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apology and you do owe me for the jacket.’
    Did he have to laugh? It was too seductive. ‘You can send me the bill and you don’t need to apologise, your assumption wasn’t that bad. Or surprising, considering how it must have looked.’
    His grin widened, which wasn’t right, because she wasn’t trying to tease him, she was trying to engineer an almost dignified exit.
    â€˜I apologise anyway,’ he said. ‘And as for your account, I’d prefer your time over your money.’
    A smooth line. A turn of his head that spelt intimacy. Her hot-for-him hormones soared—turning her back into that malleable toy with ‘his to play with’ on the label. She took a quick breath and told herself to calm down. It was mad to feel his every word and glance so intensely.
    He drove confidently, sliding along the thinnest of lanes with nerve-twanging speed, asking briefly for directions. She gave them as best she could, given her whirling thoughts and seesawing intentions.
    â€˜How long have you worked at the stadium?’ he asked.
    Easy conversation. Thank goodness. ‘Nearly eighteen months.’
    â€˜And you don’t mind being the only woman among all that testosterone?’
    â€˜There are women working there—in catering, front of house.’
    â€˜But not with you.’
    â€˜No.’ Admittedly she’d liked it that way at the start. She’d found that women judged more than men, their approval was harder to win and easier to lose and she’d been wary about making new friends. She’d steered well clear of the wives-and-girlfriends club and even further from the behind-the-wife’s-back mistresses. But now she was happier than she’d ever been and she’d love to find some girls to hang with. Trouble was now she was so busy at work she didn’t have much time.
    â€˜So the guys don’t bother you?’ he asked, the tease apparent in his tone. ‘I imagine they can be pretty demanding at times.’
    â€˜You mean like the baby oil request?’ She giggled. ‘I don’t mind them, they’re just goofing. My brother was a national basketball rep, my father the assistant coach.’ She shook her head. ‘I’ve been surrounded by packs of competitive, sporting males my whole life, I know how to handle jocks and jerks.’
    â€˜Yeah, you left your mark on a couple today, that’s for sure.’ He laughed, too. ‘So does your brother still play?’
    â€˜He’s in the States now on a full scholarship at one of those Ivy League places.’
    â€˜Impressive.’
    â€˜Yeah, he’s pretty amazing.’ Her kid brother wasn’t just a stellar athlete, but a genius academic, as well. But even he couldn’t hold a candle to their super-gifted sister. Lena loved them both, was proud of them both. And wanted them to be even just a little proud of her. So she was working on it. ‘My place is next on the left.’
    He turned the car into her driveway and she braced herself to begin the goodbye she’d been mentally practising. ‘Thanks for—’
    â€˜You know, I was hoping you’d change your mind,’ heinterrupted. Taking off his sunglasses, he swivelled to face her. He knew what he was doing. Anyone who looked into those blue eyes would be hypnotised into saying ‘absolutely’ to everything.
    â€˜Invite me in,’ he said bluntly. ‘I’ll cook. Won’t take an hour and your debt’s paid.’ A so-easy deal from a wicked expression.
    She didn’t answer. At that moment, she simply couldn’t.
    â€˜It’s too nice a night to dine alone.’ He was shameless about using that gorgeous smile.
    Seth Walker was a winner and she knew why. She also knew that if she let him in now, there was a very high chance he wouldn’t be leaving again ’til the next morning.
    He knew that, too.
    That was the decision.
    He waited,