‘Not cold now.’ His voice followed her, low and definitely more upbeat. The glance he sent her as he caught up promised as much warmth as she could handle, and her cheeks heated when he said, ‘What we had two nights ago warmed me right up.’

With a room full of people inside the hotel, they needed something else to think about. The air between them had shrunk like plastic wrap, and she could feel the warmth of him and the sizzle of her own skin. Her belly swirled with remembered sensation and she dared not meet his eyes in case this new wanton woman inside her, the one she didn’t recognise in sensible Ava, took his hand and steered him upstairs instead. That would not be a good idea.

Say something, she urged herself. ‘Um. We really should think about food.’ Or she wouldn’t get to eat.

He said, ‘You could sleep here today and we could go to work together tonight.’

Oh my, she thought, but she couldn’t stop her smile from forming.

Chapter Seven

Zac

Zac closed his mouth. Well, that had come out in a rush. He glanced at the profile of the woman beside him. Who wanted food?

But he’d promised. Both of them. And he did want to know more about her. Needed to. She was a mystery to him. A being from another world brought up on a far-flung station and extremely comfortable in her own desert skin. Ava was capable, skilled and quietly amused at life without ever mocking it. An outback oracle and a dancer who made him think of another kind of dance. And boy did he want to tango.

‘You know when you move, at work, or outside, you move like a dancer. Have you ever danced?’

‘I grew up on a cattle station. But funny you should say that. I’ll tell you the secret one day.’ She smiled at the doorman, who opened the door for her. ‘Hello there, Ken. How’s your wife? And the baby?’

‘Great, thanks, Ava.’

‘Say hi. And thanks for the door,’ she said over her shoulder as they sailed through. Zac nodded his own thanks and wondered how many people in this town she knew. He guessed it was proportional to the number of babies she’d helped deliver. Ava showed kindness and warmth towards others because it was right, but he couldn’t help thinking this was not something Roslyn would have thought of. She wouldn’t have seen the doorman. Comparisons. He shook his head at the memories that were guaranteed to bring him down. Not today.

When they were seated and had given their orders, he said, ‘Thank you for coming with me this morning. Despite my odd behaviour.’

‘Right, then.’ She lifted her chin higher and stared straight at him. ‘Do you regret what happened between us after the flight?’