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.‘Something like that.’ she admitted.‘Is that how Garrett behaves?’ he demanded.‘Not with me.’ She picked up the wine and went to the kitchen, then turned in the doorway to look at James over her shoulder.‘Which doesn’t mean I’ve led a totally celibate life from the time you and I split up, Sinclair.’‘Likewise,’ said James promptly.‘But I knew very well you and Garrett weren’t lovers.’‘How?’‘Something in the body language.’ He shook his head.‘He’s not the man for you, Rose.’‘I’ll get the wine,’ she said firmly, and went to oversee her dinner preparations.The meal was a success, and James sincere with his praise as he despatched his dinner with gratifying speed.‘That was fabulous.You’re a great cook, Rose,’ he said, sitting back at last.She shook her head.‘Just a fan of TV cooking programmes.You were a guinea pig tonight.I’ve never tried monkfish before.’‘It was superb,’ James assured her, and refilled their wine glasses.His eyes were intent as he leaned back in his chair.‘You know, Rose, I used to think about this a lot.Meeting you again, sharing a meal like this—just being together.’Rose eyed him cynically as she got up to take their plates.‘In which case you could have done something about it long before now if you’d wanted to.I wasn’t exactly on another planet.’‘I was a coward,’ he said flatly, and followed her to the kitchen.‘A coward? You, James?’‘I couldn’t face more rejection.’She gave him a scornful, disbelieving look as she handed him a platter of cheese and biscuits.‘You take these; I’ll bring celery and grapes.No pudding.I did consider treacle tart from the bakery, then I remembered you weren’t keen on sweet things in the past.’‘Only on you, Rose,’ he agreed, standing aside to let her pass.‘“Sweet” wasn’t one of the adjectives you flung at me during our final encounter all those years ago,’ she reminded him acidly.‘So if you had come to see me again some time I suppose you’re right.I might well have shut the door in your face.’‘After I saw you in the street with this Mark of yours I worked that out for myself.’ James put the plates on the table, then took her hand.‘Could we eat this later?’‘OK.Coffee?’‘No.Come and sit down.’ James led her to the sofa and drew her down beside him.‘Did you soften towards me after you left university?’‘I was in London by then, learning to earn a living, and far too busy to mourn for you.’ She gave him a sidelong glance through her lashes.‘I admit I used to imagine, sometimes, that I spotted you in the street.But it was always just some tall, dark stranger with a king-of-the-jungle walk like yours.’James kept hold of her hand, his forefinger smoothing the back of it.‘So you’re certain you’d have rejected me second time round, Rose.’‘Definitely.’ Her eyes hardened.‘Like you, I rarely make the same mistake twice.’James tensed, and for a moment she thought he was going to leap to his feet and stride out of the flat.Instead he raised her hand to his lips.‘I’m sure I could change your mind about that,’ he said, in a tone that sent trickles of apprehension down her spine.‘I don’t think so,’ she said doggedly, and got to her feet, holding onto her resolve with both hands.‘I think it’s time you went, James.’He got up with the lithe grace she remembered so well, looking like a tiger balked of its prey.‘What if I don’t want to go, Rose?’ And before she could dodge away he pulled her up into his arms, kissing her with an abruptness that excited her so much she responded involuntarily, all her cool resolutions flying through the window at the first touch of his lips, her hands making only nominal resistance as he began to slide buttons from their moorings.‘You can’t do this,’ she gasped, trying to push him away.‘Do you really think you can march back into my life after ten years and straight into my bed?’‘Who said anything about bed?’ he said, frustrating her attempts to free herself.‘What’s the harm in a few kisses, Rose Sinclair?’‘Don’t call me that,’ she snapped, twisting in his arms, but he held her fast.‘It’s your name.And I’m still your husband
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