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anyone to read.’
    ‘And you’ve been a bit active online yourself,’ she said, finally broaching it.
    ‘Ah.’ He settled more comfortably in his chair. ‘You’re mad at me for blogging about our dates?’
    ‘Not mad. Surprised. I didn’t think you liked the whole public angle. I thought you wanted to protect your privacy and all that.’
    ‘I’m not the one with contrary privacy issues,’ he said pointedly. ‘This whole thing isn’t actually about you and me, Nadia. Did you think we were going to keep it just between us? What would the point of that be?’
    ‘I’m still not sure what the point of any of this is.’
    He chuckled. ‘Well, right now, the point is some damn good food.’
    With perfect timing the waiter set thedishes down—both her desserts at once, as she’d requested. She pounced, spooning in the sweet. Her nerves scrunched with sensation. Oh, there had to be so much butter in this, so much fine sugar, and put together with so much skill in the kitchen. Edible ecstasy.
    He hadn’t touched his meal, was just watching her reaction. ‘I take it it’s nice?’
    ‘Nice?’
she mini-screeched. ‘What kind of a word is
nice
? This is so much better than nice. It’s …’
    He waited, smile quirking.
    ‘It’s indescribable.’ She didn’t have to fake blatant sensual delight at the dessert. It was genuine and impossible to hide. Frankly, she couldn’t get enough of it.
    Grinning, he concentrated on his own meal—some meat thing that she really had no interest in. Not when she had the
yum
stuff.
    She gave up on trying to converse—not when she had this to concentrate on. She took a bite from each, alternating while panicking about which one she was going to save for the very last bite. The decision was just about impossible. And she was
not
softening towards Ethan in any way whatsoever. She was
not
feeling a ridiculous kind of favour towards him because he’d been clever enough to getthem here. She was
not
actually enjoying their conversation and the challenge he embodied.
    ‘What are you thinking about?’ he asked eventually. ‘You’ve gone very quiet.’
    Well, she couldn’t talk when she was so busy inhaling all the cream. But now she was a little sugared up her fighting spirit revived. A divine dessert wasn’t going to soften her attitude. ‘I’m composing my write-up of this date for my blog.’
    Something flickered on his face and he set down his cutlery and pushed his plate away.
    ‘What are
you
going to write about it?’ she asked, sweeter than her pastry. ‘I’m so looking forward to our next date where you “nail” me.’
    ‘I’m looking forward to that too,’ he answered, utterly unabashed.
    ‘My choice for the date, though, isn’t it? You wanted to go to the movies for the first.’
    ‘Okay, so what do you want to do?’ He conceded surprisingly quickly.
    ‘A day date, I think.’ Safe and out in the open, where lots of people would be around. She didn’t want to drop-kick him out of touch until the very last date, which meant she was going to have to play the first two just right.
    ‘A
day
date?’ Ethan sat back so the waiter could clear their plates.
    ‘Sunday afternoon suit you?’ Nadia asked. The sooner it was all over, the better.
    ‘Sure.’ He refilled their glasses. ‘I’m really looking forward to spending more time with you. You’re really good company.’
    She suppressed a giggle at his not-quite-hidden sarcasm. Instead she lifted her glass and challenged him. ‘I thought you said you weren’t going to try to impress me.’
    ‘I guess it’s habit.’ He shrugged, but let loose that smile.
    ‘You always compliment?’
    ‘Always.’ He gazed intently at her. ‘And you don’t think that’s okay.’
    ‘It’s not necessarily a bad habit,’ she mused. ‘But it is if you don’t mean what you say.’
    ‘But I do mean it.’
    ‘Always?’ She put down her glass and frowned.
    ‘Sure.’
    ‘Really? Don’t you sometimes do it