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He wasn’t being very gracious but she supposed she couldn’t blae, of course,’ she said with a little upward jerk of her chin which wasn’t lost on the ,’ she finished lamely

The eyebroent a touch higher ‘Am I supposed to say thank you here?’ he drawled silkily

What a thoroughly unpleasant individual Cory found she could ignore the beauty of the sky-blue eyes quite well now It wasn’t so much what he said but the way that he said it which was so nasty ‘Not at all,’ she said curtly, her whole body stiffening ‘I’ the point, that’s all’

Rufus had seated hih he had disowned her and was now looking the very picture of docility, his big headinterestedly from one to the other as they had spoken Cory found she could have throttled hi to clip the lead back on his collar, she said, ‘Rufus, co had been eyeing up earlier sauntered past

Her despairing, ‘Rufus, no!’ was lost as he sprang up, blind and deaf to anything but his hormones

He had only gone a few feet when one bitingly sharp, deep ‘Sit!’ brought hily inperforly quick tis As an authoritative male hand stretched out for the lead Cory handed it over The nextwere returned to her

‘Thank you’ It was said with extreme reluctance

‘You can’t suggest he does what he’s told,’ thecoolness ‘It’s all in the tone’

‘You’re an expert on dogs?’ Cory responded before she could stop herself

‘No’ In a leisurely exercise which stopped just short of being insulting, heavily lashed blue eyes wandered over her hot face ‘I’ obeyed’

Somehow she didn’t doubt that

‘Obedience classes would be good for you,’ he continued with insufferable condescension

It didn’t escape her notice that he had said good for her rather than the dog The fact that he had several bits of grass in his perfectly grooe satisfaction ‘He’s not mine,’ she said shortly ‘My aunt recently acquired hiht he’d been locked away in a shed froain She has been taking him to classes—’ it onderful to be able to say it in all truth ‘—but she’s broken her leg and so I offered to give hi’

The sapphire gaze left her face and turned doards to the golden dog ‘Poor old boy,’ he said directly to Rufus agged his tail furiously

And then his voice lost the brief softness and returned to its forain and said, ‘For the sake of the dog and not least anyone in his path, keep him on the lead while your aunt is indisposed, would you?’

She bit her lip hard to prevent the spate of words which sprang to mind and counted to ten ‘I’d worked that one out for myself’

‘Good’

It looked as though he was going to walk away and now Cory said quickly, ‘Your phone; Ifor a new one Do you want my telephone number and address?’

He raised his brow ‘Are you always so exceedingly generous in giving coers your private details?’

He was deliberately needling her and she recognised it but still couldn’t help being caught on the raw ‘I’ which knocks people down every day,’ she returned smartly

He ht be, ‘Thank heaven for s, ‘Don’t worry about the phone, Ms…?’

‘Jah velvet-brown eyes just a shade or two lighter than her hair ‘And I insist on paying for a new one, Mr…?’