Love's Only Deception. Carole Mortimer

aren’t you with her?’

      ‘What makes you think I’m not?’

      ‘I—Are you?’ She blushed, even though he couldn’t see her reaction to his teasing.

      ‘No,’ he chuckled. ‘Believe me, she wouldn’t let me call another woman while I was in her bed! And what about your partner for the evening, where’s he?’

      ‘On his way home to be safely tucked up in bed, I should think,’ Callie answered mischievously.

      ‘And why isn’t he with you?’

      ‘Because I always sleep alone,’ she told him waspishly.

      ‘Always?’

      ‘Yes!’

      ‘But you don’t always eat alone?’

      ‘No …’

      ‘Dinner tomorrow, then?’

      It was like being taken along in the path of a tidal wave, and Callie rebelled at this management of her life. ‘Not tomorrow,’ she refused. ‘I already have a date,’ she invented.

      ‘Break it.’

      ‘I most certainly will not!’

      ‘The neighbours, Callie,’ he once again taunted.

      ‘Damn the neighbours—–’

      ‘Tut, tut, tut, you swear too.’

      ‘Too?’ she echoed sharply.

      ‘As well as talk to strange men at parties,’ he mocked.

      ‘As I remember it, that strange man spoke to me first!’

      ‘Touché,’ he chuckled. ‘How about dinner on Monday?’

      ‘I—–’

      ‘Tuesday?’

      I—–’

      ‘Wednesday?’

      ‘I was about to say Monday would be fine,’ she put in quickly before he got to Thursday, deciding that Monday didn’t seem too eager. ‘Although your calendar seems to be very empty for such a—–’ she broke off as she realised what she had been about to say. Logan Carrington needed no extra boosts to his ego from her!

      ‘Such a …?’ he prompted softly.

      ‘Such a conceited man,’ she snapped.

      He chuckled. ‘Tell me your address, Callie, and I’ll let you get to bed.’

      She told him, wondering if he rushed all his women like this. She was beginning to feel decidedly overwhelmed. So much for him forgetting all about her!

      Marilyn and Bill spent the day at Bill’s mother’s the next day, so Callie didn’t get chance to discuss Logan Carrington with her friend. She didn’t quite know how to explain him to herself, she just knew she had been instantly attracted. And after Donald’s inane conversation for a month it would be nice to talk to someone who obviously read as much as she did, a man of high intelligence who amused and challenged her at the same time.