched past him and made for her front door. ‘It’s late and I want to go to bed.’
Bother! Why on earth had she said that? The look in his eyes brought the colour to her cheeks but thankfully he didn’t make the obvious remark.
‘We need to talk, Brooke.’ His voice was low and very, very male. ‘Preferably without an audience.’
Her hand shook as she tried to get the key in the lock. ‘We have nothing to talk about.’
The key turned at last and she pushed open the door and turned to say a firm goodbye, but he was already shouldering his way past her into the narrow hall of her cottage.
‘How dare you?’ She stared at him, outraged. ‘You can’t just barge in here and take over my life.’
‘I’m not taking over your life.’ Jed’s voice was calm and slightly amused. ‘Calm down. I don’t want anything from you except a conversation.’
‘Yes, well, after the day I’ve had I’m not up to conversation.’ Suddenly exhausted, Brooke dropped her bag in the hall and closed the front door. How was she going to keep her secret, with him prowling round her house?
Marching past him without a glance, she took the stairs two at a time and braced herself for the worst. What had a whole day of rain done to her house?
Gingerly she pushed open the door and gasped in horror as she saw the overflowing bucket. Replacing it quickly with an empty one, she sank back on her heels and stared helplessly at the ceiling.
‘So this is the roof bit of your problem?’ Jed lounged in her doorway, surveying the damage through narrowed eyes.
‘Sorry?’ Brooke glanced nervously at him but reassured herself that there was nothing in this room to give him any clues as to who normally slept there. She’d emptied it out as soon as the roof had started to leak.
‘When I picked you up you said, First the heating, then the roof and now the car. Presumably this is the roof bit of the problem.’
Brooke nodded and braced herself to lift the brimming bucket.
‘I’ll do that.’ He took it from her easily and deposited it in the bathroom. ‘How long has it been like this?’
‘Since the weekend.’
He frowned. ‘Wouldn’t anyone come and see to it?’
Probably, if she could have afforded to pay them, Brooke thought grimly.
‘They’re coming on Saturday.’ After payday.
He squinted up at her ceiling. ‘It’s probably nothing much. Just a few tiles missing. What happened with the heating?’
‘It broke.’ Nothing behind her words betrayed the cost of having it fixed.
‘And the car?’
She managed a smile. ‘Well, let’s just say that broke, too. I’m having a really good week.’
His eyes searched hers for a moment and then flickered back to the bedroom ceiling. ‘Is it your house?’
‘Yes, for my sins. If it was rented at least I could threaten the landlord.’
There was a slight pause. ‘You don’t have a man in your life?’
She swallowed and shook her head. What was the point in lying? ‘No. And, anyway, I don’t see what difference that would make. Now, will you go and leave me alone?’
He didn’t budge. ‘I could probably help with that roof—’
She lifted her chin. ‘I don’t need help, but thanks for the offer.’
He stood aside to let her pass. ‘From where I’m standing, Brooke, it looks as though you need all the help you can get.’
She reached the bottom of the stairs and turned to face him, her eyes blazing. ‘If you’ve finished what you came to say, you can go now.’
He shook his head and closed the distance between them, his powerful frame dominating her narrow hallway.
‘I haven’t even started.’
Brooke swallowed. ‘We have nothing to say to each other, Jed—’
‘I’ve got plenty to say. I want to know why you left me that night.’ He was standing so close to her that she could hardly breathe. She felt smothered, totally surrounded by his male presence.
‘I don’t