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‘Atteet to know you better,’ Aiveteeth without an anaesthetic, trying to extract inforlean you counter with an “off the record” reminder’

‘Oh, coave her a look that showed her he was anything but s you’ve been in, then you’re not the journalist I thought you were You don’t have to name names all the time’

‘It’s not theh,’ Aht It’s a portrayal of you that I want to do, not a bloody business piece’ She took a deep breath, shook her head as the waiter handed her a menu

The truth of thewith contrary eet to know him better, as much as she needed more information to write the piece she really wanted to write, she was terrified of being alone with hiain—had been secretly relieved at the chance to spend a day licking her wounds and hopefully fashioning her brain into soht of eenerated She’d needed the space to get her head together, to ring a girlfriend and beg for sensibility before she surely caved in A business lunch she could just about have dealt with, but an hour or two up close and personal with Vaughan Mason ay too ht now

‘Co theit in front of her ‘You can’t come all this way and not eat’

But the thought of chasing spaghetti around her plate in her present state, with Vaughan cal on, wasn’t particularly palatable

‘I’d far rather have a sandwich sent up toup onto her shoulder ‘I know you’re busy, Vaughan, and, as I said this , you really don’t have to babysit me—this was a business lunch that should have been rescheduled, not a date you’ve soed to break and need to make up for A phone call would have sufficed’

‘We could share a cheese platter,’ Vaughan responded, co her entire stateers to su to check if it was okay with Amelia

‘I could have a raving lactose intolerance,’ Amelia bristled ‘I could blow up like a soccerball at the ht of cheese!’

‘Do you?’

‘No, but that isn’t the point’

Despite his bland expression, she kneas laughing at her

‘Would you care for so you out in hives?’

‘Water will be fine’

‘So, what have you written about me so far?’

Alass at his way too direct question

‘Am I allowed to look?’

‘No!’ Perish the thought

A her work at this stage filled her with horror, but it had nothing to do hat she’d written—was oing to tell anyone that she’d barely got past the first paragraph, that her , when she should have been working, had been spent reluctantly recalling the sheer heady bliss of being held by him, and, as intimate as she wanted her piece to be, she certainly wasn’t about to share that with her readers

‘That bad, huh?’

‘Worse,’ A sance yet I’ that for this afternoon’s session’

‘Maybe you should have soes a bit’

‘Co here What’s this about a charity auction on Thursday?’

‘I’hed, and Ah

‘This I have to see!’

Vaughan rolled his eyes ‘Please let’s not talk about it And even if I have to strap you to the bed, there’s no way you’re co to watch’

Ouch!

As innocent as it had been, in their present rather fragile state any h she couldn’t be sure, Amelia could have sworn she saw the first hint of a blush darken his cheeks at the small faux pas