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Laura asked archly.

      ‘What?’

      Laura gritted her teeth. They really were a most annoying family!

      ‘Yes,’ she bit out. ‘Ryan is, or was, a famous goalkeeper.’ She only knew that because she’d been told of Ryan’s international success by a sport-loving colleague of hers who’d been quite jealous about her securing Ryan as a client.

      ‘Heavens to Betsy!’ her aunt exclaimed. ‘I can’t believe it. Shane’s going to be so excited. You know how much he loves watching the soccer.’

      Actually no, Laura didn’t know any such thing. She’d had as little to do with Shane as possible over the years.

      ‘I must say I’m somewhat surprised,’ her aunt rattled on, ‘That you’ve got yourself a boyfriend at all, let alone a famous one.

      ‘I was saying to Bill just the other week that it looked like you were going to end up an old maid. You’re not a bad-looking girl, but you do have an unfortunate way about you. You state your opinions much too strongly. Men don’t like that, you know. And the way you dress is … well, not very feminine. Still, I guess there’s someone for everyone in this world. So how old is your Mr Armstrong? I dare say he’s not all that young.’

      Laura couldn’t say a word for a moment, having been rendered speechless by her aunt’s tactless commentary.

      But, as she struggled to find her tongue, Laura knew that there was no way now that she was going up to that house tomorrow alone. No darned way!

      ‘To tell you the truth, Aunt,’ she said at last, ‘I’m not sure exactly how old Ryan is. Middle to late thirties is my best guess.’

      ‘You’d think you’d know your boyfriend’s age,’ her aunt said snippily. ‘How long did you say you’d been going out with him?’

      ‘We’ve been business acquaintances for two years. But we’ve only started dating recently.’

      ‘Oh, I see. So he’s not that serious about you yet.’

      ‘He’s very serious about me,’ she heard herself saying. ‘You don’t think he’d agree to come home with me and meet Gran if he wasn’t serious, do you?’

      ‘What? Oh no, no, I suppose not. So what time do you think you might arrive?’

      Laura closed her eyes and prayed that Ryan would not change his mind and retract his offer when she rang him.

      ‘Around noon?’ she suggested.

      ‘Could you make it later than that?’ her aunt said. ‘Say, around three? That way I won’t have to do lunch tomorrow as well as dinner that night and lunch again the next day. That’s a lot of work, you know.’

      ‘But we weren’t going to stay the night,’ Laura protested.

      ‘Don’t be silly, of course you are. I’ve already bought the food and the wine. On top of that your grandmother is expecting you to stay for the weekend, not just for a few short hours. You wouldn’t want to disappoint her, would you?’

      ‘No, of course not,’ Laura said, but her head was spinning. How on earth was she going to keep up such a ridiculous charade for that long? And what if Ryan refused to go with her? Giving her his phone number was no guarantee he would say yes a second time.

      ‘We’ll see you tomorrow around three, then?’

      ‘All right,’ Laura agreed somewhat weakly.

      ‘And Laura …?’

      ‘Yes?’

      ‘Bring a dress to wear for dinner tomorrow night, will you? I don’t want to see you at the table wearing those ghastly jeans you seem to live in.’

      Laura sucked in a deep breath through wildly flaring nostrils. She was about to launch into a counter-attack when she realised the line had already gone dead. She glared down at the receiver for several furious seconds before slamming it back on the hook.

      If there was anyone who could get under her skin even more than her uncle, it was her aunt—stupid, self-important, insensitive woman! Laura felt sorry for her grandmother, having to live with two such impossible people. She deserved better after putting up with that wretched husband of hers for fifty-five years.

      Thinking about her grandmother’s feelings put some perspective back into Laura’s growing frustrations over the weekend ahead. Okay, so she’d backed herself into a right royal corner now. Too bad. Gran was worth putting up with pretending to be Ryan Armstrong’s girlfriend for longer than a few hours. And worth having to put her pride aside to ring him back and tell him that she’d changed her mind and wanted to accept his offer. If he prevaricated, she would beg him to come with her, if she had to. Hell, she’d even bribe him if she had to. Though what with, she had no idea.

      The thought of offering him sex popped into her head out of the blue. It was such a crazy idea that she threw back her head and laughed out loud. As if the prospect of sex with her would persuade a man like Ryan to do anything! It would more likely make him run in the other direction.

      Shaking her head, she marched back down the hallway to where she’d left her handbag, rifling through it to retrieve the business card she’d written his number down on.

      Her stomach tightened into a knot as she picked up her mobile phone and punched in the numbers. For what would she do if he refused? What could she do? Laura felt sick just thinking about it. She hit the call button and started praying.

       CHAPTER SIX

      ‘RYAN Armstrong,’ he answered quite promptly in his very male voice.

      Laura straightened her spine and squared her shoulders at the same time. ‘Ryan, it’s Laura. Laura Ferrugia.’

      ‘Laura!’

      No doubting the surprise in his voice.

      She could hear noise in the background, people laughing and talking, and live music playing. If she wasn’t mistaken he was still at the Opera Bar.

      Laura decided not to waffle; she wasn’t a waffly person at the best of times. ‘Is your offer still open?’ she asked abruptly.

      ‘Absolutely.’

      ‘Thank God,’ she couldn’t help saying.

      ‘That sounds somewhat ominous. What’s happened to make you change your mind?’

      ‘My aunt happened, that’s what,’ she said sharply.

      ‘Sorry. Have I missed something?’

      ‘I’ll fill you in tomorrow during the drive up there.’

      ‘Up where?’

      ‘Didn’t I tell you? Gran lives in the Hunter Valley. So does the rest of my family. I’m sure I told you.’

      ‘You probably did. I remember you mentioning the John Hunter hospital.’

      ‘Yes, well, the John Hunter hospital is not really near the Hunter Valley. I take it you’re not familiar with the Newcastle area?’

      ‘No. Never been up that way at all.’

      ‘It’s a relatively easy drive. You just take the freeway north and turn off at the signs to the vineyards. I usually make it in just over two hours. If I leave home out of peak hour, that is.’

      ‘And where’s home?’

      ‘Manly. Do you have a nice car?’

      ‘That’s an odd question. Ah, yes, I get the drift. You want to impress.’

      ‘You have no idea,’ she said with so much feeling that he laughed.

      ‘In

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