„What happened?‟

„Car veered off the road and swung into a tree at the side. Trouble was…one of his legs was damaged.‟ She had only taken one mouthful, didn‟t really want any more than that. She had just needed the boost the touch of alcohol would afford her. Besides, she loathed drinking straight from the can. Now she cradled the cold can between her hands and looked at it.

„Not massively. But sufficient to ensure that he couldn‟t hope to become a professional footballer.‟

„A tough blow.‟ He barely needed her to tell him what had followed, although she did, in the same low, thoughtful voice. The inevitable slide downhill, the anger, the frustration, the pity she had felt that had kept her tied to him.

„So, you see, I‟m here for lots more reasons than simply the fact that I don‟t have to pay any rent.‟

„You could transfer the money you spend on keeping him into paying for something of your own…‟

„And how would Frankie cope?‟

It was all Dominic could do not to shake her. „Quite ably, I imagine,‟ he said instead, his voice silky, „because he would have to. The need to survive without your help might go a long way to killing off the need to drown his self-pity in drink.‟

Mattie stood up and he could see that her shutters were back in place. He was the millionaire and she was the streetwise kid. He had no doubt that she had come across boys from the other side of the tracks when she had been growing up. Had probably been targeted by one or two of them, with her amazing looks, and had developed a good line in switching off.

„I‟ll see you to the door, shall I?‟ She waited for him to stand up and then preceded him to the front door, where she waited patiently for him to finish his lazy stroll through the house.

„So there you have it. Now you can go away, safe in the knowledge that you weren‟t in any danger of being lured into parting with your precious millions by the likes of me.‟

„By the likes of you…‟ Dominic murmured, leaning against the door and looking down at her. „I can see why your boyfriend ended up taking refuge in the bottle…and whatever or whoever else he takes refuge in…but why the chip on your shoulder?‟

„I don‟t have a chip on my shoulder.‟

„Of course you do. A chip the size of a house.‟

„Because I haven‟t leapt joyfully into bed with you?‟

„Because you keep trying to make me see that the lines between us are inviolable.‟

„They are.‟ Underneath the insistence in her voice she could also hear panic and she hoped that he couldn‟t as well.

„Well, your affair with this Frankie character you grew up with didn‟t work out, did it?‟

The question, along with its obvious implications, hung in the air like an accusing finger.

Mattie shrugged.

„He needs me.‟

I need you too, was the first thought that rushed to Dominic‟s head and it left him shaken. Need? Need never entered his relationships with the opposite sex. Lust, yes. Want.

Affection. But never need and certainly never love, as he had discovered to his own cost.

„You‟re his caretaker.‟

„That‟s not true!‟

„Of course it is. Clucking around him, overlooking his shortcomings and doing yourself out of a life in the process.‟

The accusing finger was doing more than hover now. It was jabbing at her conscience like a knife.

„I am not doing myself out of a life! I‟ve just completed my course!‟

„For which, I presume, your beloved Frankie gave you all the unstinting help and support you wanted?‟ The answer to that one was written in the delicate blush that invaded her cheeks.

„He…he has his own personal demons to sort out,‟ Mattie mumbled, lowering her eyes so that she didn‟t have to meet the cool comprehension in his. She wished he would move from the door, so that she could pull it open and put an end to this hideous unravelling of her private thoughts, but he obviously was intent on staying put.

Until what? she wondered.

„And you‟re going to stay with him until he sorts them out?‟ Dominic enquired coolly.

„However long it takes? Make sure he‟s all right before you give yourself the opportunity to live your life the way you want to? You‟d better pray that no further mishap befalls him or else you might find yourself growing old in the company of a man you‟ve forgotten how to love. Pity is no basis for a relationship.‟

Mattie looked up at him, ready for a fight. Fighting might take the edge out of the truth that he was forcing her to swallow, as though he had every right.

„Oh? And what is? If you‟re so clever when it comes to relationships, I‟d love to know how come you‟re not in one.‟

Touché, Dominic thought wryly. He looked at her standing there, and wondered what she would do if he reached out and enveloped her in his arms. Which was what he wanted. That and a great deal more.

„Is this a case of I told you my life story, now you tell me yours?‟

„It‟s only fair, considering you‟ve spent the past hour preaching to me on what I‟m doing wrong in my personal life.‟

„What‟s my incentive for telling you my life story?‟ Of course, he had no intention of doing any such thing, but the alternative was to walk out of the front door he was currently managing to barricade, and he had no intention of doing that either.

„Fair play?‟

„Interesting concept.‟

This wasn‟t the fight she had been hoping for. This was flirting and all the more dangerous because it was subtle. Every nerve-ending in her body was standing to attention. The aggressive I-can-take-care-of-myself-thanks-very-much girl she had been at pains to display had taken a distinct back seat to someone she didn‟t recognise, to a kiss-me-senseless creature that made her giddy.

„I don‟t confide in people as a rule.‟ Dominic crashed through her jittery thoughts and his mocking smile made her feel even hotter and more bothered than she was already feeling.

„No?‟ Mattie asked faintly.

„No. People have a nasty habit of storing up confidences and then using them against you at some future date.‟

„There won‟t be any future date between us, so your secrets will be safe with me.‟

„You need to tempt me just a little bit more.‟

„Yes? And how would you suggest I do that?‟ Stupid question. He had led her with her eyes wide open straight into the little trap he had set. What he wanted her to do was obvious in the dark, slumberous expression in his eyes. And what was even worse was that it matched the hot thread of desire that was surging through her like a toxin.