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‘It was very good digging, by the way,’ Sienna said with a glance at Robin. ‘I half thought I was going to get the third degree.’

Robin laughed quickly. ‘As if.’

‘What did you think about each other’s stories?’ Zoe asked.

Robin swallowed thickly. ‘I think Sienna’s ex sounds like a total dildo. And not in the good way.’

Zoe laughed. ‘Sienna?’

‘I didn’t get the full details on Robin’s exes, but I thought Robin brought a mature attitude to her love life,’ Sienna said evenly.

Robin’s head whipped round to look at Sienna so quickly, she felt a crick develop. ‘Wow,’ she said, stunned.

‘Don’t read too much into it,’ Sienna said, still struggling with eye contact.

‘What a plot twist,’ Zoe said dramatically. ‘Robin planned a date in accordance with Sienna’s methods, and Sienna ended up being the convert!’

‘That’s an incredibly hyperbolic assessment,’ Sienna said briskly.

‘Yeah, I think it would take a bit more than spag bol in a filthy cottage to sway this one,’ Robin added with a bit more sincerity than she meant to express.

‘On that bombshell, let’s tally the vote!’ Zoe went on breathlessly, picking up her tablet. ‘By a narrow margin of fifty-four percent to forty-six... Robin takes this one.’

Robin blinked, genuinely surprised. ‘I won?’

‘You did,’ Zoe confirmed with a grin. ‘How did you actually feel about doing things Sienna’s way?’

Robin paused, her fingers trailing over the edge of her headphones. She looked across the desk at Sienna, catching her eye for once.

‘It wasn’t terrible,’ she conceded.

‘Are you saying you’ve realised I’m right?’ Sienna asked with a pleased smile.

Robin smiled back. ‘Don’t get ahead of yourself. But... maybe I did learn something new about dating.’

Zoe leaned closer to her microphone, her eyes lighting up at the sudden shift in energy between them. ‘Well, that sounds like progress. Which leads me to the real question of the day: after three dates... did you two actually find out anything about your compatibility?’

Robin felt her stomach do a slow flip as hope flared in her.

She leaned forward. ‘Why don’t you answer that one first, Sienna?’

Sienna froze for a fraction of a second, her grip tightening on her pen. She cleared her throat slightly, her posture stiffening as she picked her words with care.

‘I think Date Three proved that when stripped of antics, we have a level of mutual respect. Robin has a real ability to create an environment where a conversation feels effortless.’

Robin sat back in her leather chair, her chest tightening with a hollow pang of disappointment.

A level of mutual respect.

It was a textbook Sienna response. Complimenting Robin’s social skills, talking completely around the actual question of what they were to each other.

Because they were nothing. It had never been clearer. This was one-way traffic. Sienna had had a nice evening, and that was all.

But there was nothing nice about the way Robin’s heart was currently hammering against her collarbone. There was nothing nice about the memory of Sienna’s guard coming down in the amber glow of the hearth.

Robin wanted Sienna. Badly. And sitting three feet away from her, knowing that a brief handhold was as good as it was ever going to get, was agony.

Twenty-Nine