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call fun.”
    “Then you need to broaden your horizons.”
    She needed to shake him off. There was no
way she was going to let him walk her to her door.
    “I’ve got an idea. Why don’t I take you out
for dinner? I’ll even pay before we leave.”
    “Very funny. I’ll have to pass.”
    “Spoilsport.”
    “I know. I’m very boring.”
    “That’s just a front. Boring people don’t
steal from French restaurants.”
    God, he was persistent. “I’m going home
now. Goodbye.”
    “Can I call you?”
    She thought about giving him her number.
Then she’d be waiting by the phone and hating herself for doing it. She shook
her head.
    “Okay.” He rummaged in his pockets and
found a pen. Taking her hand, he turned it palm up. “Hold on a minute.”
    She stopped walking. Taking his number
didn’t mean anything. Once he’d given it to her, he’d leave her alone and she
could go home.
    He wrote his phone number across the middle
of her palm. Then he kissed it for good measure.
    “Don’t wait too long. I might get a better
offer.” He folded her hand closed, turned and walked away.
    What? Like that blonde?
    She watched him go for a moment or two,
telling herself she should leave before he looked back and caught her.
    She couldn’t do it.
    After a few more seconds, he stopped and
gave her a sweeping bow.
    Loretta managed not to wave, but when she
walked away, she couldn’t stop herself looking down at the number written on
her hand.
    She wouldn’t call it. She wouldn’t.

CHAPTER 5
    ––––––––
    W hen Loretta got home, she changed into
jogging bottoms and a t-shirt, threw together a sandwich and headed for the
garage.
    Cheese and tomato wasn’t much of a lunch
when she’d been expecting medium rare steak. The sandwich was gone in a few
bites. Oh well, it filled a hole and it didn’t come with all the drama attached
to the steak dinner.
    She pulled Edna’s tarpaulin off and thought
about what she should do next. The new gauges she’d ordered had arrived on
Monday. All she’d had time to do was get them out of their boxes and take a
look.
    With the rest of the afternoon to herself,
she decided to have a go at the tyre pressure gauge first. She got down to work
and the hours slipped away like they always did. It was only when it got so
dark it was difficult to see what she was doing that she realised how late it
was.
    She hadn’t been hungry, but as soon as she
thought about getting something to eat her stomach started to rumble. Better
get cleaned up and search the kitchen.
    After putting everything straight and
covering Edna up again, she headed for the shower. She turned on the water and
waited for it to reach the right temperature.
    What a day. Armed robbery and lunch with
the most infuriating man she’d ever met. Well, they’d almost had lunch.
Apparently fate hadn’t wanted them to break bread together.
    Taking off her clothes, she threw them on
the floor and climbed under the steaming water. Nothing ever felt as good as a
hot shower after a hard day. She squeezed out a good measure of gel and
lathered herself up. It didn’t take long for her to get started on a Jennifer
Hudson medley, her voice bouncing back to her off the walls.
    Then she caught sight of the black smudge
on her hand. The phone number. Shit, she’d forgotten all about it.
    She held her palm out of the water and
tried to make out the numbers. It was pointless. Not a single digit was
legible.
    Good, she told herself. He was a liar and a
womaniser. She should have washed it off as soon as she got in the house.
    She started another song, but soon trailed
off. It didn’t matter how much she rationalised it, her good mood was gone.
Whether she liked it or not, there was something about Jordan that she couldn’t
shake off. And now there was no chance she’d see him again.
    It looked like she was back to being a good
girl.
    ***
    “I have to admit, there was a small part of
me that thought you might be stupid enough not to