But just being in the same room as him had an alarming effect on her pulse rate and she was achingly aware of his powerful physique and his overwhelming masculinity.

‘I’d better check on Daisy,’ she croaked finally, desperate to get away from him.

‘Coward.’ His soft laugh followed her as she hurried up the stairs and sought refuge in Daisy’s bedroom.

She curled her fingers round the cot rail and closed her eyes briefly. She didn’t know how to cope with his banter. She wasn’t any good at clever retorts and she was hopeless at flirting. That had been Chloe’s forte. Aware that she couldn’t lurk in Daisy’s room for ever, she slid into the bathroom, tidied her hair and then went back down to the kitchen to finish off the dinner.

‘I shouldn’t tease you. I’m sorry.’ Alex’s voice came from behind her and she turned, startled.

‘That’s all right.’

‘No, it isn’t all right.’ He gave a wry smile. ‘The truth is, I’m not used to women like you, Jenny Phillips. You don’t flirt—in fact, you don’t play any of the games that women usually play. I know that I shock you and some wicked part of me seems to need to see how far I can go before you slap my face.’

‘You’re pretty safe.’ She gave a hesitant smile. ‘I hate violence.’

He laughed. ‘I bet you do. You’re the most placid person I’ve ever met. Do you ever lose your temper?’

‘It isn’t one of my vices.’

‘You have vices?’ He shot her a disbelieving look and she smiled.

‘Of course I do.’

‘All right, name one.’ He sounded thoroughly sceptical and she lifted the casserole out of the oven and placed it on the table.

‘Chocolate.’

Alex groaned. ‘Not another one. What is it with women and chocolate? My sister Libby can’t live without chocolate. Chocolate and shoes.’

‘She sounds nice.’ Jenny put the plates on the table. ‘Is she the one with the children?’ She blushed and bit her lip. ‘Sorry, I know you said you don’t want to talk about your family…’

Alex shrugged. ‘That was when we were strangers.’ He sat down at the table and reached for some bread. ‘We’re not exactly strangers any more, are we?’

Jenny served the casserole, wondering what was happening to her emotions.

She’d arrived here full of anger and hatred for the man and somehow here they were, eating dinner in a relatively amicable fashion.

But if she was ever going to persuade him to take an interest in Daisy then they had to be amicable, she reasoned, handing him a plate and pushing a bowl of freshly cooked vegetables towards him.

‘Libby has two little girls of four and two, and my other sister Katy has five-year-old twins—a boy and a girl. Multiple births run in the family, it seems.’ Alex spooned some vegetables onto his plate. ‘We’re triplets but I expect you already know that if you read the papers. My sisters used to feature regularly until they married. Then the press seemed to lose interest.’