‘Sorry.’He asked me a question. ‘Er...a thousand?’ It emerges as a squeak and I clear my throat awkwardly.
‘Could you borrow from a bank and pay her? It might be worthit, just to get her off your back?’
I frown at him. ‘But it’s the principle of the thing. Icouldpay her. My sister won the lottery, remember? And she split her winnings withme?’
‘Oh, yes. Sorry. Forgot about that.’ He takes a long glug ofhis tea, gets to his feet and takes his mug through to the kitchen, and I watchhim go, feeling puzzled. We talked about my good fortune that first night. Hecan’t have forgotten about it, surely? So why pretend he has?
I hear him rinsing the mug under the tap. Then he comes backthrough and casually asks if a ‘proper drink’ might be better than sweet teafor steadying my nerves. ‘We don’t have to go far. There’s the Swan just aroundthe corner?’
‘I don’t know. April might still be around.’ I glanceanxiously towards the window.
‘Oh, don’t worry about her.’
‘But I can’t help it.’ My lower lip trembles and I bite onit as I gaze up at him. There’s something about Doug that makes me feel I don’thave to put on a brave front. I can be real with him, somehow.
‘Hey, you’re okay. Listen, she’ll have me to deal with ifshe comes anywhere near you.’ His comforting hand lying lightly on my shoulderhas the opposite effect of calming me down. On the contrary, the blood isracing in my veins at his touch.
Posing in front of me, he flexes a bicep and fixes me with amoody stare. ‘I can be extremely mean and macho if the occasion calls for it,’he growls, his voice absurdly deep.
I’m about to laugh and make a funny remark. But for somereason, the words get stuck in my throat. He looks ridiculous posing like that,but stirringly attractive at the same time in his jeans and white T-shirt –those biceps are pretty impressive – and I feel a sudden leap of desire.
To cover my confusion, I leap to my feet and grab my bag.‘Did someone suggest a drink? What are we waiting for?’
‘Right.’ He shoots me a look of surprise. ‘Let’s go.’
CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE
In the Swan bar, I’m disturbingly aware of Doug’snearness as we stand together, waiting for our drinks. He’s leaning casually onthe bar, his arm grazing mine and when he turns to murmur something to me, Ifind myself completely mesmerised by those dark eyes gazing into mine.
Suddenly realising his expression has become a littlequizzical, I blurt out, ‘Sorry? What was that?’
He chuckles softly and continues studying me. ‘I was justsaying that my mission tonight is to make you forget all about a certain loanshark and just relax.’
‘Um... sounds good.’
‘A glass of wine to help the process?’ He smiles at the girldelivering our drinks and pushes the glass towards me. Then he reaches into hispocket.
His smile drops as he tries the other pocket. ‘Damn, Iforgot to pick up my wallet.’
‘No worries. I’ll get them.’
‘No, I’ll go back and get it.’ He looks genuinely annoyed athimself.
‘Honestly, it doesn’t matter.’ I catch his arm before he canwalk away. ‘You can get the drinks next time, okay?’ I pull a note from mypurse and hand it over.
Giving me a rueful smile, he pushes a hand through his darkhair so that it no longer flops over his face at the front. ‘Okay. If you’resure. I... like the idea of a “next time”.’
So do I. I like that idea very much indeed.
Doug grabs his own glass of lager and I follow him over to acosy table tucked in the corner of the bar, taking the opportunity to check himout from behind. He’s tall – well over six feet – and his shoulders are strongand broad. Long muscular legs. Gorgeous bum...
You’ve only just met the guy. What iswrongwithyou?
I give myself a little mental shake and sit down opposite Doug,subconsciously feeling the need to cross my legs and fold my arms, as if I’minterviewing him for a job.
My head is whirling in confusion.
If I’d sat down next to Doug, I’m not sure I could havetrusted myself not to shuffle closer and lean into him, to feel the warmth fromhis body, and how embarrassing would that be for the poor guy? It’s a trulyalien feeling, this overwhelming attraction that seems to be developing atbreathtaking speed. It’s never happened to me before – not like this, anyway.Yes, I was attracted to Ryan. But it was a slow burn – not an instant, help-I-just-want-to-kiss-you-right-nowsort of attraction...
