‘No.’
‘So why did you say you were?’
‘I was confused. Overwhelmed.’
‘By what?’
‘By you and the effect you have on me,’ she said breathlessly.
His pulse spiked and a bolt of desire thumped him again. ‘And what effect is that?’
‘You know perfectly well.’
‘It’s entirely mutual, you know.’
She swallowed hard and took a breath, as if struggling for control. ‘It’s also utterly irrelevant.’
‘Remind me why,’ he murmured because for the life of him he couldn’t remember.
‘Sex would only make a complicated situation even more complicated.’
‘Would it?’
‘And the awkwardness when it fizzles out would be hideous.’
There was that, he thought with the one brain cell that was still functioning, but this tension, frustration, was pretty hideous too. ‘Nevertheless, I have a suggestion.’
A tiny flicker of alarm leapt in her eyes. ‘I don’t want to hear it.’
‘You don’t know what it is yet.’
‘It’s something along the lines of getting it out of our systems so we can move on, isn’t it?’
He gave her the glimmer of a smile. ‘The idea has merit, don’t you think?’
‘It’s insane.’
‘We could try it and see. It worked before, didn’t it?’
‘I should go,’ she said, shaking her head as if to clear it.
‘Should you?’
She nodded hard. ‘Definitely.’
‘This isn’t going to go away, Celia, even if you do.’
‘No, but if we’re sensible, it’ll be manageable.’
Sensible? Manageable? ‘How?’
‘We ignore it.’
‘Not sure that’s an option.’
‘No...’ she agreed a little desperately. ‘OK, then, how about from now on we stick to meeting up in public?’
TWELVE