‘They’re not w-wild accusations,’ Jenny stammered, her cheeks still pink, ‘and just because we have a problem it doesn’t give me the excuse to forget my manners.’

Alex gave a wry smile. ‘I think we’ve moved slightly beyond manners, don’t you? And now you need to listen to me.’ His smile faded and voice was firm. ‘I don’t remember your sister, but I do know that I don’t sleep with children and your sister appears to have fallen into that category. I don’t know what she told you, but there’s no way I can be the father of her baby.’

‘She spent the night with you.’

His increased tension was barely perceptible. ‘Do you have proof?’

Jenny nodded and reached for her bag, her hands shaking slightly. ‘You were at the same party and she was…’ She hesitated slightly, and then cleared her throat. ‘She was drunk. You took her home.’

She dragged out an envelope and handed it to him.

Blue eyes locked onto hers for a long moment and then he dropped his gaze to the envelope and reached inside for the contents.

He flicked through them silently, a slight frown touching his brows. ‘These pictures—’

‘Were taken by one of the magazines. But they clearly show you dancing with her. “Alex Westerling dancing with a friend”, the caption says—well, your friend was my sister. Chloe. So you see, Dr Westerling, you did know her.’

He paused to read the letter and leafed through the remaining photos, his handsome face inscrutable.

She decided that he was a very difficult man to read. He seemed to possess enviable control over his reactions.

‘I may have danced with her, but she didn’t spend the night in my flat.’

‘She said she did.’

He yawned. ‘Then she was lying.’ He tossed the envelope onto the table and shook his head. ‘Is that it?’

It? How could he be so maddeningly cool about the whole situation?

Jenny bit her lip. ‘She came home very upset after that night. She didn’t want to talk about it, but when the photographs were published the following week she eventually spilled the beans.’

Alex’s eyes narrowed. ‘And you didn’t think that was odd?’

Jenny looked at him, uncomprehending. ‘Why was it odd? She didn’t want to tell me but when I saw the pictures it was obvious.’

‘What was obvious?’

‘That you’d had a relationship.’

‘We were dancing,’ Alex said mildly. ‘That hardly constitutes a relationship. I dance with a lot of women.’

‘You sleep with a lot of women, too,’ she said, totally unthinkingly, and then gasped as she realised what she’d said.

Alex laughed. ‘You seem to have studied my lifestyle in minute detail,’ he drawled, his deep tones thoroughly masculine and more than a little disturbing. ‘Why are you so interested in me, I wonder?’

Her heart suddenly beat faster. ‘I’m not interested in you, Dr Westerling. Except when your thoughtless lifestyle affects my family. And you’re not going to get away with it. Don’t think you can walk away from your responsibilities this time.’