A Kind And Decent Man. Mary Brendan

the hell are you doing here?’ David Hardinge bit out so ferociously through his teeth, his thin lips barely parted.

      Victoria winced as though he’d hit her. His intense, almost tangible fury dried her mouth and her head throbbed with tension.

      The shabby stranger had alarmed her; this elegantly dressed man she believed she knew terrified her. Yet, paradoxically, a serene sense of safety let her rest back against the brickwork and raise languid eyes to his. Flickering torchlight threw into stark relief his fierce, anxious expression. Fear for her safety had prompted his anger. The instinct to protect radiated from him. It was in his rigid stance, in the way he used his body to shield her as people pressed close by them.

      Hard, unsteady fingers lifted to her cheek before sliding across her jaw.

      Mesmerised by the soothing caress, Victoria simply stared up at him. She had thought this all forgotten, banished from her life for ever. This touch…this man inclined towards her, his mouth close to hers.

      Long sooty lashes parted to reveal tortured relief in his sapphire eyes. ‘What in damnation do you think you’re doing here?’ he gritted out.

      ‘Looking for you,’ Victoria answered with rash honesty.