She followed him and sat on the sofa as he shut the curtains then put on some low music.

He flicked on a lamp to add to the ambience, the light from which spread a buttery glow over the room.

“Thank you for taking me to Bettino’s,” she said then sipped her tea. “It’s always nice to find these out of the way little restaurants that offer great food.”

“Maybe you’ll come again with me?” He placed his drink on the table and sat next to her. Close, but not so they were touching.

“I’d like that.”

They were silent for a moment.

“Megan, I—” He shook his head.

“What?” A knot of worry curled in Megan’s belly. He looked anxious and a line had formed between his eyebrows.

He shook his head a little. “I really am sorry about last night, you know, in your office. You must think I’m terribly uncouth.”

Phew, it was only that which had made him look so worried.

“I don’t think that at all.” She set her cup down. “Though I’m sure you must think that I’m a terrible tease.”

He huffed. “Tease, no. Gorgeous, yes. You can’t help it if you make a guy want you.”

He wants me?

Megan looked into his eyes, they sparkled in the low lighting and his pupils were large. “Do you still want me?”

He was silent. His lips held in a tight line.

Oh, God. She’d ruined it all. So what was this then? Dinner and now here… What was the point if he didn’t want her? “James?”

“I do,” he said, “but I understand you don’t want me, or—”

“I never said that.”

He smiled, just a little, tiny twitches in the corners of his mouth. “Well I understand that you’re not the type of woman to just have a bit of fun with.” He reached for her hand. “You’re special, Megan, and I wish I’d put a bit more finesse into seducing you instead of going for it all gung-ho.”

Seducing me?

The way he talked, looked at her. It created a longing in her soul that she’d never felt before.

“So how would you have…?” She paused and swallowed. “Seduced me if you’d put more finesse into it?”

He tipped his head. “You really want to know?”

“Yes.” A flush of anticipation spread over her body, spiking the hairs on the back of her neck. “I do.”

He took her hand and rested it between his. “It would have started off with a romantic candlelit meal in a really nice restaurant.”

“It would?”

“Yes, somewhere intimate, great food, somewhere I could buy you champagne and feed you sweet treats from my spoon.”

“Oh…” She nodded and looked down at her hand pressed between his. The sensation of being held by him like that was both thrilling and sensual.