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.‘It’s like getting blood out of stone.’ He paused.‘I suppose I frightened you silly.’Was he serious?‘No,’ Rose assured him.‘So if I promise to stay at arm’s length you’ll come out with me again?’To the ends of the earth, if he liked.‘Yes.’‘Is there someone else in the room?’ he demanded.‘No.’‘Then talk to me, Rose.’‘What do you want me to say?’‘That you enjoyed our evening as much as I did.’‘You know very well that I did.Every single minute of it,’ she added fiercely, in case he was in any doubt.‘That’s better,’ he said with satisfaction.‘So listen.Tomorrow I train with the team, but how about the next night?’‘OK.’‘What would you like to do?’‘Would Mrs Bradley object if I just came round to your place for an hour?’ And if he took it for granted she wanted him to make love to her again she didn’t care.It was the truth.‘Mrs Bradley thought you were a very charming young lady,’ he said, in refined Edinburgh accents again, and Rose giggled.‘I’m in full agreement,’ he added, his voice deepening.‘I’ll come for you at seven.’‘I’ll look forward to it.’‘So will I,’ he agreed, with a note in his voice that brought the colour rushing to her cheeks.‘Goodnight, Rose.’Restless at the memory, Rose got out of bed and went to the kitchen to make more tea.How naive she’d been all those years ago.Young and so trusting she’d been caught in her own snare.With not the slightest hope of success to start with she’d deliberately set out to make James Sinclair fall in love with her, and succeeded beyond her wildest expectations.But in the process she’d fallen helplessly in love in return.Which had been inevitable.If she hadn’t had a secret crush on the legendary Sinclair from the start nothing would have induced her to fall in with Con’s plan.But that, in common with many other aspects of her love affair, was a secret she’d never shared with anyone.Not even with James.From the first Rose was obdurate about going out in public with James.Their morning runs and the brief hours spent in his room were the only meetings she would agree to, even repeat trips to the cinema were vetoed in case they were less lucky than the first time, and met someone they knew.‘Why are you so dead set against being seen with me?’ he demanded irritably.‘Because you’re Sinclair, famous for not socialising with girls.And I’m a lowly first-year.So all your friends—not to mention mine—would be watching every move, tongues hanging out, if they saw us out together.’ Rose touched his cheek with a placating hand.‘I just can’t bear the idea of everyone speculating about us, spoiling things.Making more of our—our friendship than it is.’‘Friendship,’ he growled, and pulled her onto his lap.‘Is this how you behave with all your friends, Miss Dryden?’ He kissed her hungrily, his hands busy with her shirt buttons, and Rose moaned as his fingers found her nipples, her response arching her back.James bent his head to take instant advantage, his grazing teeth and clever fingers causing pleasure so intense she could hardly endure it.Because this was the night Mrs Bradley went to her bridge club they had the house to themselves, a fact Rose was burningly aware of as James made love to her with mounting demand.They had cooked supper together in the kitchen and eaten it there for once, but, sitting knee to knee at the table, the tension between them had increased steadily throughout the meal until by the time they’d reached the privacy of his room they had fallen on each other the moment they were through the door.Kisses and increasingly intimate caresses were the extent of their mutual exploration of each other.So far.But by this time Rose was so madly in love she knew that if James wanted more she would give him everything he wanted.Because she wanted it too.So much it kept her awake at night.After a while James thrust her from him and retreated to the far corner of the sofa, breathing raggedly.‘This is dangerous,’ he said hoarsely.Rose turned her head away, letting her streaming hair hide her face from him.‘Why?’‘You know very well why.’‘Are you saying I’m a tease?’‘No.But I’m not made of stone
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