First Love, Last Love by Carole Mortimer

you. Ham or something like that,’ she said shyly, aware that her feelings towards this man had changed drastically since this morning. Just to look at him made her tingle all over.
    ‘Don’t tell me you have to watch your figure,’ he scorned. ‘Aren’t there enough of us males already doing that?’
    Lauri frowned. ‘I don’t know what you mean. There’s only Daryl—’
    ‘And Steve. And me,’ he added huskily.
    The look in her eyes was uncertain. ‘You?’ she repeated breathlessly, feeling curiously as if she had swum too far and was now out of her depth.
    ‘I’d have to have looked at you pretty closely to know how good you look in denims,’ he pointed out. ‘You’re all long legs and slender hips. And then there’s your—’
    ‘Please!’ Her face was scarlet with embarrassment. ‘I—Just lemonade and a sandwich,’ she repeated, turning away to look fixedly at the riot of flowers that edged the lawn the tables and chairs stood on.
    He didn’t leave immediately and Lauri was aware of his gaze on her for several long minutes more, although she refused to turn and meet that look. Finally he moved away and Lauri turned to watch him as he entered the saloon bar. He had to duck his head to get in the low doors, and then she could hear the low murmur of voices as he gave their order.
    What was he trying to do to her? Why the compliments, the almost flirtatious manner? She didn’t trust him in this mood, wanting to get back to work and away from the power he was exerting over her. No man had ever reduced her to such a nervous state before, and she didn’t like it.
    ‘Here,’ Alexander Blair put a glass down on the table in front of her. ‘It’s shandy.’ He gave a rueful smile. ‘I just couldn’t bring myself to ask for a glass of lemonade.’ He sat down beside her, a glass of whisky in his hand.
    An unwilling smile lightened her features. ‘I should think it’s unheard-of for you.’
    ‘I couldn’t even get the word to pass my lips,’ he smiled back at her.
    And they were such firm sensual lips too, curved in a half-smile now as he watched her with narrowed blue eyes. ‘The shandy will be fine, thank you.’
    ‘I ordered you a steak and salad.’ He sipped his whisky. ‘I hope that meets your approval.’
    ‘Of course. But a sandwich would have done.’ Shecouldn’t help noticing the way the sun made his hair appear blacker than ever, a bluish sheen to the over-long styled hair, wrenching her gaze away as he became conscious of her scrutiny.
    ‘I don’t take a girl out to lunch and give her a sandwich,’ he said disgustedly. ‘We’ll go inside when our meal is ready.’
    ‘You’ve hardly brought me out to lunch through choice,’ Lauri derided. ‘We’re here to discuss the damage I did to your car.’
    ‘Has your—friend,’ again that hesitation, ‘has Prescott had his car looked at yet?’
    ‘He took it round to a friend of his last night. He did the repairs on the brakes.’
    ‘The brakes?’ Alexander Blair frowned.
    ‘Mm,’ she nodded, sipping her drink. ‘You see, Steve had the car serviced last week. He told them the brakes weren’t responding properly, but they couldn’t find anything wrong with them. Steve’s mate Geoff found the problem and put it right.’
    Alexander Blair was still frowning. ‘Is that why you—’
    ‘Hit you?’ she finished. ‘Yes. Nothing happened when I tried to stop.’
    ‘Is that the truth?’
    Colour flooded her cheeks. ‘I have no reason to lie,’ she said stiltedly.
    ‘Maybe you think I’ll let you off the hook if you can convince me it was through a fault in the car that the accident happened.’
    Her glass landed on the table with a crash, surprisingly still intact. ‘You arrogant—’
    ‘Now, now, Lauren,’ he laughed, putting up his hands defensively, ‘don’t get violent!’
    ‘I have no intention of getting violent,’ she told him through tight lips.
    ‘I never know what you’re going to do when you get