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She laughed. He sounded surprised by the possibility. ‘Yes, actually it is, or it would be if I said yes, which,’ she added quickly, ‘I’m not.’
‘In what way a problem?’
Her brow furrowed deeper. God, he didn’t lack persistence, she had to say that much for him.
‘Do you never give up? All right, you want a problem, how about I have what I’m standing up in?’ She held her arms wide to invite his inspection, patting herself down to demonstrate there were no secret compartments.
There were, however, two shallow pockets in her jeans and one had a phone bulge.
‘What is it?’
She wriggled her fingers into the offending pocket and pulled them out with her phone. ‘It was here all along.’
‘So, about tomorrow...?’
She sighed. ‘Do you do everything at this speed?’
His dark lashes swept down; when they lifted a moment later the glow in the cerulean depths made her stomach flip.
‘Not everything,’ he said, utterly expressionless.
It was several slow-moving moments before her breathless-sounding response dropped into the tense stillness that followed his words.
‘I need time to think.’ Not about the things happening below waist level—actually, thinking was exactly what shedidn’tneed.
‘Do you have your passport.’
Her teeth clenched as he continued to act as if her capitulation were inevitable.
‘Do you have a tick list or something? Yes, I have my passport. The police wanted it, to check I’m me, I suppose, or maybe they thought I was about to skip the country...’ Her green gaze slowly lifted and she shook her head less firmly than she would have liked. ‘I have no clothes, not even a toothbrush.’
‘Then no problem. I have an account at Harvey Nicks. Tell me what you need and I’ll order it.’
‘I couldn’t do that!’ she exclaimed, sounding shocked.
‘Why not? I have bought women’s clothes before.’
She felt the heat climb to her cheeks. ‘I am not one ofyourwomen,’ she retorted.
The dangerous gleam in his eyes made her stomach flip but before it could go anywhere outside her active imagination the intercom buzzed.
Soren said something that sounded Italian under his breath and stalked across to the intercom discreetly set in the wall.
‘The food is here.’
‘I just need the...?’
‘Second door on the left.’ He nodded in the direction.
She spent a few minutes in the bathroom, too emotionally whacked to take much pleasure from the luxury fixtures and fittings.
She felt marginally better after washing her hands and face, although one glance told her that her hair was beyond rescue. She put on some lipstick, found it made her look even more ghostly and clashed with the blue shadows under her eyes, and wiped it off again.
Back in the open-plan living area the table by the window had been laid; the dimmed lights emphasised the dramatic night-lit skyline beyond. The overall effect was romantic.
So long as you don’t forget it isn’t, Anna.
He held out a chair and she limped across to take it.
