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‘But?’ Her heart sank a little further ‘There’s a but co, isn’t there?’
His fingers loosened around her wrists, his thuhers ‘I never have sex outside of a formal relationship’
‘No one-night stands?’
‘No’
Somehow it didn’t surprise her He would always colour between the lines There was no hint of rebel in him He was cautious by nature, sensible He led rather than followed He controlled rather than being swayed by i choices he had le niggle of doubt or self-recrimination to disturb him
‘You don’t knohat you’re ,’ she said Loneliness Emptiness ‘Think of the ot the deed done on the first night’
He kept holding her hands Kept holding her gaze in that studied way of his that h the brash layers of bolshiness to the sensitive and wounded girl within Aiesha would have squir her feelings had ht have lapsed last night while he found her sleeping, but the front was up again and it was staying up
‘I like to get to know a person before I have sex with them,’ he said
Aiesha gave him a bold smile ‘Hi, I’as lounge singer Well, I was until a few days ago I’m currently unemployed’
‘How did you end up working in Vegas?’
She could feel her s and worked hard to keep it in shape She wasn’t going to tell him she had followed a dream only to have it bloay on the Nevada dust The audition she had thought would be her big break had turned out to be for a job in a lingerie bar Playing the piano in her underasn’t her thing, nor was doing erotic dance tricks on a stripper’s pole to eke out tips fro too low to fly back to London She had taken the lounge-singer job instead, hoping it would be a springboard to getting noticed as a serious musician But she’d soon found out no one cared a jot as behind the piano as long as it got played ‘I liked the party ate from cold and wet and dismal London’
He studied her for another long moment, his expression hard to read ‘Favourite colour?’
‘It’s a toss-up between pink and blue I can never decide’
The left side of his mouth kicked up half a centimetre ‘Best friend?’
Aiesha looked at him numbly ‘Umpass’
His half s you don’t have a best friend?’