‘What do you mean, it’s written all over me?’ she demanded to know.

‘For Pete’s sake, just look at you.’

‘There’s nothing wrong with me!’

‘There’s everything wrong with you. If you still want to get married for real. And I suppose you do. Most females do, for some reason. Then it’s just as well I came along.’

‘Meaning?’ she said stiffly.

‘You need someone to tell you as it is, woman. And to sex you up at bit.’

‘Sex me up?’ she choked out, glad that no one was standing near their table at that moment.

‘Yep. You’re never going to catch a guy looking and acting like you do, Natalie. They might give you a bit occasionally, but they won’t stay the night, and they sure as hell won’t ask you to marry them.’

Natalie was torn between asking him if he’d give her a bit and telling him to shut his appallingly insensitive mouth.

‘You’re an expert on the subject, are you?’ she said tartly.

‘Yep.’

‘My, aren’t I the lucky one!’

His eyes narrowed thoughtfully on her across the table as he forked some spaghetti into his mouth and chewed it slowly. At last, he put down the fork and picked up his glass of Chianti.

‘I’m often told that I’m far too blunt,’ he said after he took a decent swallow of the wine. ‘But sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind. Would you rather I lie to you?’

There was an oddly touching sincerity in his words, and his face. Clearly, he hadn’t meant to offend her, even though he had.

Natalie could do one of two things. Go back to prickly, or embrace his advice. In truth, she did still want to get married. And have a family. Especially have a family.

The thought that she might never have a child was too depressing for words. And whilst she’d known for some time that her lack of success with the opposite sex was entirely her own fault, perhaps it needed a man like Mike to make her face her off-putting ways. And to make her try to change them.

She couldn’t successfully carry off the role of his besotted new bride, dressing and acting as she had been. Why not use this opportunity to try to become a different woman? A softer, sexier, less aggressive woman.

She sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. ‘I’m well aware that I’ve fallen into some bad habits. I never used to be this hard and cynical. But when I found out Brandon not only had a wife, but two children as well, I totally lost it.’

‘How did he get away with it?’ Mike asked. ‘I mean, how did he hide a wife and two children from you for…how long was it?’

‘Four years.’