Читать книгу Summer Seduction - Daphne Clair - Страница 9

HE WAS letting her down lightly. But at the same time leaving her in no doubt that he didn’t want her prying into his life.

With a small flash of temper, she said, ‘You needn’t patronise me!’

‘I wasn’t. Not intentionally.’ He glanced at the cup in his hand. ‘Have I outstayed my welcome?’

‘No, of course not. Finish your coffee.’ She pushed the plate of gingernuts towards him.

He inclined his head, and reached for a biscuit.

Blythe too picked up a biscuit and nibbled it in silence. A breeze dipped over the hill and ruffled the tops of the trees. The clouds were drifting away, leaving more blue sky in their wake. The silvery, moving mass of the sea, breaking into long, uneven rollers near the shore, seemed to absorb all of Jas’s attention.

‘You have a wider view than I do,’ he commented at last. ‘But you must be pretty exposed.’

‘It depends on which way the wind is blowing. If it’s coming straight off the sea it can get pretty fierce. But I enjoy storms.’

He looked at her again. ‘They can be destructive.’

‘Well, you can’t stop a storm from coming.’

‘So you might as well get some pleasure from it?’

‘Is there anything wrong with that?’

‘Nothing at all.’ For a few seconds longer he studied her, his gaze a little amused, a little speculative. Then abruptly he turned away. ‘Don’t you worry about your plants?’

‘Of course. I give them good supports and protect them as best I can.’

Jas nodded, as though he was thinking of something else. He finished his coffee and refused another cup. ‘I’ve kept you from your work long enough.’ He stood up.

‘And you have work to do too,’ she guessed, thinking of the computer and the room set up as a study with books, folders and papers. She rose too, looking at him curiously as they moved inside. ‘But you’re not teaching at the moment, are you?’

‘My students study by correspondence.’

She hadn’t thought of that. ‘Music?’ Could people study music by mail?

‘Not music.’ He seemed to be debating whether to expand on that, but as she continued to gaze at him enquiringly he finally said, ‘Mathematics.’

Blythe grimaced. ‘Maths!’

‘Pure mathematics,’ he expanded, and added dryly, ‘It tends to be a conversation-stopper.’

Yes, it would be. Was that why he hadn’t volunteered the information before? ‘Maths was my worst subject at school,’ she confessed.

‘You’re not alone, but you probably mean arithmetic. Pure mathematics deals with puzzles and patterns and universal forms. It’s full of mystery and magic.’

Blythe blinked disbelievingly. ‘Magic?’

‘Throughout the ages numbers have been recognised as mystical. Pythagoras founded a secret society dedicated to their study and worship.’

‘They worshipped numbers?’

‘Uh-huh.’

‘Do you?’ She slanted him a questioning smile.

‘They fascinate me.’ His eyes were alight and very green. He glanced at the nets above them, laden with colour. ‘You might appreciate a comparison made by a mathematician called Barry Mazur, who says that number theory effortlessly produces innumerable problems which have a sweet, innocent air about them—like tempting flowers.’

‘Flowers?’

‘Mm-hmm.’ The smile in Jas’s eyes deepened, and she felt her heart give an odd little skip. ‘He also says that it swarms with bugs waiting to bite the flowerlovers who, once bitten, are inspired to excesses of effort.’

‘Flowers,’ Blythe repeated. ‘I suppose,’ she said doubtfully, ‘bugs do inspire extra effort in getting rid of them to preserve the flowers.’

‘And now you know what a party-pooper a mathematician can be! I really am leaving.’

Halfway to Apiata the following Monday, Blythe came upon Jas’s car, the hood raised while he inspected the engine. She drew up beside him. ‘Can I help?’

Jas straightened. ‘Only if you have spare parts for this thing. I think there’s a crack in the carburettor.’

‘I could give you a lift to Tau’s garage at Apiata.’

‘Thanks, that would be very helpful. Just a minute.’ He opened the door of the station wagon and brought out his laptop computer and a portable printer, then climbed into the van beside her.

‘Do you go everywhere with those?’ Blythe enquired curiously. He was wise to remove them from the car before he left it, but she didn’t think he’d need to worry about his house being burgled.