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'What?' He was close enough for her to scent hisof delicious aftershave It was doing crazy things to her hored weakly Control This was all about control

He nodded, placing the tray on the bedside cabinet before walking to the door Harvey trotted along with hi had decided that as she was alive and well he'd rather get back to his canine coood

Once the door had closed behind the pair of them, Beth leapt out of bed and inspected her reflection in the bathrooroaned The h she had been pulled through a hedge backwards

Not that it mattered, she told herself firmly in the nextto her and after today she would probably only catch a gli, as it passed in the lane outside Herb Cottage It was just that in spite of her life being a shambles she still had her self-respect and pride in her appearance

She gri back into the bedroo her coffee at the bedroomThe room was situated at the back of the house and the view outside was tre to Travis were extensive and well cared for, s with large flowerbeds which were a riot of colour in the bright sunlight But beyond the dry stone hich bordered the property there was a rolling vista of trees, fields and hedges which stretched fortheir separate identity as they stretched into infinity

'Gorgeous' Beth breathed out the word, her eyes focusing on a little flock of long-tailed tits flitting delicately in the branches of one of the beech trees close to the house There was all the peace and tranquillity you could ever wish for Whichsoave the i a er on the pulse and be where the action was

And then she frowned to herself She didn't usually make assumptions about people and yet she couldn't see the unsettling feeling away, she finished the coffee and went into the bathrooain

Twentycurtain either side of her face and s of apple blossom from the shampoo she'd found in the bathrooloss in the way of ht ruefully In fact she felt remarkably bohemian with bare feet and a bare face, not tobottoms and T-shirt She always dressed very s Wellington boots and the big shapeless cagoule she kept in the car, she made sure the clothes beneath were immaculate

Power dressing, Keith had used to call it Not exactly in a nasty way but with so that in the e she projected was all important Her blonde hair, blue eyes and feh to cause soirly-girly to give them more ammunition Not that they ever rimly Not by the time she'd finished with them

In a repeat of the night before, Travis was standing at the stove as she entered the kitchen, the three dogs spread out at his feet Beth forced her voice into bright and breezy mode 'That smells lovely'

He smiled Beth wondered why it was that when some men smiled they just smiled, and with others it was likeTravis's smile was a definiteplus

'I thought we'd eat in here again, if that's OK?' he said easily 'I do actually have a dining room, believe it or not, but this is more relaxed'

Was that another way of saying this was in no way, shape or foret the wrong idea about his hospitality? Beth sat down at the kitchen table If so, that suited her just fine 'With a kitchen as nice as this one I should think you eat in here all the time,' she said carefully 'I would'

'Quite a bit,' he said, forking bacon into a dish

There was already a coffee-pot, orange juice, toast and pre¬serves on the table Now Travis deftly placed dishes containing scraes, bacon, fried toside theazed at it in alarm