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'Let lass and the rest of the wine at least' He hadacross her for the bottle The ainst her ar s with a quivering awareness of the height and breadth of the powerful male body

Beth froze She couldn't breathe It was a huge relief when he strolled into the sitting room

Idiot! She made herself continue to dish up thefrom every nerve and sinew made theoing to pounce on her, for goodness' sake, or turn into a demented rapist or depraved pervert

But then it wasn't any of those possibilities that was both¬ering her, a little voice in her head said nastily It was ot her all of a twitter

She stared at the two full plates and then breathed out slowly Calive him dinner—you owe him that at least—but then your debt is paid Keep it nice and friendly but cool, a definite one-off He'll get the e

She picked up the plates and placed theh to Travis An hour, two at theAfter that she needn't see hilance and wave if he happened to pass the gate when she was in the garden

She ht Travis was the sort of man ould never be short of female companionship, that was for sure Why, next week or the next or some time very soon shenext to him as the car drove past Perhaps even a succession as the months passed And that was fine, just fine

Her chin rose, her soft full htened And it was like that, with her head held high, that she took the tray through to him

CHAPTER FOUR

'That onderful' Travis put down his knife and fork with the appearance of a man as replete

'I'lad you enjoyed it,' Beth said priood the food had tasted For so a disaster, thelike hazelnut pie or apple crumble, I'm afraid,' she added with a brief smile, 'but there's cheese and biscuits for dessert if you'd like soht as well finish the meal properly

'My favourite' He grinned at her 'And the hazelnut pie and apple cruht, by the way'

Too cosy Too intimate Beth rose swiftly from the chair she had purposely made sure she sat in when Travis had taken the sofa, but as she reached for his plate he too stood up 'Allowthrough to the kitchen, where he dunked the plates in the washing-up bowl before she could protest