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Bonnie lifted her golden head off the carpet at Jao outside, old girl?’ he asked ‘Come on It looks like your babysitter’s walked off the job’
The snoas already up to his calves and the as howling like a dervish but fortunately the dog didn’t take too long about her business James dusted the snow off his shoulders as he ca off the kitchen The back of his neck prickled when he saw Aiesha leaning in an indolent ainst the kitchen counter, her lushly youthfultilt ‘I hope you’re not expecting me to cook dinner for you’
‘I wouldn’t drea so for someone else’
He opened the fridge and inspected the contents The usual suspects were there—eggs, yoghurt, etables in the crisper and Bonnie’s meat in a Tupperware container
‘You can feed the dog now you’re here,’ Aiesha said ‘And you can walk her I’ht mutt needs to take a leak every five minutes’
He closed the fridge to look at her again ‘So how are you going to earn your keep?’
Her grey eyes glinted as the tilt of her lush estions?’
A rocket blast of blood slaroin at her saucy look His ainst hers, pu the deued hi distance She knew the effect she had on him Knew it and relished it But he wondered if it was not so et rid of him
The ht about it, the more likely it seemed She had hidden herself away from the press in the last place anyone would think to find her His co here had jeopardised the safety of her hideout
He had no time for the press, especially since his father’s exploits had sullied the family name so lamentably, but his own profile had attracted a fair bit of interest over the years He had been in the gossip pages more than he wanted to be, but that ca considered one of Britain’s e a stor Aiesha was keen to avoid while she was holed up here with him
Jaet mixed up with a cheap little two-bit tramp like you?’
She sent her sroin for a heart-stopping, pulse-thundering pause, before re-engaging with his gaze with a mischievous twinkle of her own She lifted the s one of her slender fingers on the screen ‘You ht want to check in with your fiancée Fill her in on your current location and choice of company before she hears it from another source’
Jahten at the roots as if being tugged out by tiny elves But, before he could get hisHe took it out of his pocket, his stoe came up on the screen ‘Hi, Phoebe, I was just about to—’
‘You bastard!’
‘It’s not what you think,’ he said, thinking on his feet and not doing a particularly good job of it ‘She’s practically myeradopted sister My ot called away at the—’
‘Oh, for God’s sake Don’t take me for a complete and utter fool It’s all over social ust and incredulity was starkly apparent in Phoebe’s tone ‘—a Vegas lounge singer?’
James blinked His heart thudded His brow broke out in a hot prickling sweat The Sherwood project flashed before his eyes All the tricky negotiations he’d gone through to nail the pitch, all the work he’d done—hours and hours, weeks and weeks, ht if the ultra-conservative Howard Sherwood heard about this before he could explain the circumstances ‘Listen, I can explain everyth—’
‘It’s over,’ Phoebe said ‘Not that I was going to say yes if you ever happened to get around to proposing to ht about you He said the apple never falls far from the tree and your family tree is particularly rotten You’re just like your jailbait-slavering father I don’t want ed down to that level Goodbye’ Click