Irrepressible You by Georgina Penney Page A

fell off his fork and onto the table in front of him.
    Amy flushed. ‘Ben asked me out when he came by Babyface for a shave last Monday. He took me to Christie’s for dinner then we went back to his place for a while but he had to take a conference call so I went home. It’s not a big deal.’ There was no way she was going to admit she actually hadn’t asked Ben’s last name or that she still had no idea what he did for a living. If Scott knew that, he’d develop an aneurysm. Strangely enough, those details just hadn’t seemed important last night.
    ‘Just wait.’ Scott put down his fork with a thunk. ‘You went back to his place on the first date? Like a one-night stand? Jaysus Christ, Amy –what were you thinking?’
    ‘I’m not stupid, Scott. I just had a really nice night and didn’t want it to end. It’s not like you don’t bring ladies home all the time, last night being a case in point, and I know Jo used to have flings all the time without you reacting like this.’ Amy crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a good hard glare.
    ‘Jo’s different. I’m different,’ Scott said, his jaw tense. ‘She could take care of herself, she would have known the score. You don’t. When’s the last time you had a one-night stand? Never? Christ, Amy, you told me the other night that you don’t even sleep with half of your so-called boyfriends, you just look after them like charity-case strays. When you said you were lonely the other night, I didn’t think you’d go out and do something as outright stupid as this.’ He threw his hands up in the air.
    ‘Hey! Back off, precious.’ Pushing away from the table, Amy stomped over to the sink with her plate. The arches of her bare feet ached from walking around without heels, which reminded her about her house being broken into and that put her even more on edge. ‘I don’t want to talk about this any more. I’ve got to get home. The police said they’d be’round at nine.’
    ‘It’s only seven,’ Scott said curtly, picking up his fork and finishing his French toast in a few angry bites.
    ‘Yeah, but I don’t want to look like this when they turn up.’ Amy glanced pointedly down at the hugely oversized pair of Quicksilver board shorts and comically large black T-shirt she was wearing. She’d scrubbed her make-up off in the shower and her hair was turning into the usual dandelion frizz it became when it dried without any styling products. She felt naked and didn’t like it one little bit. Scott’s continuing stare didn’t help either.
    ‘Give me five minutes, I’ll grab my stuff and I’ll come with you.’
    ‘I’m fine on my own. Thanks for last night,’ she said stiffly.
    Scott swore under his breath. Abruptly pushing away from the table, he walked over to Amy, hauling her into a warm hug, enveloping her with his reassuring sandalwood-and-Scott smell. ‘Sorry, Ames. I didn’t mean to step on your toes,’ he said gruffly, giving her another squeeze before letting her go. ‘Just promise me you won’t do anything stupid. Ben Martindale’s a big fish and he’s got a reputation for being a total prick. You’ve never been around the world he lives in. It’s nothing like yours. He’ll eat you alive in one bite.’
    ‘You’re not helping my ego here, mister. What am I? Fish food?’ She poked him hard in the ribs.
    He just gave her another bone-crunching squeeze in apology, his tone turning gruff. ‘You’re small enough. Give me a minute. I’ll follow you home in my car, eh? You’ve got your contacts back in?’
    ‘Yeah, I do. Alright.’ Amy gave in, feeling a little deflated and offended. Was she really that backwards? Naïve? Maybe about some things. As much she didn’t want to admit it to Scott, she definitely should have gotten more details from Ben. And as much as she didn’t like the idea of snooping, she privately promised herself she’d Google him the minute she could get a few seconds’ privacy, just to make sure