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was—
    Everything he ached for. Everything.
    Dharma sucked in deep breaths, fighting hot tears aching to spill. How could this have gone so wrong? She’d planned to seduce Fred. He liked her, she knew he did. He laughed at her jokes, he smiled into her eyes, he blushed when she caught him looking at her ass when she bent over to get fresh coffee beans out of the giant sacks they used at Coffee Dreams . She’d assumed his story about the neighbour was his bashful way of sharing what he wanted.
    Her up on his kitchen island so they could share some hot, fun sex.
    How could she have been so stupid?
    She forced herself to look at him, skinned down to a T-shirt, his biceps bulging from his crossed arms, his hair so close to his skull it resembled a warrior’s helmet.
    He looked intimidating.
    But she refused to be intimidated.
    She refused to be embarrassed.
    Oh, damn it, no. She was. She couldn’t help it.
    She felt shattered, like she had to get away from him right now.
    “I’m glad you liked the food,” she managed.
    “It was…nice.”
    Nice? What the hell did that mean? Had it been nice when she popped up on the table and flashed him?
    Gritting her teeth, she said, “Nice. Great.”
    As if he knew what she was thinking, he said, “I don’t use fancy words like Taz.”
    “I haven’t heard too many from him.” Did she have everything? She had to focus, had to centre herself. Why couldn’t she centre herself? Men liked her. Men wanted her. It was no big deal that Fred had rejected her.
    Her throat closed.
    “Okay, well, tell the girls I enjoyed dinner.”
    “Dharma, I—”
    Oh, no. She could not talk about what had happened. If she did, she’d break down. Messy tears, crushed expectations, and it would only make it a million times worse when she was lying in bed alone tonight, wishing she could move to Paris.
    “I don’t want you to hurt.”
    She squeezed her eyes shut. “Too late.”
    Silence stretched, tense and painful.
    “I won’t be in the office for the next couple of days,” she said. She tried to make her pace look brisk and not like she was running as she hurried to the front door.
    Fred grabbed her arm. “Are you quitting because of what happened?”
    “What? No. I have to put in a couple of nights at the bar.”
    “Like hell.”
    She glared at him. “Excuse me?”
    “You heard me.”
    “I told you when I took the secretarial job that I’d weigh the two jobs and decide which one suited me better.” She reached for the doorknob, but he slapped his hand against the door.
    “I don’t want you working there!” He was looming over her deliberately, she was sure. What a jerk. Why had she ever thought him sweet and so sexy?
    Why did he still feel that way to her stupid heart?
    “I worked at the bar for months, one or two more nights is—”
    “Is hell. It’s hell , Dharma.” His voice was hoarse. When her gaze shot to his, he looked away. “I know I can’t ask you to stop working there. I have no right.”
    Her nostrils flared, taking in his scent, hot sunshine and exhaust from the fire hall. He smelt rough, like a man who worked with his hands. She still wanted to touch him, caress his chest through his T-shirt. “No, you don’t,” she said quietly. “Goodnight, Fred.”
    With obvious reluctance, he stepped back, arms folded in the classic posture of holding back.
    She swung open the door, jumping as she suddenly faced a stranger.
    The woman raised her pale brows, taking in Dharma and Fred. She was a petite blond with an oval face and pale green eyes. “Well, isn’t this interesting?” she said, her gaze running over Dharma in a way that made it clear she thought Dharma had either just had wild sex or run a marathon. “Who are you?”
    “Dharma,” Dharma said, completely fed up with the way the evening had gone. “And you?”
    The woman smiled. “Fred’s wife.”

Chapter Five
    “How did the big date go last night?” Sian Blaine asked the next morning in Coffee