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mess.’
    ’You look like a sea nymph, only you’ve too many clothes on.’ He reached out and took hold of a tress of her hair, drawing her towards him. ‘Not many girls have hair like this nowadays.’ His eyes glinted. ‘So the aloof Miss Desmond is human after all? I wonder just how human.’
    Something in his expression caused her to blush. She jerked her hair out of his hold, and asked for her sandals which she saw he was carrying. He dropped them at her feet, and as she stooped for them, said blandly, ‘Let me assist you.’
    He bent down and held one ready for her to put her foot in it, and as she did so, his fingers lingered on her instep as he fastened it. He had sunk down upon one knee, oblivious of the wet sand, and his touch lingered still longer on the second one. Frances had narrow feet with a high instep of which she was rather vain, and as Gray’s fingers caressed them, for that was what he was doing, tremors shot up her legs to her spine. She wanted to pull away, but feared to lose her balance; as it was, she had to clutch at his shoulder for support. He had discarded his jacket, and the feel of his firm muscles through his thin shirt caused her another thrill. She feared he knew how he was affecting her, and felt a stab of anger, but she could not expect him to show her respect after her hoyden exhibition of herself.
    ‘Thank you,’ she said with heightened colour when both sandals were in place. ‘I must apologise . . .’
    ‘Whatever for?' He stood up, dusting the sand from his knee. ‘It was a pleasure to watch you being young and natural instead of in the rather severe pose you normally assume.’ He reached for her cap. ‘We’ll find a bag for these trophies of yours, so you can put your cap on again. Charming though you look, the good people of Mallaig might misinterpret what we’ve been doing if they see you in disarray.’
    ‘I must have been crazy.’ Frances tried to twist up her hair.
    ‘You’ll find that easier to do in the car out of the wind.’ The breeze had blown a strand of it across his face, and he removed it almost reverently. Why don’t you wear it loose?’
    ‘Not very suitable for a home help.'
    ‘But you’re not on duty now, neither am I. So we can indulge ourselves.’
    She shot him a wary glance; there was a wicked gleam in the grey eyes.
    ‘You started it by telling me to take my sandals off.’
    ‘Ah, I shall know what to do when I want you to unbend.’
    ‘I shan’t forget myself again,’ she said frigidly as they reached the car.
    ‘Oh, what a pity!’ Gray laughed, then he became serious. ‘Don’t worry, Fran, I haven’t time to pursue you, amusing though that might be. I took time off today because I was becoming edgy, and I did have an errand to do in Mallaig.’
    His abbreviation of her name suggested an intimacy which she did not want, and she said icily as she climbed into the car:
    ‘I’ve no intention of providing you with amusement.’
    He laughed again. ‘Pax, Fran, don’t spoil a pleasant day by mounting your high horse, we mayn’t ever have another.’
    She found his last statement depressing, but assured herself that the less she saw of him the better; he was a disturbing person.
    ‘Yes, it has been pleasant,’ she agreed formally, ‘and I must thank you very, very much.'
    He stood beside the open door wearing an inscrutable expression and she had a moment’s panic that he was going to demand a more tangible form of gratitude. Her eyes were on ms firm, well-shaped mouth, and a quiver of excitement ran through her at the thought of its pressure on her lips. Instantly she suppressed the wanton urge, and the tense moment passed. Gray rummaged in the trunk and presented her with a polythene bag for her shells, and she plaited her hair, fixing it firmly under her cap.
    ‘There,' she said, ‘Miss Desmond is herself again.'
    ‘Quite so,' he drawled as he took his place beside her. ‘And Mr Crawford has remembered his