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top of her list. He was Daisy’s father, her soulmate, her grand passion. Anyone else would only ever be second place. But when she thought of him, she could remember youthful exuberance, raw need, but never this devastating skill that was threatening to…
    Her fingers unclenched and she laid her palms flat against Noah’s chest, intending to apply gentle pressure as a signal that she wanted him to stop. But she didn’t stop him. Noah chose that moment to run his tongue along her lip and she moaned gently, reached behind his neck with both hands and pulled him closer.
    When Noah’s hands finally moved off the window and started stroking the tingling skin of her neck, her cheeks, that little hollow at the base of her throat, she stopped thinking altogether. And she had no idea how long they’d been necking in the doorway like teenagers when he finally pulled away.
    She was shaking—literally quivering—as he stood there looking down at her with his pale eyes. His thumb was still tracing the line of her cheekbone. Just that alone made the skin behind her ears sizzle.
    This was so not what she’d been expecting on her first date. The chat rooms on Blinddatebrides.com that afternoon had been full of stories of nerdy guys and boring evenings, lots of jokes about kissing frogs. After getting her head around Daisy’s whole madcap plan, that was what she’d been anticipating. She’d been expecting to feel a sense of relief that the ordeal was over, to chalk it up to experience and carry on with her life. She certainly hadn’t been expecting to feel this .
    ‘Grace?’
    Even his whisper was sexy. Low and growly. She tried not to shiver more than she already was doing.
    ‘I’d really like to see you again.’
    Her body was telling her to yell yes , drag him back into the coffee shop and make use of one of those squashy sofas. And just that thought alone was enough to throw a bucket of cold water all over her. She didn’t do one-night stands, or necking in doorways. She did soulmates and love at first sight —with marriage and baby rapidly following. This wasn’t for her. Blinddatebrides.com wasn’t for her.
    She wriggled out of Noah’s arms and retreated behind the door, using it as a shield as she held it half-closed. ‘I’m sorry, Noah. I just don’t think that’s a good idea.’ And before she could talk herself out of it, she shut the door, flipped the catches and walked through the shop without looking back.
     
    Noah stared at Grace as she disappeared into the barely lit café. In the gloom, she became a dark grey blob, then, suddenly, the interior of The Coffee Bean was plunged into darkness.
    He just kept on staring, even though he was now staring at his own reflection in the glass. The one woman he’d found who’d really caught his interest had just given him the brush-off. He couldn’t remember the last time that had happened in the previous five years. The irony of it hit him so hard he started to chuckle.
    Aware that the pubs were emptying and people were starting to fill the High Street, he pulled himself together. Men who stood and laughed at their reflections in shop windows were likely to be carted down to the local police station to sleep it off.
    He looked himself in the eyes.
    Well done, Mr Best-selling Author. You’ve finally found the secret to repelling women: be interested.
     
    The narrow flight of stairs that led up to her flat seemed especially steep this evening. Grace opened the door at the top and, once she’d taken her coat off, she looked down at herself. Who was she kidding? In Daisy’s prom dress and Daisy’s shoes, she looked like someone playing dressing-up.
    Sophisticated? I don’t think so!
    She stripped the clothes and the stockings off right where she stood and marched into the bedroom to find her pyjamas. Once dressed in her striped three-quarter length trousers and vest top, she stood, hands on her hips, and glared round her room. It was cluttered with lotions and