‘You propositioned me.’

‘I—I didn’t.’

‘You were the one who suggested the bath,’ he said silkily, and she rubbed damp palms down the seams of her jeans, knowing that he was teasing her. He had to be teasing her.

‘You know I didn’t mean it that way.’

He lifted an eyebrow and moved closer still. ‘How do I know that?’

Her heart was thumping so fast she felt as though it was going to burst out of her chest. ‘Well, for a start because I’m not your type.’

He shrugged carelessly. ‘It’s true that generally I prefer blondes, but you’ll do fine. You’ve got a great body.’

She flushed and looked away from him. ‘It isn’t fair of you to tease me.’

There was a long silence. ‘Tease you?’ There was a sharp edge to his tone, all traces of mockery gone. ‘What makes you think I was teasing you?’

Because she knew she didn’t have a good body.

‘Look—can we, please, change the subject?’ She was squirming with embarrassment and, as usual, he looked totally relaxed.

‘No, we can’t.’ He was frowning now. ‘I want to know why you think I’m teasing you.’

She gave a sigh of exasperation. ‘Because I’m small and flat-chested and even a push-up bra can’t give me a cleavage. I don’t have a great body by anyone’s standards but that doesn’t mean I enjoy being teased about it.’

For a moment he stood still and then she felt his hands slide round her face and he tilted her head until she was forced to look at him.

‘I wasn’t teasing you. You have a great body,’ he said quietly. ‘Incredibly delicate and feminine. The only problem is in your head. Someone has obviously made you feel unattractive. Are you going to tell me who?’

She pulled away from him, totally flustered. He thought she had a great body? Alex Westerling thought she had a great body? No one had ever paid her a compliment before and she didn’t know how to react. Especially when it came from a man she was supposed to despise.

‘Please—let’s just forget it.’

There was another silence and then he smiled, the mockery back.

‘I thought you wanted me to scrub your back in the bath.’

‘That wasn’t what I was suggesting, and you know it,’ she muttered, wishing that she was immune to him. She wanted to be. Oh, she really, really wanted to be, but it seemed that she was as susceptible to that killer smile as the rest of the female population.

He folded his arms across his broad chest and smiled. ‘You could teach me how to relax.’

She was thoroughly flustered and he knew it. ‘I didn’t mean—’

He gave a soft laugh. ‘Then take some advice. Don’t play with fire, Jenny. And don’t try and reform me.’

With that he drained his drink, his eyes never leaving hers, challenging her to comment.

She didn’t.

She was too busy trying to work out why Alex had such a powerful effect on her. He was everything she avoided in a man.