We don our coats and I lead her out of the house to where Mike is waiting with the car.

“So, what do you think?” Aaliya asks me as soon as we’re seated inside the Range Rover.

“About what? The project or about us working together?” My tone is sharp.

Her mouth sets in a straight line.

“Both,” she replies, her chin jutting out.

“The project doesn’t concern me much because Jonathan’s estate is just one of the many I’ve worked on. As far as working with you goes, I still need to assess how competent you are. Spending a few hours roaming an estate doesn’t give me an insight to whether you’re good enough to work with me.”

I’m being hard on her but before discussing more of her work and experience, there’s no chance I’ll bring her into the project, whether I’m attracted to her or not.

Her eyes lower for less than a second and when she raises them again, they’re flashing fire. “Is it just me or are you usually so cold and abrupt with people?”

“I am who I am.” My eyes lock onto hers.

“You are way too arrogant for your own good.”

“I’m a Duke. We’re allowed to be arrogant,” I say with a slight smirk and a raised eyebrow.

She rolls her eyes.

“I’ve heard a lot about you, Damien and everything points to the fact that working with you will be a good experience for me. And I’m not about to give up without you giving me a proper chance. Like I said earlier, you could end up being amazed.”

Before I can reply there’s a screech of tires and the car comes to a halt.

Mike turns to me from the front seat. “Sir, the road ahead is snowed in.”

“Darn it!” I check my watch and look out the window. “Turn around and take a left from up ahead. The road winds back north and we’ll reach the airfield a few miles down. It’s a longer route but will get us there in an hour or so.”

Aaliya turns to me. “I’m relieved that you know so much of these highlands. I’d have panicked all by myself.”

“Although Jonathan lives in the wilds, I do have some idea about the roads around here.”

I concentrate outside the window where a blizzard is raging, the visibility deteriorating by the minute.

“It’s getting worse,” Aaliya says after a while. “Do you think we’ll make it?”

“I surely hope so.”

We both remain silent after that, watching the road ahead of us. Half an hour later, Mike stops again at another snowed in road where I give him a new set of directions.

Aaliya