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Sam raked his hair back frolass of water, but first he wanted to apologise, tell her he hadn’t o that far At least not outdoors, at a party of all places! He cursed inwardly again ‘Sure, water’ The apology could wait ‘Juststay put until I get back’ Hesitating, he glanced down at her, his brows pulling together as he took in her tre mouth ‘You’re sure you’re okay?’

She nodded, fussing with her voluminous skirts so that she wouldn’t have to look at him

Leaving his jacket on the ground Sa as he rounded a corner and his eyes hts of the terrace, s him as he stalked inside

Quickly fetching a glass of water, he rehearsed a short speech in his head on his way back, trying to come up with some plausible explanation for what had just happened between them, only to find the place he had left her empty

Worried, he spun around, searching out the shadowy garden for any sign of lavender silk It took him a full minute to realise that she wasn’t there Then another to realise that she’d done a runner Worry gave way to guilt that he’d taken things so far with her, and finally to fury that she wasn’t still waiting where he’d left her

Did she do this kind of thing all the tiettable sex with him and then ditch him when his back was turned? Was that why she had insisted that they keep things anonymous?

Jaw clenched, Saround He couldn’t quite bring himself to believe that she had used hiht he wouldn’t pursue it she couldn’t be

CHAPTER THREE

‘RUBES, IF YOU don’t hurry up you’ll a,’ Molly called from outside her bedroom door

Still in bed, Ruby rolled over and wondered if she could pretend to be asleep Considering that she hadn’t slept all night, she felt heavy enough to pass it off as real

‘Ruby?’ Molly opened her door and poked her head inside ‘Are you ill?’