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'Thank you'

There was a slightly quizzical note in his voice Too late Beth realised her words probably didn't add up with the ex¬pression on her face She smoothed out the frown and forced a shtly, 'and I'm always madly jealous of anyone who can'

He nodded but said nothing Beth got the distinct impression thathe hadn't believed her She opened her ain, conscious that the oldtrue here Anyway, she had never been a good liar Unlike Keith

Reaching for her wine, she drained the glass, her knuckles tight round the stem Relax, relax, she told herself silently

Travis refilled it silently before leaning back in his chair and saying, 'Is it ht in a strange man's house?'

She se?' she asked, falling in with his mood

"It has been said in the past' He grinned and the sexiness went up a few notches

Beth told herself she had not noticed 'Then I'll just have o watch ain and then applied herself o the food The sooner she finished the meal and could dis¬appear upstairs to her room, the better She didn't want to do friendly or flirty or anything else

She ate quickly, keeping her eyes on her plate It was great of hiht, she told herself silently, but she'd have been e had he forced the cottage door or aAnd she would have rateful, maybe, but that was how she felt

'So are you renting the cottage for a full six months?'

They'd finished the food in silence and now, as Travis put down his fork and picked up his wineglass, Beth nerved herself to aze She nodded 'That was the minimum period possible,' she said shortly

'It's a very lonely location'

'That's what I liked about it' He was looking at her in an uncomfortably speculative way and after a tense moment or two she added, 'I haven't been well recently I wanted a coe for a while'