She had a mind that he enjoyed tussling with.

And she had thrown him a gauntlet that he couldn‟t resist taking up.

„Now, I wonder why I shouldn‟t have guessed that,‟ he drawled, sipping his coffee and looking at her over the rim of his cup. „What do you do when you‟re not working?‟

„Why?‟

„Because, generally speaking, these are the sorts of things two people might ask one another in the course of conversation.‟

Mattie considered the question and tried to work out why she was finding this man so disconcerting. However, since she wasn‟t going to be seeing him again after tonight, what was the point in concealing what she had no reason to hide?

„I try and grab some sleep whenever I can.‟

„How long have you been there?‟

„Oh, about seven or eight months.‟

She was still looking at him cautiously with those amazing eyes, as if she expected him to make some sudden move and was braced to defend herself.

She had relaxed enough to take her jacket off, though, and had shoved up the sleeves of her jumper so that her slender arms were exposed, lightly dusted with golden hair. Her watch was a cheap plastic affair with a thick pink strap.

She was right when she said that they came from opposite sides of the tracks. Rosalind, for starters, would never have been seen dead without her delicate gold Rolex.

He caught himself and remembered that this was not intended to be a relationship, but an affair in the making. He was, he reminded himself, through with relationships.

„And before that?‟

Mattie shrugged. „Oh, I worked in a restaurant.‟

„So you sleep by day and work by night. A vampire‟s existence.‟

„I don‟t just spend all day in bed,‟ she flared. „I…I do other things as well.‟

„Such as?‟

„I wish you‟d stop pretending to be interested in what I do and don‟t do.‟

„And I wish you‟d stop thinking that you can read me like a book. A trashy erotic novel with very big type.‟ He gave her a crooked smile and she couldn‟t help herself. She smiled back.

„Now tell me what you do during the day.‟

„I…well, actually, I‟m taking a course at the moment.‟ Mattie lowered her eyes and wondered what had possessed her to divulge this personal piece of information.

She thought of Frankie, realised with an unpleasant little start that he had not crossed her mind all night.

„What kind of course?‟

„Marketing,‟ she said abruptly.

’Marketing?’

„That‟s right! Marketing!‟ She glared at him and in her head she could hear Frankie‟s scathing criticisms of her desire to better herself, could hear him telling her over and over again that she just wasn‟t good enough to make the grade, that she had left school before getting any qualifications to speak of.

„Yes, I left school when I was sixteen! Yes, I‟m not exactly what most people might see as ideal marketing material! But I can do this! Because I work nights in a nightclub and dress in skimpy little outfits doesn‟t mean that I don‟t have a perfectly good, functioning brain in my head! You might think that I‟m a blonde bimbo but you‟re wrong!‟

„I think it‟s a brilliant idea.‟

„What…?‟

„I said I think it‟s a brilliant idea.‟

They looked at one another. Mattie‟s eyes drifted from his fathomless black ones down to his mouth, that sweetly sexy mouth of his, and she quickly looked away.

„Why did you leave school at sixteen?‟

„I…everyone I knew was doing it…it seemed exciting at the time…getting out of school, becoming an adult, earning money…‟ She fiddled with the handle of the mug and stared down into the dregs of coffee at the bottom.

„And that was…how long ago?‟

„Seven years.‟ Mattie dared him to share any caustic reflections on her academic non-achievements.

„And you never thought earlier about resuming your education?‟

„It‟s not as easy as you make it sound!‟

„Oh, where there‟s a will there‟s a way,‟ Dominic murmured. He watched the way her breasts rested lightly on the counter-top and hot blood surged through him. „So, when does this marketing course finish?‟

„I hand in my last project next week.‟

„Then you quit the nightclub and get a job?‟

„Then I hang on to my nightclub job because I still need the money and start the rounds of employment agencies. Sometimes the course supervisor can recommend someone for a job, but they have to be very good.‟ She stuck out her chin and remembered to scowl. „So there‟s my potted life history. Not very exciting, is it? And now that we‟ve had our little chat, I think it‟s time I made my way back.‟

„Where does sleep figure in all of this?‟

„I beg your pardon?‟

„Sleep? You must be running on adrenaline and nervous energy. Let me make you

another coffee.‟

„I try and get at least six hours in the course of twenty-four.‟

If Frankie allowed her. Usually, if he was in a particularly foul mood, he would think nothing of waking her up simply to commence an argument of sorts, even though he always backed off before he could push her to the absolute limit. Backed off and usually left the house.

„Here. Drink this. Then I‟ll drop you home. Or you could stay the night here. I have three bedrooms.‟

„Stay the night?‟ Mattie looked at him incredulously. „Are you completely mad?‟ She scrambled off the stool and reached for her jacket, which she had tossed on the counter.

Well, who could blame him?

The last thing she wanted to do was spend the night in this apartment, even if she locked herself in a spare bedroom and then stuck a chair under the door handle for safe measure! Just knowing that he was sleeping not far away would guarantee a restless night.

Because…because…

Because he was dangerous, she thought. Things were dangerous between them. He was just too much of everything that was bad for a girl‟s health. And she had enjoyed talking to him too much for her own good.

She feverishly began walking towards the door and he sprang from his stool and followed her, overtook her, leaned against the door so that she was compelled to halt her frantic escape and look at him.