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pretending to be unaware of the impact she was making. And all the while, she’d be secretly enjoying Bob’s drooling…
    But when she got into the room, Bob was on his cell phone and from the look on his face, sex was the last thing on his mind.
    “Look, Trevor, that nine o’clock spot is really important. Our competitors have got a dynamite show on there, and we’re trailing miserably. I want you to get something a little more sensational…yeah, yeah, I know…maybe get Maureen to tart herself up a bit, a bit of cleavage to titillate the guys...yeah, yeah…Right, well, I’ll talk to her…but we’ve got to get this show up and with a bit of a sexy edge, or we’ll lose it.”
    Curling up on the bed, Anna pretended for all she was worth that she was more interested in her book than she was in Bob’s conversation, but she listened voraciously. So, a show was in trouble, eh? The competitors were doing better, and Bob needed to put a sexy edge on things to get the audience going?
    What was the man into? Cabaret? Surely not a gay bar where he did striptease to supplement his escort earnings? No, no – if it was a gay bar, Maureen wouldn’t need to get a little daring with her cleavage, would she? Oh, my goodness – was he producing porn films?
    Oh, how she wished she dared ask him! But she’d decided that the less contact between them the better. That was probably the only way she’d make it through the night with her celibacy intact.
    “It’s Jed, and you’re reading that book upside down.”
    “Er, what?” She jumped at the sound of his voice. “Jed. My name is Jed, not Bob. If we’re going to spend the night together, I figure we should at least get properly acquainted. And your book is upside down.”
    Dammit, he was right. Anna was helpless to staunch the flow of red over her cheeks. But if his name was Jed…why?
    “Oh, I get it – the agency gives false names to protect your anonymity!” Anna said, glad she’d been able to solve that puzzle quickly. “Well, my real name is Anna, Anna Findlay, and I’m a…”
    “Yeah, I know who you are. You write sexy books that hit the best seller list for an imagination-starved population.”
    Anna was speechless. Not something that happened often. “How dare you,” she croaked when she got her voice back. “I’m a sociologist studying the behaviour of Generation X, the generation that has grown up with the threat of AIDS hanging over their…”
    “That’s as may be, but judging from the reactions of your friends tonight, the book’s a red hot read. Not that I’ve read it, I must say. Not really my cup of tea, as you Brits say.”
    “Oh, Mister, have you ever got me wrong.” Anna glared at him as he raised one dark eyebrow. “No, I mean it, really. I’m not a Brit, to start off with. I grew up right here in Knotting Grove, and my parents were as American as apple pie…I went to Knotting Grove High for junior and senior high, and then went off to study in universities….with good scholarships. I got a chance to do my masters in anthropology at Cambridge, England, and then my doctorate….”
    “Well, you must have adopted the country – you sound as English as muffins and tea.”
    “It’s just something that happens – a person can do worse things than talk like everyone she works with.” Anna was furious to find herself on the defensive.
    * * *
    Jed, on the other hand, was enjoying himself greatly. He wondered if Anna had any idea how gorgeously sexy she looked when she got mad. Sitting up like that pulled those flimsy pj’s tight against her, and…. whoa, wasn’t that nipple sticking out through the thin silk?
    Oh, wow! Jed suddenly wondered if he shouldn’t go right out and bed down in the hotel lobby. He’d be safer taking his chances with the local riff-raff than in here with Anna Findlay.
    There was no way he was going to give in and give her what she wanted…
    He turned on his heel and headed for the shower.
    But Anna had