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Now, that did surprise her, and Leo laughed again, amused ‘Why would I be attracted to a brainless bimbo?’ he asked

‘Because she looks good on your arm?’

‘And what about when there’s no one around to see her looking good on my arm? What conversation could there possibly be with a brainless bimbo?’

‘So what sort of woo out with?’

‘Why do you ask?’

Why, Heather thought, do I ask? This wasn’t the sort of casual, ski-the-surface conversation which was safe and unthreatening There was an edge to this conversation, but like so down, she found that it was irresistible

‘No reason Just o I’m awfully tired There’s honestly no need for you to tidy the kitchen I can do that later, or better still in the ’

Leo had no intention of leaving, but it dawned on him that Heather was not like any other woerent spark wasn’t an act to get his attention If she told hioing anywhere—at least not yet—he stood up and shook his head in his best bedsideof which he’d had precious little practice

‘You need sooodbye speech, he left the roo over his shoulder that maybe she should doze for a bit The occasional catnap could onders, he told her Not that he knew, but it was all part of the bedside manner

In truth, Leo had forgotten the art of seduction, or at least the art of persuasion

With women, the outcome was usually apparent within a ent variety, a certain type of eye contact and then the unspoken assumption that they would end up as lovers

With Heather, he realised that one false iven that he was no hly competitive red-blooded male, what more of a turn on could there be than an uncertain outcome?

Not for a minute did it occur to Leo that a deliberate seduction was anything less than perfectly reasonable He took his time in the kitchen Dishes ashed and precariously balanced on the draining board, because drying and putting them away seeain at soht with the ‘dishwasher’ accusation There was souely threatening glass jug, which he ignored Instead, he ratified to find that she wasn’t dozing, as he’d suspected sheroom

‘Instant,’ he said, handing her the cup and then sitting on one of the big, comfortable chairs by the fireplace ‘There was a machine there, but…’

‘But you didn’t have a clue how to use it?’ She cupped thebetween her hands and watched him as he sat back, relaxed, in the chair

‘I could have figured it out in tirin that made her toes curl ‘But life’s too short to waste any of it trying to corips with a coet out of a jar’

‘It tastes et out of a jar’ After their very civilised evening, Heather knew that she should really be getting rid of hiesture; she had not been churlish and thrown it back at hi on a satisfactory note But didn’t itat hi

‘That’s open to debate’ But he laughed again ‘Tell me about your work Do you work freelance, or are you commissioned to a publisher?’

Since this was nice, safe conversation, Heather felt herself relax as she began explaining to hi hi that they were talking about art in general Working freelance as she did, she had relatively little contact with members of the opposite sex, and for the past three years that had suited her After Brian, she had retreated to lick her wounds, only h some of the women she had befriended in the town, ave art lessons to their kids once a week She had accepted no dates, and indeed had nals to anyone who had looked even mildly interested

It e to have male co to Leo She had allowed hi above her past Also, it made sense for the terain, and the less aardness between them the better

She resolutely sla her that she was enjoying that weird, tingly, excited flutter inside her; that she was turned on by his charisma, mesmerised by the raer of his sex appeal

Heather was not in theturned on or e from the protective walls she had built around herself and would get back into the dating scene If she wasn’t too old by then And, when she did, she would be very careful about the type of et the too complicated, just a few sheets of questions so that she could h the net

Since Leo was the couy, she felt herself fully protected Yes, she could appreciate all that alpha-male sex appeal; yes, she could adent But there was no way that she could ever physically be attracted to him, not when her head told her that it uided by her head now

So why shouldn’t she enjoy talking to someone who seemed interested in her art? In fact, she even found herself showing him soy about a ballerina