‘No, I don’t, but you seemed so keen on the idea I didn’t want to disappoint you.’ She was laughing openly at him, enjoying herself at his expense, and he didn’t mind a bit. Not now he knew he was free to pursue her as much as his heart desired.

‘You haven’t.’ He left her to figure that one out and charged ahead. ‘Back to the point—spare time and you don’t go together. You’re not knocking me over with your list of extra-curricular activities. I can’t know where to take you on our first date if I don’t know what you like.’

‘You want to take me out? On a date?’

For a moment he thought he’d jumped the gun. Perhaps she wasn’t as interested as he was. He wasn’t used to women hesitating but then she smiled. That didn’t help.

‘Are you smiling a “Yes, I’ll go out with you” or “I’m going to really enjoy turning him down” sort of smile?’

‘Neither.’ She met his eyes now. ‘But it’s a yes.’

The lines of concentration running across his forehead disappeared as his green eyes crinkled upwards with the smile—no, grin—that spread across his face. What a way to make a girl feel special. Ned had that talent down pat. She hadn’t intended to accept a date but he was hard to resist.

‘What about this weekend?’ They’d walked back to the door they’d first entered through, and he was leaning nonchalantly against the doorframe, his hands shoved deep in his pockets.

‘No good. I’m shopping for wedding shoes with my sister.’

‘More shoes! You can’t possibly shop all weekend for shoes and I hope it’s for her wedding and not yours as you just told me you don’t have a boyfriend.’

‘Shoe-shopping is only part of the weekend and, yes, it is my sister’s wedding. Saturday night I’m going to a charity dinner.’

‘A hospital fundraiser?’

‘No, it’s the dinner to kick off National Organ Donor Awareness Week. I’m often a guest speaker for them.’

‘Intriguing. And admirable.’

For a brief moment Sarah wondered about asking Ned to accompany her. She was always offered the option of bringing a guest, but she’d never taken a proper date. How would it feel to walk in on Ned’s arm dressed in her evening dress and him in black tie? For once she wouldn’t feel like the only partnerless person in the room, the one everyone wondered about.

How would it feel to walk in with him and know that every woman there, young or old, single or taken, would be sneaking glances, wishing she could trade places with her?

The undisguised interest in his eyes was clear. ‘You seem to have a fascinatingly rich internal life.’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘Don’t be. By the expressions skittering across your face, it was a more interesting conversation than many I’ve actually been part of. I enjoyed putting thoughts to your expressions.’

‘What did you come up with?’

‘That you were debating whether to invite me to your dinner on Saturday night.’

She nearly choked and wanted to tell him he’d got it wrong but they both knew he’d read her exactly right. It was disconcerting. It felt dangerous, that with him she might be an open book when she’d spent so many years cultivating an impenetrable veneer of calm, capable self-sufficiency.

It was also strangely exhilarating, the feeling that here was a man who could get into her head with such ease. The desire winding down her spine increased another degree, further outweighing the anxiety in her belly.

‘Which voice won? The devil urging you, telling you it’s just dinner, or the angel warning you against it?’

And suddenly dangerous and exhilarating were ever so much more appealing than safe and capable. The devil she could cope with. It was when Ned’s voice, with its deep, treacled tones, rich with entreaty, was added into the equation that she thought, To hell with it. It would only be one date, the devil whispered, as the angel all but gave up on her.

A date with the devil?

Her gaze met his with magnet-like force and the area around them seemed to shrink in contrast to the power of his presence. And in that moment, she knew that so long as the devil had green eyes like Ned’s, there was not a woman alive whose angelic tendencies had any hope of shouting down that other, darker voice.

Her angel gave it one last shot. ‘I only have one ticket.’

‘Do you always play by the rules?’

‘I guess so.’ A brief, thrilling flare lit inside her. Safe Sarah aimed the extinguisher at it and said instead, ‘Besides, you’d probably find it very dull and dry.’

‘I think there’d be ways of livening the evening up. Women in evening gowns, all trying to outshine one another, a bit of dancing. There’s always fun to be had.’

Spurred on by the gleam in his eyes, she teetered very close to ignoring the rules. Her rules.

And she might have done it except that, at that moment, lights began flashing, bells started ringing and an announcement came over the PA system ending all chance at having a conversation without yelling. Five seconds earlier she and Ned had had the place to themselves, or so it had seemed, but now there were firemen pouring into the area from all directions, running for the appliances. Before she’d had a chance to really process what was going on Ned had already bent to her side, pressed a feather-light kiss on her cheek and said, ‘Gotta go, that’s my crew being called. I’ll be in touch.’

She stood still, transfixed, marvelling at the feel of Ned’s lips on her skin. As light as the touch had been, it had held the promise of much, much more. She needed a moment to savour it and, besides, she wasn’t leaving now, not when there was a full-scale response happening in front of her. She watched Ned kick off his shoes and in one movement step into a pair of overalls and boots. He pulled the overalls up over his dark pants, hoisting the straps over his shoulders. Seconds later, he was swinging up into the front passenger seat, his biceps bulging as he pulled his weight up. In less than a minute the appliance was pulling out of the station.

It took less time than that to burn a fabulous image of Ned the firefighter into her visual cortex, an image she just knew would be replayed over and over until she saw him again. Although she had a strong suspicion she’d spend as much time regretting that she’d also missed her chance to thumb her nose at convention and take him to the dinner after all.

As it was, once again she went to a five-star event on her own. And as she entered the foyer of the hotel, all dressed up but all alone, she knew what she really wanted was to walk in on the arm of a man with a twinkle in his eye and lips as soft as velvet.

CHAPTER THREE

SARAH stood to one side of the stage as the master of ceremonies gave his introductory spiel. Straightening her dress, she wished again she’d worn her fail-safe LBD instead of this uncharacteristic purchase. But somehow, when she’d gone shopping for shoes with her sister, she’d ended up buying the very bright ruby-red dress she was now wearing. Not for her sister’s wedding, not for anything in particular and not even with this evening in mind.

Tori had convinced her to buy it. The task had been easy once Sarah had started to imagine what Ned would think if he ever saw her in this dress. A ridiculous reason and now she was paying the price.

Shot through with gold, the red silk shone in the lights, placing it in a different league to the sedate dresses she usually wore on such nights. From the audience’s perspective she looked demure; the dress had long sleeves and a high, rounded neckline, but it was virtually backless and she was now feeling exposed. She had no problem being in the spotlight for her work or for her public speaking skills—it was what she did all day, every day and it came as naturally as breathing after all these years. But in this dress she suddenly felt like she would be stepping onto the stage as a woman with desires and sensuality, a woman who just happened to be a doctor, as opposed to a respected professional who just happened to be a woman.