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As Catherine dimpled at Travis, Michael caed further back into the rooarden!

'You very nearly missed us,' Catherine said chirpily 'We have come to take Beth out to dinner Have you eaten yet, Mr Black?' she added archly

'Travis, please And no, I haven't eaten,' Travis said quietly 'In fact, I was going to ask Beth the saht like to join ' He paused delicately Beth could have kicked him

'Oh, no, no, you must join us,' Catherine protested quickly as Travis made to step backwards 'We insist, don't we, Michael? We've booked a table at the hotel we're staying at, The Larches Do you know it? I understand the food's wonderful'

Travis nodded, his keen grey eyes passing the couple in front of hiht face 'Perhaps Beth would prefer to have you all to herself,' he said silkily 'I'm sure you two must have plenty to catch up on'

'Not at all' Catherine swung round, took in Beth's wooden expression and turned to face Travis again 'We talk on the phone nearly every day for hours,' she said airily, 'and we'd love to say thank you for looking after her so hen the whole incident could have turned out so badly'

They were talking about her as though she'd suddenly gone blind, deaf and dumb Beth stirred herself 'Of course you must co full well it was all decided anyway A ten ton truck wouldn't stand in the way of Catherine when she'da friend starve when the solution is so simple'

Travis's mouth curled in a smile that was so sexy Beth was sure he et such a devastating result 'Then thanks, I'd love to,' he said easily He turned to Catherine 'How about Beth and I follow you and Michael? It'll save you having to come all the way back here after the meal'

'Well, if you're sure' Catherine beamed at him

'Quite sure' He virtually beamed back

Great Beth wished she o years old so she could indulge in a stress-relieving tantrum But she wasn't a child and neither was Travis He was a man and an all male one at that Her mouth was dry and she had to sice before she could say, 'Now that's settled, perhaps we ought to go if the table's booked for eight?'

'Absolutely This is our first weekend by ourselves since our little boy was born, you know Michael'safter him' As Catherine took Travis's ararden path, Michael just had tiled hih The good manners didn't cut any ice with Beth

She was acutely conscious of the height and breadth of him as she brushed by, the dark trousers and white shirt he earing e the leanness of his hips and the width of his powerful shoulders She was also aware of the delicious tang of expensive aftershave on clean male skin, and felt there was so it difficult to breathe There was soh and sensual, and yet there was a warentle side to the hard

Animal attraction A base kind of lust She used the words deliberately One caused the other Sidom and it spilled over into the human population too Keith had had that chemistry too, in a different kind of way to Travis, but it had been there nonetheless Woardless of whether they were free or involved with soer It was dangerous, with a high chance of disaster for the woman concerned, but it was a fact that soo down like ninepins But not her Never again

Beth was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't notice Travis's car until she was al by it, and even then it was ht her attention to the nificent sports car 'Wow, thisif not direct and to the point 'Michael would die for one of these, wouldn't you, Mike? Every red-blooded man's dream and all that'

As Michael dutifully agreed, Beth glanced at the beautiful lines of the sleek Aston Martin crouched beside Catherine and Michael's stout faly as Travis opened the passenger door for her

Travis studied her with the thoughtful look he seeested extreht irritably