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‘Which is?’
He gave a lazy grin and rose to his feet. ‘I’m not sure I can resist you.’
For a moment she was hypnotised by the look in his laughing eyes and then she came to her senses. ‘Oh, don’t be so ridiculous!’
‘What’s ridiculous about it? I find you very attractive.’
Her heart was beating a strange rhythm. ‘Well, the feeling isn’t mutual.’
‘You’re a rotten liar.’ His voice was soft, seductive and very, very male. ‘I was hoping you were going to suggest some serious public canoodling just to keep Will happy.’
‘In your dreams, Sean!’
‘Well, that just shows how little you know about my dreams.’ His wicked grin faded. ‘Believe me, none of the dreams I’ve been having about you could ever be played out in public, Ally McGuire.’
She swallowed hard. ‘Sean, please…’
‘Please, what?’
‘Just leave me alone.’
‘No.’
‘Oh, for goodness’ sake!’ She bit her lip and threw him a look that was half impatient, half desperate. ‘There must be plenty of women out there who’d faint if you just smiled at them. Why not pick on one of them? Why me?’
‘Why?’ His eyes locked on hers. ‘Because you’re gutsy and beautiful and because you’re fighting me every inch of the way.’
In other words, she was the first woman he’d ever met who’d refused him. She lifted her chin.
‘Denting your ego, am I, Dr Nicholson?’
He threw back his head and laughed. ‘Oh, no, Dr McGuire. My ego isn’t that fragile.’
He was standing only inches away from her and she was finding it harder and harder to breathe normally.
‘I’m not interested in what you’re offering, Sean.’
To her relief he didn’t come any closer. Instead, he rested one strong thigh on her kitchen table and looked at her thoughtfully. ‘And what am I offering?’
She turned away, flustered, and started getting things ready for Charlie’s tea. ‘I don’t know—a quick fling, a roll in the hay.’
‘You want marriage?’ His dry tone made her blood boil.
‘Dammit, don’t you listen?’ She whirled round to face him, her heart thumping, her blonde hair wafting down over her smooth cheeks. ‘I don’t want anything! I don’t want a fling, I don’t want marriage, I just don’t want any sort of relationship. Not with you, not with anyone.’ She broke off, her breathing uneven, and he looked at her steadily.
‘That bad, hmm?’
Ally looked at him blankly. ‘What do you mean, that bad?’
‘Your relationship with Charlie’s father.’
Her shoulders stiffened. ‘My relationship with Charlie’s father is none of your business.’
‘I disagree.’ He studied her calmly. ‘If it put you off men for life then I have a right to know what he did to you.’
Ally turned away and dragged a saucepan out of the cupboard. ‘You have no rights. No rights at all. And what happened with Charlie’s father is history.’
‘History?’ She heard the sudden coolness in his tone. ‘You mean she doesn’t see her father?’
