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‘That’s entirely different.’
‘Why?’
She swallowed. ‘I would have thought that was obvious.’ She shrugged awkwardly, wishing he wouldn’t stand quite so close. ‘If you’re parents then you share a commitment so there’s no threat to the child’s emotional well-being—of course you have a relationship.’
‘You sound as though you’ve swallowed a textbook on child psychology. Theory doesn’t always apply to real life, you know.’
She sighed. ‘If I have a relationship with a man, Archie could get hurt. I’m not going to let that happen.’
‘Does he have to be part of the relationship?’ Josh’s voice was soft. ‘You put him to bed at seven-thirty. What happens after that?’
She stared at him. ‘Usually I eat toast and read a textbook.’
He gave a lopsided smile. ‘Gripping stuff. I can do a lot better than toast and I’m definitely more interesting than any textbook.’
‘I’m sure you are
, but—’
‘Dinner on Saturday night.’ His voice was soft. ‘I’ll pick you up at eight. That gives you half an hour to get Archie to sleep.’
Her heart pumped against her chest as she faced temptation. ‘We’re working.’
‘Only until seven,’ he drawled softly in that deep dark tone that made her knees weak. ‘After that we’re off until Sunday morning.’
‘What exactly are you suggesting?’
He gave a slow smile that was totally male. ‘I’m suggesting that we have a nice evening,’ he said smoothly, but there was a glint in his eye that took her breath away.
Temptation was dangled in front of her and she felt racked by indecision. For the first time for as long as she could remember, she wanted a man. Really wanted a man. Her body burned in a way she hadn’t believed possible. For the first time in ages she was remembering that she was a woman.
Why not?
Why shouldn’t she go on a date?
As Josh had rightly said, Archie wouldn’t even know about it so it wouldn’t cause him a problem. But what about her? She bit her lip. Would it cause her a problem?
Where would it all lead?
She looked up at Josh, looked into those wickedly sexy eyes watching her intently. It would lead precisely nowhere, because Josh was a man who liked his bachelor lifestyle.
But at least he was honest about that.
It wasn’t as if he was pretending to be something he wasn’t. Wasn’t as if he was offering something that he couldn’t deliver.
‘All right.’ She didn’t know who was more surprised, her or Josh. ‘Dinner on Saturday night.’ She wouldn’t commit to more than that. ‘Do you want me to book somewhere?’
He smiled. ‘No. Let’s do this the old-fashioned way. I want to be the one in control. I’m taking you out, Kat. My choice.’
Her heart flipped and she gave a slight frown. ‘We’re splitting the bill.’
‘Do me a favour.’ He placed his fingers over her mouth. ‘For one night, leave that fierce independence of yours at home.’
* * *
She thought of nothing else for the rest of the week and by Saturday she was so on edge that she could barely concentrate.
It was that kiss, of course, she told herself crossly.
