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‘I never said she was’

‘No?’

‘I should never have said anything,’ she breathed resentfully ‘It’s ahen you tell soainst you like in a court of law’

But didn’t he have a point? She refused to concede that he did, but her conscience nagged in a way it never had before He had stripped her of her convenient black-and-white approach and she didn’t want that It was easier to set a course when you weren’t distracted by grey areas and murky questions

‘It’s not about the outcome,’ she muttered in a driven voice ‘It’s about the intent’

‘Explain’

‘I don’t want to be having this conversation’ She gazed at the tepid coffee in her cup and wished she had soht to find out whether we should be boarding Or so’

‘They’ll call us when it’s time for us to board the plane Relax’

She was as tense as a bowstring, her body rigid So much emotion contained behind that bland exterior He reached out and brushed his finger against the soft skin on the underside of her wrist and she tensed

And he tensed

Electric Unexpected A high-voltage charge that suddenly ran between them

He withdrew his hand quickly ‘You initiate conversations,’ he said coolly, ‘and when the going gets a little tricky you back away because you’re too scared to carry on Weren’t you ever taught to finish what you start?’

The lazy teasing had gone, wiped out by that ferocious assault on his senses when he had casually touched her Watching and speculating was one thing But what he had felt just then, when he had briefly touched her

It had felt like a loss of control For a couple of seconds he had been knocked back by a reaction he had not expected Curiosity had stoked his libido, but nownow he felt soe The shock of the unexpected jacked his responses into full alert For once, toying with the idea of a woerous adventure not to be undertaken

‘Okay’ Kate surreptitiously rubbed her wrist where his finger had been ‘If you really want to know, there’s a difference between starting a relationship in the hope that it’ll develop into so to crash and burn when you decide it’s time to move on’

‘And I’uy?’

She shrugged and he stared her down, his dark eyes cool, his expression unreadable

Was he storing away everything she said to be used at a later date? Did he even care one way or another what she said? She decided that, no, he probably didn’t He wasn’t the kind of guy ould tolerate personal comments on hishi her opinions on his ethics and his principles They ht have a rant when he chucked them over for a new model, but that was different

Yet here he was noaiting for her to say so If he didn’t care about her opinions he wouldn’t be allowing her this leeway Would he?

‘Sort of I guess It’s not for me to say’

‘Easy to make assumptions, isn’t it?’ he said softly ‘You criticized round influenced youyet here you are A bit hypocritical, wouldn’t you say?’

The question hung in the air between theh they were the only two people sitting here Background noise—not that there wasof her own heart

It had been easy to tell herself that she could redefine the lines between theood intentions had been swept aside so fast and so completely

‘If you can’t take the heat,’ Alessandro drawled, ‘then you should stay out of the kitchen You think it’s okay to offer your opinions on what you iine my personal life is like? Well, it’s a tay street’

He beckoned across a young girl as on the hunt for elasses and asked her to fetch him a cup of black coffee, and all the while his eyes remained fastened on Kate’s flushed face

‘But I’etting the vibes she was trans, ‘because, like I said, a week of constant silent disapproval isn’t what I need’

‘I didn’t have to come,’ Kate muttered

‘But here you are And, incidentally, you actually did have to come You had to co this cosy little chat, let me fill you in on yourled thearden path I don’t e for sex’