LITMIR.BIZ

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      She was glad when he didn’t get all handy once they were alone in the car park. She wasn’t keen on guys who used any opportunity to grab at a girl.

      ‘Here we are,’ he said, stopping beside a sleek silver sedan. Inside, she noticed, it had grey leather seats and that lovely new smell. Jessie didn’t know what the make was and she didn’t ask. She knew next to nothing about cars. Which reminded her…

      ‘By the way, I won’t be leasing a car just yet,’ she advised him as he drove expertly round the circular ramp that led to the street.

      ‘Why not?’

      ‘I don’t like to rush into things. I like to think about them first before taking the plunge.’

      ‘Is that a learned habit, a statement of fact, or a warning for me?’

      ‘Do you need a warning?’

      The car emerged into the late-afternoon sunshine, and very heavy traffic. Kane’s very masculine mouth remained shut till they stopped at the first set of lights.

      ‘Jessie, let’s not play games with each other,’ he said firmly. ‘You came into that bar the other night looking for male company. If you hadn’t been told I was a married man, we’d already be lovers.’

      Jessie decided then and there that the time had come for the truth. Her pride demanded she not let him think she made a habit of cruising bars at night, picking up perfect strangers and agreeing to go to hotel rooms with them.

      ‘No one in the ladies’ told me you were a married man, Kane,’ she confessed, her chin lifting as she turned her head his way. ‘I made that up.’

      ‘You what? But why? I mean… Oh, go to hell!’ he muttered into the rear-vision mirror. The lights had gone green and the driver behind was honking his horn.

      ‘Look, just drive and listen!’ she told him in that tone she used on Emily when she wouldn’t go to bed at night.

      Once he got over his shock at her giving him orders like that, he actually obeyed. The silence gave her the opportunity to tell him the truth, starting with her working as a decoy earlier this year when she hadn’t had any money. She explained how she hated it and had quit, but agreed to do it one last time so that she could buy Emily the expensive fairy doll for Christmas.

      He did throw her a startled look when she said she’d only gone into that bar last Friday night to do a decoy job. When she revealed who her target was, his car almost careered into the wrong lane. She had to tell him to keep his eyes on the road again, after which she was able to finish her story. She even mentioned that she hadn’t labelled his brother a potentially unfaithful husband because Kane had knocked back the blonde.

      ‘Of course, I didn’t know at the time,’ she added, ‘that it was you knocking back the blonde and not your brother, Curtis.’

      Kane was speechless at first. Then a bit stroppy.

      ‘Well, thank you very much for not ruining my brother’s marriage! Why didn’t you? Guilt?’

      ‘Guilt? Why should I feel guilty?’

      ‘Come on, doll, let’s face it. If I had been some poor, unhappily married bloke, and you’d swanned into that bar making eyes at me whilst I was sloshed, I’d have had a hard job resisting you, too.’

      ‘Don’t exaggerate,’ she said. ‘I’m not that sexy.’

      ‘Trust me, sweetheart, you are. You’re one hell of an actress, too. I could have sworn you were genuinely turned on last Friday night, that you really wanted me to make love to you.’

      This was her out, if she wanted to take it.

      Jessie decided on a middle course.

      ‘I did find you rather attractive,’ she admitted with considerable understatement. ‘But I would never have gone to a hotel room with you. Not within minutes of meeting you.’

      That was her story and she was going to stick to it. ‘I didn’t know your name, either,’ he muttered. ‘But I couldn’t have given a damn.’

      ‘Yes, well, you’re a man. You’re a different species entirely. Women are, on the whole, a little more careful.’

      ‘Not all women,’ he ground out.

      Possibly, he was remembering the blonde.

      ‘I do realise that. I also realise that single mothers have a certain reputation for being…shall we say…easy marks? I wouldn’t like you to make that mistake if you’re thinking of asking me out. Which I presume you are. Because why else would you be here, driving me home?’

      Another set of lights brought the car to a halt. His head turned till his eyes met hers once more. He smiled wryly.

      ‘You seem to have me taped perfectly. What can I say? Yes, I want to ask you out. And yes, up till now, my intentions have not been entirely honourable.’

      ‘And now?’

      ‘I still want to take you to bed. But I also want to spend time with you out of bed. You’re a very intriguing woman, Jessie Denton.’

      Jessie felt herself blushing. She turned her head away to stare out at the halted traffic, which was thicker than when they’d left north Sydney. She glanced at her watch. It was almost half-past five and they were only at Chatswood. Still, once they got through this bottleneck it should be plainer sailing to Roseville. They should arrive before six. But it would be much quicker on the train.

      ‘So will you go out with me?’ he persisted.

      Jessie turned back to face the road ahead. She could feel him looking at her but refused to look his way again. Those eyes of his made her melt almost as much as his smile.

      ‘Maybe,’ she said, pleased with her cool tone.

      ‘When?’

      ‘Don’t rush me, Kane.’

      Kane. She’d called him Kane. She couldn’t remember calling him that before.

      ‘How about this Friday night?’ he jumped in immediately. ‘You must have had someone mind your daughter last Friday night. You could do the same this Friday night. We could go out to dinner, then on to a club, or whatever you like to do. The movies. A show. Anything.’

      Going to bed with him would be nice, she thought, shocking herself again. Truly, she was in a bad way. But her pride was still greater than her need.

      ‘I’m not sure about this Friday,’ she said. ‘I still don’t know all that much about you. I mean, you’ve at least read my résumé. I don’t even know what you usually do for a living, when you’re not minding the store for Harry Wilde.’

      ‘You’ll find the answer to that question on your desk in the morning. Easier than trying to explain what I do. It would take all night.’

      Jessie blinked over at him. He called her intriguing. He was the intriguing one.

      ‘OK, but I still don’t know much about you personally. I mean, you said you were divorced. How long were you married and why did your wife divorce you?’

      ‘We were married for three years and I was the one who asked for a divorce.’

      ‘Good heavens. Why? Was she unfaithful?’ The idea seemed ludicrous to Jessie. If Kane were her husband she would never look at another man.

      ‘Not that I know of.’ The lights went green and the car crawled on through the busy intersection. ‘My wife and I had a difference of opinion about the matter of having children,’ he explained. ‘We should have discussed it before we got married, I suppose, but… Did you see that bloke cut me off?’

      She did and it was a near miss. Still, they weren’t going fast enough to have a serious prang.

      ‘Driving a four-wheel-drive, of course,’ Kane

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